Posted on Sun, Jun. 15, 2008

Two South Florida women have created a virtual Little Green House -- an online business selling eco-friendly products for activities ranging from walking the dog to remodeling the kitchen.

Take, for example, redoing the kitchen. Little Green House sells tiles fabricated from recycled aluminum in silver, amber and red hues that could work for a backsplash or a tabletop. For the walls, there's a line of soy-based paints and stains.

Bathroom towels are made from bamboo and sell for $42 for a set (bath and hand towels and wash cloth). Bamboo bathrobes cost $80. The fabric, said co-owner DeAnna Padgett, is ``very, very soft.''

Products for the outdoors include a selection of rain barrels, $195.

Padgett, who also works as a sales manager in the entertainment lighting industry, and Jessica Concepcion, an artist, established the business about two years ago to provide healthier products for people and for the environment.

In addition to their website, the pair occasionally run booths at festivals, trade shows and green markets. They also participate in the South Florida Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, an organization that promotes green building techniques and standards.

Padgett and Concepcion say they try out the products they sell. They used the soy-based paint to put a happy shade of green on the walls of their home office in Wilton Manors. For the floor, they ripped out the old carpeting and used a soy-based brown stain to give the bare concrete floor a naturally mottled design. The stain, which is acid-free and sold in different colors, creates its own pattern based on the surface variations within the concrete, Concepcion said. ''The room is much cooler now that the carpeting is gone,'' she said.

Among the most popular ''green'' products are bags made from corn-based plastic. BioBags, touted as completely biodegradable and compostable, are packaged in a variety of styles, including tall kitchen bags and kitty litter pan liners. The BioBag line, at about $5 per package, also includes a product designed for picking up dog waste -- adding a green facet to strolling with the pooch.

Along with practical products and decorative items, Little Green House sells some fun and whimsical pieces that fit a green lifestyle.

Whimsical bottle openers, $12, are embellished with a piece of recycled bicycle chain.

Egglings are a ceramic replica of their name. When cracked, the egg-shaped products house seedlings for starting a garden. The assortment includes wild strawberry, mint, basil and spicy red pepper.