fysigunkus | jay hathaway dot com

Sometimes it’s hard to justify spending money on great design that you don’t really need. Your budget’s limited, and that next pair of shoes isn’t totally essential. Well, sometimes you don’t have to choose between the aesthetically pleasing and the practical. Here are a couple of things I found this week that are smart, stylish, and even affordable:Tappening.com is the website of a rapidly-growing movement against bottled water. It’s backed up with statistics and sensible blog posts about the advantages of tap water, both in terms of environmental sustainability and saving you some money.What they’re saying makes a whole lot of sense: instead of buying Ethos water at Starbucks, which contributes 5 cents of its $1.50 price tag to providing clean drinking water for those who need it, get a glass of tap water and donate that whole $1.50. I personally don’t drink nearly as much water as I should, so it was great to see that Tappening also sells some sweet-looking water bottles. No need to buy bottled water when you’ve got a slick bottle of your own. It was about time I picked one up anyway, so I was happy to show my support for Tappening along the way. Plus, it was under $20, shipping and all.I don’t drink much bottled water, but I do end up with a ton of paper or plastic grocery bags. It seems like they just keep piling up, no matter how many creative uses you find for them. Fortunately, there’s a global frenzy for reusable shopping bags as display spaces for good design.I have a reusable bag from one grocery store, but I wanted something that wasn’t branded. There were a lot of choices online, but I ended up going with the Baggu.It’s sturdy, easy to carry, and comes in tons of different colors. It’s also pretty cheap, at 8 bucks a bag, or 3 for $22. I also have to rave about the included pouches, which let you fold your Baggu up for easy storage in your purse or messenger bag. Now I won’t get caught without a bag for those spontaneous food runs.So, if you’re looking for something fun that will also help you cut down your consumption of resources every day, look no further than Tappening and Baggu. You can even carry your water bottle around in your reusable bag!Spotted any other great combinations of style and substance? Drop me a comment.