Green Guide for Holiday Shopping

December 12, 2011 By greengirlinc 1 Comment

Photo courtesy of Reuseit

It’s that time of year when many of us are banging our heads against the wall trying to figure out what gifts to get for everyone on our list. Maybe this is the year to give those friends a nudge, who have yet to make the move to the green side. I hope this makes some of your Holiday shopping a little easier.

Gifts for Men:

1. Recycled Rolling Rock Tumblers

2. Made By Humans Pocket Cutlery Set

3. Lyziwraps Reusable Gift Wrap

4. Stainless Steel Pints

4. Pad Stash

5. S’well water bottles

6. A masculine Reuseit Workhouse Bag

7. Resource Revival Bike Chain Bowl

8. Mountainsmith Apex Recycled Backpack

9. Patagonia’s recycled Men’s Micro D Fleece

10. L.L. Bean Solio Gadget Charger

Gifts for Women:

1. Essential Oil Atomizer

2. Reisenthel Bottle Bag

3. S’well Water Bottles

4. Recycled precious metal jewelry by DeAnna Cochran

5. Upcycled Wool Scarf or any upcycled item on Etsy

6. Hemp Kindle cover

7. Organic Spa Box

8. Ecoist Wristlets

9. Organic Zen robe

10. Recycled Jewel-Tone Vases

Gifts for Kids:

1. Fairy Insulated Lunch Bag

2. Homemade Popsicle Molds

3. Reusable Water Bottle

4. Posh Pouches snack or sandwich bag

5. Eco-Friendly Wooden Push Toy

6. Green Toys Tea Set

7. Soy Wax Crayon Rocks

8. Lyra Colored Pencils in Wood Box

9. Basic Black Record Cuff Bracelet

10. Converse Chuck Taylor Hemp Shoes

Gifts for Pets:

1. Orbee-Tuff Bone

2. Skinny Mayday Pet First Aid Kit

3. Nature Nap for Cat by West Paw

4. Sojos Organic Cat Nip

5. Hemp Dog Collar

6. Silly Kitty Breakaway Hemp Cat Collar

7. Organic Bumper Dog Bed by West Paw

8. All Natural Paw Rub for Dogs

9. The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook

10. Organic Cat Grass

Of course, always check in your locally owned stores for handmade gifts and goodies made by local artists and crafters from recycled, upcycled and repurposed materials.

Filed Under: Animals, Environment, Holiday, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Upcycled Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Green Guide for Electronics

November 14, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Guide to Greener ElectronicsI saw this link on a fellow green blogger’s site this morning. I took a peek and figured this was some good information to share. Most of us are using so many electronics in our daily lives that finding greener companies to buy from is important. It is also important to let companies know that we are watching how they are doing on sustainability. If your favorite company didn’t do so great on this guide, let them know you’d like them to do better. In this competitive market, if a company hears from its customers, they will make changes to improve on whatever the issue is customers are complaining about.

Greenpeace International

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Halloween on the Green Side

October 25, 2011 By greengirlinc 1 Comment

HFCS-free brain lolipop and single origin, fair trade chocolate

Halloween can be as green as any other day. By making some simple changes in your holiday traditions you can reduce waste, plastic and damage to the environment.

One thing you can do is start a costume swap. Talk to your friends and your children’s friends. This weekend would be a great time to do a last minute costume exchange, especially for all those procrastinators like me. While you’re doing a costume swap, maybe do a decoration swap as well. You might be sick of some of your older decorations, but someone else may love them.

Instead of the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) candy, how about candy made from real, cane sugar. Along those same lines look for candy and chocolate with organic ingredients. If you’re investing in good chocolate you can also seek out single origin and fair trade. All those things make for a more eco-friendly and socially conscious way to treat.

Make decorations from things that might otherwise wind up in the landfull. This kind of decor is called upcycled or recycled. These decorations reduce waste and plastic use. Plus, reusing something takes less energy than recycling an item due to the energy use involved in recycling. Although recycling still takes less energy than making something from a virgin, mined source.

If you use candles, swap out the petroleum-based candles for soy or beeswax candles. Beeswax candles burn cleaner and slower  than the petroleum-based candles. The soy and beeswax candles also produce less indoor air pollution.

If you do even a few of these suggestions you’ll be on your way to having a more sustainable Halloween. I’m sure you can think of other ways to green your Halloween. Feel free to post those ideas here or on my Facebook page.

Have a Happy Halloween.

Filed Under: Environment, Holiday, Organic, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse, Sustainability, Upcycled Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Licking a Stamp Could Save a Tiger

October 13, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Image Courtesy of U.S. Postal Service

One of the latest and greatest stamps recently issued by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is the Save Vanishing Species Stamp. This stamp benefits numerous species which include; elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, great apes, and marine turtles. The stamp sells for 55 cents which is 11 cents more than a regular first class stamp. That 11 extra cents will go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to aid the Multinational Species Conservation Funds (MSCF).

