Rant aside, they’re not doing anything that all the other companies aren’t plus this company is affordable so on with the show.

Swell Foop makes 100% organic tees and tanks for women, mens tees, tees for toddlers, and baby onesies. The designs are simply and feature endangered animals, but not in an obnoxious way. There are many color choices and prices are affordable. The company also donates 10% of proceeds to environmental causes. I LOVE the cute elephant onesie above.

Check out Swell Foop if you’re looking for some good basic organic pieces.

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What you can win:

One reader will win a spooky set of 10 “Halloween Crow” postcards (shown above) AND a sweet limited edition “Pommebirds” print (shown below). The 10 postcards are 4×6 chipboard kraft 103lb thick, with soy based ink and the lovely print is a letterpress limited edition (one of just 300 prints); 8.5×11 acid free archival Stonehenge printmaking paper and soy ink (frame and matte not include). This is an amazing prize and arrives just in time to perk up your autumn.

How to enter:

Since we’re giving away some Halloween goodies, leave a comment on this post telling me how your family are planning to celebrate a green Halloween this year (no it’s not too early to plan!). Are you handing out Fair Trade treats? Making recycled costumes? What? Let me know. IF your family does not celebrate Halloween, that’s cool too. Instead tell me one thing your family is doing to green your life this fall.

RULES:

1. If you don’t follow the ONE how to enter rule above I’ll delete your comment. Comments that say, “Hey, enter me” will be disqualified.
2. Anyone with a mailing address in the U.S. can enter. Sorry, no international or Canadian entries on this giveaway.
3. Comment entries must be posted by September 11, 2009 – midnight my time (west coast).

I’ll randomly draw one winner on Sept 12th, post the winner here, and send the winner an email with more details.

Good luck!

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About INK + WIT:

The company was founded by artist Tara Hogan who also does all the illustration and design for INK+WIT’s lovely products. Her visions and pieces are beautiful and often nature based which I like. About her perspective, Hogan says, “I have a loving appreciation for nature’s intricate beauty combined with modern urban style. I see the world as organic and bright.”

INK + WIT products:

The INK + WIT collection consists of calendars, children’s prints and posters, letterpress note-cards, wedding invites, children’s invites, tea towels, postcards, and more. Hogan even recently partnered with BabyBe Organic Baby Clothing for a line of adorable organic clothing. See a gallery below of some awesome INK + WIT products.

What makes INK + WIT eco-friendly?

• The company letterpress and offset print in all of their paper products.
• 100% cotton paper made from tree free fibers along with 100% post consumer recycled paper is used.
• Ink is soy and water based.

All of Tara Hogan’s designs are beautiful, whimsical, sweet, or all of the above as you can see in the gallery below.

Coming up an amazing giveaway from INK + WIT that you won’t want to miss so stay tuned.

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Julie’s daughter is autistic and she created the site because as she notes, “Too many people stare when kids on the spectrum act up, but the kids can’t help their actions. So, I thought…there are kids and adults that act ‘bad’ and /can/ help it, why is that ok and why should they think they’re better than the ASD kids? We taught our daughter to say the logo last year.”

I like when people create goods that help people express differences in a more positive way, or in this case, at least a more sort of in your face, I’m ok with myself sort of way. These green goods are are well priced too.

Green goodies:

Women’s, men’s, and kid’s organic t-shirts in 100% organic ring-spun jersey or cotton. Both fitted organic women’s tee and basic organic tees are available.

Sigg reusable water bottle.

Visit Autopia to check out the goods.

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If you’re looking for decent priced green clothes that are new you’re more limited, because one, eco-friendly clothing can be more costly but consider that you want your kids in healthy clothes. Also, as noted here before green clothing manufactures seem to think people are either age birth to five or teen to adult. Kids clothes of the greener kind are WAY harder to find, but you do have a few options…

Check out normal stores BUT look for the organic label. I’ve found organics in my son’s size (he’s a typical eight year old size) at places like Sears and other department stores. Most of the time these stores don’t make it easy to find the eco-options, but there are often some available.

For actual places to get eco-friendly clothing for kids (older than babies) check out…

Earth Creations has  bunch of tees for kiddos in nice designs (see above) and many are on sale for $10! Yup $10. Nice.

Hanna’s Dream – some insane sales on right now too!

Greenedge kids – lots of stuff even in size 12! Wow.

