If I were going back to school in a couple of weeks, there would be a few things on my list I'd have to have.

Here are the necessities:

• A reusable cotton drawstring lunch bag. A lunch bag is a necessity to keep your goodies together. What I love most about this on is that it's made of unbleached cotton, and, of course, it's washable! Available at grassrootsstore.com.

• An artful agenda. A planner to keep all tests and social dates in order is a must, and one made for 1oo per cent post -consumer recycled paper is a double must! This agenda sure is cuter than the one your school offers, and I'm almost certain non of your friends will have the same one. Available at etsy.com.

• New digs. I'm not encouraging you to buy a whole new wardrobe, as that's probably unnecessary, but you just might deserve one little treat that will get you off on, um, the right foot. The soles from Zoe and Zac's eco shoes are made from recycled rubber, and the material is made from organic cotton. Not only are they super cute, they're also super affordable. Available at a Payless Shoes near you.

• Lined, 3-hole paper, made from recycled and post-consumer fibre. Available at grassrootsstore.com.

• Eco-friendly, refillable pens and pencils, like the new Paper Mate Biodegradable. Available in September at a stationary store near you!

What green gear are you sending your kids to school with this year?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, I'm announcing a winner next week!

Reusable? Check! Durable? Check! Stylish? Double check!

We certainly aren't short of reusable bags these days. Sold at every check-out counter, anyone can have a bag with their grocery store's logo on it. Though we all want to be eco-conscious, for some of us it's important to look stylish at the same time.

I recently discovered b.b. begonia's reusable shopping bags and am delighted by them. Not only are they eco-friendly, they're also fun, pretty and super convenient. My favourite feature is that you can roll them up into a small package (a little smaller than the palm of your hand) when you're not using them, so they fit perfectly into small spaces (like a purse!). If you put one in all your hand bags, you'll never be caught at the farmer's market without a reusable bag again.

Want to know my other favourite thing about these bags? b.b. begonia is a Canadian-based company.

Aside from buying individual bags, you can also purchase a pack of five, which I think makes a beautiful and useful gift.

b.b. begonia bags are available in many retail stores.

You can find a new use for most things!

I saw a great article in the paper yesterday, titled "12 ways to reuse household items". Though the suggestions were fairly basic and obvious, it got me thinking about all the things I've reused for the sake of keeping them out of landfills for just a little longer. Here's what I've come up with off the top of my head. Hopefully it will give you some ideas on how to reuse items you're thinking of tossing.

• Add old cutlery to your camping gear.

• An old hair brush makes a great heavy-duty scrup brush. I've used it to give my green bin a good clean after it was pillaged by raccoons.

• I've covered my table with an old shower curtain before I start my seeds or any other sort of craft project. This is also great if you have kids and you need to protect your table from paint and glue.

• I keep and reuse travel-size bottles for shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

• I use newspaper as wrapping paper come Christmas time, or other festive events. It's also great to use when packing for a big move.

• Save the things you want to toss for a garage sale. You know the saying, "One man's junk is another man's treasure". Well, if you've ever held a garage sale you know this to be true. I'm always amazed at the stuff people buy. Put the money you make towards a nice dinner out. Or, better yet, donate the proceeds to your favourite environmental charity.

What's the most unusual item you've been able to repurpose? Have you made something totally useless into something you now just can't live without? Tell me how you've avoided sending something to the landfill, and you could win:

I'd go anywhere with this stylish buggy.

An oh-so-convenient President's Choice Green Stow Away Shopping Bag overflowing with PC GREEN products. Your stylish new shopping bag (with wheels!) contains:

• 8 jumbo rolls of PC Green paper towels
• 1 kg box of PC Green Baking Soda
• PC Green All Purpose Cleaner
• PC Green Coldwater Laundry Detergent
• PC Green Phosphate-free Dishwasher Detergent
• PC Green Floor Cleaner
• PC Green Multi-Purpose Cleaning Putty

Leave your answer here by Friday, June 26, and I'll announce a winner then. Don't forget, you have to be a subscriber to my blog to be eligible to win. Subscribe today!

Great green beauty products!

Looking great comes at a price these days, and we know this the more we hear about how many harmful chemicals it takes to look good - harmful to us, and the environment. When searching the shelves, look for products with natural ingredients (I always consider whether I wouldn't mind putting the product in my mouth - don't actually try that). Also, it might be worth considering making your own beauty products. Have any of you ever tried doing that? I remember that my sister once made me beautiful grapefruit lip balm. Also, Adria Vasil of Ecoholic fame recommends visiting Make Your Cosmetics for recipes.

