Lawrence Comras (or Axel) from Green Home, The Environmental Store has some really great home cleaning products, that are awesome eco-friendly alternatives to the toxic traditional cleaners. He shows them off here in this NBC News, Today spring cleaning segment, giving a live demonstration of the products on windows & counter tops, proving that they work just as well as the chemically filled cleaners.
Littlearth is this way cool company that makes purses & fashion accessories using recycled license plates, rubber and bottle caps. Founded in 1993, by Rob Brandegee & Ava DeMarco on the the idea to design & produce fashionable, unique and trendsetting purses & belts by reusing and recycling materials that would otherwise be overlooked or thrown away. Nowadays known as…ecofashion. They try to incorporate reused and recycled parts into their products as much as possible, and aim for an average of at least 50% recycled content in their product line.
Littlearth products are made from authentic recycled plates that they get from a large dealer, junkyards, & donations from all over the country, so small nicks & scratches are inherent in the plates. The imperfections are minor though, adding to their history and giving them a little character.
Their bottle caps are a combination of vintage, no longer manufactured caps, new caps and used beer caps collected from bars in Pittsburgh (Littlearth’s home) and other cities.
The company uses used tires that are ground up and reconstituted along with binding materials into rubber sheeting that are about 40% post-consumer recycled for all their purse straps & belts. The material is very soft and supple with a suede-like finish, and with use, it will burnish to a low gloss. The one down side of using this material is that it emits a very faint rubber smell which you may notice when you first take your product out of the box. But for the most part you can not smell the rubber, and over time it fades.
All of Littlearth’s products are way cool and make awesome unique holiday gifts that are green for that perfect someone this season. Check them out…
If you have a dishwasher and are running it on a daily basis, here are 7 tips you can do to cut down on the energy use, save some money, and be a little greener when you clean.
1- Only run full loads - this will help make the most of the energy, water, and detergent the machine uses.
2- Use the energy efficient setting if available.
3- Don’t run the dishwasher’s dry cycle - let your dishes air dry, or towel dry them.
4- Turn down the water temperature on the dishwasher to 120° F - results in additional energy savings without compromising on cleanliness.
5- Skip the pre-rinse - most dishwashers today are powerful enough to get all the gunk off, so a lot of pre-rinsing by hand is often just a waste of water and time.
6- Use soap that is natural, biodegradable, and free of petroleum and phosphates.
7- Run the dishwasher during off-peak utility hours - some utilities even offer reduced rates for energy used during this period.
Current TV and the Alliance for Climate Protection challenged it’s viewers to create Ecospots, short videos with a message to get people involved in fighting the climate change crisis. The winners have been recently announced. Below is the second place winner, Are You Game, a fast-paced, green-themed party game, in which 6 friends race against time to discover common solutions to the climate crisis.
As the holiday season fast approaches, it’s time to start thinking about your Christmas trees and holiday decorations. There are many options out there, however some are more eco friendly than others.
1- Artificial
Some may think that buying an artificial tree is the most eco friendly thing to do; however that is just the opposite. Artificial trees are far worse for the environment than cutting down a real live tree. That’s because they are mainly made from non-renewable plastics, some containing PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride). While you can reuse a fake tree over and over you can never recycle it when it is time to update your holiday decor, and not to mention all the toxic chemicals that went into making it in the first place.
2- Real
On the other hand, real trees that are cut down can be recycled after the holiday season by being mulched or used for heat. You can even be super green by buying your tree from an organic tree farm and avoid all the pesticides.
3- Living
Another alternative, one of the best for the planet, is to celebrate with a living tree. This is a live tree that is potted in a planter for the holiday and then later transfer to the earth. All the holiday cheer with no guilt.
Have a happy holiday for you, your family & friends, and your planet. Look for more green holiday tips all of December.
Even your cuddle pooches can go green and sport eco friendly fashion. The crew over at EarthDog manufactures hemp collars, leashes, harnesses, beds and chew toys for dogs. Their dog products are all handmade in the USA, and are inspired by their own dogs - 14 in all.
EarthDog uses asian-grown 100% hemp canvas & webbing and hemp rope from Romania. They dye their hemp with low impact, non-toxic procion dyes.
EarthDog is also a carbon neutral company. They have offset their carbon emissions for the year by purchasing a business Terrapass, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by funding clean energy and efficiency projects.
Add some plants to your daytime environment to boost the oxygenation. Plants not only produce oxygen during daylight hours, they also act as a great natural air purifier for our stale indoor air by absorbing carbon dioxide, pollutants and other toxins.
Some great air cleaning houseplants are: Chinese Evergreen, Bamboo Palm, Aloe Vera, Spider Plants, Mums, Dumbcane, Golden Pothos, Ficus, Gerbera Daisy, English Ivy, Heart leaf philodendron, Janet Craig, and Peace Lily.
As a rule of thumb, allow one houseplant per 100 square feet of living area. The more vigorous the plant, the more air it can filter. Keep in mind that plants will not do much to alleviate tobacco smoke or dust in the air.
What is Chicago doing to become a greener city?
RiverWired gives the inside scoop in this video. Check out Chicago’s City Hall roof, it’s municipal vehicles, the accessible recycling programs, and the new Center for Green Technology which was built on a former industrial waste site.
Want to make your office a more energy efficient one?
Check out this article posted a few months back by Macworld. It features tips and tricks to going green at the office with your Mac.
My favorite tip is number 7 - Let your keyboard do the flying.
“Traveling not only requires that you spend money on plane tickets, lodging, and the like, but also includes a hidden cost. The average cross-country passenger-plane flight adds about one ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the air—per passenger. You can use the online CO2 calculator at macworld.com/ 2576 to more accurately estimate a particular trip’s impact (see “Emissions Calculator”).
When you need face time with far-off clients or colleagues, consider using technology to span the distance. With a high-speed Internet connection, iChat AV, and an iSight or a video camera, you can easily set up a simple videoconference. You’ll get the benefit of reading facial expressions without the hassle, expense, and emissions involved with traveling.
If you simply have to fly but are concerned about the CO2 you’ll create, consider donating to an organ-ization such as Native Energy or TerraPass. These companies calculate your impact and suggest a monetary donation—which goes toward projects such as building renewable energy sources or planting trees—to off-set it.”
C2C Holdings, Inc is a way cool company that was inspired by the Cradle to Cradle design philosophy and their overall goal is to eliminate the concept of waste. They do this by designing products so that their material value can be harnessed again and again in future products instead of ending up in a landfill.
Their first product line is ReProduct greeting cards and envelopes, which can also be customized to include invitations, announcements and other stationery items. ReProducts cards are made from a plastic material called OPP (oriented polypropylene) and are printed with healthy UV cured inks. Both the card material and the ink formulation have been certified to contain no toxins. This means that there are no human health risks associated with any materials in the cards. The cards are then sent to the recipient in a unique 2-way envelope (similar to Netflix) that provides pre-paid return postage back to the manufacture, Shaw Industries. When the recipient is finished with the card, they simply put the card into the return envelope and drop it in the mail. Shaw Industries then uses 100% of the cards and envelopes to create carpet backing in new carpet tiles.
Show your family & friends that you are thinking about them while still thinking about the environment - Go green & use ReProduct Cards.
