Bamboo, The Plant That Keeps Giving

What is biodegradable, renewable, sustainable and green all over? Well bamboo of course! A vital element in our environment, bamboo has been all the rage in the eco world. Now making its way into popular culture, bamboo has found its place in everything from flooring to furniture, tableware to fabrics. But how is bamboo so renewable and sustainable? We dug around to find the answer and will now share with you how bamboo has been “rediscovered”…
Did you know that bamboo can help decrease our carbon footprint and fight global warming? That’s right, the newest addition to the superhero clan… Super Bam. Bamboo powers unite, POW! According to The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), “bamboo is a crucial element in the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A grove of bamboo releases 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees and absorbs four times as much carbon.” Providing more oxygen for you and me, could there be a better super power? I think not.

Bamboo is one of the most sustainable and versatile building materials available today. It’s strong, flexible and completely organic. What other plant can you build a house with, make clothing and textiles with AND eat?! Can’t think of any? We couldn’t either. Being biodegradable, bamboo can easily decompose by sunlight and microorganisms… no landfills required! <– We love that! By being 100% natural, no chemicals are released into the soil while decomposing. Which means a healthier environment for you and me.

Happy trees + happy people = shiny happy people holding hands = ☮ on earth.

Bamboo is an amazing, magnificent resource and luckily we have access to it right at our fingertips. Rapidly renewable, bamboo can restore itself in just 4-5 years and has NO impact on the environment when being harvested and replenished. As the fastest growing plant, “bamboo could provide the answer to deforestation. A bamboo sapling grows to its full potential in four years compared to an Oak that takes 50 years and others that take up to 70 years to reach maturity. Yet, bamboo is said to be as long-lasting and sturdy as Oak” (UNIDO). Requiring less energy to harvest and produce than most lumbers, bamboo’s powers strike again. It can be a substitute for wood, cotton and harmful materials. It can save our forests and it doesn’t need specially treated land to grow – a flexible, non-picky saint. Saving the environment and saving us money, there just isn’t a more perfect match for us eco lovers.

Now you’re wondering, how can I give back and do my part? Luckily for you we have a pretty easy answer that can affect both you and our environment. Answer: invest in bamboo products and textiles. Most linen on the market today is manufactured from non-biodegradable materials and is composed of plastics and chemicals. If you read last week’s blog, Plastic’s Final Voyage, you know how we feel about plastic and how horrible it is for the environment.

We all are picky about the sheets we sleep on, the towels and robes we wrap ourselves in each morning, the thread count and quality of our linens. But did you know that when the life of your linens is over and you retire them for that next beautiful 600 thread-count sheet set, your old linens end up in a landfill, releasing toxins into soils and oceans? We didn’t either, that’s why we’re suggesting substituting your old sheets for new, 100% natural bamboo sheets. Hey, if Pandas can eat bamboo as their daily diet that has to mean that bamboo is pretty darn good for you… just saying.



Organic and unrefined, Pure Fiber bedding, towels and bathrobes are exquisitely woven to accentuate the plush softness of bamboo while adding a touch of natural elegance. Bamboo awards you with the same softness and silkiness of cashmere, so soft and comfortable you won’t want to leave your bedroom. So next time you go to sleep at night enjoy the sensual softness of bamboo and let nature come home to you.

Since creating their first 100% bamboo terry towel and bathrobe, Pure Fiber is one of the premier manufacturers and suppliers of eco luxurious bed and bath amenities for people who care about comfort and environment.

Be Green. Save Green. At eco ellies.

Plastic's Final Voyage

With the holidays approaching there’s no better time to escape the harsh winter and kick back and relax in a tropical paradise. One destination we have for you – The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Not ringing a bell? It’s the location of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch also known as “Trash Island “or “Garbage Island”.  Probably not the tropical destination you had in mind, right? We didn’t think so. But we did think you wanted to know where all that plastic your household consumes daily goes.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch {GPGP} is literally a mass of garbage being distributed throughout the Northern Pacific Ocean. Spanning across hundreds of miles, it has been said that the GPGP is twice as big as Texas! Now that is nauseating.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

So, where is all this plastic coming from? Unfortunately, the answer is us – human beings. According to Algalita Marine Research Foundation {AMRF}, “It is estimated that land-based sources are responsible for up to 80% of marine debris. About 65 % of this, or essentially half of all found in the ocean, comes from consumer used plastics that have not been disposed of properly.” For those of you who recycle your plastic products… good job… unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there.
Diamonds, scratch that, plastics are forever. Based on the form, size, shape and mode of manufacture of each product, it could take anywhere from 20 to 100 to 1,000+ years for ONE plastic product to decompose.  One product! Plastics currently residing in our oceans have been there for decades {!} and are still bobbling around in that “fresh” salty water that we all love.
What does this mean for all the marine life that dwell in these deep blue waters? Marine life unintentionally ingests, chokes, starves and suffocates from the consumption of plastic particles. Sadly, the result in almost all cases is death. Lets take our friend squirt…

Squirt - Our Baby Sea Turtle Friend

Squirt decides he is hungry and looks around for a snack, seeing a jellyfish swimming along he eats it. One problem… he has mistaken this jellyfish with a plastic bag. Now, having a plastic bag in his stomach, he has an illusion of feeling full with an end result in starvation. Bad news for our new friend Squirt and sad news for us since this was all our doing.

