My kids always had little booties like this when they were little. In fact, my youngest still wears a similar pair except hers are leather. These booties are called Isabooties and are completely animal free!! This is a huge benefit for people leading the vegan or vegetarian lifestyle which has many environmental benefits. Pediatricians have long been recommending soft soled shoes such as these for new walkers.

Parents know that kids often slip on surfaces like tile or hardwood and little ones need grippers of some kind on their feet to avoid wiping out constantly. These shoes have a material called ToughTek on the bottoms that is the same as used in climbing equipment and rescue dog booties. It really prevents lots of bruises and tears and is machine washable and dryable!

Instead of using leather, these shoes use Ultrasuede which has some definite advantages over leather. First of all, and most obvious, no animals are harmed! They are 100% animal free. Ultrasuede can also be machine washed and dried without losing it's shape. The comparable leather shoes claim to be machine washable but end up coming out balled up and worn out. Parents know how often kids stuff needs to be washed so it's important for both budgets and the overfilling landfills that the product does not wear out quickly. Lastly, ultrasuede is a very breathable and comfortable fabric that won't make your little ones tootsies sweatier (and stinkier) than they already are!

This company uses recycled materials in their packaging with soy based inks. They are American made, formaldehyde free and use non-toxic dyes. Chemicals may not seem to be of much importance in a shoe. However, kids put everything in their mouth -- including their feet! It's a great idea to have non-toxic shoes as well as the other non-toxic kids products already on the market such as crayons and nail polish.

The only question is where can I get them? Their website has a store locator listing stores in the U.S., Canada, Denmark, France, Holland, Japan, Singapore, etc. etc. You can also buy them online on their site or enter Organic Girl's contest to win a pair for free! Thanks Organic Girl!!!

This creatively designed bookcase was done by Isabel Quiroga.  It showcases how outdated pieces can be modernized with creativity and a desire to make do with what you have.  She's taken a number of outdated tables and drawer units of completely different designs and tied them all together with a common and startlilingly modern colour palate of purple.  The pieces were then cut in half to suit the space that was begging for a dramatic treatment and oodles of storage space.  This treatment not only saves all of these pieces from the landfill, it also fills a unique purpose all of it's own as an extremely functional bookcase with lots of areas to display and arrange whatever you'd like.  I think this project would be a pretty simple DIY that you could easily customize to your own space and style with family and friend's castoffs.  It would surely make them envious and think twice about getting rid of that other outdated furniture they have!

This week's Etsy find repurposes and refurbishes watches of all kinds into some very stunning pieces of jewelry.  The seller -- A Second Time -- has a wide variety of pieces including necklaces, cufflinks, earrings, brooches and tie tacks as well as a selection of watches available for sale.  The pieces of watches that are used in her pieces include the watch face itself, the bezel, the gears and springs inside of the watch.  Pretty much any piece of the watch itself may be found in one of her artistic creations of extremely wearable jewelry for men and women.  I really love how recognizable some of the pieces are as former time pieces.  This kind of repurposing is great because it's like being a walking ad for eco-friendly living.  Everyone sees what the item used to be -- this can lead to a conversation starter or even an inspiration for greener living.

When selecting which pieces of the clock will be used, the artistian ensures that the piece is no longer viable for use as it's intended purpose.  This ensures that only pieces of watches that are "useless" are used to make the jewelry out of.  If the watch is salvageable, it's repaired and available for sale at her shop as well!  This kind of fix or use policy really makes sure that the time pieces are kept out of the garbage and reused in one way or another.  There's a wide variety of styles of pieces available for sale in her shop.  Go and check it out!!

Looking for a way to divide up your room without using beaded curtains or stacked up beer cans??  I've seen both done and let me tell you, not good.  Check out the Circle Wall design by the Ben Blanc Studio.  The clever use of repetitive circles in recycled cardboard can create visual boundaries in an array of room configurations.  You can make the wall any size as each piece fits into the next.  Looking for a temporary solution??  That's cool too because you can fold up the wall for easy storage.  Also, because it's assembled without any glue, it's easily recyclable when it's reached the end of it's life!  This is a great eco-friendly design that uses no chemicals or adhesives to provide a second life to cardboard before it heads to the great big blue bin!

Check out these gorgeous sandals by Ecosandals.  They're a not for profit importer and reseller of these sandals made by the Akala Designs Limited co-operative which runs out of Nairobi, Kenya.  Absolutely no one at eco-sandals earns a salary -- everything is funded and run by volunteers!  All the profits go to support the Korogocho, Kenya development project that is helping members of the community learn new skills.

These sandals are made in shanty towns by people, mostly women, who are forced to live on approximately $1 for their entire families.  Ecosandals are providing much needed employment and skill sets to many while taking tires out of garbage and reselling them.  Only creativity and meticulous artistry could make tires into something so beautiful for so many feet.  The artists are also learning to become internet savy in the process.

Want a pair of your own??  Go to Ecosandals online to buy them or Organic Girl's blog for a chance to win a pair!  You can also donate funds to the cause at ecosandals.  It's definitely a worthy cause where you don't need to worry about your monies being squandered on administrative salaries.

This week's "Hump Day" find is repurposed zippers.  Lots and lots of zippers!  Etsy artisan Amalia Versaci definitely has a love of all things zipper-y and it shows in her work.  She uses every bit of the zipper -- the pull, the metal teeth and the banding that holds the metal teeth together.  She finds vintage zippers -- sometimes as old as the 1930's! -- and creates unique and fabulous work out of them.  Lucky for us, she also sells it on Etsy!

