Looking for sophisticated sustainability? WeWood watches are so earth-friendly they plant one tree for every watch sold.

WeWood wooden timepieces are made from scrap wood and high quality Miyota brand inner components. The unique design results in a watch that's both fashionable and green. Unlike conventional metal watches, WeWoods are warm and smooth against the wrist, allowing their wearers to fully appreciate the aesthetics of all natural materials.

And they don't stop with the warm and fuzzy feelings toward nature. WeWOOD partnered up with American Forests to plant one tree for every watch purchased. Established in 1875, American Forests is the nation’s oldest nonprofit conservation organization, and is recognized as a world leader in environmental restoration.

Let’s count the ways WeWood watches are eco-friendly:

• made from scrap wood material
  
• contains all natural materials; no plastic
• free of toxic chemicals and hypoallergenic
• a tree is planted for every purchase

If those bullet points don't impress you, maybe their appearance will. WeWood timepieces are available in 7 different color variations for $119. There are also 4 limited edition designs currently on sale for $139.  A luxury watch for under $150? Not bad. The watch is feather-light and weighs in at a mere 1.5 ounces. The watch battery is standard and can be replaced at any jewelry or watch shop. WeWood watches can withstand light splashes of water, but should not be worn underwater.

WeWood is setting the bar high for what entitles something to be a “green” product. What if every company vowed to give back to the environment in addition to choosing sustainable materials? Sustainability is more than the state of a product at the point of purchase, but a company philosophy with the potential to make a huge positive impact.

To browse this unique collection of timepieces, visit the WeWood website.

Disclaimer: WeWood is an indirect advertiser on this site...although we liked their watches before we knew that.

When you think of sustainable building materials, leather is probably not the first textile that comes to your mind. Think again!

Designer Inghua Ting has found a way to upcycle discarded men’s belts into unique leather floor tiles. Ting owns a London and Los Angeles-based design company of the same name, TING, that produces luxury products to sustainable, ethical principles. The studio’s goal is to provide customers with high quality products made from salvaged materials.

Each belt is hand selected to ensure a high grade of leather and then stripped of their metals, hand cleaned with chemical free substances and prepared for use. The variety of vintage belts creates one of a kind color palettes and patterns, so no two tiles are the same.

The belts are arranged into 12 and 18 inch square tiles. Flooring starts at $80 per square foot, but costs vary depending on color and specification. TING’s leather flooring is easy to clean and maintain. The tiles can be swept and then cleaned using a damp cloth or mop. Over time, the leather will take on a natural patina based on wear.

Other than the fact that these floor tiles are made from reclaimed belts, what makes them green? While the leather isn't cheap, it is certainly long-lived. Natural leather that comes from animal skins is also technically biodegradable.

TING is determined to create the most eco-friendly product possible and wants to do more than just upcycling. Here are a few ways TING has adopted green practices:

• TING searches out existing materials to create the leather tiles. The studio never uses newly purchased belts.
• A water based adhesive is used to bond the individual belts to tile backing made out of reconstituted leather backing.
• If a customer no longer wants their tiles, TING will gladly take the tiles back and recycle them into another product.
• TING makes every effort to produce locally where possible. The studio possesses a highly skilled team in the United Kingdom for European distribution and in Los Angeles for US distribution.

So, what do you think Crisp Green readers -- Are these leather floor tiles just a novelty product? Or are they a sustainable flooring solution? Share your thoughts in a comment!

Sources: Core77 & TING

What better way to keep clothes longer or revive an old favorite with a few minor stitches and repairs. Give your loved ones the gift of self-reliance with these handy homemade sewing kits.

Editor's Note: We're getting into the holiday spirit here at Crisp Green, which means helping you find the crispest, greenest, most innovative gifts for all the tech and design geeks on your list! This week we're featuring 'Last Minute Gifts'. See all of our gift ideas here. Happy Holidays!

Inspired by the above Mason Jar sewing kit in Athropologie's House & Home section, we found a few easy to follow guides for making cute and lovingly made sewing kits. Using items you may already have on hand, or purchasing just a few inexpensive bits and pieces, these kits are a great way to inspire your crafty or possibly craft-challenged loved ones to fix that pair of buttonless jeans or revive that dress in the back of the closet. One of the greenest fashion choices you can make is to transform something old into something new again.

Here are a few of our favorite homemade sewing kit guides:

1. From Funkytime, this quick and easy guide can be made by anyone with a pair of scissors and a hot glue gun. Maybe skip on the spray paint to keep this gift on the greener side of the holidays.

2. The queen of craft Martha Stewart has a simple guide for making the push-pin lid to go on any size jar.

3. Ashley Ann, photographer and DIY expert, has put together a picturesque guide for making a craft kit. Use your imagination and creativity to find fun and useful bits to fill the jar.

Coolest Things About Handmade Sewing Kits: Totally customizable and can be made with items you may already have on hand.

Perfect Gift Idea For: Your crafty friends who might like to have something cute and portable to take on the go. Or for your craft-challenged friends who have been wanting to try their hand at sewing and just need a little bit of inspiration (and maybe the tools!).

How You Can Get One: Follow the links on our list and you will be well on your way to a great green gift!