National Geographic Ad | Plastic: The Ocean's Deadliest Predator

Ingesting plastic causes a number of health effects for our little sea creatures including starvation, suffocation and intestinal blockages. Just like the circle of life, when an animal dies from ingesting plastic the cruel circle starts all over again. “The plastic is either released to be eaten again, or is swallowed by a predator eating the plastic-ridden prey” (Algalita Marine Research Foundation). Repeating itself over and over, plastic never disappears — becoming, like diamonds, forever. Plastic bags aren’t only dangerous in the oceans; on land plastic bags are consuming our earth… literally. According to Clean Up Australia, “Australians use in excess of 6 billion plastic bags per year. If tied together these bags would form a chain that is long enough to go around the world 37 times.” 37 times! And that’s only one continent; imagine if we calculated all 7 continents… our earth would be turned into one huge plastic mummy. And that would be year round, not just on Halloween.
This is when that age-old question of “paper or plastic?” really comes into play. YOU have the power to help and rebuild our oceans, marine life, environment and future. Reconsider your use of plastic products. Recycle and reuse all materials properly and whenever possible.
Next time you pack a lunch, reconsider the packaging used. Instead of plastic baggies, switch to reusable cloth bags. Certified food-safe, made from lead-free, bpa-free and phthalate-free fabric and dishwasher-safe, LunchSkins reusable sandwich bags are the perfect substitute for the common sandwich or Ziploc bag. If you care about the environment {we hope you do!}, saving money, eating healthy and looking stylish then there is no reason why you shouldn’t house your next sandwich in cloth instead of plastic.
LunchSkins has a commitment in keeping plastic out of inland and coastal waterways and will give back five percent of proceeds from sales of these bags to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Reducing landfill waste, saving marine life and saving YOU money by being reusable, LunchSkins offers environmental and practical benefits while presenting you with a healthy choice to store your food.

LunchSkins Shark Sandwich Bag

LunchSkins Polka Dot Snack Bag

LunchSkins Red Cab Sandwich Bag

Be Green. Save Green. At eco ellies.

Give Thanks To Mother Nature

We all know Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks to family, friends and loved ones. But what about giving thanks to the land we walk on, the air we breathe, the sun we soak up, the trees that provide us the opportunity to live? The mountains, oceans and forests we enjoy every day?

Give thanks by giving back to Mother Nature this Thanksgiving. Substitute conventional dinnerware for bamboo, harmful cleaners for biodegradable cleaners, toxic candles for lead-free and paraffin-free beeswax and soy candles.

eco ellie’s provides YOU with the key to be able to Be Green. Save Green. so this Thanksgiving do something that’s good for you and the environment you live in!

ECO ELLIE'S WISHES YOU A HAPPY GREEN THANKSGIVING

Paper vs. Bamboo

Paper plates are healthy for you because they come from trees right? WRONG! Paper plates are made from petroleum and natural gases, which leaves harsh chemicals and bleaches right on the plate you serve your food on. Bet you didn’t know what you were eating off of!

Switch to something more natural, literally. Bambu and Bamboo Studio dinnerware is disposable/reusable, elegant, strong and 100% biodegradable. The best part… it’s handcrafted straight from the Bamboo sheath. None of that middle processing of turning the product into a pulp and bleaching is involved. Just pure, natural Bamboo, something you can actually feel good about eating off of. Think of it as being stranded on a tropical island without the stranded part {well and the tropical island part…but you get the idea}.

Bambu Curvy Servers at eco ellie's

Bamboo Studio Dinnerware at eco ellie's

Watch Your New Year Bloom

Flourish in this New Year… literally. Bloomin’ Flower Cards allows you to plant a lasting impression with your friends and family this holiday season! Each handmade card is made from 100% post-industrial paper and can be planted once your season greetings are over. Watch your holiday spirit grow throughout the year!

Bloomin’ Flower Cards is a small manufacturer of earth-friendly, handmade, seeded greeting cards. When the cards are planted, they grow! Bloomin’ has a commitment to the Planet that remains unchanged… made from 100% post-industrial paper, soy-based inks, and organic pigments, each component of every product enables Bloomin’ to operate at the forefront of environment responsibility.

RECEIVE 20% OFF BLOOMIN’ CARDS THROUGH NOVEMBER 30th!

Be Green. Save Green. At eco ellies.