by laurel |
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:
Also, purchase local produce whenever you can. Check out our post on farmer’s markets and local co-ops here. |
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Brighter Planet
We Can Solve It
Laurel Health Coaching
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks so much for your comment on my blog.
Your blog is fantastic, and I’m glad to see people promoting practical solutions to going green. Sometimes I think the average person thinks that he/she can’t make a difference because its too difficult or complicated, or requires a deviation from their normal routine. Thanks for suggesting products that help out.
However, on an interesting note- had you heard that Burts Bee’s was bought out by Clorox? I’m not completely certain how I feel about that just yet!
Thanks again!
-Jess
Great list! I’ve been trying to find a good sunblock lotions so I appreciate the recommendation to Burt’s bees. All these suggestions are so doable.
I’m interested in the water bottle. I’m one of the guilty ones who buy bulk plastic packs by the boatload. I do recycle them, but they also pile up in the house. One problem I’ve had with aluminum bottles is that they are hard to clean, especially if I put other liquids other than water. Yes, there are brushes, but because cannot see inside, can never be sure. Any suggestions on good see through products with a wider mouth for easier cleaning? Granted, a wider mouth is harder to use at the gym. Maybe a product with option for squirting at gym, but removeable mouth for easier cleaning?
Thanks,
Patrick
As the co-founder of the Green Earth Expo, I am DELIGHTED that you derived so much value. When Jim Griffin and I created the event, that was our goal. It’s very gratifying to learn that we hit the mark.
Your post is right on the money. I engage in each of the behaviors you recommend and encourage everyone to do likewise.
In step 1, you can kick the bottle habit but also make a second statement by using the Stop Global Warming SIGG bottle from the same manufacturer. Details at StopGlobalWarming.org
I really love your site. We are working to turn green…or at least slightly moldy…as much as possible. I had never heard of the power strips which shut off automatically. What a wonderful idea. Thanks for sharing the tip. I absolutely LOVE the green bags. I use them for shopping and everything else. They are on my list of products I love on my disorganizeorganizer site. I thought one of our small town ambulance crews had a great idea. The little South Dakota town got together, recycled cloth and made the bags and tacked on $1.00 to raise money for the volunteer ambulance crew. Teamwork and helping the environment. Thanks for the ideas. I’ll be back.
Something else that’s pretty cool and green is the HYmini. It’s a little wind turbine that you can use to charge anything that gets its power from a USB source, like an iPod or digital camera. You can also get an attachment for a small solar cell as well for the times when it’s not very windy.
Hi there! Thanks for the best comment I’ve had on my blog so far! I’ve been reading through your blog and just love it. From the awesome header art, great articles and interesting links. I’m hanging on to this site, I have a to learn! Thanks for all you are doing!
LOVE the rounded edges! Thanks for the awesome comment. You guys ROOL!!!
While organic frozen meals may be a more healthy choice than non-organic frozen meals, they both have a similar negative impact on the environment. Both require processing. Both require packaging. And both require shipping from a mass-production site. For organic food to make a bigger environmental impact, it should be purchased locally when it’s fresh and in season.
Surprisingly, I had never heard of Baggu. I ordered three of them.
A friend pointed your blog my direction. Have read through it and have found a few good ideas that I had not considered. I like this list you have of simple things to do and get going. I am not sure how I feel about number 8 (TerraPass) though. I would rather instead of purchasing something for someone else to do things (and I am sure taking their cut out of the funds) exercise my own efforts and offsetting my carbon emissions on a local basis. Further, I would also just rather try to reduce my carbon efforts. That is just my opinion though and I do tend to be the type that would rather be hands on the having someone else doing things for me.
Thank you for this post. Looking forward to seeing more lists. For the light I’m eager for the LED’s price to go down. They are good savers in the long run. These tips are practically easy to apply. I hope a lot will see your blog.
