Green Thinking Blog

Fresh off our experience at the 2008 Green Earth Expo, Kate and I are bursting with ideas for simple and functional green products. After some extensive research, we tried to pick things that are affordable and easy to add in to your lifestyle in the near future. Read on for our top ten green products to buy now.

1. Stainless Steel or Aluminum Water Bottle - Cut down your waste and avoid sending more plastic bottles to our landfills (those suckers take hundreds and hundreds of years to decompose). Try out a reusable bottle and make sure to buy a skinny scrub brush so you can thoroughly clean it. Many grocery stores are selling their own bottles, or you could try one of these: Sigg Silver Traveler Water Bottle or Klean Kanteen Water Bottle. Bring it to work, bring it to school, or anytime you leave the house.
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2. Green Cleaning Products - It’s spring time and you’re probably doing lots of cleaning. Why not clean with some products you can feel good about (those which are environmentally safe, made from natural cleaning agents, free of toxic chemicals/phosphorus/bleach, and hypo-allergenic)? Kate and I tried Clorox Green Works products and we love them so far ($2.99-$3.39). Choose from All-Purpose Cleaner, Glass & Surface Cleaner, Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Dilutable Cleaner, and Bathroom Cleaner. We also like Seventh Generation products, though I don’t recommend the Automatic Dishwasher Gel. It’s just too gentle and it fails to get your dishes really clean.
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3. Reusable Shopping Bags - If you haven’t done it already, its really time to get some reusable shopping bags to cut down on our plastic waste. You can read Kate’s post on canvas tote bags where she talks about some fabulous, fashionable bag options. Or try out Baggu — they come in 19 different colors at $8 for one, $22 for three, or $38 for six.
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4. Natural Skincare - Not only do we have to protect our impact on the environment, we’ve got to protect our own bodies and reduce the amount of chemicals and toxins we absorb. Skincare is so important and its a topic we think a lot about here in sunny Florida. Try these or look for natural products free of parabens, perfumes, colorants, alcohols, and preservatives: Burt’s Bees Chemical-Free Sunscreen SPF 15 Burt’s Bees Radiance Lip Shimmer (LOVE this stuff!) L’Occitane Shea & Organic Cotton Cleansing Milk
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5. Energy Efficient Light Bulbs - We know you’ve heard about these before, but have you switched out ALL of your light bulbs yet? Compact florescent bulbs (CFLs) help you save on your electric bill, they use about a quarter of the energy that traditional bulbs do, and they can last for years! Visit Energy Star’s website and click on their “Choose a Light Guide” to help make a list of which bulbs you need for your home.
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6. Rain Barrel - Get a rain barrel made from recycled plastic and catch some clean, healthy water during the rainy months. Your garden will love you for it, and you’ll cut down your water usage. Clean Air Gardening has a 50 gallon barrel designed to blend into your landscape. They have a cheaper 60 gallon barrel too, but it’s bright blue. If you’re clueless, read this Rain Barrel Guide for help.
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7. Energy Saving Power Strip - Pick up one of these power strips that will automatically switch off power to your devices when you’re not using them. Energy-efficient power strips are a great option for those of us that just can’t take the time to unplug and re-plug everything day in and day out. We read great reviews of the USB Ecostrip, but it’s currently sold out in the US. Smart Strip is another good brand.
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8. TerraPass - If you can’t afford a hybrid or flex-fuel vehicle just yet, opt for the TerraPass to offset your carbon emissions. You can also offset your flights, wedding, home, or office. Read our post here for more info. TerraPass’ profits fund clean energy and efficiency projects like wind farms.
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9. Low Flow Showerhead - Switch to a low flow showerhead to cut down your water usage by half. The Roadrunner has ShowerStart™ technology that shuts off flow to a trickle once the water heats up. When you’re ready to get in, just switch on the valve to enjoy your shower. You can also get regular showerheads at Home Depot with easy switches on the head to turn water flow on and off while you’re soaping up.
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10. Organic and Local Food - We know it’s not practical or affordable for most of us to buy ONLY organic food, but every little bit helps. Organics are not only much healthier for you, but organic practices are healthier for the environment and animals too. They reduce the amount of toxins, pesticides, and pollutants that seep into the ground and air supply. Restaurants and grocery stores are carrying more organic foods as each day passes, so try them out when you can. A few easy options: Amy’s Natural and Organic Frozen Meals Stonyfield Farms dairy products Grow your own veggies (ex. hanging tomato plant) Also, purchase local produce whenever you can. Check out our post on farmer’s markets and local co-ops here.

