Electrolux will be announcing the winner of its 2010 Design Lab Compact Living competition later this month.  Here’s a look at the eight futuristic finalists:

• You can pop over to the Design Lab site to vote for your favorite.  I could probably do without the virtual reality cooking gizmo.

There’s a new green fashionista on the block. To celebrate the Grand Opening of Melissa Dion’s ecolissa.com, an eco and vegan conscious fashion site for women — you’ll receive 10% off your first order of already reasonably priced threads.  Some personal faves (above) – Cholla Elroy dress and Second Eco Denim jeans.  Just enter GO10 at checkout.

Tired of mass-produced, sterile fashion?  Need an edgy accessory to help you regain some of your lost street cred.  Maybe this industrial looking ring can help recapture a little of that ‘Trent Reznor’ vibe that used to be part of your appeal.

The adjustable ring, designed and created by Revonav, is made of recycled sterling silver and has been oxidized to show its character and detail – and hey, it’s only 33 bucks.

For this Tried and True Green Product Review, a complimentary Baringo messenger bag was provided to us by GreenSmart.

Check out GreenSmart’s new Baringo messenger bag — it’s good looking and has a lot of great features.  Every time I use it I tell at least one person, “it’s made from 31 recycled plastic bottles.”  Inevitably, it gets a “wow, cool” reaction.

Rather than create waste in their manufacturing, the innovators at GreenSmart are literally making new material from waste.  All fabrics used for their Bottles 2 Bags are derived 100 percent from recycled plastic bottles (rPET Polyester).  The recycled plastic bottles are first ground into chips, then spun into yarn, woven into fabric and finally sewn into bags.  This process uses less energy than making polyester out of refined petroleum.

Well-conceived and executed, it’s designed to hold a lot of stuff — laptop, notebooks, books, small packages — and keep you organized.  The material is soft and lightweight yet durable.

There are several well-placed pockets (you can stash a slim reusable water bottle & your cellphone in the end pockets) (more…)