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The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 17, 2008

New products and Web sites aim to make our daily lives easier on planet Earth.

Bag The World

Morsbags.com aims to rid the world of disposable plastic grocery bags by supplying every shopper with reusable cloth bags made from old sheets, duvet covers and the like.

"Get together with people in your community, drink wine and make reusable cloth bags," the Web site urges, "and hand them out to the unsuspecting public for free."

The site includes instructions for making a sturdy bag and a place for keeping score of your group's giveaways - a little healthy competition to make the world greener.

I find lots of crafty books and magazines in my mailbox, but few have the charm and easy-to-follow directions of "Alabama Stitch Book" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $35), by homespun designer Natalie Chanin.

Full-color photographs and enclosures of patterns, a stencil and a postcard to embellish with beads walk readers through 20 projects, from stenciled sheets to a reverse-applique corset.

Chanin's clothing and lifestyle company, Alabama Chanin, sells hand-stitched garments and goods made from old T-shirts and flea market and thrift store finds.

Get Off The Roll

Paper towels may be the little black dress of the kitchen, but you know what that means.

Yup. They're not green.

Try EcoTowls and EcoSponges, new from Pacific Dry Goods, instead. They're reusable and made from sustainable, plant-based ingredients.

They wring out easily, are machine-washable and are assembled by developmentally disabled adults at the Contra Costa Chapter of the Association for Retarded Citizens in California. Plus, 5 percent of sales goes to the nonprofit Save the Earth Foundation.

Find them at some Albertsons, Publix and Winn-Dixie stores or online at www.baregreen.com. The towels cost $3.99 for a package of two; the sponges are $2.49 for two.

Coupons & More Galore

Seventh Generation, one of the nation's largest suppliers of environmentally safe household products, unveiled its new Web site this month.

Join the Seventh Generation Nation by filling out a customer profile, and you'll get access to coupons, forums, tips and lots more green stuff. It's at www

.seventhgeneration.com.

Penny Carnathan

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