1. House of Marley Headphones: eco-conscious headphones of superior quality and style made by a company honestly committed to giving back, but would Bob approve?

2. Eco-Friendly Kids’ Party Favors: some awesome ideas for filling favor bags at your child’s next birthday party that will wow their friends, parents and the eco-minded.

3. How to Recycle Butane Fuel Canisters: examines a nifty little tool that can help you easily and responsibly dispose of your used camping stove fuel canisters.

4. Pet-Safe and Eco-Friendly Lawn Care: some advice on fertilizers, pest control and weed killers that are safe for the planet and pets.

5. Eco-Barefoot Running Shoes Guide: the final installment of a three part series that outlines the top ten sustainable barefoot running shoes out there.

6. Eco-Friendly Yoga Mats: an in-depth look at different types of sustainable yoga mats and some recommendations for mats to try.

7. Very Eco Wedding Guest Dresses: fashionable and Earth-friendly options to turn heads at your next special occasion.

8. Top 10 Bamboo Lingerie, Organic Intimates and Eco-Underthings: a countdown of the top pics of stunning and feel-good pieces that are sure to please. Who ever said that eco couldn’t be exciting?!

9. 21 Bamboo and Organic Yoga Pants: an extensive list of the best yoga pants, shorts and capris from companies with a conscience.

10. Smaller Footprints with Recycled Material Tents: a rare look at two tents using recycled materials that you may have never heard of.

From all of us at IzzitGreen, thanks for all of your support to make 2011 an amazing year. Onward and upward!

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Green Apple’s products are constructed with an eco-friendly organic cotton and bamboo blend using bamboo that is organically grown on farms certified by OCIA and NOP. The fibers used by Green Apple are also Oeko-Tek certified, meaning that they have been put through the highest quality processing and are tested at the end stages to ensure that they are free of chemicals. Green Apple uses only eco-friendly dyes that offer a 60% lower impact than other dyes used in the industry.

The entire eco-collection is just begging to be layered and mixed, but here are my top picks.

Kasmir Cami

This stylish Kasmir Cami is decorated with eco-friendly, water-based prints and has a dainty y-back that is feminine and sporty. This tank has a longer cut to stay in place while you move and the stretchable, lightweight fabric is naturally breathable to keep you cool.

Elise Sport Bra

The elastic straps inside the Elise Sport Bra provide ultimate comfort and control, but this full-coverage bra is stylish enough to be worn alone. The beautiful v-neckline and criss-cross back are sure to turn some heads whether you’re in a yoga studio or Zumba class.

Congo Hoodie

The Congo Hoodie pairs perfectly with yoga pants or jeans, and goes especially well with the Congo Yoga Flare Pants. The contrast stitching and water-based print in the hood create an original and classy look, while the streamlined cut creates a graceful silhouette.

Congo Yoga Flare Pants

These top selling yoga pants show off your best with a praise-worthy cut and contrast waistband. Green Apple didn’t forget the small details with the addition of a cute logo embroidered on the back of the leg and raw hem so that you can cut the pants to your perfect length.

Fitted Yoga Short

The Fitted Yoga Shorts are ideal for summer workouts and hot yoga, thanks to the breathable eco-fabric that wicks sweat while you work. The wide waistband and flat seams keep things comfortable and the well placed stitching complements your back side.

For your next workout, breath easy and put something clean and natural against your skin.

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Image Credit: Green Apple

Numbers 1-4

1. Green Apple Clea Jean Legging: These super cute and unique yoga jeggings are a stylish and soft combination of bamboo, certified organic cotton, and spandex.

2. Restore Eco Yoga Pants: The Restore recycled bottoms offer premium “Muffin Top minimizing” benefits thanks to the flattering fit and contoured waist that is slightly higher in the rear.

3. Organic Cotton Cobra Capri: With a flat waistband these capri style organic yoga pants work great as leggings and are perfect for your yoga class to hot date transition.

4. Shining Shakti Yoga Pants: These hand-dyed, organic cotton yoga pants are a great way to add some energizing color to your daily poses.

Numbers 5-8

5. Harem Knickers by Prana: These lightweight bamboo yoga pants have a very elegant drape that allows for full freedom of movement through all of your salutations.

6. OM Girl Practice Pant: The attached skirt detail and bootcut legs add some stylish and unique flair to these wear-everywhere organic cotton yoga pants.

7. Bhakti Ware Lotus OM Pants: A super-soft blend of organic cotton and spandex and beautiful hem artwork create a very eye-catching and comfortable pair.

8. Blue Canoe Bamboo Easy Pant: With a wide folding waistband and relaxed cut, these bamboo and organic cotton yoga pants are a must-have for some serious relaxation and stretching.

Numbers 9-12

9. Sauipe Short Shorts: These yoga short shorts come in a ton of fun colors and are perfect for Hot Yoga and showing off those legs.

