Who says the pantry has to be a catch-all black hole for prolonging that shelf life? That’s what high school lockers are for!

It’s time to take stock in our most commonly used household storage nook, and make it as inviting as a vintage general store (with a modern green twist, of course).

Open pantries offer easy access for the organic gardener and cook, but also should look tidy since they are exposed to your visitors. Mine is en route to the powder room. Yep, that’s country life.

I find it’s easy to arrange a cool display of dry goods, serving dishes and other odds and ends containing them in boxes, baskets and jars. Not an organizer? Just read Catherine Pond’s The Pantry, chronicling the history of keeping every can and tin in its place.

I have staged many pantries of  homes, finding prospective buyers are sold on nicely organized utility spaces, especially when they also reflect some style with a pop of color, especially red. Yes, panache even extends to the shelves of rice and cereal.

Here are some ideas for ordering and celebrating your own healthy green pantry:

First, sort by category: If you haven’t done so already, clean and designate shelves for categories, i.e. stack tea and cereal boxes side by side on one shelf, canned goods on another, bulk items like rice, pasta and beans on another. Make sure the opened items remaining in original packages are well sealed to preserve them. I use painter’s tape to reseal cardboard boxes to keep items fresh.

Reuse glass mason jars: Mason jars from pasta sauce, jams and other goods are great to reuse for storing and displaying dry goods from quinoa and baking ingredients to various herbs and spices. I love reusing an array of food jars in my pantry because they look cool and help extend the shelf life of the dry goods.

Reuse plastic take-out containers: If you are stuck with plastic, spare the landfill and clean out some of the small containers to store items. Below, they work well when reused for cake decorating sprinkles and beans.

Store packaged items in boxes: You can recycle your old shoe or gift boxes or locate eco-friendly storage to place on the shelves along with the jars and cans. Boxes, especially those with fun patterns from the Container Store and other organizing outlets, add flair even when the cupboard is bare.

Canisters add flavor: Mix in canisters (an easy second hand store or garage sale find) to hold organic flour, raw sugar, baking soda and other items you use for baking those healthy treats every day after work (yeah, right). I have a collection of canisters given as gifts or found in various towns. I love how they look in an open pantry, especially red ones like these from Amazon. These are also great for animal kibble which you might want to buy in bulk to avoid the large paper bags.

Stackers for shelving help you squeeze more in and add depth: Locate metal stacking shelves, like this one from Oraganizeit, to lift and separate cans and other packages. These work really well in both small and large pantry nooks.

Baskets add charm and warmth: Good natural fiber storage, like these water hyacinth nesting baskets from Cultural Elements, work well for onions, potatoes and other perishables, especially in an enclosed pantry. These fresh foods tend to last best in darkness and under wraps. Baskets are great for all loose food items and add that creature comfort organic appeal.

Design tip: Remember, even if your pantry consists of one cupboard in your apartment kitchen, you can still make it look fun and appealing – you might even hang cups on hooks inside.

For me and many of you, ordering clutter reduces stress. When I don’t have to spend an hour searching for taco mix, I don’t scream as much on taco night. Can a neat pantry save on therapy? Try it and see.

Images: The Book Depository, Container Store, Stevie Rocco, La Fattina, Container Store, la fattina, Organizit

My memories of high school are not what you’d call nostalgic. In fact, you couldn’t bribe me with eco-gifts and organic treats to return and relive the nonsense of it all. Despite the oodles of teen angst, I did manage to graduate with a strong B average while spending most of my time playing sports or hanging out at my locker.

Which brings me to today’s cool, clever décor object of desire. The Basket Locker is made of four found and refurbished locker baskets, colorfully painted and placed in a solid, steel frame. It measures 14” L x 26.5” W x 26.5” H and would be perfect for the playroom or a kid’s bedroom, or even a home office or studio.

Find it at Uncommon Goods for $550. I see a spot for it here, across from my vintage drafting table – both have steel frames and a rough, vintage feel.

I’m not a parent”¦yet, but I am an aunt and at times I can still act like a kid, which is why I know the importance of snack time. No one in their right mind should ever consider messing with snack time.

A crucial part of any kid’s day, not to mention a necessary distraction so mom and dad can take a breath, snack time rules. I never outgrew my love for snacks and now there’s a fun, eco and safe way to share them with my niece and nephew.

The Snack Ball is exactly what it claims, a ball full of snacks. It’s just one of the innovative and safe products created for parents by Boon Inc. Totally free of BpAs, phthalates and PVC, it was designed and manufactured following strict quality and safety standards. Boon is committed to help make our planet a better one for kids today and future generations. (Read more about how they do this here.)

