green products

Eco-Friendly Party Supplies

thegreenconnoisseur — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:56:40 -0400

Forget the Styrofoam plates – when you’re serving your best cheese dip or grilled veggie dish this year, use CornWare Tableware. These plates, bowls, utensils and cups are made from corn, a renewable resource. (To see this full story and more, follow The Green Connoisseur Blog link on our homepage @ http://thegreenconnoisseur.com )!!

Are You Willing to Pay More for Greener Electronics?

jplatt — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0400

If you had the choice between two products, and one was greener but cost 10% more, which would you buy?

According to a new survey conducted by Retrevo, a service that matches people with electronics, 35% of people who think that buying energy-efficient appliances is important would not be willing to pay a premium price to buy those devices.

Now, according to Retrevo's survey of 632 people, 75% of those surveyed felt that buying energy-efficient devices was important. That's the good news. But few are willing to pay much extra for that energy efficiency. In addition to the 35% I just mentioned, 50 percent would only be willing to pay up to a 5% premium.

Of course, if you really think about it, paying more for an energy-efficient device will probably save you more money in the long run, but sticker shock is a tough barrier to break through, especially in these tough economic times.

So what about you? Do you pay more for greener devices? Let us know by posting your feelings below. It won't be scientific, but we'd love to hear your feelings on the subject.

P.S. -- Retrevo offers a free 30-page PDF -- Retrevo's Survival Guide to Greener Living -- which offers tips on buying the greenest electronics and lists some of the worst energy offenders. Worth a download.

GreenTech 101: WaterSense Helps You Save Water

jplatt — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Every product that claims to be green seems to come with a half-dozen logos on the package to back up their eco-claims. But what do they all mean? Well don't worry, we're going to tell you.

Today we're focusing on the WaterSense logo. The WaterSense program is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and identifies quality, water-efficient products for home and business use. Products that earn the WaterSense logo use less water, and help to protect the environment.

Only products that have been independtly tested by a third party to show that they meet the EPA's specifications can carry the WaterSense label. Qualifying products include bathroom sinks, toilets and urinals, irrigation systems, showerheads and a whole lot more.

How you can benefit from WaterSense:

1. Use the WaterSense website to find water-efficient products.

2. Read tips for saving water (along with plenty of reasons why you should conserve water).

3. Find WaterSense resources in your part of the country.

4. Find local rebates offered for purchasing WaterSense products.

There's a ton of great information scattered around the WaterSense site, so give it a read, and then, the next time you're buying a product that uses water, look for the logo to make sure you're doing your part to help the environment.

Cell Phone Industry Hangs Up On Vampire Power

jplatt — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:00:00 -0500

As we've written here before, cellphone chargers are not the most efficient devices in the world. Even when they are done charging your phone, they continue to suck energy out of the wall. That energy does no one any good, and it's power (and money) that goes to waste.

Cell phone manufacturers are finally ready to recognize this problem. Last week, the top five handset makers -- Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG Electronics -- rolled out a new five-star ranking system for their chargers which will identify the most energy efficient models.

In a statement, Nokia said "If the more than three billion people owning mobile devices today switched to a four- or five-star charger, this could save the same amount of energy each year as produced by two medium sized power plants."

This is great news, and well overdue, but one part of this story worries me. Here's a statement that Markku Hangasjarvi, CEO of charger-maker Salcomp, gave to Reuters: "This should be positive for us. Such chargers are more difficult to produce, their average selling price is higher and they demand special know-how."

Really? The better-rated chargers are going to be marked up? Hopefully this isn't just another way to rip off the consumer while appearing greener.

Well, until these newly ranked chargers hit the market, let's assume this is a good idea and applaud it. But until then, keep an eye on your phones while they're charging, and unplug them when they're done.

Here are links to the five companies' sites and the data on their chargers:

Amazon.com Introduces Greener Packaging for Electronics, Toys

jplatt — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:34:36 -0500

Tired of buying products that take a chainsaw to unwrap? Amazon.com feels your pain. They've introduced a new initiative to sell products with "Frustration-Free Packaging" -- all designed to be easily opened and create less waste.

Amazon says the products -- less than two dozen so far -- use "recyclable boxes that are easy to open and free of excess materials such as hard plastic clamshell cases, plastic bindings, and wire ties. The product itself is exactly the same—we’ve just streamlined the packaging."

Early products in this line include several toys -- both for kids and computer users.

One toy -- Fisher Price's Imaginext Adventures Pirate Ship -- really shows off how this initiative greens the products by eliminating "36 inches of wire ties, 1,576.5 square inches of package inserts, and 36.1 square inches of printed carton materials. Also eliminated are 175.25 square inches of PVC blisters, 3.5 square inches of ABS molded styrene, and two plastic fasteners." Wow!

Other items don't save quite as much packaging, but they do make a difference. A Microsoft Wireless Notebook Mouse "ships in an easy-to-open recyclable box, eliminating the heavy plastic "clamshell" found in traditional packaging."