10. Hyde Cropped Divine Drawstring Pant: Made with an organic cotton and spandex blend these trendy crops offer ties at the knee for function and a feminine touch.

11. ecoKashmere Angel Pant from Jonäno: Softer than a cloud, the organic bamboo and spandex blend fabric forms a lean and elegant look as you float through your routine.

12. Yoga Tribe and Culture Leggings: Made with Organic Prima Cotton and some spandex, the many color options and stylish fake fly helped these cropped yoga leggings make Izzit’s list.

Numbers 13-16

13. 4-rth Women’s Pants: These great looking yoga pants will hold their shape and keep you cool all day thanks to their special ProModal material which is derived from Eucalyptus and Birch Trees raised on sustainable farms.

14. Patagonia Serenity Tights: Organic cotton and spandex come together again with a wide waistband that can be rolled up or down depending on your fancy.

15. Harem Yoga Shorts by Float Design: These stunning yoga shorts made with organic cotton and lycra show off a little extra leg with a sexy side fabric gather.

16. Beckons Wisdom Pant: These organic yoga pants offer activewear your way with a roll-down waist that can be adjusted to sit just where you want it to.

Numbers 17-20

17. Prancing Leopard Harem Pant: These stylish yoga pants are made with high quality Organic Turkish Long-fiber cotton and are ideal for high fashion in the studio and on the streets.

18. Gaiam Organic Side Slit Capri: These flexible capri pants are made with certified organic cotton and spandex and use only low eco-impact dyes.

19. Inner Waves Organics Pono Pants: The Pono Pants are designed with a beautiful diamond, cross-over waist that flatters and feels great.

20. YogaFit’s Bamboo Relaxed Pant: A relaxed fit bamboo yoga pant with cute rear pockets and a handy front drawstring.

Number 21

21. Asquith Bootleg Pants: And finally number 21, these organic yoga pants are a luxurious blend of organic cotton and jersey with a tasteful row of Swarovski crystals at the hem.

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Image Credit: Asquith

1. Arbor Bamboo and Sustainable Wood Boards

Arbor, recently mentioned in USA Today, has a well deserved reputation for making beautiful and eco-friendly skateboards and longboards using sustainable materials for their decks, trucks and wheels. Sustainably sourced wood and bamboo create a unique mix while recycled glass grip tape, non-toxic water-based finishes, and recycled plastic risers serve up some serious green cred. Check out the Pin Bamboo for a beautiful bamboo longboard.

2. Sk8 Bamboo Boards

Sk8’s signature hybrid decks of 70% bamboo and sustainably sourced Canadian maple have served the company and their consumers well. Sk8 has high hopes of someday completely closing the loop from bamboo tree to discarded decks in their quest for cradle-to-cradle innovation. For a funky short deck, try the Sutsu Freeride.

3. Comet Sustainable Wood Skateboards

Comet manufactures its sustainable poplar and hickory cores in an impressive solar-powered factory in San Francisco. There are no posers here. Comet tirelessly continues to work with manufacturers in a quest to develop greener epoxies and coatings for their products. Graphics wise, I’m loving the FSM (Flying Spaghetti Monster) Longboard.

4. Habitat Eco-Alternative Boards

Habitat displays a wide eco-offering of decks made with hemp-ply and bamboo sealed with recycled plastics and treated with water-based paints, clear coat and glues. Their sustainably harvested cork top decks are a super rad option that eliminates the need for grip tape, and feels great under your favorite kicks.

5. Hendrick Bamboo Boards

Based in sunny California, Hendrick handcrafts maple and bamboo decks with unique artwork painted on the top deck that is visible through clear grip tape. Plus, with a purchase of one of the company’s “boards for barks” products, Hendrick will donate money to support a pet and animal welfare group. I am digging the Laguna Owl Short Board Deck.

So, push off and keep that leg pumping or, if you’re more into my style, find a downhill destination and let the good times fly. Maybe throw in an ollie and catch some air on the way. Air that just might be a little cleaner thanks to these guys.

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Image Credit: Arbor, Sk8, Comet, Habitat, Hendrick

Let’s not dwell on the irony that the man who died that year is still culturally important, while “the future” represented by the baubles launched at Winter CES 1981 have long since suffered their demise at the hands of iPhones, HD Flips and Honeycomb tablets.  Instead, let’s start more simply, as in: Bob Marley branded headphones? Seriously? What would Bob think of that?

About the Products & Brand

Before diving into the deep end of this philosophical pool, some details about the brand and its products may be helpful. For starters, the brand’s mission in their own words:

[blockquote]To create a better world and spread Bob Marley’s vision of one love, one world through eco-conscious products that embody the values of equality, unity, authenticity, charity and sustainability, all while giving back to the people and planet[/blockquote]
Marley further defines the brand’s mission by calling-out four key production principles: Superior quality, sustainably sourced, cause-minded and waste conscious. With product inputs like Forest Stewardship Council-certified hardwoods, recyclable aluminum components, hemp cord wraps and recycled packaging, Marley seems to be on solid eco footing.  The brand also supports a number of non-profit causes, including the 1Love movement, Charity: Water and the African Leadership Academy.

