Have you ever been jealous of a colleague’s business card? Remember the classic scene in American Psycho when a business card with a watermark made Patrick Bateman enraged with jealousy? Well, a simple watermark has nothing on these amazing business cards that act as a house plant. That’s right, you can actually put a small plant in your business card!

Jamie Wieck’s business cards have a small pocket in which you can grow a miniature house plant, alfalfa or watercress. These cards can also be put in water or soil if you’d like your mini plant to continue to grow. Most business cards look the same and are generally not very memorable, but these cards from Another Bloomin’ Designer will be the envy of all of your colleagues and keep you first in mind with your customers, or at least at the top of their business card heap.

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Image: Jamie Wieck via Trendhunter

Is there such a thing as copying nature a little too closely?

You're looking at the remarkable work of Julie Roberts, a designer from the UK. She's hand-fashioned these lampshades from recycled paper and natural textiles, in varying colours and to order. And her inspiration?

Yes, well, there's the rub. Good decor is all about stimulating the imagination, and...this lampshade certainly does that. It screams "recently vacated cocoon", and brings to mind a host of creatures from spiders to Aliens. (Perhaps that's just a guy's perspective). There's no denying its unique beauty, but neither its slightly creepy air - Ecofriend were similarly bemused.

If you want to go for a cocoon-style eco lampshade that won't have you checking under the furniture with your shoe in your hand, try this square lamp from Kwytza Kraft. It's made from recycled chopsticks, in a range that seems inspired by moth cocoons.

Textile & Paper lampshades via ProductDose; image from Pure Design.

If Nature is an artist, she works at a very advanced level. All that asymmetry, scattered tumbling shapes and apparent chaos...but when we stand back, everything clicks into place in a most unconventional way, in patterns almost beyond our comprehension - and suddenly we're staring at breath-catching beauty.

Simone Lourenço really sees this. Her work is an organically complex mix of chaos and order, lines and swirls, the kind you see in plant life. Into the mix she's worked such diverse elements as Indian miniature painting and Japanese flower design.

Intrigued? Her work is currently on exhibition at the Overtones art gallery in Los Angeles, until June 21st - so go and take a closer look. (Just don't forget to stand back as well.)

Image: Simone Lourenço.

There are countless occasions that are worthy of stylish stationery to accompany my thoughts, and I often stress and feel wasteful due to this excess use of precious paper products. The team at Iota believes that a love of written correspondence should not have to be an environmentally careless habit.

With the assistance of a Forest Stewardship Certified printer, the artistically vibrant fold-over note cards that they create are eco-friendly, made from recycled content. With an array of bright, colorful patterns to choose from, your upbeat demeanor is sure to shine through the words you write in these dazzling note cards. (Box of 9 available at Iota for $6.50.)

Even as a small child, Eleanor saw something special in animals. Fittingly, she named her print business after Dr. Dolittle's two-headed llama, PushMePullYou.  I have fallen for the quail print above. Did you know quails are one of the few animals that mate for life?

Eleanor uses environmentally-friendly cleansers in her printing process and every item she creates comes in a recyclable mailer to keep waste out of landfills. Proving that her commitment to a better world isn't just for the birds, PushMePullYou regularly makes contributions to the World Wildlife Fund and from time to time creates limited-edition prints with all proceeds go towards other charitable foundations, like saving the endangered kakapo (a flightless parrot from New Zealand). Oh My! Individual screen-prints available for $40 each at PushMePullYou Design.

Image: PushMePullYou

Paper, paper on the wall. Who's the coolest of them all? If that paper don't answer back "Alpha Workshops," then it may not know what's hot in the design world.

Alpha Workshops, the original Manhattan-based, non-profit collective of decorative artisans who are HIV-positive, has just introduced The Texture Collection, which adds the illusion of texture to the wall. It follows more than a dozen other patterns that are retro, exotic, blissful and even earthy (see the Oh So Faux wood grain design). I have a soft spot for the Fez design which goes Moroccan chic in such an updated 70s fashion, as well as the fetching Kimono pattern that would be groovy in a kid's room. All of the papers make a dramatic and bold statement and are hand-made using stamping and paint techniques. The company even matches its colors with Benjamin Moore paints, offering to custom your order so you arrive at the perfect tint you are seeking.

