Pitcher This

Remember how we discussed reusable water bottles last week? Well, I just found this lovely specimen from fredflare.com for $14.

Now I can't choose which one; the bottle that makes a statement, or the one that looks pretty. What do you think, dear reader?

Can an ice cream cone solve the global climate crisis?

The answer to that question is no (well, probably not), but that doesn't mean an ice cream cone can't help. You're probably really,really confused, dear reader, and I don't blame you. So, let me explain myself.

This past weekend, as I was taking in the fresh ocean air of the beach, I decided to get some ice cream. Nothing wrong with that, right? So I ordered my favorite peanut butter soft serve in a cup. I thought nothing of this and feasted away. The very (very) sad time came when I had finished my cup of deliciousness.

Absentmindedly, I walked to the trashcan and disposed of the paper cup and plastic spoon. This is a when a thought crossed my mind: "If I had ordered that in an ice cream cone, there would have virtually been nothing to throw away, only to end up in a landfill."

So, my green tip for this week is, order your ice cream in a cone. This is most likely the easiest (and tastiest) way to be a little more eco-friendly. And if you find yourself worrying about calories from a cone, just remind yourself you're doing you're part to reduce waste. Now, as for the calories from the whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles? That excuse is up to you.

Refill, not landfill, please.

I sure hope that you, dear reader, are enjoying the eco-conscious bar soap we discussed last week in my series of green living tips that are easy and, by no means, trendy. So, for this week I challenge us to...

Just Say No to Bottled Water

Yes, I know, this is an obvious tip. If bottled water were a color, it would be red,the exact opposite of green (ba-duh-bum! sorry...). Now, you probably know all about sins of bottled water (Quirky & Co. readers are particularly intelligent), but I'll remind you of them, anyway.

First of all, the plastic bottle it comes in alone does not deteriorate for thousands of years and requires resources to be manufactured. Then, the water inside is transported (using fossil fuels, I might add) and bottled. Those bottles then must be distributed by automobile or any other type of fuel-powered transportation.

I really don't mean to bore you, dear reader, with the process of bottled water manufacturing, but if you'd like to know more, this article is actually quite interesting and does a far better job explaining than I ever could. This is really quite a fuss over something that most of us have access to just by walking into our kitchens and turning on a faucet.

So, my green challenge for us this week to drink absolutely, positively, no bottled water. If we can manage to live without it for one week, why not all of the time? Now, don't worry, dear reader, I used to be a water bottle junkie, myself. So, to make our tap water fete a lot more interesting, here are some lovely gems of reusable water bottles to fill with that ambrosial liquid known as tap water.

I've always had a fondness towards unnecessary objects plastered with Hello Kitty's adorable face. I used to save my allowance as a child (OK, so I still am a child...) for a visit to the Hello Kitty store. This bottle, by Sigg, available at amazon.com , is a slightly more mature way to get my Hello Kitty fix (slightly), but for $44.95, I just may have to keep saving that allowance -sigh-. It's cheaper than buying bottled water for the rest of my life, right?

This bottle, by Nalgene, is much easier on my wallet, with the low price of $10. It's message, "Refill, not landfill," is just so clever that I may have steal, uh, I mean borrow it for the title of this post...

That brown eco-silk might as well have been burlap...

Season 5 of Project Runway proceeds with an earth friendly challenge and a celebrity guest judge who is actually a real celebrity. I've provided, you, dear reader, with my thoughts, minute by minute. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

The Best (according to the judges)

The Worst (according to the judges)

8:59 Resisting the urge to read episode info...

9:01 Suede talking about Suede is going to get old very quickly.

9:04 This model drafting is all too reminiscent of gym class.

9:05 Making a cocktail dress for the model? Snooze (unless it's anything like the model wedding dress fiasco of season 1).

9:06 Green fabrics? Good. This challenge? Still, yawn.

9:07 The models pick the fabric, now I'm awake. If there's one thing we've learned after religiously watching Project Runway for several seasons, it's that a lovely face and good style do not go hand-in-hand.

9:17 Blayne, like I have mentioned before, the whole -licious thing will not take off. I'm not the only one that thinks so.

9:18 Kelli to Stella "Hey, Drapey Draperson!" Now, there's a catchphrase.

9:20 I'm drooling over the dress Emily is wearing. In fact, I'm being more entertained by the designer's outfits than what they're sewing. Just look at Kenley's entire persona or Leanne's geeky-chic glasses.

9:21 Tim Gunn just said "hot mess." A sign of the apocalypse, perhaps?

9:24 A young celebrity?!? -oohs and ahs-

9:29 If Stella needed leather so badly, maybe she could just use some of Blayne's overly tan skin?

9:36 A Rachel Zoe reality show? I think I'm going to "die" Remind me not to tune in (although, I inevitably will).

9:39 Notice that Nina is now just "editor-at-large."

9:39 The young celebrity guest judge is...Natalie Portman! I wish I could stand behind a shadow screen and do jazz hands and look as cute as her.

9:40 Keith, your dress reminds me of fine draperies. A bubble hem? Seriously? I though we had moved on.

9:42 These designers aren't doing much to promote eco-fabric.

9:46 Wait, Stella's is one of the best? It looks like something a semi-rocker girl would wear to her wedding...in 1998.

9:47 Leanne's is one of the worst? I find it interesting and adorable. Those darn judges...

9:56 I can't get over how much Suede's dress reminds me of my tot ballet class costume.

9:57 It's OK, Kenley, yours is still lovely.

9:58 Leanne! Leanne! Leanne!

9:59 I'm sorry, Wesley, your look is clean and classy, that dress, however, is not.

10:00 Next week: ponchos, trash talk, and a Tim Gunn freakout. I can't wait!

Those were my thoughts on this week's episode, what about yours, dear reader?

Lean, mean, green living machine.

In case you haven't heard, green is the new black and, honestly, I'm kind of tired all this eco hullabaloo. It's not that i don't support being eco-friendly, dear reader, not at all. I'm just so very tired of people wearing shirts plastered with recycle symbols while throwing their soda cans into regular wastebins or girls sporting those Anya Hindmarch "I'm not a plastic bag" bags while drinking from a plastic bottle and using the tote as a handbag, rather than actually holding purchases in it.

I'm tired of the trendiness of it all, because making eco-friendly choices shouldn't just be a trend, it should be a lifestyle that everyone strives for. So, follow me, dear reader, as I attempt to make my life a bit greener and a little better with weekly easy, small tips that will hopefully make the world a better place.Fingers crossed.

Rub a dub dub, don't put liquid soap in your tub.

Liquid soap is probably something you don't think about very often, but think of this: the normal bottle of liquid soap is not recyclable. Apparently, the dispenser in the bottle prevents it from being recycled and ultimately ending up in a landfill. Plus, most run-of-the-mill liquid soaps contain a bunch of preservatives and chemicals you wouldn't want to rub all over your precious hands. Bar soaps are probably one of the most eco-friendly products out there, and you wouldn't even know it. They often contain little to no packaging and gentle ingredients. Best of all, they're super cheap,too!

I decided to pick up a simple lavender scented hand soap bar from my local Whole Foods, which cost a whopping $1.29 and had very minimal packaging. I also grabbed an organic and fair trade made bar with natural exfoliants built in, which cost $1.49 and the only packaging on it was a bar code sticker!