12 Eco-friendly Ways to Design an Outdoor Space

Although I do enjoy designing and creating handmade jewelry, my background and degree are based in landscape design. So whenever I’m designing a landscape for a green-minded client, which happens to be my favorite kind, it’s nice to have some great pieces handy for inspiration. Thankfully, commercial stores are incorporating a few amazing options, making browsing for site furnishings easier and a little more fun. Most of the pieces pictured here are high in recycled content or made of rapidly renewable resources.



1. Wood Candles, Pottery Barn (www.potterybarn.com)
2. Vintage Grape Crate, Terrain at Styers (www.shopterrain.com/)
3. Alder Round Table, Brent Comber (www.brentcomber.com)
4. Vintage French Bistro Set, Terrain at Styers
5. Recycled Glass Lanterns, West Elm (www.westelm.com)
6. Pottery Barn Earth-Friendly Teak Dining Set
7. Willow Edging, Terrain at Styers
8. Box-weave Hurricane, Pottery Barn
9. Jute and Reclaimed Leather Rug, Pottery Barn
10. Braided Jute Rug, West Elm
11. Wildfire Acacia Table, New Makers Original (www.newmakers.com/)
12. Vintage Steel Bench, Terrain at Styers

VOTE for my TV show audition tape by July 3rd!

It's been a busy time lately and I wanted to let you know that I've put together a video to be considered by Oprah and Mark Burnett while they determine the next big show on Oprah's new network!!

My show concept of course is regarding GREEN LIVING, I hope you like it. The more views and the more votes my video has, the greater my chances of getting the show slot. Here is the link, please take a look and thank you so much for taking the time to VOTE! :)

Jill's Green Across America


Voting will be open until July 3rd and you can view and vote for it as many times as you wish. You don't need to view it in order to put in a vote. Wish me luck!

Anthro Bridal: Somebody Out There Is Listening To Us!

As reported in the Huffington Post, and a whole slew of other publications are psyched to announce that Urban Outfitters Inc. will be offering a whole line of bridal gowns and special occassion dresses! It'll be designed by the masterminds of Anthropologie and slated to be released in Spring 2011. So if you're a 2011 or 2012 bride-to-be, you are one lucky cookie! I'm so jealous. :)

I'm Predicting a Today Show Segment...

I'm sure by now everyone has heard of the famous Chris Brown Wedding Dance, which made it's way onto the Today Show, not to mention the most hilarious and sweet montage on 'The Office' that I've ever seen.

Last week, a dear friend showed me the website for a couple that's getting married this June in New Mexico, and I just HAD to share their wedding website. You are going to die! Let's just say that while sending an online Save The Date is extremely green, but creating a video of yourselves in puppet form just takes the cake. Enjoy!

Click here, and don't forget to turn on the sound: Rick and Erin's Wedding Video Link

Tread Lightly with Eco-friendly Shoes

So if you're in the DC area, you know all about the 'snowmaggedon', the 'snowpocalypse', the 'snoverboard' (ok, ok...) that was our lives in the month of February. I thought, hey wouldn't this be a great time to buy a pair of boots that don't get soaked everytime I go outside? Wrong. Everybody was selling sandals for spring break!! That is, until I found the perfect cheap pair at Old Navy,faux leather tall boots that are actually cute!

If you're interested in finding your perfect pair (even for wedding shoes!) but don't want to sacrifice your love of cruelty-free fashion, check out these sites for some great pairs:


Moo Shoes, for all kinds of shoes, wallets, handbags, and belts. I love their tagline: "Cruelty Free. Animal Approved."



Planet Shoes, which is where I ordered my wedding shoes from. I was so pleased with this site, be prepared to look for a while because they have waaay too many options. But rest assured, you can narrow your search by size, color, and style. Or just take it all in. Don't forget kids shoes, too!

Happy shopping!

So Much To Say

So it's been a while since my last post, but I've been collecting interesting things to share, and I've decided to do a whole slew of posts just to tell you about it all! Green is everywhere and I'm so happy to spread the word. :)

But before I get to the fun stuff, I wanted you all to know that I'm now writing in a couple different places now too! This is very exciting for me. One is I'm now a contributor for the landscape architecture network site, land8lounge. There, I cover green topics related to the landscape and architectural field, similar to articles Ed and I have been writing for our company's newsletter. Our newsletter is now becoming a quarterly piece, to debute next month. I'm very excited about this one because now we'll be including a guest expert that'll give us their perspective on a green design topic of their choice. I can't tell you who the first guest will be but I'm extremely psyched to have him included!

The other place where I'll soon be writing is Examiner.com, in their DC/Northern Virginia Home & Living section. I'll be writing as a Green Building Examiner! I'm so excited at the opportunity. Since I haven't set up my home page yet with my very first article, I do not have a direct link yet. I'll be sure to add that soon.

So without further ado, let me get into some fun green stuff!