Hopefully production quality, sound and overall design of the products meet the brand’s quality commitments, but Marley designers made sure to include a range of the best features you’d expect from great headphones, including inline/on-cord controls and comfy padding on headphones.

If first impressions count, Marley’s onto a winner. Every product in the line looks unique, well-built, designerly and sexy. The iPod docks are alternately sleek and rugged, the earbuds range from cute to slick to chic, and the over-the-ear headphones range from grungy to sophisticated. Despite the stylistic range though, the products hang together as a coherent product line with prices to match the different folks likely to buy them. Prices range from $30 to $100 for earbuds, $60 to $300 for headphones and $50 to $500 for the range of docks.  Bottom line: There’s something for everyone.

House of Marley is currently taking pre-orders for the products, though no specific shipping target has been given. When they do, Izzit will try to get hand-on with them for a full review.

So What Would Bob Think?

Guessing what a long-deceased iconoclast would think means striding onto dangerous ground. Add the passion with which many people revere Marley, the “controversy” of his political beliefs, the current state of our socio-political climate, the simple incongruity of “consumer electronics brand Marley” and the massive technological leaps made in the 30 years since Marley passed, and the predictor will almost certainly make an absurd and anger-inducing prediction. Right?

Then again, look at it this way: We live in a world where deceased anti-Babylonian (aka anti-western capitalism/imperialism) music star Bob Marley is competing with Sony to sell us headphones for our 4G mobile smart phones, on which we’ll store hundreds of apps, stream thousands of songs, and use Google to find all manner of things in “the cloud,” including HD movies that our Netflix prediction algorithm and social media “friends”’ forgot to suggest for us. So anything’s possible. In that spirit, here goes.

How Could He Not Despise the Idea?

House of Marley must be considered in the context of Marley’s core passions — namely human rights, personal freedom and anti-imperialism — and specifically through the lens of African and Caribbean cultures. While some argue that important progress has been made in these areas, it’s unlikely Marley would agree. He’d be sickened to know of how little progress has been made since his death.

Marley would most certainly define the failed states of Africa and the Caribbean, the West’s “War on Terror” and the anti-scientific rhetoric against climate change as troubling symptoms of relentless imperial interest. All of this would horrify him, though it most certainly wouldn’t surprise him.

As a child of the fifties and sixties, and as a musician, Marley clearly believed in the power of artistic messages to educated and force social change. He’d hate that we’ve not used the “democratizing power” of the Internet and other technologies to drive more improvements in the human condition.

Moreover, he’d likely recognize that the accelerated pace of technological change and rampant consumerism in the West have contributed to both the continued subjugation of the developing world and the selfish disinterest of the developed world citizenry. He’d see our gadgets and tech baubles as the enabling narcotics of a negligently complicit public. Given all of this, Bob would certainly despise the idea of using his name to hawk electronics.

Right? Maybe not.

Ask Yourself These Questions

Did Bob Marley understand that rock/popular music was the medium of his day, and best way to give reach to his voice and amplify his message was by partnering with the record industry and the “corporate system” it used to distribute both? Did he accept the inherent conflict of that union as necessary to spreading his message? Did he believe that he could maintain his idealistic footing within that imperfect arrangement by adhering to his core principles? Do you think he saw the idealistic concession as worthwhile?

Has there been a popular artist who better understood or employed the power of symbol to express his message? To this day, spliffs, dreads and the green-yellow-red of Haile Selassie’s lion king flag all evoke Marley first. Would Marley recognize his enduring resonance throughout the world as a function of the symbolism he cultivated?

Despite his likely trouble with consumer culture, would he see how the modern deluge of information has fragmented the mass audience and created a connected soup of social media, memes and “brand me” in its place?  Would he understand that in many senses the strongest cultural symbolism of our day is “branding?”

More importantly, would Marley agree that the packaging of product, process and message developed by House of Marley is closely equivalent to the combination of music, lifestyle and message he lived? Viewed this way, using brand Marley to produce great products the “right” way and in support of a bigger cause seems like an exceptional way to lead by example and extend Marley’s principles.

To be sure, we’ll never know if Bob Marley would like the House of Marley concept, though the best indication that he would may lie in the fact that members of his family are behind the product line, and the 1Love is involved in the development. And if Marley’s family believes he’d support the brand, then that’s might just be all the evidence the rest of us need.

Hopefully the brand lives up to its promise and the memory of its namesake, but as we all know, only time will tell . . .

Image credits: House of Marley and Island Records.