A sphere-shaped hard plastic container with a snap lid, it holds anything from Cheerios to cheese. Great for travel or anytime, the Snack Ball is ultra green – imagine the number of plastic baggies you’ll avoid by giving your kids one of these? And at $6.49 each, the Snack Ball just makes green sense.

Boon also donates 10% of its profits to help underprivileged kids around the world. One more reason to give your kids the Snack Ball.

How far are you willing to go in your pursuit of green?

For some environmentalists, it’s become a badge of honor to live without a fridge. It might be the ultimate convenience invention of the twentieth century, but the fridge accounts for about a fifth of domestic energy consumption.

Fridge-forgoing environmentalists believe they are making significant reductions to their electricity consumption by turning the fridge off and, depending on their needs, perhaps using a combination of a small freezer and a cool box instead. Many of the anti-fridge advocates live in cold climates such as Canada and the northern U.S., so food spoilage is less of an issue and they can even store things outside in winter.

Other environmentalists disagree, pointing out that the electricity consumption is not that great if you have a new, energy-efficient model and buy your power from renewable sources rather than dirty coal-fired plants. They also point out that you might end up wasting food if you can’t keep your perishables or leftovers cold and mold and bacteria-free.

I lived without a fridge for three months when working on a volunteer project in Costa Rica in the late 1990s, so I have some concept of how this would work, even in a warm climate.

In my experience it would require a pretty different lifestyle from what most Westerners are used to and for most people, the adjustment would be too great. We ate virtually nothing but black beans and rice and store-cupboard staples like peanut butter and canned tuna (which has sustainability issues of its own but I didn’t know that at the time, except to check if it was dolphin-safe). We had to boil the black beans for a certain amount of time to kill any bacteria and we had to throw away any uneaten rice (we composted it but it’s still wasteful). We had very few fresh vegetables and the only fruit was grown locally – mainly oranges and sweet lemons.

I’m sure if you gave up your fridge, you could eat something more closely resembling your usual diet but I’m equally sure it would require changes to the way you shop and eat. Some of those changes might be positive for the environment but I’m not sure that all of them would.

Let’s take me as an example. I love to cook and I buy the bulk of my food from an organic vegetable box scheme that delivers weekly to my flat in London. If I didn’t have a fridge I would not be able to buy fresh vegetables from the box scheme because they would not last a week. There are no farmers’ markets or health food stores near my house so instead I would have to buy conventionally grown, plastic-wrapped vegetables in small quantities from the supermarket every two or three days.

Equally, I could not buy anything else that requires refrigeration such as tofu or bread (we don’t eat a lot of bread in our house and the preservative-free organic variety tends to go moldy after a few days unless I store it in the fridge) and I wouldn’t know what to do with leftovers.

That’s before I even get to the more environmentally contentious foods such as meat, dairy and eggs. So I’m not sure it would be a net gain for the environment.

I’m also curious about the electricity consumption of a freezer versus a fridge. I don’t have a stand-alone freezer and if I had to choose between the two, I would say a fridge was more useful than a freezer. I’m interested to know what you think.

Meanwhile, you could check out this very clever piece of low technology – a “fridge” that runs without electricity, using pots of wet sand. It’s a particularly elegant solution for parts of the world that don’t have electricity or have an unreliable electricity supply (there’s little worse than having your food spoil because of a black-out).

But there’s no reason it wouldn’t work anywhere in the world so if anyone fancies a little DIY experiment I’d be fascinated to know how you get on.

If you are wedded to your fridge, there are a few simple steps you can take to reduce the energy impact.

If you are running an old fridge, it’s worth upgrading to a new energy-efficient model if you can afford to do so – see this ethical shopping guide for advice. You’ll be saving money on your electricity bills so it should pay for itself. If your current fridge is very old, you may even be able to find a second-hand one with better energy ratings through services such as Craigslist or Gumtree, auction sites such as eBay or secondhand dealers.

Unless you have a very large family, don’t go for an enormous fridge. American fridges tend to be bigger than anywhere else in the world but they don’t need to be so big. The bigger the fridge the more energy it needs to keep cool.

Green your electricity – make sure the revenue from your power bills helps fund investments in renewable energy.

Look into gadgets such as the eCube, which are designed to cut the energy consumption of a fridge by insulating the heat sensor so it doesn’t work too hard when the door is opened.

Remember that your choices about what you put into the fridge have an even bigger impact on the environment than the fridge itself. Also, just because you have a fridge doesn’t mean that food will keep indefinitely – plan wisely to reduce food waste.

Image: Matt McGee

How cheery and inviting is this?