I've never seen jewelry quite like these pieces that are somehow reminiscent of the 80's to me.  Retro 80's styling is definitely "in" again.  The bold, bright colors of the zipper pulls on the necklace especially harken back to days of my youth.  I love how these earrings and necklace don't try to hide their previous use.  Instead, the artist embraces it's past use and makes that the main feature of the piece itself!  Anyone who looked even remotely closely at the jewelry who recognize it immediately.  One common, everyday item turned into a beautiful accessory.

These pieces are also quite affordable as well with the earrings being $14 plus shipping and the necklaces being $36 plus shipping, both in USD.  She's got a huge range of other jewelry available for your perusal on her site as well -- zipper tape earrings and necklaces, earrings and necklaces of pull tabs of every color and design imaginable as well as a variety of bracelets.  She ships to Canada, the US and everywhere else with really pretty reasonable shipping rates as well.  But if you think that jewelry could be the only use for these upcycled zippers, think again!  She also makes some really fantastic jars that are covered in zippers that require more than a passing glance to realize what it's made with.

There's also some fun and colorful magnets which could be used in the office or in the home to hold up the odd bits and pieces of notes, photos or whatever that must be remembered.  I'd definitely recommend stopping by her Etsy store or gallery site to check out the huge range of items that she has available for purchasing.  You could really make some of your loved ones Christmas' a little green-er with her amazing pieces or add some fun flair to your own wardrobe or decor.

All that is needed to make this light fixture is a pickle jar, a light bulb (LED of course!), a wiring kit and something to cut the glass with.  I'll admit that it doesn't look like much of much on it's own but 6 of them hung as pendants over an island really produces a stunning result!  Repetition, especially in groups of threes, goes a long way when decorating.  Three of something  produces the most eye catching result because you are neither trying to go for a "too symmetrical" look by pairing an accessory with a match or by not creating enough of an impact by having a lone type of accessory.  Too many kinds of one thing can be distracting and create more of a hodge podge sort of feel than a calm and serene eco-chic look.

The trick to getting people to become more eco-friendly is to have it be very fashionable to do so as well as economically wise, especially as we are still in the grips of this recession.  Environmental choices should also be affordable choices when the goal is to encourage more people to be making green choices in their day to day lives.  A solution such as these re-purposed pickle jars, or cider jars as seen below, makes green economic sense as well as environmental sense because the cost of buying a similar fixture from the store would be at least three or four times what it would be to do it yourself.

These light fixtures really start to spark creative ideas in the mind as you look in your garbage cans and recycling bins for creative re-use ideas.  Think sexy, chic and economical when repurposing items as well as practical.  It's useless to make an item that you wouldn't use out of another item that you were going to recycle.  Get out there, get creative and get crafting folks!  This economy and world could really do with more people who are "making do" with what they already have.  The trick is making people ask you "Where did you GET that light!!  I love it!".

This picture really caught my eye because of the easily recognizable re-purposed ironing board.  It actually ends up looking like some kind of medical chair or table.  Weird...  It was made by Donna Walker and is ironically called "Irony".  She constructed the chair from a found ironing board, reclaimed MDF, leather pieces and buttons.  The juxtaposition of the feminine and male design features in this chair really come together to make it more than just an environmental piece.  The "femininity" of the ironing board combined with the "masculinity" of a Lazy Boy styling of the traditional recliner give the chair both a yin and a yang.  Wow, I just wrote lazy boy and masculine in the same sentence.  I'm not a sexist, just a realist!  Kidding.  When I mention the gender issues in regards to the chair, I'm not only quoting the designer but harkening back to traditional gender roles from days gone by (mostly).  Anyways, this is a really neat piece that shows what creativity can do to our junk piles.  Great work!

I'll be the first to admit that air conditioning and eco-friendly are not two terms that go hand in hand.  Air conditioning in cars not only uses chemicals that pollute the environment, it also makes the car consume more gas which is definitely a non-sustainable resource.  Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), once the replacement of choice for ozone-harmful chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigeration and air conditioning systems, have no known effects on the ozone layer, but have been shown to contribute to global warming. Today, HFCs are a specific target of the Kyoto Protocol.  Many new eco-friendly air conditioning systems are under production currently to help alleviate the effects of the HFC's on the planet's climate.

Until these systems are widely available though, we're stuck with the standard AC systems available in our vehicles.  Some summer days require air conditioning in vehicles, especially if you are travelling with children, pets or people who are infirm and cannot handle over heating.  Sometimes air conditioning is a necessity instead of a luxury as overheating can easily cause health problems in some people and pets.  Use your car's air conditioning sparingly and only when absolutely needed.  Try rolling down windows or opening up sunroofs prior to resorting to the automobile's AC system.

Keep your air conditioning system in good shape so that when you do run it, it runs efficiently.  Many of these system maintenances can be done by owners instead of taking them to shops.  Find a part supplier that you can buy quality reconditioned parts from.  For example, if you need to change your Air conditioning compressor, try looking at this website.  It offers quality, warrantied used air conditioning parts that are guaranteed to work.  This keeps used parts out of landfills and increases your own vehicle's air conditioning efficiency.

Another good thing about this website is that it has six different warehouses across the U.S.A. that stock parts.  This means that the parts will not have to travel as far to reach you.  This decreases the overall time that you have until your part arrives and prevents unnecessary waste of unsustainable resources by excess shipping or air shipping.  Oh, and did I mention the shipping is free?  This way you can save money along with the planet!

This is a sponsored post with 100% real opinions.