A Green Love

February 10, 2012 by 1 Comment

Bag the Habbit Reusable Gift Bag image courtesy of Reuseit.com

I’ll start by saying that you don’t have to spend any money to celebrate your love. You can show how much you care by giving them your time and attention. You can also make handmade cards and gifts for those your Valentines.

For those looking for something to give that aren’t the arts and crafts type, here are some ideas with an environmental plus.

1. Vintage, estate and second-hand jewelry. This has become one of my favorite new things. Check antique stores, pawn shops or even a local jewelry store. One of my favorite jewelry stores locally has a wonderful selection of second-hand jewelry. If you live in the Chippewa Valley sneak a peak in Williams Diamond’s window or Eclectica on Grand.

2. A red, pink or purple reusable bag would be fun and in the spirit of the day of love.

3. Look for the same color theme in a reusable water bottle.

4. Buy organic flowers, or if you cannot find those, how about flowers from your favorite local shop.

5. Give the gift of chocolate, but not any chocolate, organic and Fair Trade chocolate. Another option is locally crafted chocolate. My favorite sweet spot in Eau Claire is Obsession Chocolates. The chocolates and sweet treats are often made with local and organic ingredients and love. Look around your town for a homegrown chocolatier.

6. Treat your guy to a cozy and eco-friendly fleece made with 41 percent recycled fiber from Patagonia in passionate red. Remember, Patagonia encourages you to buy its used clothing on ebay. Patagonia also recycles clothes.

7. How about a gift with a cause? Send a “Bee Mine Valentine,” as Heifer International writes on its page. Send a gift of honeybees to a family in need. The family uses the bees to start a business which then feeds, clothes and educates the family.

8. Cook those you love a beautiful, sustainable meal with local and seasonal ingredients. This is truly a way to say “I love you.”

9. The perennial favorite for Valentine’s Day is sleepwear and lingerie. Make those sweet nothings organic this year.

10. What romantic evening would be complete without some touches like massage oil and candles. You can find green versions of both of these. After all, why end your organic and eco-friendly evening with petroleum or chemical based anything? I’m certain you can find both the oil and candles locally.  In the Chippewa Valley Just Local Foods carries beeswax candles.

Filed Under: Holiday, Local, Organic, Reduce and Reuse, Uncategorized, Upcycled Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Green Guide for Holiday Shopping

December 12, 2011 by 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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Help Make It Right

March 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Have you heard of Make It Right? Brad Pitt started the foundation after devastation hit New Orleans and the lower 9th Ward from Hurricane Katrina. The foundation helps families that lost their homes in the levee breach, rebuild their homes, but not just any homes, green homes.

The levee broken when a barge broke loose and rammed into the levee. Insurance companies said that the waters were part of the storm surge and not covered by flood insurance. This left many people with no way to rebuild. After two years, the neighborhood was still devastated. After touring the area Brad Pitt vowed to help the families and “make it right.”

All the homes are green homes with solar panels. These are some of the features of the homes being built: energy efficient, roof hatches, metal roofs, elevated, Kevlar storm fabric, zero-VOC materials, rainwater harvesting, spray foam insulation, low-E glass, low-flow plumbing, mold-resistant drywall, and the list goes on and on.

I just came back from New Orleans.  While there, I was able to visit the 9th Ward and see these new, green homes. Our fantastic tour guide, Bernadine, lost a her home in Hurricane Katrina. She is passionate about this program, and with good reason. I left the 9th Ward saddened, but inspired.

Please consider making a donation to Make It Right or purchasing Make It Right gear like T-shirts and hats.

Concrete that allows rainwater to pass through and soak into the ground

Learn more about Make It Right and the work it is doing.

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

A Fashionable Lunch

September 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Koko Lunch Bag

Image courtesy of Reuseit and Koko

Are you looking for a more stylish and sustainable way to carry your lunch?  Stop brown-bagging it and start stylish-bagging it.  There is quite a large selection of fashionable and insulated lunch bags in a variety of materials and styles.  Some of these bags are more eco-friendly in their production, but they are all an improvement over a bag that is thrown away each day.  A reusable bag also encourages other reusables in your lunch such as:  cloth napkins, real or travel silverware,  reusable straws, and reusable food containers.  You can be the chicest of the chic with your new fashionable lunch bag while also being green.

