Category — Green Products

With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, it’s time to start planning for green Holiday celebrations.  To get things kicked off, I’ve scoured the web in search of environmentally-friendly holiday frills.  Here are a two ideas for getting started.

Do you send Holiday greeting cards?  Here’s an eco-friendly option for you…and one that kindly reminds the recipient to celebrate green this year.  The card above is  made from 100% recycled paper, 50% of which is post-consumer content.  These recycled greeting cards are available at Cards Direct. [Read more →]

Are you using a wood burning stove or fireplace to keep warm this winter?  Here’s a great way to conserve energy by converting your household waste into recycled heating fuel.  The Logmaker is a plastic gizmo for making tightly rolled, compressed logs out of burnable lawn waste, or even junk mail.

Using the Logmaker begins with creating an outer shell made from newspaper.  Then you can fill the outer shell with any burnable household waste, and tightly compress it with the Logmaker’s plunger.  Finish by tucking in the edges, and your log is complete.  It’s the tightly compressed, and rolled composition of the homemade logs that allows them to burn much longer than the same materials would if burned loosely.

This would also be handy for using with outdoor fire pots, chimineas, and camping gear.

The Logmaker is made in the U.K., and it is available in a recycled plastic model.  For complete instructions, and more info, visit the Logmaker website.

We’ve all heard of shower heads that conserve water by restricting the flow of water, but this one  goes about things a little differently.  This shower head, made by Oxygenics, oxygenates the water flow through 16 ”air entrance ports”   which results in water that contains 10 times the oxygen content of normal tap water, and reduced water consumption.

Manufacturers claim that highly-aerated water is more refreshing, and rejuvinating spa-like experience (Hey, I like the sound of that).  In addition, oxygenated water promotes healthy cell reproduction, and promotes a youthful appearance.  Water conservation and the promise of youth?  What more could you ask for?

Oxygenics shower heads also include handheld units which allow you to pause the water flow when you need to….another great way to save water. I found the Oxygenics shower head at Home Depot for $49.99.  No shower is complete without some fluffy organic bath towels…check them out.

Wow! Even toasters are getting green makeovers.  As soon as I got over the glee of finding this, all I could think of was “DUH” why hasn’t anyone thought of this before!  The Ecolectric 2-slice toaster uses a third less energy than regular household toasters due to the auto-close lids over the bread slots. Ingenious!  The lids hold the heat in, which cooks the bread faster.  Hey- and that means less time spent waiting on breakfast.

Besides the lid feature, this energy efficient toaster looks like most other toasters.  It includes a reheat setting, a bagel setting (yay!), and a defrost setting.  The Ecolectric toaster is available at Ethical Superstore. Watch a video of this toaster in action.

If you’ve read much about green living, you’ve probably heard about the environmental dangers of batteries.  Household batteries contain mercury, zinc, cadmium, maganese, and other components which are harmful to both your health, and our earth.  Over time batteries left in landfills break down, and leech these substances into our water and soil.

If you want to reduce your household’s need for batteries, you should check out some of the wind-up gadgets now on the market.

Universal Remote Controls:  This universal remote control will run for 7 days on just 30 revolutions of winding. It will also control up to 6 of your home electronics.  The wind-up remote control is available at Nigel’s Eco Store.  [Read more →]

After a long day of work at home or at the office, you really deserve a comfy and tranquil place to rest at night.  So, if you’re working on turning your home into a truly green home, non-toxic bedding like mattresses, bedsheets, and organic pillows are a great place to start.  Here are some organic pillows that made me want to stop blogging and take a nap!

The neck pillows above are encased in a 100% silk cover, and filled with organic buckwheat hulls.  Apparently it’s not just for pancakes anymore!  These organic pillows are actually sold as yoga accessories, but I think they would be a great addition to a bedding set, or handy to keep in the car for long trips.  I found the buckwheat neck pillows at Yoga Accessories.Com.  [Read more →]

I don’t know about you, but when my home gets to be a disorganized mess, I don’t care a whole lot if it is a green home or any other color.  So, whenever I get the time to add environmentally friendly home organizers like bamboo baskets, recycled plastic bins, or reusable wooden crates to any room in my home,  I do.  In short, I crave a life that is free from the distractions of clutter.

When I saw this bamboo mail sorter, I thought this would be the perfect addition to an out of the way kitchen corner or back entry way.  Stash the mail for sorting later, hang up keys (keeps them off the counter), and there’s even room for a few magazines. The mail sorter is available at Plow and Hearth.

Here’s a round shelf basket made from rattan and recycled paper.  This could be used as a waste paper basket, or placed on a bookcase for holding just about anything.  The recycled basket measure 14″ x 10.25″, and it is available at World Market.

Energy-efficient washing machines are a good investment to conserve power and save water.  However, the products you put into your washing machine can have just as big of impact on the environment.  Most run of the mill laundry soaps contain surfactants and chemicals, many of which are derived from petroleum.  Here are a few green living tips for cleaning up your act in the laundry room.

When You Need Bleach: Let’s face it, green laundry isn’t worth it if your clothes don’t come out clean. Sometimes you need some serious cleaning to get out grass stains or foods like tomato sauce.  Ever had a kid in soccer?  Here’s the tip:  avoid chlorine bleach.  There are many bleach alternatives available like oxygen boosting products.  Here’s  a large selection of “oxy” cleaners.  I use one scoop of an oxy booster with almost every load of laundry.  The trick is to put the oxy powder in the washing machine first, let the water fill, and then add clothes.

Fabric Softener Alternative: A scoop (1/4 to 1/2 cup) of baking soda added to the rinse cycle is a natural way to soften clothes.  Here’s another chemical free fabric softener.

Stubborn Stains: Soak resistant stains overnight in a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water.  (8 parts cold water, 1 part peroxide)

The front loading washing machine above is an LG Energy Star washer, and it is available at HomeClick.

Side chairs and tables that double as unique and interesting art always make such bold statements in home decor.  If you’re trying to add environmentally friendly and artistic pieces to your home, reclaimed wood furniture is a great option.

Wood furniture crafted from reclaimed timber can include everything from old barn wood, root wood, and even driftwood.  The reclaimed wood stool above, called a twist stool, has a cool rotating design.  A pair of these used as bar stools would make an eye-catching lounge area, or add some creative flair to a breakfast bar.

Here’s another wooden stool in the shape of a “Z”.  This one is just over 20 inches tall and is made from reclaimed enterolobium wood.  Both reclaimed wood stools are available at Clipper Trading Company.

Electric blankets are a great way to save energy,sleep toasty, and reduce heating bills in the cooler months.  By keeping your bed warm, there is no need to heat the rest of your home to room temperature during the overnight hours. Any electric blanket uses only a fraction of the energy of your home’s furnace, but if you want to save even more energy, select the most energy-efficient electric blanket you can find.

The electric blanket above uses only 25V of electricity, compared to the 120V used by most other electric blankets.  There’s a pre-warm feature that lets you quickly “preheat” your bed at the highest setting, before the blanket automatically switches back to its regular setting.  There is also an automatic 10 hour timer which will turn the blanket off if you forget.

The Safe & Warm electric blanket is available at Frontgate in twin, king, and queen sizes.  King and queen sizes have dual controls in case you and your sleep-mate differ when it comes to sleeping temps.

Always follow the safety recommendations included with your electric blankets.  Here are more electric blanket safety tips.