So, go ahead and lick a stamp to help save endangered species.


Filed Under: Animals, Environment, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Rowe for Sustainability

September 27, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Triple Bottom Line

Image courtesy of Sustainability Partnership International

I was fortunate to attend an event last night at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where Debra Rowe, Ph.D. spoke on sustainability for the future. Dr. Rowe is a sustainability expert who works with businesses, educators and government agencies like the Pentagon on issues of sustainability. Dr. Rowe is the president of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. She is also a professor of energy management, renewable energy technology and psychology. This is one impressive woman.

She spoke of the importance of sustainability in education. The line of thought out there is that all students should be fluent in sustainable practices by the time they leave school. Employers and businesses now look for people who understand the triple bottom line; Profit, People and Planet. Countries like Sweden have sustainable curriculum from K through 12 and beyond.

Do you know the definition of sustainability? The official definition is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” as defined by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development.

Dr. Rowe’s message was that we all have to be involved in moving to a sustainable way of life. It is not about the planet; it is about humans living, and living in a healthier, happier way. If you ever have a chance to hear Dr. Debra Rowe speak, go. She is inspiring and passionate. I even had the opportunity to talk with her after she spoke. That was quite an honor.

I’m posting links for you to learn more about Dr. Rowe, as well as links that she recommended with information on sustainability.

Debra Rowe’s YouTube Channel

U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development

Earth Policy is where you can download for free Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester Brown.

My Footprint is where you can go to see how big your carbon footprint is.

Sustainable Eau Claire

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Environment, Food, Health, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse, Sustainability, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Chippewa Valley Recycling Event!

September 23, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Dreams Time Free

This weekend the Chippewa Valley is having a Realtors Recycling Round-Up. It is sponsored by the Realtors Association of Northwestern Wisconsin. The event is this Saturday, September 24. It takes place from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

The event is at First Choice Recycling at 525 Ridge Park Court. Shred Away will also be there and will shred your first cubic foot of papers for free. The Salvation Army will be there accepting winter clothing donations.

First Choice is accepting residential and school e-waste such as; P.C. and laptop monitors, printers, scanners, VCRs, DVDs, stereos, radios, typewriters, keyboards, circuit boards, cables, cell phones, telephones and fax machines. They will take these items for free. Items with a hard drive will cost $5. If you have some larger appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, A/C window units, dehumidifiers, TVs  and major appliances, they will take those as well, but for a small fee.

To find out more about this event and get directions to First Choice go to their website.

This is an amazing green way to clean out your garage, attic and basement.  I know we’re going to hit the basement hard and clear some serious clutter. With the Salvation Army there, it is also a wonderful time to donate needed winter clothes. This is a real feel-good event.

Filed Under: Environment, Food, Recycling Tagged With: , , , , ,

Saying Goodnight to Blazing Lights

August 26, 2011 By greengirlinc 1 Comment

Earth at Night

I am happy to see that more and more businesses are not leaving lights blazing all night long, while the business is closed. In particular, car dealerships left huge, glaring, wasteful lights on all night.

This practice not only wasted energy, but it ruined the night sky for star gazers, confused animals, and disrupted circadian rhythms of humans, flora and fauna. As a matter of fact, little good comes from this practice. There are studies that suggest it could even increase certain cancers.

Besides humans, light pollution could also harm trees, insects, birds and more. Why keep up this practice of turning day into night? Habit and a false belief that all these lights deter crime. Studies I have read about suggest that these light-up-the-sky habits are not a great theft deterrent. A few strategically placed lights and motion sensors are better.

My house is just outside of the city limits. We can do some pretty sweet star gazing, especially since a couple of the car dealerships near us have lowered the glare coming from the lots. Now there is only one obnoxious dark sky foe. I would love to explain to this business how much money it would save by turning most of those lights off when it is closed. I am sure the neighbors of the dealership would thank them as well.

There is an organizations called The Dark Sky Society whose mission is to educate people on the harm of lighting up the night. It also supports legislation to eliminate light pollution. Its website has information about the negative impact due to light pollution. The Dark Sky Society can help you and your community bring back our night skies.

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Environment, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Back-to-School in a Green Way

August 12, 2011 By greengirlinc 2 Comments

Image courtesy of Naked Binder

Parents and kids are starting to wander around stores with lists and glazed eyes, yes, back-to-school is in the air. As a parents, there are days I look forward to BTS, but being a student myself, I also dread it.

The down side of BTS is the cost and the long list of less than eco-friendly supply requirements. Each year I struggle to find green products to replace the vinyl laden, plastic filled things. I have some suggestions to green that list. I also have a few websites that may help you if you can’t find green substitutes for the traditional requirements in your town.

1. Recycled paper instead of virgin-sourced paper. Try to get as close to 100 percent recycled, post-consumer paper as you can in notebooks, folders, loose leaf paper and printer paper.

