Photo: Remain DesignsBy Oprah.com
Krystal O'Mara
31, founder, ReMain Eco Designs
Her Product: O'Mara's modern furniture and lighting fixtures, fashioned from recycled bike parts, include side tables made from rims and sconces built out of spokes and hubs.
RELATED: Eco-Friendly Design Tips
Her Story: After quitting her hotel sales job in Amarillo, Texas, three years ago to spend more time with her son, O'Mara started her own interior design business. When she volunteered to donate a piece of furniture to a local bike race's charity auction, she made the piece herself using recycled bike parts. The small end table she created by bolting together old rims and spokes inspired her to gather more parts from local bike shops. Soon she'd taught herself to weld and added chandeliers and lamps to her repertoire. "I grew up on a farm where we reused everything," she says. "I love saving these old bike parts from the landfill." (remaindesigns.com) -- Arianna Davis
Photo: Marko Metzinger/Studio D
Kristy Lewis
32, cofounder, Quinn Popcorn
Her
April showers are coming, but a little rain doesn't have to ruin your big day -- or your wedding pictures! Here are our favorite photos of couples who survived rainy and gray wedding days. (Spoiler alert: the pictures are gorgeous and romantic!)
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By Babble.com | Green – Tue, Apr 2, 2013 4:54 PM EDTIf you have leftover egg shells from your delicious easter treats, and you're ready to throw them away - don't! There's plenty of outside-the-box ways to have fun with eggs. These 7 eco-friendly eggshell gardens prove that eggs can be used for more than just dyeing and hiding, so grab your shovel and have a blast! - By Jen Hadfield
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Read More »from Take a Crack at It! 7 Adorable Eggshell Gardens for SpringAll Souped Up! 7 Cool Ways to Recycle Old Tin Cans
By Babble.com | Green – Tue, Apr 2, 2013 3:44 PM EDTWith Earth Day coming up this month, it seems like the perfect time for a recycled can craft roundup. I'm always using different things with cans like soup, coffee, sauces . . . instead of throwing those in the recycling bin, why not use them in a craft project? They're surprisingly versatile, and you always seem to have more of them than you need. Here I've pulled together a few brilliant ideas for keeping those cans out of the trash and making them useful - and hopefully beautiful! Click through for 7 ingenious crafts with recycled cans! -By Amy Anderson
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By Babble.com | Green – Mon, Apr 1, 2013 1:40 PM EDTIn another life, I was a floral designer. I even had my own little shop! Nowadays, I love making my own arrangements for my home, for friends, and for classes I occasionally teach. I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the flower recipes I've created over the years. Most of these don't take any special skills and you'll be able to use the recipes and instructions to make your own flower arrangements, centerpieces. and bouquets. Here are 7 easy arrangements that you can make yourself! - By Chelsea Fuss
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By Babble.com | Green – Fri, Mar 29, 2013 3:50 PM EDTI am so excited to plant a few veggies and flowers this year. My space is limited but I am determined to get my hands dirty gardening again. It's always been a great love of mine and of course I love a few pretty gardening products to make it all that more fun! Here are 8 of my favorite new products out to help with planning, sowing, watering, and taking care of your garden this year! - By Chelsea Fuss
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By Babble.com | Green – Wed, Mar 27, 2013 3:27 PM EDTEaster is in a few days (it's on March 31st this year!), but there's still time to do one of my favorite springtime activities… growing wheatgrass! Wheatgrass shoots up super fast and is an excellent addition to your springtime or Easter decor. You can grow wheatgrass in just about anything and I've put together a few inspirations to help you get started. Happy growing! Click through for 7 ingenious ways to grow wheatgrass at home! -By Gabrielle Blair
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Nursery owner Flora Grubb shares the 10 most common mistakes made while shopping at the nursery and how to avoid them.
Read More »from The 10 Most Common Gardening Mistakes
MISTAKE #1: Shopping for just flowers, not foliage
SOLUTION: "I often tell my customers that every flowering plant is beautiful at its prime - full of lush, abundant blooms," says Flora. "But then I'll ask, 'How does it look for the rest of the year?'" Before you buy, consider the plant's leaves and structure. Include specimens with spectacular foliage, like the annual coleus, the shrub cotinus, or decorative grasses to help keep beds interesting when flowers are not at peak.
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MISTAKE #2: Buying insufficient amounts of a single variety.
SOLUTION: "Taking home only one or two pots of a particular specimen is a surefire way to make your garden look hodgepodge," says Flora. Depending on the size of the pot and the type of plant, she suggests buying at least three containers (though six or more of a species isZero Waste Home: A Family of Four Gives Up Garbage
By Sarah B. Weir, Shine Senior Writer | Green – Tue, Mar 26, 2013 4:48 PM EDT
The Johnson Family, courtesy Be a JohnsonBea Johnson, environmental lifestyle blogger and author of Zero Waste Home, says her family of four's household garbage output plateaued about three years ago and has stayed the same ever since: one quart per year. That's not a typo. During a phone interview, I ask her what's in her "waste jar" for 2013 and she pauses briefly as she rummages through the few debris. "A laminated fishing license, a few bits of plastic from an electrical repair, a piece of cable from my son's bike, and a lollipop stick-probably someone gave it to my son and he couldn't refuse, I understand." That's three months of garbage. It would include butter wrappers too, the one food item Johnson buys in packaging since she found it was too expensive and impractical to make, but she's saving them for an art project.
The average American produces over one thousand pounds of garbage a year, and ten years ago, Johnson, her husband, Scott, and two young sons were blithely dragging their overflowing 64-gallon trash
Read More »from Zero Waste Home: A Family of Four Gives Up GarbagePhotographed by Erin Yamagata, Refinery29
You probably know its facets and features better than you know your best friend's. It's been witness to some of your most genius moments, as well as your most brain-dead. You spend a quarter of your life in front of it. So, if your desk at work doesn't make you happy, you're doing it wrong.
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However, an office space makeover doesn't mean selling your soul to Dieter Rams and Brookstone. For just $50, you can take the barest of corporate spaces and transform it into a nook that feels more like you. We had three of our editors hit three shops - IKEA, Kmart, and a run-of-the-mill dollar store - to give a sad setup a bit of a lift. Go ahead, pick a favorite.
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