Environment, Organics, Fair Trade & Recycling at Big Green Purse

EcoCentric Mom Box Delivers Non-Toxic Make-Up & Cleaning Products

This month's EcoCentric Mom Box arrived just as I was tackling a big kitchen cleaning project. Cupboards, countertops, light switches, walls - the works. Fortunately, the job was made easier with Tru All-Natural Multi-Purpose Cleaner, made from purified water, botanicals from organic citrus, and food-grade carbonates. My box included a travel-size spritzer, but you can buy it in a concentrate that will make 128 fluid ounces.

 Also in the cleaning category: Eve Organics "Dirty Hands" Hand Sanitizer. I'm personally not one to use hand sanitizers, but if you are, take a look at this one. It contains essential oils of lavender, lemon, peppermint and tea tree, and promises not to promote drug resistant "superbugs" as more conventional hand sanitizers do.

After cleaning the kitchen, I needed a great moisturizer for my hands. Turns out, Eve Organics also makes a terrific skin cream: light, non-greasy, and full of therapeutic essential oils.

For a snack, I munchedon Beanfields Bean and Rice Tortilla Chips - gluten free, vegan, Non-GMO Project verified. Very crunchy, too.

Tired of Telling Your Kids to Turn Off The Lights? Let Team ENERGY STAR Do It!

Using energy efficiently can be as simple as turning off the lights or computer when they’re not being used. The challenge is getting people – especially kids – to pay heed.  Starting today, the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program is going to make that task much easier, especially for us parents!

ENERGY STAR is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program that helps us save money and protect the environment and our health through energy-efficient products and practices.  In 2011 alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 41 million cars — all while saving $23 billion on their utility bills and reducing the pollution that contributes to heart disease, asthma and allergies.

 As impressive as that is, the job is far from done. Climate change is still rising, and our health and the health of our kids is still at stake.  We can make a difference by teaching our kids to save more energy at home. That’s where Team ENERGY STAR comes in.

 Team ENERGY STAR is EPA’s new initiative to engage and educate American youth and their families about saving energy at home. Team ENERGY STAR gives kids and families knowledge and tools they can use to preserve our environment, help protect the climate and create a healthier world.

 I’ve already joined the team myself. But one person a “team” does not make. We all need to join in and do our part. Here are three important reasons why I think it’s worth your while.

 
First, without question, energy efficiency makes life healthier for our children and family. Climatechange will likely increase the number of people suffering from illness and injury due to more pollution, extreme heat, floods, storms, droughts and fires as well as allergies and infectious disease. The elderly, the very young, the disabled, and the poor alone are especially vulnerable, as are people with heart disease or asthma. Climate change is also expected to cause more severe allergy symptoms because a warmer climate promotes the growth of molds, weeds, grasses and trees that cause allergic reactions. The more efficiently we all use energy, the less likely we are to get sick.

Second, Team ENERGY STAR will make your job explaining energy efficiency to your children easier. I know that sometimes my kids think I’m a broken record, the way I nag them to turn off the lights and their computers. But the activities Team ENERGY STAR has come up with offer a creative and fun way to motivate the whole family to feel like they’re doing their part together to save energy. With Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax as the engaging theme for Team ENERGY STAR, kids can learn and have fun at the same time. 

Finally, joining Team ENERGY STAR will help you save money. The typical household spends more than $2,100 per year on energy. With ENERGY STAR, you can save over one-third, or more than $700, on your household energy bills without sacrificing features, style or comfort. 

 Team ENERGY STAR has already lined up some important and influential partners, like the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Do Something, one of the largest organizations in the U.S. for teens and social change. But it’s up to each and every one of us to reach our own kids and families.

Kids can join Team ENERGY STAR by visiting energystar.gov/team where they will get easy-to-download educational and interactive materials, such as a comprehensive Action Kit, the ENERGY STAR Home Check-Up, a Lorax activity booklet and a Lorax mustache-making kit. Kids are also encouraged to come back and share their stories about protecting the environment by saving energy, which will be showcased on energystar.gov/changetheworld and throughout social media.

