Mothers are very special people; toiling away for our benefit for many, many years; well past our childhood and teenage trials.

Mother Nature has been personified as a female for thousands of years, representing the giving of life, sustenance and nurturing- and it’s quite fitting. If you observe Mothers Day, honor your mom and Mother Nature by giving her a green gift this year!

Organic Cosmetics

Look for organic products and those based on plant materials, such as olive oil. Say no to cosmetics filled with chemicals that end up on our skin and in the environment.

Natural Perfumes

Perfumes are a perfect Mother’s Day gift, but they’re often filled with unregulated chemicals-not a great gift for Mom or Mother Earth. Try more natural options like those from Pacifica ($20 at amazon.com) or Burt’s Bees, which makes solid perfumes perfect for moms on the go ($10 at burtsbees.com or part of a Head-to-Toe gift pack ($15 at amazon.com).

Candles

Another Mother’s Day favorite – but did you know that many candles are made from crude oil byproducts. Burning candles releases all sorts of nasty stuff; including benzene, styrene, acetone and particulate matter.

The wicks on some candles may even contain lead! Additionally, scented candles may contain more synthetic chemicals. As a more earth friendly and healthy choice, soy candles or candles made of beeswax are the way to go and for scented candles, look for soy or beeswax ones that incorporate essential oils – and have a non-lead wick of course.

Sponsorships and Memberships

Mothers being the caring folk they are generally derive great pleasure from helping others. Perhaps a donation in her name for a tree planting or a conservation project might bring her joy. Maybe a membership to an online organic cooking club. A trip to a health spa. The possibilities are endless.

Fair Trade Clothes and Accessories

Look for items made from organic cotton and produced in fair trade conditions. “Fair trade” is a term applied to products that meet certain conditions relating to labor (non-sweatshop), environmental standards and social policy.

For example, if you wanted to buy your Mom a handbag as a gift, run a search on your favorite search engine for : fair trade handbags. Or “fair trade” preceding any product you’re thinking of buying – you’ll be surprised the range of items now available.

Green gift certificates

Sometimes its hard to decide on a gift for your Mother, especially a “green” one; so why not let your mom decide for herself.  Many green online stores now offer gift certificates and by giving a voucher to a store that specializes in environmentally friendly products, you might open up a whole new world for your mom!

Finding green gift stores online is pretty easy as so many stores with a focus on the environment have popped up in recent years – search on terms such as: green gifts mother’s day or earth friendly gifts mother’s day.

To all of our wonderful mother’s- Happy Mother’s Day!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Give your old T-shirts a new life!

-by Sarah Bankoff

Clothing and cloth in general is one of the most recyclable, and reusable products there is. If you’re anything like me, you have piles of clothes that you don’t wear anymore but can’t quite bring yourself to get rid of.

Clothing should NEVER be thrown out, no matter how stained, ripped or ragged it is, there are always alternative uses for it. If the item in question is still good to wear, but just out of style or too big or too small, get creative!

My favorite way to remake old t-shirts is to turn them into tank tops! (Men’s shirts, old concert tees, or that fabulous vintage tee that’s too big to wear but too awesome to get rid of work best for this.)

To do this, turn the shirt inside out. Cut the sleeves off on the inside edge of the hem (save them to wear as sleeve headbands!), and cut the bottom edge of the shirt off, about two inches from the bottom to form a fabric loop. Cut this loop to make two long strips of fabric.

Now, measure about an inch (from the tip of your finger to your first knuckle) from the side of the shirt, and cut up the side of the shirt all the way to the armhole, making sure to keep the cut even. (If the shirt is really big, cut away more of the fabric until its as form fitting as you’d like.) Do this on both sides. You should end up with an open sided apron-looking thing, attached at the top by the neckband. Put this on, and decide how large you want your armholes to be.

Mark the spot where you want the shirt to close under your arms on both sides with a pencil or chalk. Lay the shirt back on the floor, fold it over and make sure your marks on both sides are even.

Then, take your scissors and start to make little slits in the fabric (make sure you make holes in both sides, so you can lace it up!) a few centimeters in from the edge, starting at your markings and moving down the outside edge of the shirt, keeping them about 1 to 2 inches apart. (You can also do this with a grommet punch if you have one lying around).

Once you have all your holes made, take the fabric strips you made by cutting off the bottom edge, and use them to lace up the sides of the shirt, one to each side. Start at the top, right under the armhole, and pull the strip through until the ends are even with each other. Cross them over, and lace up the sides, ending at the bottom hole with a knot.  Alternatively, you could use ribbons, shoelaces, or contrasting fabric from another recycled item.

Then, put on your new fitted shirt and go show off your crafty DIY-ness!