With over 500 exhibitors, there is no way Laurel and I could ever share all the great stuff from each booth. So, we decided we would each pick some of our faves (it was a close call) to share some interesting companies, products, and services we learned about at Green Expo 2008.

My boyfriend and I are suckers for relaxing with the scent of incense in the air, so imagine my happiness when I picked up free samples of Lama Chodpa Incense. Lama Chodpa Incense is handmade incense from the Nub Gon Monestary in Tibet. Monks of this society make the incense from carefully ground herbs and let it dry in the sun. Each ingredient is blessed and one is blessed first for a 9 day ceremony and then for a full year by a meditation master. Not only is this incense free of chemicals and pesticides, it smells great!

Next, we went to visit the gents from Wildlife Solutions, a wildlife removal company that practices humane ways. With their outback theme from down under, these guys gave us a cute magnet with a baby raccoon on it, fake plastic snakes to scare our friends, and introduced us to a real snake—to scare us. The most important thing they shared, however, was their service. This company offers humane removal of animals such as raccoons, snakes, rats, bats, and squirrels. They remove the animal, clean up after it, find out how it got in, and then perform any repairs to prevent you from having any more unwanted roommates and preventing the animal from getting hurt.

100Fires.com caused Laurel and I to kick ourselves the minute we walked in the door. One thing we do best is shop, and we forgot our wallets, which we realized the minute we walked to a booth dedicated to books. This bookstore is dedicated to providing literature on sustainable living. While we encourage you to partake in your local library system, in the event you can’t find a book you are looking to borrow, 100Fires can find books that are hard to find. Important genres to search, the kids section. Educate early and save the future Earth.

Continuing on the subject of shopping…we also stopped by Ten Thousand Villages booth. Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade store that sells products made by artisans in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These stores allow the artisans to practice a trade that provides a decent wage and a chance at a higher quality of life. They featured the best gift ideas for anyone on your list. From sculptures to jewelry to trivets, they have it and it is made beautifully!

Laurel provided links earlier to seeing if the Green Expo is coming to your area, if it is, we highly recommend you go—but be sure to set aside the whole afternoon!

If your area doesn’t have a local grocer, don’t fret.  A lot of mainstream grocery stores are offering organic products on their shelves.  Organic Earth Day supplied a flyer at my grocery store to provide coupons and steps for going organic.  Their website has some great ideas for recipes and highlights companies that create organic food items. 

Some grocery stores that are making the movement:

Publix recently took their Greenwise Market products and created a whole store!  Their first location is in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and they have four more locations planned. 

On a recent (and rare) trip to Wal-Mart, they are now selling organic products too! Like Laurel & I’s faves: Amy’s organic foods and Stonyfield Yogurt amongst others.

For those of you on the other side of the country, Safeway’s website has a whole organic section to browse before you order online or go to the store.

And, do not forget to continuously check Laurel on Health Food  for the most recent information on what organic foods can do for you.  This is an excellent resource to encourage healthy things to go into your body, things you never knew could happen if you just ate the right things.   

Happy Earth Day!

Show some earth day love with one or all of these easy ideas:

• Look at the winners of the EPA’s Earth Day Photo Contest.
• Plant A Billion Trees (or just one tree for $1.00).
• Read about the History of Earth Day.
• Check out what other people are doing on Google’s What will you do for Earth Day ‘08?
• Post Ideal Bite’s “Green Your Office” flyer in the break room.
• Add some “green” DVDs to your Netflix queue (Planet Earth, The 11th Hour, An Inconvenient Truth, Planet in Peril, etc.) and watch them with your family and friends.
• Print out the Horton Hears a Who! “You Can Be An Energy Star” activity book on recycled paper for your kids or students.
• Visit LocalHarvest.com and finally know where local organic farmers are selling those yummy crops.
• Plant some flowers in your yard or in a clay pot on your porch or rooftop.
• Figure out your personal ecological footprint with this calculator.