Over the years, I’ve modified the mental picture of my fantasy home numerous times, but one detail has never changed. Since I’m a total bookworm, I’ve always imagined cuddling up with my favorite characters in front of a big bay window on a cozy built-in seat with throw pillows galore. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to occupy a living space with the one feature that I want most. With the beautiful Barcelona storage bench, I don’t have to call the carpenter (and pay a small fortune) to make this dream come true. Plus, this functional piece comes equipped with spacious drawers to stash your books and magazines when other duties call. I love how bright and cheerful it is – stripes manage to be trendy, modern and enduring all at once. (Available at VivaTerra for $398.)

It’s always a great idea to bring lots of accessories on a trip, right?

After all, sometimes the poor clothing choices we made need help. And who knew it would be 40 degrees in Dallas the day you got there? By accessorizing with a great ring, necklace or pair of earrings you can whip that travel wardrobe right into shape and reuse the one pair of emergency jeans you brought without notice.

But, if you’re anything like me, you toss those accessories in little plastic bags and by the time you unpack, your baubles look like voodoo in a bag, hard to decipher and frustrating to undo. Not to mention, who wants to pull their pretty baubles out of a plastic bag?

Enter (trumpet please) Aster and Sage’s jewelry envelopes.

Made of 100% recycled polyester and soda bottles with recycled sensuede appliqués, the Elizabeth envelope has felt panels inside for securing earrings, small inside pockets, and a separate larger compartment for putting in your bangles.

So, as you step out into day three of 40-degree weather in Dallas (wearing the one pair of jeans), you’ll at least be relieved that you brought so much jewelry. More pants may have been better, though.

]]> http://www.ecosalon.com/jewelry-envelopes/feed/ 5 http://www.ecosalon.com/floppy-storage-youll-flip-over/ http://www.ecosalon.com/floppy-storage-youll-flip-over/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:00:00 +0000 Luanne Bradley http://www.ecosalon.com/?p=6222

Meet the rubber beach slip-on that became an urban fashion staple: The Flip Flop.

So popular are these rubber thongs, you’ll find barrels full at your favorite boutiques in mod patterns, as well as more sensible Eco versions for the camping set.  College kids (male and female) ride bikes to school in them and teens pair them with dresses..even on winter days. They offer zero support but there is no taking back the craze. The good news is you can store your pile over your closet door, thanks to Organize.

This Bamboo Flip Flop Rack by Jokari® is an over-the-door organizer made from fiber friendly bamboo and can house up to 12 pairs of your favorite zories. The rack comes with two metal hooks on top that mount right over the door and a third hook at the bottom that is attached to an elastic strip to accomodate door height. It fits over any standard size door, and actually looks pretty cool. Since they’re in plain view, you’ll never forget to grab a pair en route to your next pedicure!

I interrupt your web surfing for some breaking news. Fresh off the press, I bring you a fad so hot the ink’s hardly dried: decor crafted from recycled publications. You readers – and everyone else in the world of style – can’t seem to get enough. Print media may be in a world of hurt, but at least there’s a use for all those unused rags.

We love the Recycled Magazine Rectangle wall mirror from Modern Furniture. Pretty useful, don’t you think?

For the worldly-wise, discarded magazines from across the globe are transformed into the vibrantly unique Rolled Magazine storage crate from our green sponsor VivaTerra, perfect for stashing shoes, blankets or even new issues of the very publications it’s made from.

And when you sit down in the morning to read the daily paper over coffee, you can rest your mug on headlines of the past with the Twisted Recycled Newspaper table runner (not shown) from World Market.

I remember my mother telling me that when my older siblings were little ones, she’d gift them their own toys or clothes for Christmas. “I’d just wrap them up as presents and they didn’t even know the difference,” she recalled. “They were delighted to open something new.”

It may be challening to get away with that sort of deceptive frugality these days: kids are sharper. But we can still find a treasure chest of reusable everyday objects in our cabinets and drawers. If the goal is to recondition society’s throw-away behavior, then it’s a sin to toss in the bin what can be born again.

Here are a few common items with a longer shelf life:

Glass Mason Jars

After you enjoy the pasta sauce, clean the jar and lid and use to store food, such as berries, or corn for popping. Vanessa tipped us off to how to keep strawberries fresh longer by storing unwashed ones in the very jars your grandma used for pickles and preserves. The old Ball glass is also handy for shaking your homemade balsamic vinegrette salad dressing. Make your own scented candles housed in the jars as gifts. Use for sipping ice tea (or moonshine) in the summer.

Shoe Boxes

Don’t dispose of these useful cardboard boxes until they have been reused. Just last night we filled several with homemade cupcakes for the school bake sale. My kids often use them to make dioramas (mini three-dimensional worlds or landscapes in a box) to accompany book reports. Or, just use them as intended, to house and label “important” shoes, such as your wedding or ballet slippers. You can also make great creative use of paper rolls.