Amazon's really thinking like an Internet retailer here. Most of the packaging they're eliminating is designed to protect products in a physical retail setting, either to keep them from breaking on the shelf or to prevent them from being shoplifted. Amazon doesn't need to worry about either situtation. As a result, you -- and the planet -- get the benefit.

eBay Launches World of Good, an "Eco Positive" Marketplace

jplatt — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0400

Looking for goods, products and artwork that help to make the world a better place? eBay is hoping you'll check out WorldofGood.com, built in conjunction with the fair-trade company of the same name, which offers an online marketplace for "eco positive" and "people positive" sellers. Products available through the site include artwork, jewelry, hand-made goods, and a whole lot more.

The site takes a great approach to categorizing its goods: You can browse for "people positive" products, which provide economic empowerment for artisans; "eco positive" products; "animal friendly" products; or by causes that you can support with your purchases.

eBay is doing a great service by helping to launch this site, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of items available on eBay's auction site skirt around animal conservation laws. The International Fund for Animal Welfare published this damning report: "IFAW has found that eBay accounts for a large majority of potentially illegal ivory sold openly on the web. An IFAW report in 2007 revealed that at least 90% of all investigated ivory listings on eBay were legally suspect. Furthermore, a soon to be released 2008 IFAW investigation has revealed that ivory traded on eBay has significantly increased in the United States since the 2007 report."

Of course, a lot of this problem would go away if Americans would stop buying ivory.

Personally, I applaud the efforts of World of Good, and in eBay for helping them to build this great site. But eBay itself does need to do more to police its listings and take a stand against the sale of illegal goods. That's the green approach, and one that will really do a world of good.

Fridge Door Open Too Long? Sound the Alarm!

jplatt — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:21:51 -0400

Does anyone in your house have an annoying tendency to stand in front of the fridge with the door open? Do your kids or your husband spend long minutes searching through the refrigerator or the freezer, letting the cold air out and wasting electricity?

Well, there's a solution. Many new refrigerators (like this Frigidaire) come with "door ajar" alams. If the door is open too long, the alarm sounds a reminder to shut it. This keeps the interior of the fridge from warming up and saves you a lot of energy that you would need to cool it back down again.

Of course, not every fridge has this feature, and no matter how bad your family member(s) may be, you don't need to buy a new fridge just to get an alarm.

If your current fridge doesn't have a door ajar alarm, you can also buy a simple magnetic door or window alarm and attach it to your fridge. These can be set to go off instantly or a few seconds after the door opens.

If you're industrious, you can also build your own alarm circuit (method 1, method 2).

By the way, this is also a great tool for dieters! Set the alarm to its shortest time possible -- or set it to go off as soon as the door is opened!

A Greener Webcam? You betcha!

jplatt — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:12:22 -0400

With a device as small as a webcam, do you really need to be green?

Well, why not? You're going to eventually replace or throw out any device you buy, so why not think of it in a way that puts the cradle-to-the-grave life cycle in mind?

United Pepper certainly does that with its new Lili Webcam ($44.90 plus $6 shipping from Belgium). As you can see from the photo here, United Pepper has taken a unique and fun approach to designing their device. The starfish-like exterior is made from cotton, and it's packed with sand and kapok. It therefore uses less plastic than similar devices, and according to the company 70% of the materials are Fair Trade. It's also packaged in recycled materials.

Life Goggles gave the Lili Webcam a good review, saying it "does the job as a webcam but don’t expect to be producing quality recordings with it."

This isn't United Pepper's only green computing device. They also offer a similarly made USB hub, called the Oscar, for $29.90.

Three cheers for a company thinking outside the box!

Top 10 Green Products: From Solar Backpacks to Bamboo Bikes

RiverWired.com — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:04:24 -0400

Here at RiverWired, we pride ourselves in bringing you some of the most eco-friendly, economic, and all-around intriguing green items we can find. With that in mind, we’ve compiled this list (in no particular order) of 10 of some of our favorite products. Enjoy!

Click on each product for full description, price listing, and buying info.

1. Reware Solar Backpack

2. Vlatec CFL light bulb/air freshener

3. Baggu Reusable Shopping Bags

4. Calfee Designs Bamboo Bicycle

5. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Living

6. Wine Trio From The Organic Wine Company

7. Beko Energy-Saving Washing Machine

8. Natalie Portman’s Té Casan Footwear

9. Organic Soy Briefs from 2(x)ist

10. Elephant Dung Stationery

Clean Clothes in Just 14 Minutes

RiverWired.com — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

It’s Good: This washing machine from Beko will get your clothes clean and fresh in 14 minutes, a fraction of the time of most washers on the market.

It’s Green: The washer features an electronic water control system to calculate the exact amount of water needed for the size of the load being cleaned, and the quickness of the wash cycle conserves a significant amount of energy. With the Beko washer, you can now save the environment while saving time.

It’s Here: HippyShopper.com

It’s: $519.99