In fact, Team ENERGY STAR is part of a multi-year EPA campaign, Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR, developed to engage Americans of all ages in saving energy and money and protecting the environment with ENERGY STAR. Millions of people are getting involved, joining their neighbors in this grassroots movement to help protect the climate by saving energy. You can see how people and organizations all over are making a difference with ENERGY STAR by viewing EPA’s ENERGY STARs Across America map.

  You can also attend an event in your area to learn ways to take control of your energy bills while contributing to a cleaner environment. Plus, if you take the ENERGY STAR Pledge at energystar.gov/pledge, you’ll join 2.8 million other Americans who are taking action to protect the climate.

 If every American household took part in the Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR Pledge, we would: save more than 126 billion KWh/yr of electricity, save $18 billion in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from 20 million cars.

 Get more information and join Team ENERGY STAR here.

Please leave a comment below when you join Team ENERGY STAR.

And please come back on June 12, when Big Green Purse will be hosting a carnival of posts from many bloggers who support energy efficiency and Team ENERGY STAR.

 

Full disclosure: I am a long-time independent advocate of energy-efficiency and the ENERGY STAR program. I am currently working as a paid consultant to introduce Team ENERGY STAR to parents and families.

Is the iPad just more e-waste?

 When Apple debuted its much-awaited iPad on Wednesday in San Francisco, one of the first attributes founder Steve Jobs touted was the gadget's eco-friendly specs.  But how "green" can an electronic device like this really be?

Greenpeace recently released its analysis of electronics manufacturers: Nokia and Sony Ericsson came out way ahead of the pack; Apple didn't fare nearly as well. This excellent review from Inhabitat details the plusses and minuses of Apple's overall approach to sustainability.

As for the iPad, we like that it  contains no arsenic, mercury, PVC, or BFR (brominated flame retardant), nasty toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other human health problems.  Jobs also claims the iPad is "highly recyclable" and features an energy-saving battery that can run for 10 hours on a single charge. That's all good.

On the other hand, the gadget plays into a larger environmental problem: planned obsolescence, one that is not unique to Apple but perhaps best typified by it.  In order to rake in the highest profits possible, electronics companies usually design their products with a lifespan in mind. That's the amount of time the product will function before it breaks or ceases to be compatible with current systems.  It's also the amount of time before a new-and-improved incarnation (or "generation" in Apple-speak) is released.   There's a reason the iPhone has been dubbed "a slam dunk of planned obsolescence" by CrunchGear's Seth Porges.  Did you purchase one only to have a cheaper, better-equipped version be released not long after you bought the original?

We can already see the iPad's trajectory. Within a year or two (if not sooner), the components on this geeky darling will no doubt start to wear out. Functionality will suffer. And not long after, Apple will unveil a newer, sleeker, shinier version that will be so irresistible, you'll feel you just HAVE to have it.

Then what do you do with the "old" iPad? Many people will simply trash theirs. No wonder global e-waste (which also includes televisions, fax machines, computers and copiers) is forecast to reach 53 million metric tonnes by 2012.

Yes, the iPad is cool. It is hip. And for all the "early adopters" out there who are driving Apple's markets, it's probably nigh on irresistible.

But that sure doesn't make it green.  

Meanwhile, are you inspired to recycle? Start here.

"Green" Cell Phones Can Help Fight Climate Change

 If you're in the market for a new cell phone, consider one of these "green" models that are being  featured at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

* Motorola's MOTO W233 Renew - constructed of plastic made from recycled water bottles; can be completely recycled. Cost: $9.99 with a two-year contract; buy through T-Mobile. Comes in packaging made of 100% recycled paper; includes prepaid shipping envelope so you can easily recycle your old mobile phone. PLUS: Motorola pays to offset the carbon emissions created during manufacture and distribution, along with the first two years you use it. (Its carbon offset payments are going to support methane gas capture at a landfill in New Bedford, MA).

* Sony Ericsson's GreenHeart - made with recycled biodegradable components; the charger uses a fraction of the electricity common chargers draw. NOTE: Sony Ericsson stood out in the 2008 Greenpeace Electronics Guide for banning hazardous chemicals in its products since the beginning of the year. In particular, the company's T650i mobile phone and Pli PDA came out on top in Greenpeace’s Searching for Greener Electronics survey.

