Green Dads are Great Dads

June 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Reuseit

With Father’s Day approaching it is time to find a gift for that favorite man in your life, your dad. Why not look for a present that says how much you love your dad, and how great he is. A dad that cares about going green is a truly great dad. Why? It means he cares about his children’s and grandchildren’s future, and what kind of environment he is leaving for them.

There are some very cool and manly green gifts out there; everything from techy items to sleek reuseables. There are some surprising green gifts such as eco-friendly sporting goods. Here is a short list, but I’m sure with some digging on your own, you can find more.

Courtesy of Thinksound

1. Thinksport Thermal Bottle- sleek and cool or hot.

2. AT&T’s Zero Charger- only uses electricity when it’s charging, no vampire power consumption.

3. Bedol Water Powered Clock- a funky little clock that runs on water.

4. Thinksound ts02 Wood Headphones- an elegant headphone with a rich sound.

5. Mountainsmith Recycled Backpacks and Bags- from small biking packs to serious hiking packs.

6. Recycled Content Golf Balls- make that next golf outing a little greener.

7. Respect Footballs, Basketballs and Soccer Balls- eco and fair trade.

8. Reuseit Workhorse Recycled Bag in Charcoal Gray- compact and in cool colors like gray, black and silver.

9. Battery BOS from Roller Gen- charge a battery while riding a bike and then charge a phone or iPod.

10. EcoBike Electric Bike- people powered with battery backup for extra long trips.

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

Happy Father's Day! Is It Green?

June 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I hope all you dads are loving your Father’s Day.  So, is this Father’s Day a greener one for you?  Hopefully you are spending the day doing what you want, whether it’s time with your kids, golfing, fishing, boating or grilling.  In a couple of blogs I wrote about places to find eco-products for Father’s Day, like Reuseit for cool, reusable bottles, travel coffee mugs, reusable bags, or maybe a Built lunch bag.  There are also ways to green some of your favorite sports like golf and basketball with recycled content balls and bio-degradable golf tees.  Have you ever thought about asking your favorite golf course to really green their greens?  Golf typically is a pretty nasty choice when it comes to being eco-friendly; high water usage, high herbicide, pesticide and fertilizer usage, and a lot of air pollution and petroleum usage from all the machinery.  Audubon International has a program to help golf courses become eco-friendly.  You can also green your fishing trip by using those reusables instead of disposables and swapping your lead tackle to lead-free tackle. Lead in fishing tackle and lead shot kills many animals each year.  Also, make sure you pack all your trash out at the end of your fishing day.  If you boat then make sure your engine is tuned-up and in perfect working condition so it won’t pollute the water, and again, be responsible with what you take out and bring back.  Grilling can even be greened by switching from petroleum briquettes to real, natural, hardwood charcoal.  Seriously, charcoal briquettes should be called petroquettes, ick.  You can also green your grilling day by cooking locally and sustainably produced food.  The final step to clean up your grilling act is by NOT choosing disposable paper and plastic plates, disposable plastic silverware, disposable cups and paper napkins.  It’s really not that hard to wash up some dishes, especially since most of us have dishwashers.  Have a great Father’s Day and make it as green as you can for your children’s future.

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

A Solar Oven for Dad

June 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Does your dad love to cook outside?  Does your dad love to camp?  I’ve got another green gift idea for him, and your family; a solar oven.  You can use a solar oven year round as long as you have sunshine.  It is ideal for Southern and Southwest United States, and other countries around the world, where there is abundant sunshine.  Solar ovens have even been used high in the mountains in the winter.  You just need sunshine; the ambient temperature is irrelevant.  The Solar Oven Society is a not-for-profit organization that sells solar ovens here in the U.S., to help subsidies solar ovens to impoverished nations, where cooking fuel is hard to come by.

Women around the world spend much of their day collecting firewood for fuel to cook for their families.  The other part of their day is then spent retrieving water.  With a solar oven, these same women can free up many hours in their day to pursue other things, like making goods to sell to support their family.  With the solar oven, these same women can also boil water they collect to ensure its safety for drinking.

Around the world, forests have been decimated to provide fuel for cooking.  With solar oven use, there is a chance these forests can recover, providing habitat for endangered animals.  If these habitats recover, the ecosystems can recover, which increases biodiversity back to areas where it had been lost.

As you can see there is a massive domino effect for impoverished countries, when solar ovens are introduced, and utilized.  Using solar ovens benefits us here in the U.S., as well.  By using a solar oven, you save energy all year round, but especially in the summer.  When you use a solar oven in the summer it keeps the heat out of your kitchen, so your home stays cooler, and you have less need for air conditioning.  A solar oven is also a fantastic teaching tool for your children.

Investing in a solar oven is a good choice for your family, and other families around the world.  Give dad something to really smile about this Father’s Day with an eco and ethical gift.

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

More Green Gifts for Dad

June 13, 2010 by 1 Comment

Are you still looking for an eco-friendly gift for dad?  I’ve got a few more ideas.

1) A chess set made from recycled auto parts.  Nothing says manly like gear-head stuff and nothing says smart like a chess set.  This is the best of both worlds.  Auto parts chess set.

2) Recycle rubber basketball.  Wilson not only has a recycled content tennis bag, but they also have a recycled rubber basketball called the Wilson Rebound.

3) A recycled fabric golf bag by Wilson called the Wilson Staff Eco-Carry.

4) How about some organic beer.  This is a list of some organic beers from the North American Organic Brewers Festival.  Here in Wisconsin we have a fantastic local brewery called New Glarus Brewing that carries an organic brew Organic Revolution.

5) What about a recycled beer bottle to put his organic beer into.  The Green Glass Company makes glasses made from beer, soda, and wine bottles.

6) Guys love gadgets, Solio is a solar-powered gadget to charge their other gadgets.

7) Speaking of gadgets, here is a whole site full of EnviroGadgets.

8 ) The most eco-friendly sporting equipment is second-hand equipment.  Check with your local sporting store or Play It Again Sports to see what great deals you can find on gently used equipment.

9) Sporting and casual clothing in eco-fibers is another idea for whatever your dad is into.  Patagonia Men’s Shop carries organic cotton and E-Fiber clothing which is made from recycled material, hemp, and chlorine-free wool.  Much of it is recyclable through Patagonia’s Common Threads Program.

10) For the foodie dad, how about a great, gourmet meal made with local and organic ingredients.  In Eau Claire, we have a wonderful farmers market and, of course, Just Local Foods.  Even our other traditional grocery stores carry some local and organic food; Festival Foods and Hahn’s Market are two examples.  I’m sure you can find local and organic most anywhere in the country, or wherever you are.

Make this Father’s Day a great, and green one.

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

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

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