"Master the Art of Letting Go" - Buddha Board

The Buddha Board philosophy revolves around the Zen concept of living in the moment and mastering the ability to "let go". All you do is draw on the board with water. As the water evaporates you are left with a clean slate to create a new beautiful painting. 

With proper care, the Buddha Board can be used for years. No ink or paint is involved so there is no worry about mess or chemicals. At the end of its lifetime the Buddha Board can be recycled. It is also available in a mini travel size. 

We have a sample Buddha Board open in the store and we love to draw on it. Rocks aren't included in the kit but we added some to the stand/water dish and it looks so lovely! This item makes a really great gift - it is really neat, captures a great message for living, and it is very decorative. 

2nd Friday Art Walk with Bryant Holsenbeck!

Come join us tomorrow evening (October 8th, 2010) from 6-9 PM for wine, snacks, and to enjoy the art of Bryant Holsenbeck! Bryant creates art and large-scale installations from garbage and recycled materials to document the waste stream of our society. To read more about Bryant visit her website at: http://www.bryantholsenbeck.com/. For more information on the Art Walk visit: http://2ndfridayartwalk.com/. We hope you can join us for a fun evening!

Bamboo Charcoal - It really works!

Not surprisingly, bamboo charcoal is created when bamboo stalks are burned at very high temperatures. The remaining charcoal is negatively ionized and very porous (much more so than regular wood charcoal). This product has been used for centuries in China and is becoming evermore present elsewhere. 

Due to its negative ionization and porous nature, bamboo charcoal has many benefits:


- As air moves through the pores in the charcoal, it absorbs positively ionized harmful chemicals and substances from the air (i.e. radon, formaldehyde and other toxins)
- Similarly, if you drop a piece of bamboo charcoal into a glass of water and let it sit overnight, it will filter out chemicals and pollutants
- Along with reducing toxins in the air, odors are also absorbed
- Bamboo charcoal will also work to neutralize the humidity of the air, either taking in or releasing moisture
- These properties of bamboo charcoal can be re-activated again and again by placing the charcoal in sunshine for 4-6 hours every 6 months


If you are still skeptical, I found this site to be helpful: (http://www.blacktonature.com/abtbc.shtml)

"Neogreene" - The Eco-Friendly Alternative to Neoprene

Looking for a new lunch bag or laptop sleeve? Before you purchase an item made from neoprene, check this out:

Neogreene is a new product designed by the California based company, GreenSmart.

- All GreenSmart fabrics are made from 100% post-consumer PET water and soda bottles
- Neogreene is toxic-free, containing no phthalates, VOCs, chlorine or metals
- Neogreene requires approximately 25% less energy and petroleum to produce than neoprene
- Neogreene materials are made with water-based adhesives, rather than solvent-based adhesives (like neoprene)
- Neogreene is 50% lighter than neoprene because it is injected with hydrogen with the foam is produced resulting in much lower transportation costs
- Neogreene is fully waterproof and is superior to neoprene in its insulation properties

Pretty cool, right?


(data from: http://www.greensmart.biz/neogreenedetail.html) 

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to our new blog! We are a small business in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We specialize in eco-friendly products! This blog will include (but is definitely not limited to) posts about the sustainable aspects of the items we sell and sustainable living, and will hopefully act as a resource for anyone who is looking to live a more eco-friendly life or who is simply interested in learning something new! Please comment if you have questions or concerns or if you find something especially interesting!