It may not be easy being green, but being green just got really easy on the eyes. These single-use plates and bowls from WASARA are beautiful and totally sustainable. Talk about fancying up the average summer BBQ.

Via Readymade

Trees are usually the subjects of art, not the artists. But, apparently they aren’t half bad at the whole thing. Tim Knowles gave a few trees and plants pens (well, attached pens to their branches and leaves) and let them draw with the wind, so to speak. Their moving branches create some really attractive designs.

Via Buzzfeed.

This air purifier looks like something from Star Trek, but apparently you can pick one up at your local Home Depot. It uses the plant’s natural ability to absorb pollutants to clean the air in your home. Seems like a big task for such a little plant.

This vertical garden doesn’t just grow herbs, it also composts food scraps with a little earthworm farm and, when mixed with water, creates liquid fertilizer that helps the plants grow.

These lids are specially designed to make your old tin cans into useful household accessories. What a perfect way to reuse all of those pumpkin and green-bean cans this season. Not to mention, the perfect gift for your favorite recycler.

Finally, a green shopping bag with a sense of humor.

I live in a drought-prone area where the city has a pretty aggressive campaign targeted at saving water. I’ve often heard of people setting out rain barrels to catch water for their gardens, but the ones I have seen are always huge an hard to manage.

But, this vintage-style Rain Collector comes with a spigot and matching watering can. I think I could handle that.

I’ve been using old, black Steve Madden cloth shopping bags as reusable grocery bags for too long. And while I deeply appreciate Steve Madden’s dedication to the environment (and fantastic shoes), it’s time to get something that doesn’t embarass me in public. I’ve thought about picking up a few bags at Target, but this limited edition Houses Gallery Bag from CB2 is so much cuter. Plus, a percentage of the sale of each bag goes to benefit Creativity Explored, a nonprofit San Francisco visual arts center for artists with developemental disabilities.

I love the sky-line print on this Zip Code pillow from CB2. I also love the fact that it’s made from reclaimed wool, which is technically just recycled wool fiber but I like to imagine means that some sheep had it’s coat repossessed.

I don’t know about where you live, but today was the first day back to school in my neighborhood. Incidentally, it was also the day our local school district did away with deep-fried school lunches. Forever. That means no more cheese sticks on Thursdays - my personal school week highlight. So I’m guessing that with the extra focus on health, a lot of moms will be packing sack lunches. And that means lots of snacks and sandwiches in plastic baggies that end up in the trash.

But, that doesn’t have to be the case. There are several companies out there making organic, reusable snack and sandwich bags in a multitude of designs. My favorites are these retro designs from Graze, which even include a bag labeled “surprise.” Read more about them here.