Sarah Waldo Organics – a bit more $ and girl based, BUT so cute; perfect for a special back to school piece or coat – sizes up to 10 I believe in most pieces.

Organic for Your Kids – UK based but has some older sizes.

Revenge Is… who I’ve reviewed here before now has a really cute kid tee for a good price.

Also see: earth friendly shoes for kids.

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Then the day after tomorrow is you final shot to score some cool teen-girl-friendly organic beauty products from Sparklehearts. Your little miss green teen could win organic glitter body lotion, organic bubble bath, and more, so enter the Sparklehearts giveaway today before time runs out!

Good luck!

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Barley & Birch already has plenty of green points in their favor. In case you missed it, take a look at my general Barley & Birch company review – all their green perks are listed.

PRODUCT: Barley & Birch sent me an adorable Octi tee in size 2 (see above) to review. This tee is made with 100% certified organic cotton and printed with water-based, non-toxic ink. It’s also made sweatshop-free.

In the image above and at their website you can’t always see the clothing colors clearly, but this tee, and I’m assuming their other pieces, are a great natural oatmeal shade (unbleached organic cotton is healthier for the planet), and the shades of blues and sea greens really pop out on the tee. In the image below one of the Barley & Birch sweet little models is wearing the shirt (only in a tank) and you can see the colors more clearly.

COST: $24 at eConsciousMarket.com

PRODUCT PROS:

• Tee is super soft for delicate baby skin.
• Tee is tagless, which I prefer in baby clothing, because who needs an itchy baby neck?
• The tee came wrapped in minimal packaging (all recyclable).
• Sizing was good. Most organics run small (that I’ve reviewed) not this one though. It would fit the average size 2 tot.

I tossed it in the wash a few times to see if it kept its shape or shrunk and it didn’t shrink at all. NOTE – I always wash on cold with natural detergent and hang dry. If you machine dry, which I don’t recommend being that it’s not eco-friendly, it may shrink. It may not, but note that I haven’t tried it. There was no colors fading and there were no loose stitches after a few washes.

PRODUCT CONS:

Honestly, I looked hard and couldn’t find ANY cons. Believe me I tried. I hate those happy feel good reviews that seem fake due to no cons, but really, I think this shirt is smack on. It’s well-priced for organics, adorable enough for a tot, but not fussy baby style (i.e. I think parents will love the style too). If I had to go with some cons, I’d say it sucks that their general prices aren’t listed at their website (I had to hunt around online) and I don’t like that they don’t have their own online store. Small potatoes though when you consider some of the REALLY BAD green products we’ve discussed here at THF, plus the company is new, so these issues have time to change.

HAPPY TREE SCORE:

5 out of 5 happy little trees!

I would highly recommend the Barley & Birch clothing line to parents or to folks looking for an eco-friendly baby shower or birthday gift for a tot.

Visit Barley & Birch to see their whole collection and don’t forget to enter our awesome Barley & Birch giveaway so that you can win a Barley & Birch item of your very own!

[images via Barley & Birch]

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This tot above is wearing a sweet tee and pants in Barley & Birch seahorse and fishy. Here’s a close-up:

How would you like to win a piece of Barley & Birch clothing for your little one?! I knew you would… Read on.

BARLEY & BIRCH GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

One lucky Tree Hugging Family reader will win one piece of Barley & Birch clothing. You get to pick the size, style, and design! Barley & Birch clothing makes lap tees, hats, pants, tees, baby onesies, and tanks. Sizes include newborn through size 6.

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post telling me which Barley & Birch piece you’d choose, and who you’d give it to.

THE SAME RULES AS ALWAYS:

1. If you don’t follow the ONE how to enter rule above I’ll delete your comment. Yup, comments that say something lame like, “Hey, enter me” will be deleted.
2. Anyone (minus yours truly) can enter once starting… NOW.
3. Comment entries must be posted by May 10, 2009 – midnight my time (west coast).

I’ll randomly draw a winner on May 11th, post the winner here, and send the winner an email with more details.

Good luck!

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Barley & Birch is a newer green line of clothing for tots, and when I say green, I mean GREEN. Everything this company does they appear to do in an eco-conscious manner. Plus, the clothes themselves are 100% adorable.

Barley & Birch was created with a double goal – one, hipper green garments for kiddos, and two making sure this clothing didn’t leave a negative impact on the planet.