Reuseit – Koko Lunch Bags

The Ultimate Green Store – GreenSmart Lunch Bag

Distinctive Decor – Lunch Bags

Reuseit – Lunch

Kids Konserve – Waste-Free Lunch Kit

Litter Free Lunch

Filed Under: Food, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Eco School Supplies And More

August 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year, back-to-school.  I know, we have mixed feelings about this time of year.  Most kids are groaning, and parents are secretly cheering (one can only take the sibling bickering or hear “I’m bored” so many times).  So how do you plan on greening your children’s school year?  There are things you can do to reduce their carbon footprint.  How about starting with how your kids get to school.  Many people drive their kids to school every day.  Now, sometimes this is necessary, when there are circumstances like a ridiculously early bus, no public transportation where you live, or heavy instruments that need hauling.  In those instances it’s best if you can at least car-pool.

What else can you do?  If your kids take their own lunch, then a waste-free lunch is the way to go.  Numerous companies both online and in physical retail sites have water bottles, lunch bags, lunch boxes, cloth napkins, sporks, GoToobs, reusable lunch containers and reusable non-plastic lunch pouches.  A great place to look in your town is at your local natural foods store or co-op.  If you can’t find what you need in town then I have a list of online stores where you can find what you need.

So, transportation and lunch are covered, what else?  How about the all important school supplies?  Try to replace the typical non-recycled or petroleum-based supplies with recycled content and non-petro based products.  Here is a list of products: recycled content notebooks, upcycled wrapper folders and notebooks, upcycled wrapper pencil pouches, recycled plastic pencil boxes,  recycled denim or newspaper pencils, stapleless staplers, recycled plastic scissors, solar calculators, soy or bees-wax based crayons, solar backpacks or messenger bags, recycled PET backpacks, well, you are starting to get the idea.  Maybe you can’t afford to buy all these items, but maybe you can get a few.

If nothing else, stop wasting your money and poisoning your home with cheap, disposable PVC backpacks.   A few years ago I made the switch to good quality backpacks for my kids.  PVC or polyvinyl chloride off-gasses for years and contributes to poor indoor air quality.  Think about your child having this toxic substance strapped to their back.  Plus, most of those cheap backpacks fall apart halfway through the school year and then sit in landfulls (yes, I meant landfulls) for a millennium.

The following is a list of websites and resources to help you green back-to-school.

The Ultimate Green Store

Reuseit

Posh Pouches

Kids Konserve

TerraCycle

Life Without Plastic

eBags-Recycled Backpacks

Green Peace-How to Find and Avoid Toxin Vinyl (PVC) in Your Home

The Nature Conservancy-Enviro Tips

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

To Bamboo Or Not To Bamboo

June 27, 2010 by 2 Comments

I find myself in a bit of a green quandary.  For years, I’ve thought of bamboo as a fairly eco-friendly fiber.  I have it on my floors, in my towels, in my sheets, and in my clothing.  It feels incredible.  I’d been told it had natural antibacterial properties.  As of late, I’ve read less and less glowing reviews.  The FTC has told four bamboo manufacturers to stop making these claims, and label their bamboo fiber textiles as “rayon made from bamboo”.  The process of making rayon is the same whether you start with birch trees or bamboo, and the process removes the distinctive properties that the fiber had before manufacturing.  Now, that said, creating rayon from bamboo instead of trees is more sustainable than from other sources because of the quick-growing nature of bamboo, and the amount of oxygen it creates while growing.  Bamboo also requires no pesticides or herbicides.    The rayon making process uses some toxic and caustic chemicals.  Pollutants are released into the air and water stream; a lot of energy and water is also used.  There is another fiber similar to rayon called Tencel.  Tencel is a closed-loop system that recycles the chemicals used in the manufacturing process.  As I write this, I have some conflict over what is the greenest thing to do.  Some of the opinions and information I’ve read  cited how awful caustic soda is. Caustic soda has been around for a long time and is used  in hundreds of products.  I also understand it is relatively easy to neutralize.

