Porcelained out? Carve your niche with an alternative sink for soaking up greener materials like certified teak, bamboo, recycled metal and glass and friendly painted ceramics. You can even experiment with poured concrete with 50% recycled fly ash, as seen in the striking orange basin by Jeremy Levine Design.

Here is a handful of other options we rounded up:

From William Garvey’s Fusion Line of handmade sinks from certified teak grown in the mixed deciduous forests of South Asia.

Spotted at the Story Hotel in Stockholm, these decorative ceramic bowls make brilliant bathroom basins.

Recycled aluminum and brass vessel sinks from ECO round out the eco bath and are paired well with a bamboo plywood or stone tile counter top.

Handblown recycled glass emerges as sensuous craft for the bath with the clear tortoise trim Classic design (above) and Ocean shell (below) from Bear Creek Glass.

Main Image: Jeremy Levine Design

This is a new SIGG water bottle with a Keith Haring lady liberty design, part of a limited edition series celebrating America, land of the free, home of  thirsty. Perhaps you could score one of these cool designs for free by getting rid of an old SIGG bottle that contains poison, and you can enjoy the benefits without having to worry about exposing your body to a synthetic drug known to disrupt normal endocrine function.

I simply won’t stand for that in a water bottle. How about you?

If you bought a metal SIGG bottle before August of 2008, you have until Halloween to trade it in for a bottle with the new and improved EcoCare liner free of bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic sex hormone chemical linked to cancer and neurological problems. In other words, switch that trick for a treat.

What is the trick in the SIGG exchange program? Last week, Steve Wasik, chief executive officer of SIGG Switzerland, shocked the reusable water world by admitting that the liners were made with an epoxy resin that contains BPA. As Elaine Shannon of the Huffington Post pointed out, this was an about-face from his previous posture that the bottles simply didn’t leech the harmful chemical and were totally safe.

“He decided on his authority, consumers didn’t want or need to know more,” Shannon observes, adding it is difficult to see Wasik’s stance as anything but cynical.

Wasik’s posting on the SIGG website explained that the BPA debate has heated up dramatically in the last 12 months with the conversation progressing from a focus on leeching to the mere presence of BPA in products. He stresses that this dialogue has evolved to the extent that “some states are considering legislation.”

In fact, last May, Chicago was one of the first U.S. cities to ban the sale of baby bottles and sippy cups containing the chemical and the Food and Drug Administration recently announced it would undertake a new BPA review. In 2008, the FDA resisted recommending retailers discontinue using products that contain BPA until it had completed its risk assessment process. “However, concerned consumers should know that several alternatives to polycarbonate baby bottles exist, including glass baby bottles,” the feds said.

Meantime, you have to follow your own instincts and decide if you want to exchange your SIGG or simply find another aluminum or other bottle brand.

In terms of determining if you have the old kind of bottle, SIGG has provided the best kind of crisis PR fact sheet on its site with visuals that show the difference between the bad and good liners.

The EcoCare liner has a dull, pale yellow appearance while the former liner has a shiny copper bronze appearance.

For details on the exchange program and other issues pertaining to the safety of these bottles, go to the My SIGG website.

He’s not new to the jewelry scene but there’s something about Mark Edge’s eco-vintage wares that’s got everyone going gaga. Let’s have a look and find out why.

It isn’t just the word vintage or his Southern sensibilities that drive women wild. It might be the multidimensional yet simple sophistication of his designs, and the sensible prices definitely don’t hurt, either.

Edge’s eco-vintage style says something different to each person. All the pieces in his collection are made with bits and pieces of aged vintage chains and found objects. He works with sterling, copper and gunmetal plated or gold filled.

A mixture of this and that, old and new, each piece is unique with authentic patina and quite simple despite the combination of gathered materials. This jewelry collection is versatile enough for the glamour-girl or the edgy motorcycle chick and everything in between.

There’s the simplest chain and the more extraordinary; the clever and quirky and the soft and romantic.

Which  jewel fits you?

In creating our own traditions, it’s nice to find alternative symbols that speak to who we are, Jewish or Christian, pagan or devout decorator. Here are a few unique items I came across that allow you to  responsibly spruce up your own winter wonderland.

I love these hemp holiday stockings from Amenity in earthy shades of brown, green and silver. Who says red and green rule in December? The organic company also offers beautiful hemp ornaments of balls and birds, and an inventive hemp tree skirt (below).

Recycled soda cans, wire, and beads let Ruldolph lead the way in these fetching handcrafted reindeer from the free trade company, Serrv.

Angels can appear from the sky or from old scrap, as proven by the Tin Can Angels ($29/set of 4) from our green sponsor Viva Terra. Or great the season with a Noel sign from twigs ($69) and an organic pussy willow wreath ($52 to $62). All of these offer fresh takes on old symbols.

Modern and green, these recycled menorahs are sculptural and made of glass from the past, $180 at Vertige Glass.