* Samsung's Blue Earth solar-powered phone - made from recycled plastic and just darn pretty. According to the company, the phone and its high-efficiency charger contain none of the toxic chemicals often used in electronics, such as brominated flame retardants, beryllium or phthalates. My favorite feature? An "eco walk" function that lets you count your steps with a built-in pedometer so you can  also calculate how much less CO2 you're using by walking as opposed to driving. 

* ZTE, a Chinese manufacturer, and Digicel, a Latin American service provider, have teamed up behind what they say is the first solar-powered mobile phone. This is still in design, but when it's on the market, it's expected to appeal particularly to the 2 billion people in the world who have limited or no access to steady electricity supplies.

* Nokia released the 5630 Xpress Music Phone, along with a preloaded application called "we:offset" so users can measure their carbon emissions. Want to pay for the pollution you create? The company provides a link to an easy online form just for that purpose.

Though I welcome these product developments, I hope they don't encourage any of you to shelve a perfectly good phone if you don't have to. We're adding more e-waste to trash than any other form of garbage. The longer we use the phones we have, the less electronic garbage we'll have to clean up in the not-so-distant future.

Cheapest, Fastest Oil Fix? Pump Up Your Tires!

If you have a car, stop whatever you're doing and go check the air pressure of your vehicle's tires.

Apart from keeping your car in park, pumping up your tires to their proper "PSI" - pounds per square inch - is the fastest, cheapest way to reduce the amount of gasoline you use. Tires have a tendency to lose pressure over time or when the weather changes substantially; a car driving on underinflated tires needs more gas to move. You can gain 3.3% in fuel efficiency by inflating your tires. And with gasoline costing over $4/per gallon, every 3.3% gain means money in your pocket.

That gain also affords an immediate way to increase our supply of oil. As Barack Obama has noted in his vision for an energy independent America, if we all pumped up our tires to their proper PSI, the U.S. could easily gain from conservation  (i.e., using less fuel) three times as much oil as we could reap from far more costly and environmentally dangerous off-shore oil drilling. And that oil is available TODAY, not ten or twenty years hence - the time it takes to develop oil fields and convert petroleum into gasoline.

"Efforts to improve conservation and efficiency happen to be the best approaches to dealing with the energy crisis — the cheapest, cleanest, quickest and easiest ways to ease our addiction to oil, reduce our pain at the pump and address global warming. It's a pretty simple concept: if our use of fossil fuels is increasing our reliance on Middle Eastern dictators while destroying the planet, maybe we ought to use less," writes Michael Grunwald in Time.

Tire gauges are cheap. You can buy one for $10-$15 at your local auto supply store; or look here.

If you don't know how to check your tire pressure, this video offers a good explanation.

You can easily save $20-$50 a month on gasoline if you pump up your tires and take other simple steps. Here are the top ten ways to beat high gas prices and increase America's oil supply.

Recycling CFLs is Finally Easy to Do!

If you like the idea of energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs but worry about the mercury they contain, now you can worry a lot less. The Home Depot is selling bulbs that have cut the amount of mercury most bulbs contain in half. And when you’re finished with the bulbs, you can recycle them – along with any other CFLs you have – at any of the company’s 1,973 stores.

Simply bring in your expired, unbroken CFL bulbs, and give them to the store associate behind the returns desk. The bulbs will be handled by an environmental management company that will coordinate CFL packaging, transportation and recycling to maximize safety and ensure environmental compliance.

“With more than 75 percent of households located within 10 miles of a Home Depot store, this program is the first national solution to providing Americans with a convenient way to recycle CFLs,” said the company’s Ron Jarvis, senior vice president, Environmental Innovation.

What’s the appeal of CFLs? They  use up to 75 percent less energy, last longer and cost less over time than incandescent bulbs. The average household can reduce its energy bills by $12 to $20 a month by using CFLs. The bulbs were once accused of emitting a harsh, glaring light. But many bulbs generate a softer, yellower light now, increasing the appeal of using them for any room in the house.

