Sierra Club Green Home

NORTHERN LAOS — High in the isolated mountains of northern Laos lives an ancient tribe called the Khmu. Their culture is being preserved through Khmu women artisans who handcraft what could be considered the Earth’s Greenest Bag. (Photo courtesy of NatureBay.org)

Businesses that are completely conscious of the earth, creator, and consumer are not as hard to find as many think. A host of Web sites and boutiques offer vegan, organic, and fair-trade products. Where you spend your money can speak about what you support. (Photo courtesy of 31 Bits.com)

SAN FRANCISCO — Waste management company Recology just introduced an innovative way to repurpose employees’ old work uniforms. Together with SFMade and Debi Fong of UPsicle, Recology took uniforms worn by its waste collection drivers and used them to create fashionable tote bags. The workers’ uniforms are symbolic of the movement to repurpose, recycle, and reduce waste, making them perfect for fashionable upcycling. (Photo courtesy of Recology.com)

If half of kids swapped costumes instead of purchasing new ones every year, it would reduce landfill waste by 6,250 tons, according to GreenHalloween.org. Saturday, October 8, is National Costume Swap Day. Find the nearest swap party. (Photo courtesy of Green Halloween)

Bed bugs have become a reality in such diverse places as luxury hotels, well-known department stores, and in many homes. There is a proven, natural remedy using cedar as a natural pest deterrent.

Come winter season, many people start shopping for clothes that will keep them toasty warm. To avoid that winter chill this holiday season, spend your dollars on affordable, sustainable clothing while saving energy. Follow these tips to learn how to be a greenie, even under the snow fall.

The kind of clothes you wear can make a surprisingly big environmental difference. Growing cotton uses almost 25% of all insecticides applied worldwide. Those pesticides can sicken field workers and contaminate the environment. Then there are the chemicals used to bleach, dye, and finish the fabric, and the water and energy consumed to grow, harvest, manufacture, and transport the clothing.

The Sierra Club, Top Designers and Stars Joined Forces to Prove Environmentalism is Fashionable during New York’s Fashion Week. Don’t miss the video!