Urban Lace

Urban Lace Jewelry specializes in making unique eco-friendly designer jewelry. Our one of a kind jewelry is created from recycled bicycle inner tubes collected from local bike shops. Our goal is to make high quality, high fashion, environmentally friendly products that people love to wear. We create elegant design with the planet in mind.


Inner tubes are not only durable, flexible, and waterproof, they can also be beautiful. Each year thousands of inner tubes are thrown into landfills in the US alone, where they will sit for hundreds of years. Urban Lace is committed to renewing those discarded tubes into wearable art.


Barbi Touron, the lead designer for Urban Lace, started out in a small garage below her apartment making jewelry for friends in 2006. As more and more people wore her jewelry and word of mouth spread, so did the demand for these unique creations. With orders growing beyond her ability to keep up, Barbi partnered with Aaron Shear and Urban Lace was born. They been working together since March 2011 making new designs for the up coming year 2012.


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Urban Lace Jewelry 

Items of the Day...

Tire Belt by rebicyclist

Fox Clutch by tsurubride

Painting by retrowhale

What's YOUR favorite Eco-Friendly Grocery Bag?

Mine is the $1.00 Bags from Joann Fabrics! they are huge. and awesome. I bought $150 dollars worth of Groceries and they fit it in 3 of my Joann Bags!

What is your Favorite Eco-Friendly Bag? Lets Give eachother tips and suggestions!

Recycled DIY Tire Sandles

These Amazing Sandles were created and made by Courtney Kessel. These fabulous shoes consist of laminated cardboard platforms with tire tread soles. The upper is all bicycle tire inner tubing and a washer.

Pocketflops are foldable flip flops for women that are made with 95% recycled tire rubber and come in a carrying case made of either recycled or organic fabric. Their durability and thin design make them ideal for yoga bags, purses and backpacks.

Want to make your own? Heres a website with instructions for DIY Blown Tire Sandles

Today Only Free Eco-Tote from Walgreens

In celebration of Earth Day, get a free tote bag with any purchase at Walgreens. I didn't need a coupon, but some websites say you need one, so heres the coupon just incase!

Screenprinted Eco-Friendly Grocery Totes

$6 Eco-Friendly Reusable Grocery Totes

Hand screenprinted

Shop/View AD LOVE

What Did you Do with That...? Plastic and Yarn!

What do you get when you combine the words Plastic & Yarn?
You get the word Plarn.
Plarn is made by cutting strips of plastic bags that are turned into a "Yarn."

This beautiful bag was crocheted using white and blue plastic grocery bags and light blue acrylic yarn for extra strength.Tight stitches add to the strength and durability, leaving "no holes" that your change could fall through.It's lightweight and versatile enough to use for the store or as a purse, the beach, for the library, or anything else you can think of.
It has a large flap closure and I added a handy front pocket that is perfect to keep your cell phone , grocery list or coupons in.

Made by Debs Crochet

Thank you Deb for you wonderful creation!

Do you want to submit your creation to:

"What Did You DO with that...?"

Read Here!

Indie and Eco Friendly Gift Guide

Gift Ideas From Wonderful Shops!

Top Left: Bangles $10 (made from grocery bags) by Arny Designs,

Top Right: Eco-Friendly Bamboo Dish Cloth/Exfoliating Wash Cloth $6 by Sweet Memories Quilts

Middle Left: Recycled Magazine Bead Necklace $40 by Zendik Arts,

Middle Right: Chapel Windows UniqueHandmade Gourd Art Lampshade $219 by Studio Tempera

Bottom Left: Vino Zinnia recycled Collage Print $23 by artandphilanthropy,

Bottom Right: SPOTTED BIRD - TURQUOISE - Recycled Felt applique pillow $49 by Alexandra Ferguson

Reducing harmful Items in Your home...

Is that okay to eat out of? Why does that smell?

Just a few quick tips I read up on a few items that we might want to concider reading more carefully or replacing in the future. 

Microwaving in plastic

This could be harmful if the container is not marked "microwave safe". Just check the bottom, if it does not say microwave safe, it could leak toxins into your meal, and are less likely to be recyclable.