Thank you for this info
buying green is very important but understanding the politics of the day counts too. If the U.S. had chosen to be a moral people, and leaving Iraqi oil alone, and following Al Gore, decided to develop the South Western deserts, with the technology of the times – solar/thermal-molten sodium – electricity installations, for the same amount of money as that war cost, ($650 Billion), today, we would be tapping into the largest, renewable, sustainable, energy source the world has ever known. It would have paid every energy bill in the U.S.A. for maintenance fees only – FOREVER! It would be equivalent to an oil field that can NEVER run dry! Low cost electric power, and storeable hydrogen gasoline replacement from the electricity, for all!
After the millions of murders, and $650 billions of dollars, borrowed from our children’s futures and pissed away, with thousands of our own and others maimed and disfigured for life, millions of families utterly destroyed, ours and theirs, we are no closer to Iraqi oil production than the Iraqis are!
The next time you hear a blithering idiot spoiled brat, drunken, drug addicted, sociopath, rich Arabic saber dancing daddie’s boy oilman, stand at a microphone and threaten YOUR safety with someone ELSE’S weapons, remember what you lost America, remember, and weep! (also see http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan)
Found blog through research on additional products for a green Christmas – wish there was green product packaging! We are trying our part with http://christmasled.com/ but aside from LEDs, there seems to be little available to decrease waste during the holidays!
I also like the water bottle idea – point 1. I always suffer when I work out so that I don’t waste water bottles, never even considered purchasing an aluminum water bottle!
Really cool blog. I found it on yahoo. I am looking forward to read more posts.
Can anybody tell me what
I really love your blog!!
Can anybody tell me what
You hit the nail on the head with this post, I couldn’t agree more ! I’ll be back to read more from you very soon, count on it !! I’m of the opinion that despite a bit of extra cost in the beginning a flex fuel or hybrid vehicle is the only way to go.
George
Thanks for this nice post….
I’m glad to see people promoting practical solutions to going green. Sometimes I think the average person thinks that he/she can’t make a difference because its too difficult or complicated, or requires a deviation from their normal routine. Thanks for suggesting products that help out.
The aluminum and steel water bottles are very trendy right now. My suggestion in terms of food is to buy what has the least packaging. That way you know it is local, fresh, and won’t produce unnecessary waste.
I love metal water bottles. They are so much more efficient than the disposable plastic ones!
Thank you for this post. Looking forward to seeing more lists. For the light I’m eager for the LED’s price to go down. They are good savers in the long run. These tips are practically easy to apply. I hope a lot will see your blog.
Homegrown, organic vegetables taste better and are higher in enzymes and nutrients. Another reason to go organic.
i like the reusable shopping bags.they are really good.
Your great outcome like this good topic could be a base for thesis writing or dissertation writing service and be taken in dissertation references.
True that! and to eat seasonally will help our earth as well so we don’t have to over process those vegetables that don’t naturally grow in a specific season. Thank you for reading Natural Gardener!
i am looking forward for you your next post
I can do with all of the above except!!! for the CFLs, those sucks! they flicker so much its gets hella annoying. You can’t even use a dimer on them either… they just suck.
Reuseable shopping bags are the way to go.
My biggest problem with plastic is the potential for leaching. Very dangerous!
Homegrown, organic vegetables taste better and are higher in enzymes and nutrients. Another reason to go organic.
This is a really good article. I enjoyed reading it. I gained a lot of information reading your post. I really loved it.
Hey, thank you for the guideline. really valuable. this tend to be a lot more important within the future, i guess. Engelbert Dost
I hope everyone is aware of the problems that some very popular aluminum bottles now have — bpa found in the plastic lining! While doing your research, please remember that all bottles are NOT created equal.
It’s easy to drink water when you’re sitting in one place, but what about when you’re running around town or exercising? Then you need a water bottle. Glass breaks and we know that we don’t want plastic. That leaves metal.
I agree about most of the things in the list, but the cleaning chemistry.. you can never know what it is made of and you can never be sure it is enviromentaly friendly!
And even if you read the ingredients, still it gives you no certitude about where it all comes from…
And even if you read the ingredients, still it gives you no certitude about where it all comes from…
Fantastic article and I can tell that plenty of research went into it! I have never known about the rain barrel – that’s a very clever green gadget there.:D
It’s affordable and easy to add in to our lifestyle
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Perhaps this is one of the most interesting blogs that I have ever seen. Interesting article, Funny comment. Keep it up!
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