Way back in August I wrote about Origins Organics, a great line of green products I had come across. I had fallen in love with their lovely Body Pampering Massage Oil. All of Origins Organics products are free of many of the leading environmental and health offenders, such as parabens (an estrogenic chemical found in most cosmetics), phthalates (a hormone disrupter now slowly being phased out of certain products), petroleum (derived from crude oil), mineral oil (which is a petroleum byproduct) and DEA (which is suspected to increase the risk of cancer and is commonly found in beauty products).

I have great news for those of you who love looking great with a conscience. I have a Origins Organics beauty basket to give away to one lucky Green Living Blog Subscriber. One lucky winner will get:

• Origins Organics Foaming Face Wash

• Origins Organics Nourishing Face Lotion

• Origins Organics Cleansing Body Bar

Just leave a comment here telling me your best recipe for a homemade beauty product. Don't forget, you also have to be a subscriber to win! I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, April 21.

Also, two lucky winners will be walking away with a copy of the book Mom, Will This Chicken Give Me Man Boobs?, by Robyn Harding (I blogged about it here!). It's a great, funny read that most of you can relate to. I'll pick the two winners at random and will announce it here next Tuesday as well.

Valentine's Day: I could take it or leave it, but pass me the chocolate!

Well, Valentine's Day is here and love is in the air - or in the window of your local drug store. Let's face it, you either love the day, or hate it. But chances are, you reap the benefits of the mass amount of in-your-face chocolate and candy. Personally, my favourite day is February 15, when I head to a store and clear out the 50 per cent off bin – it's filled with Valentines Day themed chocolate. Though I'm usually woozy with delight at the thought of eating chocolate, I try to keep in mind that what we buy affects the environment.

When buying chocolate, I try to ensure that the package states that my bar is Fair Trade Certified, which means that cocoa farmers receive fair prices for their goods. I also look out for the words Certified Organic, meaning the cocoa I'm about to consume was grown without using pesticides and fertilizers.

I read in National Geographic's Green Guide that we should also be looking for the words "Rainforest Alliance Certified" on our chocolate products, meaning that the cocoa plants were grown in a shade, which allows for wildlife habitat to remain protected and preserved.

Some reputable chocolate brands:

Green & Black's - is apparently the world's first organic brand. They are also proponents of ethical trading.

Cocoa Camino - great (a.k.a. delicious!) Fair Trade Certified and organic certified chocolate products.

Organic Fair - It pretty much says it all in the title.

I also recently read about LPK's Culinary Groove, a green, organic organic and fair trade pastry and chocolate shop in Toronto.

Need more ideas for ways to go green this Valentine's Day?

• Find out why you should buy organic roses

• Shopping with a conscience

Do you enjoy Valentine's Day? How do you celebrate it? Will you go green this V-day?

Good day Green Living Blog readers, and a happy New Year to you all! As I was leisurely flipping through Saturday's Globe and Mail today (a day late, as per usual) I saw that the Style section mentioned some green changes to the design world that we should all be on the lookout for this year. Here are a few of them (more...)

Congratulations to this week's winner of Jill Lambert's A Good Catch. This week's prize goes to (more...)

You can truly go green in every aspect of your life, if you so desire. My sister sent me her Christmas list the other day, and low and behold, she asked for an eco pan! I knew that such things existed, but I'm quite happy with my kitchen hand me downs that I've never thought about eco-friendly cookware for more than a minute. My new bible, Ecoholic, applauds my sister's desire to go green with her cookware, and has even got me second guessing mine. Apparently, many-a-non-stick pans are pretty dangerous to our health. If you overheat your non-stick pan, toxic fumes are released right under your nose ... literally. In fact, it's such a concern that the Environmental Protection Agency has asked that manufacturers totally phase out non-stick pans by 2015.

Never fear! As always, there are options. Safe cooking options include: Stainless steel; cast iron; light-weight titanium; copper and aluminum; and glass. I also just discovered that if you make a trip to any kitchen supply store (like The Bay or Home Sense), you will find plenty of eco-friendly pot and pan options there!

Want more info? Check out our article on safe cookware.

Don't forget to enter my contest to win a copy of Jill Lambert's A Good Catch. I'm picking the last winner tomorrow. I'm still waiting to hear back from last Friday's winner, luken. If luken doesn't get back to me tomorrow, I'll put the book back in and pull another name on the 19th!

This week's winner of Jill Lambert's A Good Catch is (more...)

This is going to be a big post - complete with a contest!!! Read on for details.

With the holidays around the corner, I've decided that on a weekly basis I'll give you some green gift ideas. So, starting today I will pass on some ideas, and continue to do so every Friday until Christmas. Can you believe we're just a month away? Today's theme is (more...)