Danny Seo on How to Make Smarter, Greener Choices at JCPenney

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Happy Earth Day 2010!

In honor of Earth Day, we hit up green lifestyle guru Danny Seo for his green-picks from JCPenney. Why JCPenney? Because one out of every two Americans—that's 50% of the country—shops at JCPenney. True story.

While we're all aware that making changes to decrease our collective impact on the environment is a good thing, it's nearly impossible to live a perfectly eco-friendly life. As normal, functioning members of contemporary civilized (urban) society, our pledge this year is to make better, greener choices—in everything lifestyle from food and shopping to transportation and entertainment—and to stop beating ourselves up for not being organic vegan locavores who live by soy candlelight and mill our own hemp fiber for clothing.

Okay, that's extreme, but you know what we mean.

From left to right:

The Cooks four piece batter bowl set, $19.99 (orig. $39.99) "Isn't made out of plastic," Seo says, "but a special eco blend of crushed bamboo powder, starch and degradable resin." They're also dishwasher save and will biodegrade if ever thrown away.

The Simply Green Shag Rug by Studio, priced from $24.99 to $39.99, is "made out of 100% recycled nylon all from plastic water bottles," Seo says. These are the same bottles you put out for recycling! "They're shredded, melted, and respun into fiber and made into these cozy rugs."

We think that Seo just likes this Arizona reusable tote, $15.99, —"Why can't a reusable tote bag be super-cute and, well, puffy?" Seo asks. That's rhetorical.

This Cindy Crawford solar umbrella, $149, doesn't come emblazoned with iconic images of the 90s-supermodel, but it does score green points. "Solar panels on top of the umbrella charge up during the day," Seo points out. "Energy-efficient LED lights inside illuminate it at night."

Quick Dri striped beach towels, $14.99, don't just keep your beach bag from getting wet—"It features a special weave of cotton that helps the towel dry 30% faster," Seo says. This translates into "energy savings in the dryer since it takes less time to dry."

A cutting board is a cutting board, right? Not really. These Cooks bamboo cutting boards, $19.99 for a set of three, are "eco because they're made from fast growing grass," Seo says. "Chefs also love them because bamboo boards don't dull knives when you're chopping."
· Danny Seo [Official Site]
· JCPenney [Official Site]