Some people are better than others at keeping plants alive. If you are one of those that can't keep a plant green despite your best intentions, the Grobal Self-Watering Planter is for you. Designed by Karim Rashid this attractive little planter is as functional as it is good looking. The bottom of the pot is a reservoir of water that will slowly feed the plant of your choice, keeping it happy and green. It even has a small window to show you the level of the water. It is available in 8 different colors and two sizes. Available from A+R for $15 - $25.

Roscoe Jackson may be a new kid on the block, but they have some of the best looking sustainable furniture I have seen in a long time. The new Possum furniture collection is made of 100% HDPE (from milk jugs and such) and stainless steel fasteners. This results in a chair that is both sturdy and suitable for indoor or outdoor use. The design reminds me of Bludot's Barabarella line of furniture, which is a good thing. While the Possum furniture may not be as cheap as a Ikea plastic chair you at least get the satisfaction of knowing that you money is supporting both an environmental cause, as well as a great startup design firm.

Available from RoscoeJackson.com or Sprout home from $198 - $285.

Water is something that we can't live without. I have always been surprised that an entire market has been created around selling something that is almost free. For those water snobs only a bottled water like Voss will do, but then there is the rest of us. Plastic water bottles have gotten a bad rap lately, which has helped out companies that make non plastic water bottles like Sigg. Well there is a new kid on the block, and they are here to show that not only can a plastic water bottle be healthy and environmentally responsible, it can look amazing too. The Kor One Hydration Vessel is a new water bottle which will be available soon. It's BPA free, wide mouthed, and absolutely sexy. At $29 they aren't cheap, but if you stopped buying bottled water and just filtered your own at home it would not only be better for the environment, but cheaper overall. More pics after the jump.

Available in August from Kor for $29 Via Coolhunting.

Our new house has a much bigger yard than we are used to, and luckily for us it comes with all sorts of birds. There are some old bird feeders that are left behind from the previous owner, but we are in need of some new ones. Most of the ones that I like are way too expensive, so I think that eventually I will just make my own. I did run across these plastic birdfeeders from DWR that are a pretty good deal. For $25 you get three bird feeders (red, black and clear) and a pack of insect flavored bird seek. While insect flavored birdseed doesn't sound too good, I do like the simplicity of the feeders. Plus if you ever decided to get rid of them, they are recyclable.Popoutz bird-feeders available from DWR for $25

If you haven't already checked out the new Destination Japan series over at the MoMA Store, it's time you get over there. While Japanese design isn't exclusively modern, there is often a simplicity that lends itself to modern decor. Many of the items included in Destination Japan are exclusive to MoMA, and pricing ranges from reasonable to mildly shocking. Shown above is the apple jar with spoon, $55 (ouch). Make sure you check out their folding bread board, $75 (expensive but very cool), Ramen Spoon/Fork $12, and Recycled Dish and Bowl $10 - $15. Available at the MoMA Store Destination Japan.

There is nothing new about stock plans. While there are not a lot of modern ones out there, they do exist. What is new about these modern stock plans from FreeGreen is the price. They're 100% free. Yep, crazy as it sounds they are hoping that what they are not making off of selling the plans, they will make money off advertising and specifying certain green manufactures. While I haven't personally looked at what you get for free, the feedback that I have heard is that the quality and completeness is actually quite good. Currently the only modern design is this Suburban Loft shown, which is a 2,000 square foot 2 bedroom 2 bathroom home complete with rooftop garden. If additional customization is needed, FreeGreen can provide that for an additional price. Free modern stock home plans available from FreeGreen. Via Inhabitat.

Good lighting fixtures have the ability to totally transform a space. Unfortunately a lot of good looking lights can be quite expensive. That was why I was pleasantly surprised to see the prices on these porcelain hanging lamps from Greener Grass Design. Priced between $89 and $182 they will set you back a little more than your paper lamp shades you got at Ikea but they will stay looking nice a lot longer. I love the super clean look of the white porcelain. It's sure to add a touch of class to any space.Available from Greener Grass Design from $89 - $182.

While I am not usually a fan of wicker style chairs, I have to admit the the new ANGE chair from Ikea is pretty good looking. Based around a black steel frame, twisted paper provides a seating surface similar to rattan, only softer. The twisted paper also brings a "green" element to the chair also, since it is possibly recyclable at end of life. Priced at $129 each, its certainly not the cheapest chair available from Ikea, but compared to the competition it's still a pretty good deal. Available from Ikea for $129.

Designer Josh Jakus makes some nice looking totes, clutches and winepockets out of felted wool. When he realized that in the production of these pieces he had a whole slew of perfectly round felted circles laying around he did what any good designer would do, find a use for them. Making them into coasters saves them from being thrown away, and adds a little extra cash in Josh's pocket too. $18 for six coasters to be precise, which may be a little expensive for something that they used to just throw away. Still I'm glad they are using as much as they can of the material and not wasting, that to me is good design.Available from Elsewares for $18 for 6 4" coasters.

Finding a good diaper bag can be a hard thing. There is a huge selection out there, and not much sets one apart from the other. Fleurville is trying to stand out from the competition by offering a greener solution, and I'm not talking color. The Fleurville Re-Run series is made from recycled plastic bottles. For each Re-Run messenger bag made they keep 10 600ml plastic bottles out of the landfill. Style and function hasn't been compromised either. The bags are available in 7 different colors/prints and come with all the bells and whistles a diaper bag should.Available from Fleurville for $75. Via Treehugger.