Worn out towels, sheets, and undershirts

I used to love sorting through my mom’s rag box to find the best fabrics among the heap to sew doll clothes. Worn out and torn towels and sheets and holy cotton underware can be born again as excellent rags for cleaning, while letting you spare the so-called handy wipes marketed for this purpose. Use them, wash them, reuse them. It’s rare that something becomes too tired to be used as a rag.

Computer paper

The paper you print out for work has a flip side that can should be used as scrap paper for notes, memos and even artwork. It’s fun when my kids etch off a masterpiece with crayons or markers, and the back contains an old travel itinerary. Reuse this paper for your grocery lists, to write directions (not all cars have navigation systems) or for anything useful.

Paper Bags

Sure, we aim to tote reusable shopping and lunch sacks, but sometimes we end up with the paper (Noah’s bagels, party gifts, medication). I’ve given up trying to get one of my daughters to take charge of her own reusable lunch sack, so I reuse bags that I save from various stores. Fortunately, they have a recycle bin at her school for kids bringing paper.  The paper sacks also can  be helpful for making book covers or storing and preserving onions and potatoes in your kitchen cabinet or drawer. And it goes without saying that gift bags given to you or your children should always be recycled when you give a gift.

Leftover Building Materials

If you’ve recently finished a remodeling job, put on your carpenter’s hat and use remaining wood scarps to build a dog house, mailbox, window boxes or a bird house. You can also donate to Habitat for Humanity, which benefits from your doors, windows and other rmaterials for its construction projects.

Egg Cartons

Many schools are scrambling to get their hands on these cartons for school projects, including eco tasks such as planting spring seedlings.  Since the cartons (cardboard or styrofoam) contain natural dividers, they are a natural for separating your beads and paints or even valuables and jewlery housed in your dresser drawers.

Bananas

Yes, we have no ripe bananas. Who does? They go bad faster than a blind date with a guy who forgot his wallet. Luckily for us, rotting bananas make good banana bread and smoothies. There are so many ways to rescue brown bananas: in pancakes, muffins, you name it. With so many benefits derived from this nutritional, tropical fruit, you don’t need to reach for the compost bin just cause they are looking ugly. They can still do your body and recipes good.

Holiday Greeting Cards


Many cards are too lovely to trash them after an occasion. We string ours up on a fisherman’s wire cord in the dining room for display. If you saved last year’s greetings, reuse the cover for this year’s gift tags or to decorate a gift box. We’re always hunting down bookmarks at out house and the cover of a cute card works great.

Outdated Yellow Pages and Phone Books

They replace these massive directories every year (and also will collect them for you for recycling). Before getting rid of the old ones, cut out pages you rely on: the Chinese take-out, beauty salon, zip codes guides for mailing, helpful maps, environmental services. Put it all in a folder and create a micro version for your car or downstairs office. If you’re really feeling motivated, enter the numbers into your PDA or mobile phone, and recycle the paper.

Get more green gift ideas.

Image: Scott Feldstein

There’s nothing more fetching than a ruggedly handsome man in a little tartan kilt. The original 007, Sean Connery, is a grand example. Great Scot! May I fasten that giant safety pin for you, Mr. Bond?

I’m personally mad about plaid, probably because I wore so many wool jumpers as a young lass. Home design, too, is pointed towards Great Glen as the patterns we adore take the high road. Here’s a peak:

Nomad Cube from the eco-furniture collection at Crate and Barrel, $199, available in orange, green and gold colorways. Great for propping your feet or for storing your bagpipes.

   
An assortment of plaid rugs from Tuvalu Home, $28 to $195, sizes go up to 6″x9″. Use to warm up the study.

Snuggle up to Track’s Plaid Blanket (shown at top) found at Branch Home, a contemporary play on plaid with a modern orange grid on white; and it also comes in an optional black weave, $498.

Dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair on this cozy 100% wool plaid pillow from Urban Outfitters, $38. Freestyle Plaid cotton sheeting from Pottery Barn is Oeko-Tex approved, $28 to $119. More mellow, the Coyuchi Birch cotton plaid weave sham and duvet, $25 to $300, at Dax Stores.

It’s time for tea and shorbread bisquits. Serve it all in this assortment of Scottish-inspired colletible vintage china from Railey Creek Collectibles. Includes:

Normany Plaid Sugar Bowl

Blair’s Pottery Gay Plaid plate and mug

Vernons Killns China plaid yellow and brown plate and mug

Vintage yellow plaid floral napkins to cheer up your table, $52, at Rickrack.

For the shoe-free green home, let little ones pad around in these adorable plaid Weebit slippers from Ecowise. $25. They’re so sweet, I’d even use them as a prop!