Alpha is the brainstorm of Ken Wampler, who wanted to improve the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS. It provides 10-week training courses to people with a wide range of experience. Specialists show the students decorative paint and faux finishes, along with color theory and wallpaper production. The Collective has grown from two employees to a staff of 35 and over $600,000 in income. It all adds up to a brilliant notion that uplifts lives, along with our surroundings.

Being an eco-design blogger means you're constantly on the prowl for imaginative and informative discoveries to blog about, making sure to use clever and brilliant words to describe this discovery you've...discovered. 

If you're like me, always without pen and paper, these impossibly interesting sentences often get stuck in your head with nowhere to go. So, when I spotted fellow blogger Oh Joy's gorgeous line of stationary and notebooks called Nantaka Joy I felt pretty joyous myself. They are made from 40% post consumer kraft paper with sparkling gold metallic foil and are the perfect size for carrying in my tote bag - plus, the scalloped edges give it some feminine appeal. 

Finally, a notebook worthy of my magnificent diction. (Available at Nantaka Joy for $12.75.)

Image: Nantaka Joy

Maybe it’s the way they can make or break a room, like the way the perfect accessory can pull together an outfit. Or maybe the whys don’t matter as much as the facts.

Eco-lighting is front-page news and everyone who’s anyone is making the switch to green. For your viewing pleasure, I’ve gathered a cutting edge list of green lighting fixtures. It’s amazing what designers dream up and build out of life’s scraps, like recycled paper, metal and glass, reclaimed wood and sustainable bamboo. There’s literally an eco-light for every style and occasion.

EcoSalon Guide to Eco Lighting (from top; left to right):

Red, yellow, Go. For the minimalist, there’s the Stoplights line of fixtures from Greenlight Concepts. Details here.

I love the clever Honeycomb Lamp designed by Kouichi Okamoto. Made of Japanese denguri paper, it measures 18” x 12”. This eco-lamp arrives flat-packed. Buy it for $52 at a number of online stores.

The Zooey mini chandelier by Amy Adams is perfect in a kitchen or kid's room. Its four hanging 4” ceramic balls cluster together to create this pendant, available in 7 gorgeous colors for $480. Amy’s ceramic is eco-friendly and manufactured at Perch. Details here.

Blue Marmalade, a Scottish company committed to sustainable design, has created Bloom, a pendant shade made from a single sheet of recyclable material. The simplicity of this design is evident in its graceful shape and light weight. It was made specifically for energy saving bulbs. $70 at TheGreenHaus.

Can cardboard be pretty? Graypants thought so when they designed their Scrap Lights out of recycled cardboard boxes. Each one is unique and hand-made. Details here.

Recycled white paper is used to create the Cloud Lamp Shade, designed by Yu Jordy Fu. Sustainable, simple and feminine, these are a definite favorite of mine. Shipped flat-pack, with an energy saving light bulb, available in five designs. $175-$500 (via productdose).

Benjamin Hubert uses reclaimed Styrofoam for his playful Candy Lamps and Twisted Floor Lamp. Details here. Take my word, Hubert is a hot British designer to watch!

Another minimalist design that offers versatility and allows for a longer product life span (two eco-ideas that we love!) is the LXL Lamp designed by Jaime Salm. The pendant is offered as a set of components that can be inter-changed to make it larger and/or change colors. Made in the U.S. from locally sourced materials. $195 at Mio.

If modern and understated is more your style, try the Nautilus designed by Rebecca Asquith of New Zealand. Details here.

Check out this 2006 Spectacle Chandelier from Stuart Haygarth. It’s made with several layers of plastic-framed spectacles linked together. Call me crazy, but I adore it. The price tag? You guessed it - available upon request.

The Chandelirium by ARTae (Aaron R. Thomas and Anne Ewen). Each pendant is hand-made of reclaimed clear and white acrylic strips and measures approximate 30” H x 20” W (or commission a specific size). It is available for a hefty $2,950 at artc, but what an impact it would make in a high-ceilinged living room!

What to do with Grandma’s out-of-date teacups? Domestic Construction made a chandelier (Ted Lights) out of theirs - I adore the cluster version. At fist it seemed too kitschy but it definitely has grown on me (via poppytalk).