Eco Artware decks the halls with recycled glass balls ($36); reused record label tree trinkets ($18/set of 3); and an Ever-Green Aluminum wreath forged from traffic signs ($100-$140).

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“Cut metal work represents the wealth of Croix des Bouquets. This is what has made the city famous,” he says. “This is what God gave me to live; I support my family, I am building a house and I am providing work for others.” You can find handmade candleholders and wall hangings from Augustin and other members of the Comite Artisanal Haitien at Ten Thousand Villages.

Even more than a man, a good barstool is hard to find, especially one that is made with sustainable materials and looks good enough to pull up to your green kitchen counter or bar.

Enter Girari Sustainable Furniture, a company with a foundry and showroom in L.A. which is reproducing architectural designs the new fashioned way: using recycled materials.

Among the patterns used is the famed Seventies Tractor Stool,  designed by the company’s founder Eyreick Williamson. Along with the other counter and barstools, it emerges as classic heavy metal  with a new green edge. The finishes are really beautiful, as well, polished in a variety of ways from silky brushed satin to highly polished mirror or hammered stone.

I love the fact that the aluminum had a former life – when you know how energy-intensive virgin aluminum production is, it’s essential to only by the recycled and reused form of the metal. As the company puts it: “The stunning, sophisticated chair your friends are admiring is comprised of metal that might have supported the landing gear on a Boeing 727.”

Hey, when something this hot is recycled, it’s first class seating all the way.

Girari, which sells its line in the U.S. as well as in Milan and Tokyo, also produces fiberglass stools and chairs which are not technically green – but they can at least be recycled into other fiberglass products. (Some fiberglass models do have the recycled aluminum bases.)

Have you ever wondered what happened to all of those shiny gold and silver subway tokens that used to jingle in your grandpa’s pocket? The folks at tokens-coins.com have saved them from the abyss (and landfills) creating cuff links, key rings, jewelry and money clips.

Choose from such cities as New York, San Diego, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Buffalo, Washington DC.,Honolulu , San Francisco, Indianapolis, San Francisco (Market Street Railway), and Trenton. Each should come with its own authenticity card.

Find them at Cuffart.com, Wall Street Creations, and Fahrney’s. And do your homework, as prices really do vary!

I recently viewed my cousin’s remodeled kitchen in L.A. and was struck by the beauty of her recycled aluminum tile backsplash. It’s so clean and works well in the traditional room, adding a touch of modern simplicity.

Liz was a bit tight-lipped about revealing her sources so I went searching and found the same material at Eco Friendly Flooring in Madison, Wisc. The metal mosaics mix really well with sustainable bamboo cabinets and other woods and are available in sizes from 2"x2" up to "12x"12" and in three finishes (polished, matte and sandblasted). At $35 per square foot they’re a good choice for homeowners unsure about how to accent counter tops and walls.

Check out the site and order samples online to see if the finishes work with your decor. The company with a commitment to sustainable flooring and tile ships nationwide. 

If there could be an Olympics for innovating green furniture, Joe Dillon might get the gold for his steel creations that fall into the category of industrial green chic. Scrap has always been useful to Americans (it fed many families during the Depression) and now Dillon shows how to cash in on this valuable resource for sustainable, functional decor. 

Working in his home lab is sort of like a game for the Rosemont, Pa. artist, who has won recognition for his rocket projectile sculpture forged of scrap tubing located at yards in Reading. Now, he has turned his focus to hyrdronic furniture (it radiates heat from water flowing inside), which is showcased in a Philladelphia Inquirer article highlighting the energy savings of his unconventional drain storms.

For example, the water conduit in his bathroom isn’t a sink. Instead, the water runs off a stainless steel counter top into a floor drain. Dillon admits it looks slightly "unfinished" but he feels that is part of the allure of his engineering concepts. "Americans are used to flipping a switch and having air conditioning turn on but it costs money and energy to have that luxury," he says.

Dillon broke his neck diving into shallow water at age 21 and the accident apparently limited his mobility and led him on the path to sculpture and design – prior to that he was fixing up cars. His other objects for the home include a hot seat of salvaged steel conveyor belts with radiant heat that flows through the frame and an expansive solar metal counter top made of steel.

While Dillon has yet to produce a line for consumers, he inspires us to think on our heat, and question how we can change our surroundings with more heavy metal and less jazz.

Images: tanakawho, Philladelphia Inquirer

Hanging a set of three, orb-shaped ceiling pendants makes a great statement in the entryway or other vignette, but the challenge is how to buy several of the fixtures without putting your green decor budget in the red.

I remember shopping for a set for a client and looking at DWR’s stunning Coral, Kina and Koura lights which hang together beautifully if you don’t mind spending around $4500. I do and so does the client.

You can achieve the same delicate lattice allure with the recyled metal globes at Viva Terra, which come in three sizes and combined have a price tag of around $900. The interlaced metal bands have a pretty patina which warms a space while emitting diffused ambient light through the interlaced metal bands. Best of all, they are eclectic enough to adapt to both modern and traditional settings.

Oh, and don’t forget the CFL bulbs!