I think, at this point, organic cotton, and hemp are the greenest fabrics. Even more green, are second-hand and recycled content fabric.  Instead of spending money on paper towel replacement clothes, simply go to the second-hand store or thrift/garage/yard sale for used items that could serve as rags.  No, they won’t be as pretty as the new items, but they will be eco-friendly and inexpensive.  Currently, I think the jury is out on most bamboo textiles.  I believe if the processing of bamboo can be cleaned up, and greened up, it will be an excellent eco-choice.

Info on bamboo and more:

FTC – Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics

Wisegeek: What is lyocell

Sodium Hydroxide

Bamboo: Processing Considerations

Carbon Disulfide

N-Methylmorpholine_N-oxide

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A Greener Father's Day

June 7, 2010 by 5 Comments

Sometimes dads are hard to buy for, especially when going greener in our gift giving.  I’ve listed sources for some green gifts.  In the list is everything from recycled content tennis bags from Wilson Sports to gourmet, organic coffee from Eco Express.  For the sporting dad there are eco-friendly options like the tennis bag I already mentioned, recycled content golf balls by Dixon, biodegradable golf tees by ECO Golf, eco-friendly bikes by Trek, sustainably produced surf boards by Ocean Green, recycled content kayaks by Walden Sports, and green running shoes by Brooks.

For the dad that is not into sports, Eco Express has items like organic, gourmet coffee, wine and chocolate. They also carry solar bags.  Reuseit has a men’s eco-gifts section with includes reusable bags that even the coolest dad won’t mind carrying, and reusable bottles and travel coffee mugs.  For the dad that loves to garden, what about a cordless electric mower?   You could go one step better, and get an old-fashioned reel mower, and offer to do the mowing for a month.

Other ideas for dad that have a tiny footprint would be a day of R & R, a massage for those sore muscles, or a coupon book made by the kids.  There are many more ideas like the ones I’ve listed.  Think creatively and outside the “box”.  Sometimes the best gifts are the simple ones.  Take what your dad likes and think about how to green that gift idea.

Wilson ECO-Pro Backpack

Dixon Golf

Eco Golf Tees

Trek Bikes Eco Designs

Ocean Green

Walden Sports

Brooks Running

Eco Express

Reuseit Men’s Gift Center

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TerraCycle's Brigades

June 2, 2010 by 1 Comment

TerraCycle is a company that makes eco-friendly products out of recycled and upcycled items.  For instance, I am on their cork brigade.  I collect corks, save them, and then send them into TerraCycle.  There they upcycle them into cork boards.  I have friends and businesses help me save, and collect the corks.  They do this with many products such as juice pouches, cookie wrappers, chip bags, candy wrappers, soda bottles and milk jugs.  Those are just a few of the items they reuse.  They always need more “brigaders”.  The brigades are a wonderful school fund-raiser.  You can also raise funds for other organizations.  For instance, I donate the funds from my cork brigade to The Nature Conservancy.   Please take a look at TerraCycle and consider being a “brigader” for them.  It’s a win-win for all involved.

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Cinnamon is Our Friend

May 26, 2010 by 2 Comments

I love cinnamon.  I love the smell and the taste of it.  It is great for keeping blood sugar level on an even keel.  Another great thing about cinnamon is that ants hate it.  We have a mailbox the ants like to take over, and make into a nursery every summer.  A couple of summers ago, when I was trying to find an eco ant killer, I came across some info that cinnamon worked.  Sure enough, it worked like a charm.  We’ve also used it as a barrier around our house to keep the carpenter ants at bay by sprinkling it next to the foundation.  Use enough so you can see a line.  Yes, you do need to put more around your house if you have a huge storm, but it’s cheaper and healthier than toxic chemical.  I buy it in the bulk food section to save even more.

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Free Shipping for Reuseit

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

For new Reuseit customer there will be free shipping on orders over $25 this weekend from Friday May 21st to Sunday May 23rd.  This is only for new customers and it is only for those three days.  This is a great opportunity to get some of those reusable items you’ve been thinking about like ACME reusable bags,Klean Kanteen reusable water bottles, or Aladdin eCycle Tumblers for your morning coffee on-the-go.  At check out just enter NEWCUST25.  Go to REUSEIT and see what else you find to help you green your life.

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