Every single facet of the Barley & Birch line is carbon neutral. Eco-perks of this company include:

• All clothing is made in the U.S. with 100% certified organic cotton.
• Water based inks are used in all clothing.
• They offset emissions created by production and shipping.
• They’re a mostly paper-free company and any paper involved with the line is 100% post-consumer recycled and recycled again after use.
• 10% of company profits are donated to a variety of organizations working all over the world to improve the lives of others.

And check out the cute pieces!…

Barley & Birch offers clothing for babies and toddlers in various styles (see below) and all their designs are original and super fresh.

Cute right!? You can score these eco-friendly pieces at various shops around the country, and online, although, I’m hoping to see a Barley & Birch specific shop soon, which would make snagging these outfits simpler.

BEST OF ALL: If you adore these pieces, there will be a chance to try and win one for your little tree hugger. Details on a great Barley & Birch giveaway are coming up soon. I’ll also be posting a review of one of their items. Stay tuned.

[images via Barley & Birch]

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Basics: The Revenge Is… t-shirts I received were created with plastic bottles! That’s right folks, recycled plastic bottles. On their website, Revenge Is… notes that these shirts are recycled plastic bottles that have been melted down to become a fine yarn which is then blended with organic cotton. They also call their shirts “soft and silky” which is exactly what I would have told someone about them, if they hadn’t said it first. They also offer a 100% organic cotton t-shirts – which are supposed to offer a more relaxed fit; although, I thought the bottle shirts were pretty darn relaxed to begin with.

Packaging: T shirts are wrapped in brown paper made from 100% recycled material; and the ones I received were packed super tight in a tiny box – go them. This is a great way to save space and resources. This company prints on FSC certified paper using soy ink – and when they must use new boxes to ship, they are made from recycled material. Although, they note that “Frequently, your purchase will come in a reused box.”

Design: Simple, no fuss, no muss designs are on these shirts. The t-shirts are available with various text imprinted, each with a socially responsible message -  Taking Back Our Country, Energy Independence (with OPEC X’d out in the lower corner) or Main Street At Work (with Wall Street X’d out in the lower corner). Colors available include black or charcoal. Something nice about the men’s t-shirt fit on a girl (me) is that the shirt was not all boxy, like some guys shirts. It fell nicely, and still looked like me in a shirt vs. me in my boyfriend’s shirt.

Here’s a look at the men’s t-shirt design (both front and back):

And for the ladies there’s a little bit more of a streamlined look going on…

What I think, plus the Revenge Is… happy tree score:

Pros:

I can not believe how soft and smooth these shirts are considering they started as plastic. Seriously, they feel like second skin. I didn’t want to take mine off (eventually I had to shower, but you know).

I love that they’re tagless and I like the simplicity of the design. I got charcoal colored shirts and it’s a great gray color, not too dark or light, just about perfect. I washed one of the shirts about three times to see what happened. As recommended by Revenge Is… I washed on cold and hung the shirt to dry (I would have done that anyhow). There was no shrinking what-so-ever and only the most minor loss of silky soft – but not enough to notice unless like me, you were looking.

Cons: 

• I wish they came in other colors. I’m not a fan of black, and while I like gray, I might be more inclined to purchase a blue or olive colored shirt. I think guys will dig on the color choices, but maybe not girls as much.
• I thought the fit was a little tight on the girl sizes. My size large fit fine and I’m an averaged size girl BUT if I had a bigger tummy or (excuse me – boobs) it would have been a too tight fit. For example, my sis and best friend are um, rather well stacked, and these shirts (in female) would not work out for them I don’t think. The men’s styles were sized well I thought.
• Lastly, I didn’t love how the little logo on the back of the shirt lines right up on your bum. It sort of draws attention to your butt, which I suppose could be a good thing in the proper situation, but not all.

Revenge Is… final score:

Four out of five happy trees. I almost gave them a five just because these are some of the softest most comfortable shirts I’ve ever had on, but because they lack other colors, and because the girl sizes run a wee bit small, I knocked off a point. They did score high enough that I’ll be adding these to my green holiday gift guide. Overall, in spite of minor issues, this is a great shirt, an ethical company, and would make the perfect casual clothing gift for a friend.

P.S. Revenge Is… also offers some pretty cool looking eco-gear, like a HUGE reusable bag and a hybrid mug.

$38 – Revenge Is… t-shirts

+ Revenge Is...

November current events at Tree Hugging Family – themes, reviews, news, and more…

[image via Revenge Is...]

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