I was browsing an issue of Slap Magazine at my boyfriend’s house the other day. What do you normally look at in magazines? Pictures. So there it was, a full page advertisement featuring green shoes. Not green in color mind you, but eco-friendly kicks.

So I took my search to the world wide web. You can find shoes made of all kinds of earth-conscious materials: bamboo, hemp, recycled car tires and bike tires (which probably make you walk faster), and vegan- and vegetarian-conscious shoes that remove all animal products, by-products, and animal testing for the devout. One of the most interesting and beneficial sites I came across was SimpleShoes.com. Simple is educating their consumer and allowing you to shop right there—two of my faves combined!

This company is not only concerned with the why of their earthly cause, but the how. Dedication to using earth-friendly materials (organic cotton, water based glue, hemp, recycled rubbers, and so many more!) in production makes their shoes 100% sustainable. By using the entire recycled tire, they are saving it from going to a landfill. That same recycled tire is then saved from sending poisonous gases into our air because, if it were in a landfill, it would be burned to make more room in that landfill. Hello?! Save a step and make some shoes!

Planet Shoes features Simple shoes along with other companies that are in touch with the greeness of the feet (Earth, Acorn, and Patagonia to name a few).

Check out each link, and when you shop, think of lil’ ol’ me. You could be green from head-to-toe so easily!

As we become more and more aware of our earth, we are recognizing that waste is everywhere! I am amazed at the amount of trash one person can create in a week, let alone every person, every week, around the world combined.

Composting is a great alternative to dealing with waste as it conserves landfill space, improves soil condition, provides food for microorganisms, and possibly becomes a family pastime. You may think you can just throw all your lawn clippings in a corner and watch it grow—but it is a little more scientific than that. For a great compost, you need the perfect combination of carbon-rich materials (dried leaves, straw, wood chips) and nitrogen-rich materials (grass clippings and kitchen scraps). Other things to consider are temperature, moisture, and size of your compost pile. An excellent resource to learn all you can about the breaking down of materials through a complex feeding cycle of organisms can be found at CompostGuide.com.

Side Note: You can help your compost pile by considering what you buy that might end up there. While paper, plastic, and Styrofoam products cut down trees, are non-biodegradable, are created using petroleum, and cause pollution, consider purchasing Bagasse or PLA tableware products instead.

Bagasse is a tree-free, sugarcane-based product that is extremely durable and heat tolerant for picnic plates. It also has the capacity to break down within 45-60 days in a commercial composter. Check out Branchhome.com to view and purchase Bagasse products.

PLA is an alternative to plastic, is just as durable, but is 100% biodegradable. It is made from corn and takes only 30-45 days to compost. You can find trash bags, cutlery, cups, and plates made from PLA. For more info and purchasing options visit 2wplastic.com.

Local Harvest is a great resource to find a co-op or farmer’s market near you.  Just type in your area code and you will find a plethara of local produce for you to purchase.  The benefit to you?  Fresh, healthy, organic produce that comes without hormones and pesticides.  Not only that, but you are helping to boost your local economy and providing a living to farmers that bring you natural produce and create a sustainable environment. 

So, what exactly is a co-op?  A co-op is a local grocer run by members to bring sustainable living to your neighborhood.  Often times, there is an annual fee to join a co-op.  Members will receive a discount on produce, first choice on what comes in from the local farmers, and will man the store for people who visit the location. 

As for a farmers’ market, this event, at least in my ‘hood, normally occurs once a week in a designated area.  Farmers & vendors from the area bring their produce and fare to this central location for residents to oooohhhh & ahhhhh over - and purchase of course.  You can find anything from breakfast, to flowers, organic produce, and crafts.  My area farmers’ market hustles and bustles for a four or five hour period every Saturday & Sunday morning and starts my week off right.  Bring your dog, bring your kids, eat some popcorn & get healthy!!!!  Parking is usually an event, but the walk will do you good.