In addition to recycling CFLs, The Home Depot plans to introduce more dimmable compact fluorescents within the year. Home Depot’s bulbs contain 2.3 to 3.5 milligrams of mercury, which is below the National Electrical Manufacturers Association recommendation of 5 milligrams or fewer. It is a small amount, equivalent to the volume of the steel ball in the tip of a ballpoint pen. By comparison, home thermostats contain about 1,000 times more mercury than the common CFL.

The company says it sold more than 75 million CFL’s in 2007, saving Americans approximately $4.8 billion in energy costs and preventing 51.8 billon pounds in climate-changing greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere over the life of the bulbs.

The Home Depot is not only encouraging consumers to change their light bulbs. It’s doing the same in its own stores. The company expects to save $16 million in annual energy costs by switching all of its U.S. Light Fixture Showrooms to CFLs by the fall of 2008.

The CFL recycling program is an extension of The Home Depot's Eco Options program. Eco Options, launched in April 2007, is a classification that allows customers to easily identify products that have less of an impact on the environment. 

Switching from traditional light bulbs to CFLs is an easy change consumers can make to reduce energy use at home. According to the EPA's ENERGY STAR(R) program, if every American switched one incandescent bulb to a CFL, it would prevent more than $600 million in annual energy costs and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from 800,000 cars.

NOTE:  Consumers can also recycle CFLs at any IKEA store.

Thumbs up to both Home Depot and Ikea!

Eco-Gadgets That Deliver a Good Workout, Too

Bruce Hathaway, an editor at Smithsonian magazine and eco-tech guru par excellence, wrote this guest post on cool home energy saving gadgets for Father's Day or any day (NOTE: add shipping & handling to all quoted prices). Thanks, Bruce!

Bogo (Buy One Give One) Solar Flashlight This well-made orange (or pink) light throws a nice even beam over a wide area, so it's better than most flashlights as a reading or task light. And if you buy one for $25, the SunNight Solar company will donate the same flashlight to someone in need. You even get to choose from a long list of charitable organizations and countries. Notes the SunNight Solar Web site, "Two billion people living in the developing world rely on kerosene lanterns, candles and single-use battery flashlights for light at night. [These] options are expensive, dangerous and harmful to the environment.” The Bogo light helps solve the problem. A new improved solar flashlight called the Super Bogo is also available, for $30.

Freeplay Summit handcrank/solar-powered radio I listen to the radio a lot, sometimes all day. Listening through our stereo system uses about 60 watts an hour, quite a bit of power. This little radio has terrific FM reception and excellent sound quality. And you'll get excellent upper-body exercise crank-charging it, especially if you hold it above your head when you crank. It takes about 45 minutes to achieve a full charge. I crank my radio while on my exercise bike and even carry one along and crank it while walking; it boosts my pulse rate by 15 beats a minute, often just enough to get up into all-important aerobic levels.  This radio also has a solar panel on top so you can charge it in the kitchen window. Freeplay sells several radios; in my experience, the Summit offers the best reception and sound. $79.00, or $64.75 at Batteryjunction. By purchasing Freeplay products you’ll be supporting the Freeplay Foundation, which distributes radios and other hand crank devices to people in need in developing countries. Freeplay is also the company that developed the hand-crank power supply for the One Laptop Per Child program.

GSI Vortex hand-crank Blender Agent 007 would no doubt agree that a martini--or a magarita--made in an off-grid, hand-crank blender tastes a lot better than one made in an on-grid electric blender. And being out of breath from the cranking will heighten the booze buzz. The GSI Vortex Blender does the job, and again you'll benefit from good upper-body exercise turning the crank. It is noisy, though not much noisier than many electric blenders. You can buy the GSI Vortex for $79.95 at rei.com, or $59.95 plus at rvtoyoutlet.com.

Caframo 797 battery-powered Compact Desk Fan Ultra quiet, variable-speed, this fan runs on four D cell batteries. $28.50 at Wholesale Tool. I bought a half dozen of them for various places around the house; the nice breezes allow us to turn off the energy-hog AC when we don't really need it.