I love wooden kids toys. They just seem so much better than all the plastic ones that you find in the stores these days. The problem is, they aren't as easy to find, and are sometimes a lot more expensive. My wife found a couple of great websites that have a good selection of affordable wooden kids toys. Show to the left is the Haba Ballino Grabbing Wooden Toy from nurturecenter.com. It is a simple yet stylish toy, and best of all it's only $10.Available from Nurturecenter.com for $10 Check out Brightoctober.com for more wooden toys.

I came across this post over at Tree Hugger a couple of days ago, and have been thinking about it since. From the three person design group 101 comes this great looking lamp made from old wire cloths hangers and a compact florescent bulb. Of course it's not really presented as a DIY project so there are no instructions, but with a little trial and error I'm sure you could figure it out. Upon closer inspection of the picture, it looks like it is all held together by two acrylic discs. I would love to see some pics of someone trying to recreate this. Any takers? Check out 101 Design Studio for more pics.

I love wooden toys, especially ones that force you to have a little bit of an imagination. The little bean race car from Nest is just abstract enough to capture the imagination of any kid. It's not just made of wood either. It's green wood, and I'm not talking about the color. Each toy is made from local maple that is sustainably harvested and then they are finished off with a non-toxic yet durable finish. It is available in 4 different colors and sells for $22. Available from Nest for $22.

In keeping with the holiday spirit I thought I would finish the week off with one more Christmas post. This one comes via treehugger. Designed by Australian Designer Buro North, the "X-Mas Tree" is the first contemporary artificial Christmas tree I have ever seen. Instead of trying to make it look like a real tree, Buro focused on making it look good. What a novel idea. This mod little tree is made of plywood and CNC routed. Not only does it look good, but it's good for the environment as well. Buro has done an entire LCA analysis and states that his tree is 80% more green than a traditional Christmas tree. This flat packed beauty is available in three sizes and prices. Small $69 AUS - 400mm ($60 USD 16") Med $229 AUS - 930mm ($201 USD 36") Large $1619 AUS - 2300mm ($1425 USD 90")

Available directly from Buro North

We have been seeing more and more products made out of bamboo lately, and why not. It is fast growing which makes it very sustainable, and it is hard which makes it very durable. Seems kind of like a no brainer to me. While I have seen lots of bamboo bowls, I think that this is the first bamboo fruit ring I have ever seen. Handmade for Chiasso, this ring is 11.5”dia. x 2.5”- 6”w. It's also 100% eco friendly. The price is a little steep at $38 but you've got to admit it's a lot cooler than what you put your fruit in now. Available from Chiasso for $38.

In a market that is absolutely flooded with iPod and iPhone accessories it's hard to get my attention when a new product comes out, but Vers has done just that. Vers currently has only one product in their line, but its a good one. The 2x is a stereo for your iPod/iPhone with a similar shape and design of Apples Hi-Fi. Instead of plastic though, Vers has elected to go natural. The enclosure is made of beautifully crafted eucalyptus and pine with a cherry veneer. The packaging is also just as natural, made of 100% recycled paper. No idea yet on how it sounds in real life compared to the Hi-Fi, but priced at $179 it is sure to be a big competitor. Available this fall at Target and others for $179.

I stumbled across this pendant looking for some good "green" modern furniture over at Green Culture. It is actually in Green Culture's sister site Eco-Lights. I was excited to find the site, thinking it would be full of unique recycled glass lamps etc. The simple shape and minimal materials of the Fiona Pendant caught my eye right away, but the only thing that I can find that makes this light "green" is the fact that it uses a halogen bulb. It is however, a very nice looking lamp, you can never go wrong with glass and chrome, especially for $162. It is currently 30% off, along with everything else on Eco-Lights. Available from Eco-Lights for $162.

I was checking out this Boxhouse designed by Rob Pyatt and noticed it looks like they used a similar rainscreen detail on the exterior of their house. It's interesting to see it with white underneath instead of black. It makes it look very light and clean. I can't say I envy the person that will have to maintain all that wood though. Boxhouse is an award winning University of Colorado College of Architecture & Planning ( research + design + build ) project.

Check out more pictures here.

With prefab houses failing to deliver to those who are looking for affordable modern architecture shipping containers have stepped up. People have been talking about it for a while. I used to anxiously read over at fab prefab in the shipping container section waiting for someone to actually build. It seemed like lots of people talked, but very few were actually doing anything. Luckily times are changing. This six pack from Atlanta Georgia has recently gone up and is looking good. Not the best container design I've seen (it lacks a little creativity) but the build price is rumored to be around $75 sq/ft, which is awesome. Head on over to Materialicious to read more about it. Check out a video here.

This one is for all you pet lovers out there, you know who you are.Before we had our son Arrington, our dog was our child. Going to Petsmart used to be a shopping black hole, we could never leave there with just a bag of dog food. I'm sure our goldendoodle Ainsley would approve of these bowls and stand. The large bowls have a bone embossed on the bottom, and both sizes come with a white food bowl and a blue water bowl. The bamboo stand helps keep thing neat and tidy where they belong.

Available exclusively from Red Envelope for $35 - $55.