2. Seek out recycled content plastic products in scissors, rulers, pencil boxes, and binders.

3. Mine your old junk drawers for items that can be reused, like last year’s scissors and ruler.

4. Try to find crayons made with beeswax or soy instead of petroleum.

5. Look for pens, markers and highlighters made from recycled plastic.

6. There are pencils made from old denim, recycled newspaper and FSC-certified wood products.

7. Pack a waste-free lunch.

8. Avoid nasty vinyl products like binders and cheap, nearly disposable, backpacks.

9. Invest in quality and, even better, recycled content backpacks.

10. Spread the green, waste-free message at your child’s school.

Image courtesy of Reuseit

Naked Binder carries eco-friendly binders, tabs and folders.

The Ultimate Green Store carries eco-friendly school supplies and waste-free lunch items.

Reuseit carries all sorts of sustainable products ranging from reusable water bottles, waste-free lunch products to eco office supplies and reusable shopping bags.

Filed Under: Environment, Health, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Green Ways to Beat The Heat

July 18, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of NASA

It is hot! Where you live is most likely hot too. There are ways to beat the heat and not crank up the A/C. Think back to the winter, that may even help a bit, and remember the tricks of keeping the cold out.

Use those curtains and shades. Window treatments keep the sun and heat out. Yes, your house will be darker, but it will keep your home cooler. Even if the sun is not hitting the window, curtains and shades will insulate against the heat.

Keep your lighting to a minimum. Even efficient bulbs kick off some heat. If you haven’t switched from incandescents, now is a great time to do it. Using fluorescents, LEDs or ESLs will put less heat into your home. Incandescents are like turning on a small heater. I know some folks are fighting the switch, but it is time. It is old technology, like the telegraph.

Ceiling fans help to create a windchill, so that you do not have to have your A/C set so high, or not on at all. Ceiling fans in your main living areas and sleeping areas will keep you more comfortable, but just remember to turn it off when you leave the room. If you leave a fan running in a room with no one in it, energy is needlessly wasted.

Think out of the box when it comes to cooking. Use your outdoor grill, if you have one. Even a microwave is a better alternative to turning on the oven. If you really want to be green, then use a solar oven. Try to open your fridge or freezer as little as possible, even though it’s temping to crawl into both of them. Keeping the doors closed will keep the cold air inside, so the motor won’t have to run as often.

Save your energy using chores for after sundown. Even a vacuum cleaner creates heat, and that is what you want to avoid right now. Take advantage of the heat and hang your laundry outside, hopefully it will dry with this humidity.

Head to the water to cool off, if you can. Remember to drink a lot of water as well. Keep those reusable water bottles handy so that you don’t have to buy bottled water.

Landscaping can make a big difference in keeping your home cooler. It is probably too late to make a difference for this heat wave, but you can make plans for next season.  In inner cities, having a green roof will reduce the heat island effect. Planting deciduous trees on the south side of a house can keep the hot sun off the house and temperatures down inside it. Plus, it’s always a good idea to plant more trees. Avoid using stone next to your house, especially the south side. Stone absorbs heat and then radiates it back onto the house.

I’m almost ready to take a cue from my pets, and lay on our tile floor. This heat wave does make me understand why most of Florida has tile flooring instead of carpeting. Remember, think cool, eat cool and chill.

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Environment Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Not All Hybrids Have the Right Stuff

July 11, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of City of Tallahassee.Sadly, even hybrids can be a pathetic excuse for so called efficiency and reduced emissions. The Union for Concerned Scientists has a Hybrid Scorecard. Some cars and their car companies ought to be ashamed.

The worst of the worst for its environmental score and hybrid value is Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid-really shameful, especially since the Touareg V10 TDI was named the most polluting, emission spewing vehicle on the road by Yahoo Autos. That score was even worse than the Hummer H1. (Boos and hisses ensue).

There were four other hybrids that were classified as Very Poor: those were the Chevy Silverado Hybrid 2WD, Lexus LS 600h L, BMW ActiveHybrid 759i, and the BMW ActiveHybrid X6. The BMW X6 couldn’t even break the 20 MPG combined ceiling. Pathetic.

The Toyota Prius came out on top for its overall environmental impact score. There were some other shining examples of what a hybrid and even luxury hybrid can achieve. The Honda Civic Hybrid, Ford Fusion Hybrid and Honda CR-Z all got Very Good in the Non-Luxury Category. The real bright spots were in the Luxury Category where the Lexus CT 200h and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid both got Superior Ratings and had combined MPGs around 40.

The moral of the story is: don’t buy a hybrid without checking its credentials, don’t be fooled by greenwashing, don’t pay extra for a feature that is practically non-existent. These poor performing hybrids give the good guys a bad name. Can you hear my disdain? Good, you should.

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,
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