  Rechargeable Battery Charger  The off-grid way to use these fans is with rechargeable batteries, charged in a solar charger. My favorite solar charger is the Universal Solar Battery Charger, which charges multiple cells at once; it is waterproof and has a convenient carrying handle. $24.95. Several models of D-cell solar chargers are available, some with light meters and charts telling how long it will take the batteries to charge. See the options at batteryspace.com or Google "solar battery chargers." For rechargable batteries, go to batteryjunction.com and buy Tenergy D-cell 10,000 mAh Ni-MH rechargables; the more you buy, the better the price.

Kill-A-Watt Power Use Monitor You’ve likely heard of vampire power loss, the electricity that appliances like TVs, computers, plug-in blenders and fans, and remote controlled stereo receivers waste, even when you’ve turned them “off” with the remote. This little device will tell you how much that vampire is costing you as well as the planet. In our case, two TVs and a stereo receiver were draining away a total of about 75 watts a day, every day. My wife and I staked that vampire dead by putting the TVs and receiver on power-strips which we can manually turn off without losing station presets.  Buy a Kill-A-Watt Monitor online for as little as $17.99.

  Freeplay SherpaXrayLED Clear Body hand-crank flashlight In one respect, this is the geek-giddiest green gadget of all. The transparent case lets you see the crank gears, wires and generator circuit board in action. It also emits a nice even light, so it's good for various tasks or reading. It features both a high beam and a power-saving beam that will shine for 20 hours when the flashlight is fully charged. That takes about 40 minutes of vigorous cranking—another good upper-body workout. Available from batteryjunction.com for $22.95. For a more powerful hand-crank flashlight, try the Freeplay Jonta, $42.95. For a cheaper option, consider the Garrity Power Lite 3 LED Crank Light (Titanium Silver/Black). You can buy one at many hardware stores or at Amazon for about $9, and it has a lifetime guarantee. That’s important because several of the solar and hand-crank flashlights and radios on the market are cheaply made and likely to fail or break. REI and L.L. Bean guarantee the reliability of the products they sell.

Hollywood Moon Spot This is the niftiest little table spot lamp I’ve ever seen, and incredibly its LED bulb uses only 1.2 watts. That’s just another indication to me that LEDs, even more so than compact fluorescents, are the energy-saving lightbulbs of the future. Unfortunately, the Moon Spot costs $96. You can see it and other nice lights at coastportland.com.

Pedal Powered Prime Mover Remember how nutty it seemed when you heard about the guy who powered his TV and cooked his pancakes by a generator hooked up to his exercise bike? Well, nutty it’s not, although a very little girl once asked me, "When you’re watching a Western and you pedal a little slower, do the horses also run slower?" A very interesting inventor in Los Gatos, California, David Butcher, sells plans for a do-it-yourself, power-generating exercise bike. $50. (NOTE: If you have trouble with this link, search "David Butcher" or "pedal powered" on the Internet.)

Solar Powered Firefly Magic Firefly Lights These come on and go off slowly and really do look like fireflies. Seven electronic fireflies cost $67.95; get twelve for $87.95.

Does it make a diff? Even if hundreds of millions of people use all these off-grid gadgets, the resulting reduction in greenhouse gasses will only be a fraction of what it needs to be. But using them has raised my awareness of more important things to do. For example, each night before I leave my office I go around for one minute and turn off photocopiers and lights in the reception area and the office kitchen. During the day, whenever I leave the men's room or the printer room I turn off the lights. I’ve also pointed out to the manager of the ten-story building where I work that hundreds of lights burn unnecessarily evenings and weekends.

But more than that, I’m realizing that the most effective energy-saving gadget I have is my keyboard. I can use it to write to companies like Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) and L.L. Bean to let them know there’s going to be a huge market for exercise equipment that also generates power, or solar and wind-powered appliances. Most important, I can write to my U.S. Senator and Congressperson and ask them to enact legislation that will promote mega energy-saving technologies. That means more than solar and wind. Turning the wasted heat that comes out of industrial smokestacks in the U.S. into electricity could replace more than 400 greenhouse- gas-emitting coal power plants! Denmark already generates more than half its electricity by using this wasted heat. A big problem, however, is that complicated Federal laws stand in the way. For more information, see Recycled Energy Development.