Editor's Note: We're getting into the holiday spirit here at Crisp Green, which means helping you find the crispest, greenest, most innovative gifts for all the tech and design geeks on your list! This week we're featuring 'Gifts That Conserve'. See our ideas for 'Gifts You Can Grow' and 'Gifts You Can Make' here. Happy Holidays!

As an avid backpacker, I love these new folding and zippable shoes by Timberland. Water-repellent and fleece-lined, these compact and eco-conscious shoes are great for wearing around the campsite after a long day's hike. And when you're ready to hit the trails, Radler Trail Camp shoes will leave plenty of space in your pack or clip them on the outside with a carabiner. Keeping with Timberland's Earthkeeper's philosophy, Radler's outsoles are made with 42% recycled rubber.

Coolest Thing About Radler Trail Camp Shoes: Radler unix shoes come in a variety of colors and make it easy to take camp shoes with you on the trail without wasting space in your pack.

The Perfect Gift For: Great for your most serious backpacking pals or the car camper who just likes to get out of the city. Anyone who enjoys slipping into a more lightweight and comfortable shoe while hanging out at the campsite will appreciate these compact and comfy shoes.

How You Can Get Them: Order directly from Timberland's website or Amazon currently has lower prices and more color options. Please be aware that they are listed under men's shoes but are actually unisex.

Why leave your plants at home? With Wearable Planters you can take your favorite sprouts, succulents or flowers with you wherever you go.

Editor's Note: We're getting into the holiday spirit here at Crisp Green, which means helping you find the crispest, greenest, most innovative gifts for all the tech and design geeks on your list! Check back often, because we'll be featuring a new gift idea almost every day between now and December 25th. Happy Holidays!

Designed by my fellow Georgia Tech Industrial Design graduate, Colleen Jordan, Wearable Planters are both simple and elegant. Each planter is made to order using 3D printing processes. 3D printing produces little to no excess waste in manufacturing and Colleen makes an effort to use 3D printing companies that are close to her, to lower the environmental footprint of the shipping.

Coolest Thing about Wearable Planters: There are over 30 styles to choose from and work for a variety of small plants. Also according to her Etsy page, Colleen is open to working with customers to create unique colors and offers veggie friendly cords for her necklaces.

Perfect Gift Idea For: For your favorite gal with a green-thumb or that guy who loves to wear a little green on his lapel or pocket.

How You Can Get One: Wearable Planters are available through Etsy. Most planters are in the $30-$35 range.

Eco-friendly shoes have a reputation for being, well, less than stylish. If green fashion is really going to make a difference, eco-friendly shoes need to compete with their conventional counterparts aesthetically as well as materially.

Puma, makers of the perennially-cool, soccer style shoes and accessories, recently announced that it's toying with the idea of adding "compostable" to its product's list of accomplishments.

The company is already a quiet but powerful green innovator in the fashion industry, having recently unveiled its "Clever Little Bag," a shoebox replacement made from 65 percent less paper as well as reduced amounts of water, energy and diesel fuel, and a vegan version of its signature suede sneaker that features recycled materials.

But apparently, that's not green enough for Puma.

"We are confident that in the near future we will be able to bring the first shoes, T-shirts and bags, that are either compostable or recyclable, to the market," Puma boss Franz Koch told the German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

So soon, instead of holding on to spent shoes or pawning them off on the local thrift store, you could just bury them in a compost pile along with apple peels and coffee grounds.

Even though Puma may be the biggest company to set its sights on compostable footwear, they're certainly not the first. Dutch label OAT has a range of sneakers that sprouts flowers when you bury them below ground, while OneMoment’s biodegradable slip-ons require only six months to break down in your compost pile.

Image Credit: Flickr - flo_and_me
Via The Guardian and Ecouterre

If you thought people went crazy for the latest Air Jordan's, wait till you see what happens when Nike gives glossy newsstand magazines an equally glamorous second life.

Fashionistas have always had a hard time fitting into the green scene. Not only does a house-sized clothing collection fly in the face of the simplistic, low-impact values of the environmentally-conscious lifestyle, but many of the most famous brands are steeped in a culture that is decidedly unfair-trade and socially irresponsible.

Now footwear giant Nike is exploring a new way to create one-of-a-kind shoes from shredded, recycled magazines, and seeking to reinvent their own reputation in the process.

The Women’s Premium Print Pack is the latest offering in Nike's Sportswear line. It features actual recycled magazines, shredded and then reconstituted into three styles: Nike Flash Macro Premium in Sail/Birch, Nike Blazer Mid Premium in Sail/Khaki and Nike Air Rift Premium in Sail/Sport Red (FreshnessMag.com).

The unique processed used to harvest and mold the magazine shreds into a wearable form leaves much of the wording in tact, giving hipsters a entirely new reason to stare at their shoes while you holler at them to stop riding their fixies through your grass.

Seriously though, these shoes are pretty cool, and you've got to hand it to Nike for producing an exclusive women's line in the typically male-dominated sportswear industry. The Premium Print Pack will be available in limited number at premium retail locations in Europe, China, and others as part of the Nike Sportswear Spring 2011 Collection starting January 1st.

If any Crisp Green readers are lucky enough to snag a pair when they go on sale, we demand you send us a review!

All images via Nike Sportswear's Facebook page