Jerry Kott creates “hybrid bottles” out of empty wine bottles that he cuts, frosts and pieces back together again. He then turns them into his re-lights of various sizes, shapes and colors - mystical and organic in nature. Available in three designs, one of which holds an eco-efficient tubular compact fluorescent bulb. $126-$490.

And, because I can't pass up the opportunity to showcase something extraordinary and extravagant, here are my over-the-top picks: 

I’m in deep like with Hudson Furniture’s dining tables and benches, and I must spread the love to their lighting. Any of these Hudson fixtures could light my room and I’d be one eco-happy chica. Breathtaking in beauty as well as in price. Details here.

If all else fails, eco-light your room with illuminated wallpaper. Well, I hope we can, because this concept truly amazes me! Learn more about Jonas Samson’s innovative design.

And finally, what do you think about these cocoon mesh lights by UK artist Julie Roberts? They look awfully difficult to dust, but they are eco - and definitely over the top!

That sums it up - my cutting edge collection of eco-lights. What lights your fire?

I didn’t think it was possible but wallpaper has become huge, as in popular, hip, happenin’ - most likely due to its turning a lovely shade of green (as in eco, eco, eco). It also doesn’t hurt that a few of the ultra cool graphic designers du jour have lent their creative juices to the cause.

To wit, Geoff McFetridge has jumped onto the eco-wallpaper bandwagon and founded his own collection, Pottok. Having already founded a design studio, Champion Graphics, in 1996 while he was art director for Grand Royal Magazine (1995-1997), his career has also segued into motion graphics for TV and movies as well as clothing (for Marc Jacobs) and skateboard design (the Solitary Arts).

Needless to say, McFetridge is all over the place, and I mean that in a good way.

And his wallpaper designs are to die for - visually bold with larger than life graphics that seem to pop off the wall, eager to tell you a story. My favorites - little whales and all of us.

Pottok wallpapers are hand silk-screened locally in Los Angeles using water-based inks on recyclable paper.  A roll is 15 feet (5 yards) long and most designs are 27 inches wide. Available at $120 each. See his designs or shop - in person at WalnutWallpaper or online at PottokPrints.

Beat the drums, baby! Uncork the bubbly, unpack the swatches and samples, assemble that impossible modular book shelf.

I finally moved into my new design office, bidding a fond farewell to my basement/laundry room/kids' computer den/office. Every woman needs a room of her own and mine is painted a glorious low-VOC Benjamin Moore Puritan Gray and resides far away from the hum of the worn out Maytag dryer. So what if there's a kooky child's therapist at the end of the hall whom the other tenants fear? My fabric rolls are no longer scattered about the house and I'm ready to rock...and write!

But first, the paper chase. I had to create new file system and go hunting for good, green paper goods that would not only reflect my designer's eye but my ongoing greening, which includes my connection to EcoSalon. Many of my old office items were in need of replacement, and here are my delightful eco finds:

First stop was See Jane Work. If you are drawn to amazing papers like me, you will go crazy at this site (the flagship store is located in Thousand Oaks, CA). My favorite picks in the Eco-Friendly Office collection are the clipboards made from painted, recycled wood, featuring a houndstooth covered notepad and pencil on a satin ribbon.

I also chose the Flora Spiral Notebook by artist Sara Blette. These cheerful pads from her New Growth Studio are produced by hand with images inspired by her garden.

Hang on: Coffee break in new office. Oh, how the gray goes so well with my white coffee mug!

At Red Stamp, I found the most chic file folders around, I'm talking the kind with sweet birds or Paris maps or brown veneer motifs, the kind that actually make it pleasant to do the most painful office chore of all: Filing your clutter. They even sell Thomas Paul file folders which are just as delightful as Paul's cameo pillows and wall art. I think I'll leave these around just so clients can see how talented I am at selecting folders.

As you can see, I have the paper chase underway. Much of the furniture is gently used, such as the sleek secondhand IKEA desk I picked up for a song. Now, a sofa. Those coffee breaks and naps are murder on a task chair. Let's take a meeting to talk furniture soon. The office is closed.