Fluorescent Bulb Safety 

An Etsy user TheBlueKraken brought to my attention some ideas she wanted to add to my blog. First about Replacing your lightbulbs with fluorescent ones. "There are huge dangers to fluorescent bulbs. they are full of mercury vapor and if you break one its very dangerous. you also cannot throw them in the trash. the mercury will go to a land fill and eventually ground water. i will only use them in fixtures that need colder bulbs and i do not throw them away if they stop working."

I looked it up and IKEA recycles fluorescent bulbs, if you dont live by an IKEA, read this article to mail it in by ecogeek.

Green Cleaning Products

Buy products labeled non-toxic, biodegradable, all-natural, and those that contain plant-based ingredients. Look for Multi-Purpose Products – Many multi-purpose cleaners are just as effective as the specialty cleaners. For instance, white vinegar can be used to clean floors, glass surfaces, coffee pots, and copper products. It is also effective at removing some kinds of stains. I just went to the grocery store last week, and was looking for toilet bowl cleaner, they had a One day promotion on their new Green Toilet bowl Cleaner, it was as cheap as the lowest priced Clorox Brand Toilet Bowl Cleaner. Check out your grocery store for local promotions.

Here are some RECIPES to make your own Green household cleaning products.

Teflon Pan alternatives

Nonstick cookware is made with a substance that’s a probable carcinogen. But the biggest threat, experts say, is all the air and water pollution caused by the factories that make the chemical. So copper or aluminum are the more eco-friendly options, but you don't have to throw away your pans if you already have them until they are scratched. 

Heres some alternatives when going shopping for new pots and pans:

• Cuisinart Greenware™ Eco-Friendly Non-Stick 10-Piece Cookware Set

• Starfrit Eco Friendly Cookware

• Green Pan Cookware

Can't live without dry cleaning?

I know I can't afford to dry clean except for special occasion dresses and things, but I know some family members who dry clean often, and would never even think of it as a harm to the environment. Although there isn't conclusive research, a large amount of dry cleaners use a chemical that has been linked to reproductive damage and cancer. Also the plastic bags are a waist, and take a lot of energy to produce. Try asking for NO plastic next time, or letting your clothes air out for about an hour after you bring them home, preferrably outside. Read this article for more info on dry cleaning alternatives.

Read the label. 

Read labels and look for signal words — DANGER, POISON, WARNING, CAUTION — that indicate the level of hazard. Products labeled DANGER or POISON are most hazardous. Pay attention to other messages on the label such as “causes burns on contact,” “vapors harmful,” or “extremely flammable.” Learn to recognize these phrases and take them seriously.

Got something to add? please email me, or add it in the comment section, I am sure our readers would surely appreciate it!

B.Y.O.B. - Bring Your Own Bag

Gosh I swear, when I am finished unloading groceries, I have about 100 of those plastic grocery bags, and I just keep stuffing them into the cabinet. 

Well For this weeks Grocery Shopping, I took all those bags and a very large eco-friendly bag to the Grocery Store. I was the annoying customer who asked to re-use my bags, but hey, too bad man!

I got to the doors, and realized theres a huge bin for old plastic bags, oops! ha ha, next time! But I was relieved to see this. So next time I will bring those plastic bags and dump them in the bin! I am going to try to get at least one new grocery tote whenever I go shopping. I found a huge one at Joann Fabrics for $1 buck.

Sea of Plastic Bags:

Anyway, Why should we 

Re-use, Recycle or say No to plastic bags?

• Millions of dollars are spent each year dumping plastic bags into landfills, millions are also spent annually in liter clean up, Cities and recyclers spend enormous amounts removing plastic bags from other recyclable materials at the facility; plastic bags jam machinery and add to the manual labor costs of recycling. They can kill animals, plants... etc. etc. etc.

What are Fashionable Alternatives to plastic bags?

Here are a couple shops that have some awesome eco-friendly FASHIONABLE re-usable Grocery and everyday totes!

Kim Quilts: Super Durable up-cycled plastic bags!

zJayne: Adorable Tee-shirt Bags

Fickle Faerie: Reusable Produce bags:

Also, Read this awesome blog from Etsy Labs to make your OWN Eco-Friendly Bags, by fusing together old plastic bags! It looks awesome! I am going to try it.

Etsy Labs Bag, For Article Click Here: