Archive for the ‘Green Products’ Category

2
Feb
2008

Paper or Plastic? How About Neither…

February 2nd, 2008 at 01:57 pm by bibi in Environment, Go Green, Go Paperless, Green Action, Green Crafting, Green Living, Green Products, Recycle

And the winner is Reusable Bags… Have you ever put any thought into the implications of your answer? Now you may say to yourself, what’s the big deal, its just a couple of bags. But the big deal is that millions of bags, paper and worst yet, plastic bags end up in the landfill and rivers and oceans . Not to mention the natural resources that are being wasted in order to make these bags that will more than likely be used only once. Let’s look at the statistic: (source WallStreet Journal/ SFGate)

A family of four in the US goes through 1500 plastic bags a year
All together we discard 100 Billion plastic shopping bags in a year
Less than 1% being recycled
Plastic bags can take up to 1000 years to decompose
490,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million non-degradable plastic bags
4-5 trillion Plastic Bags used Worldwide
Making paper bags consumes millions of trees and it actually takes more energy to make paper bags than plastic.

Now some cities have started to do something about this problem, by just simply banning the use of plastic bags altogether. San Francisco and Oakland in California, were the first cities in the US to do this, and now a dozen other cities are planning the same. Internationally, Taiwan has banned both the use of plastic bags and plastic utensils. Here’s a list of cities and countries that have already banned the use of plastic bags or are planning a ban. (source: cbsnews.com)

IN THE UNITED STATES

Cities that have adopted a plastic bag ban:

Oakland
San Francisco

Cities Considering action on plastic bags:

Annapolis, Md.
Austin, Texas
Baltimore
Berkeley, Calif.
Boston
Fairfax, Calif.
Maui, Hawaii
Malibu, Calif.
New Haven, Conn.
Portland, Ore.
Phoenix
San Jose, Calif.
Santa Cruz, Calif.
Santa Monica, Calif.
Seattle

INTERNATIONALLY

Countries that have adopted a plastic bag ban:

Bangladesh
China
Rwanda
Taiwan
Tanzania
Uganda
Zanzibar

Cities or countries considering action on plastic ban:

Australia
Singapore
London

What about “Reusable Bags” as the first option?

No it’s not a new idea, it’s an old idea, we just went away from it because we became a society of convenience. But it is still a very practical, and a very “good for the environment” idea.

If you pay attention, all the business are jumping on the bandwagon of selling reusable shopping bags. Everybody has them, from your local supermarket, to Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ikea, and other smaller companies that have taken off with the idea of reusable shopping bags and put a twist on it like Chico Bag, who makes them small enough to fit in your purse or glove compartment. Or people like Cyndi at MyRecycledBags.com who takes the time and effort to recycle those plastic bags and turn them into something beautiful and useful. On her site she also teaches people the Craft of making Bags out of recycled materials.

Plastic bags have been around for about 25 years. Which means that our mothers and grandmothers can still remember going shopping, with their own Reusable Bags. If they could do it, I think so can we…

paper bags paper or plastic? plastic bags recycle reusable bags

bibi

Comments (15)

18
Jan
2008

Innovate or Die Contest Winner…

January 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am by bibi in Environment, Green Products, Innovation

Browsing through You Tube, I found this unbelievable video of a product invented by a group of people interested in doing good for humanity, and the environment. They put together a pedal powered Mobile Filtration Vehicle called the “Aquaduct”, which transports and most importantly filters and safely stores water, while pedaling. This is ideal for developing countries where the infrastructure is not there yet and people often have to carry water for miles from watering holes, and where the risk of water contamination is high.

This vehicle won a contest called “Innovate or Die” put on by Google and Specialized. The challenge of the Contest was to come up with a pedal powered machine that would have an environmental impact.

See what else Google.org is doing for the environment…

I cannot imagine the impact this invention could have if it is widely distributed in the developing world.

Check out this video…

aquaduct clean water developing world environment innovate or die contest mobile filtration vehicle

bibi

Comments (4)

6
Sep
2007

Did You Know You Can Make Your Own Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products?

September 6th, 2007 at 04:45 am by bibi in General, Green Action, Green Products

Most of us have the basic ingredients for making our own Eco friendly cleaning products already in our cabinets, we just don’t know how to put them together.( source: Home and Garden Magazine: Living Green/ and Recipes from Green Clean)

Baking Soda:
- Can be used for scouring, and it’s a natural deodorizer. It works best at cleaning grease, proteins and Animal messes.
Distilled White Vinegar:
Can be used to clean soap scum, dissolves scale and works well on mold. It also works well on stains from coffee, tea and rust.
Soap:
- Castille Soap made with Olive Oil or Vegetable based soaps attach to soil at the molecular level.
Recipes:
- Soft Scrub:Mix a 1/8 cup of Baking Soda and soap to a creamy mixture.
- Appliance Cleaner: Dry Baking Soda will shine up small appliances.
- Toilet Cleaner/ Deodorizer: Put 1/4 cup Baking Soda and 1/4 cup Vinegar into the bowl and clean with brush.
- Oven Cleaner: Sprinkle Baking Soda on stains in oven the sprinkle with water. Let sit for several hours or overnight. Then scrub out stains and rinse with water.
- Hardwood Floor Cleaner: Mix a 1/4 cup of Vinegar with one gallon of warm water. Mop wood or linoleum floors then rinse out.
- Glass Cleaner: Mix equal parts Vinegar and Water and put in a spray bottle. this mixture can also be used for cleaning countertops, lightly soiled range surfaces and backsplash areas.

eco friendly cleaning products homemade cleaning products

bibi

Post a Comment

8
Aug
2007

Consumers Question Organic Products

August 8th, 2007 at 01:50 am by mercedes in General, Green News, Green Products

Organic products, though normally dominated by small companies, are being brought out by larger companies. Federal standards require that all raw materials are guaranteed organic, but the same standards also leave those material to be used in wide open interpretation. Now all organic product companies have doubtful consumers who are questioning the sincerity of the products. Because of the big companies joining a smaller company industry, the question of what really is organic has arouse. Co-founder of the Cornucopia Institute, Mark Kastel, believes that the majority of organic companies follow the federal standards but worries because this industry still remains an honor system, few may be acting unhonorably. Even though this is a problem, entrepreneurs in the organic industry are dealing with an even bigger one, supply and demand. Local suppliers would be ideal for organic companies, but they seem to be nonexistent. Like Brian Chossek, president of Seven Oaks Ranch, sourcing the organic materials can be an issue, importing raw materials from other countries is their only choice when materials run low. According to Kastel, the problems will resolve one of two ways, companies who act honorably will find new ways to brand their products or consumers will boycott against companies that show themselves has unworthy.

big business consumer distress Organic Companies organic products

mercedes

Post a Comment

30
Jul
2007