Category — Green Products

If you’ve been using CFL bulbs in your ceiling lights and table lamps for awhile, you’ve may have actually had a few burn out by now, or even had one break. While they’re great for saving energy, these environmentally-friendly light bulbs do contain small amounts of mercury, so it is important to recycle them or clean up breaks properly.

Recycling CFL Bulbs

Some stores, including Home Depot and Ikea will take back your used CFL bulbs for free, and then recycle them. Light Bulb Recycling offers a paid by-mail service that will send you a recycling kit for CFL bulbs.  Also,  Earth 911 offers a free recycling search engine that will direct you to CFL recycling resources in your area.

How to Clean Up a Broken CFL Bulb

So, let’s just suppose you’re up on a step stool changing a light bulb in your ceiling fan, and before you know it, you drop a CFL bulb and it shatters on the floor.  What should you do? Here are some steps for safe CFL disposal from the EPA:

• Air out the room by opening windows and doors. Turn off your furnace or air conditioner if they are running, and have everyone leave the room for 15 minutes.
• Using stiff cardboard, carefully scoop up any broken glass.
• Use duct tape to pick up any remaining glass shards or powder.
• Avoid using a vacuum cleaner or broom if at all possible.  If use of a vacuum cleaner is unavoidable, dispose of the vacuum bag or clean out the canister immediately after cleaning the break area.
• Use a sealed glass jar, or a plastic zipper bag to contain all broken components.

Visit the EPA for complete information on cleaning up a broken CFL light bulb.  Don’t be discouraged by the small amount of mercury in CFL bulbs.  The environmental benefits of CFL light bulbs far outweigh any mercury risk.

Did you know that using your microwave oven to cook a meal or a side dish uses 2/3 less energy than a traditional kitchen stove?  And, here’s the weird thing…minute by minute, microwaves actually use MORE power than your kitchen stove, but because microwaves cook so much faster, the overall energy use is less.

I know you must be thinking that microwave ovens turn out rubbery, gloppy food that no one wants to eat, right?  Although microwaves certainly aren’t the best choice for every meal, these appliances have come a long way, especially when it comes to quality results.

Some new microwave ovens use convection cooking, and even halogen lights to improve food quality.  The Sharp microwave/convection oven above combines microwaves with the circulating heat of a convection oven.  It has two racks for baking, and gives you the option to turn off the turntable when you don’t need it.

Here’s another energy saving tip:  Clean your microwave oven regularly, and it will use even less energy!

With Old Man Winter within striking distance in many parts of the country, a few area rugs scattered around the house can certainly help to warm up cold floors.  I particularly like wool area rugs for two reasons:  they will last for years, and they’re made from a renewable resource. My husband’s grandmother has had the same wool are rugs for 40 years, and they still look great! Wool rugs are more expensive than some other materials, but since you should only have to buy them once, maybe that’s a savings in the long run.

The area rug above is a Fair Isle hooked wool rug from Garnet Hill.  It is available in 3 sizes:  3 feet, 5 feet, and 7 feet. They range in price from $98-$258.

If you’re worried about area rugs sliding around on hardwood or ceramic tile floors, you should check into purchasing organic rug pads. Rug pads will also protect your area rugs from signs of heavy wear, and help them last longer. The rug pad above is made from plant-based materials rather than petroleum-based plastics.

In my last post about Halloween pumpkins, I forgot to offer some tips on how to light them.  If you want to steer clear of paraffin-based waxes that emit toxins into the air, here are some green living tips for you.

Candles:   Soy and beeswax candles are both environmentally-friendly options for lighting your jack-o-lanterns.  They both burn cleaner, and are made from sustainable, resources.

LED Lights:  If you don’t want to use candles for safety reasons, you might want to check into some battery-powered LED pumpkin lights.  They’re designed to last for thousands of hours, so you could reuse them year after year.  Some even flash and turn colors for extra special effects.

Dont Forget!:  Use up as many parts of your pumpkins as possible to prevent landfill waste.  Make pumpkin cookies, or a pie with with any leftovers, and roast the seeds for a nutritious snack high in omega-3 fatty acids.

The beeswax votive candles shown above are homemade from 100% natural beeswax by Hive Harvest.

You know, the evidence against buying bottled water certainly seems to be adding up lately.  I read this article over the weekend about a recent California study of bottled water that showed bottled water to be just as contaminated as tap water in many cases.  In fact, upon examining the “purity” levels of  10 different brands of bottled water, the study turned up crazy stuff like acetaminophen, fertilizer, and plastic chemicals.  Yuck!  One major retailer’s store brand water had more than 3 times the California limit for chlorine byproducts.

When you consider this information, on top of all the environmental problems caused by bottled water, has there ever been a better time to purchase  a water filtration pitcher and some stainless steel water bottles? Can you really trust anyone but yourself to filter the drinking water your family consumes?

The Brita water pitcher above filters out 95-98 percent of lead, reduces chlorine, and has a bacteriostatic system for preventing the regrowth of bacteria.  I like the sleek, modern design of this thing (proof that going green doesn’t make you a nerd), and the fact that it will fit in the door of your refrigerator.  The Brita 42632 drinking water pitcher is available at d! Mart.

Here’s another reason to go green when it comes to drinking water– bottled water is 1,900 times more expensive that tap water.  At a dollar for a 20 ounce bottle, that equates to over $6 a gallon.  Suddenly the price of gasoline seems like a bargain! Can you believe we pay so much for something with so many disadvantages?

I think it’s important to remember that don’t have to do an entire green remodel to bring a little green into your life- especially in the bathroom. Organic bath towels are a cozy and earth-friendly addition to any green lifestyle.

The towels above are made from 100% combed organic cotton, which is Skal-certified.  According to Brookstone, organic bath towels maintain their fluffiness and absorbency longer than non-organic towels, because the fibers are subjected to the harshness of pesticides and chemicals. More info on these organic bath towels.

Don’t forget a new towel rack for air-drying your bath towels.  This bamboo towel ladder is a great way to save energy and conserve water because it will help you get more than one use from each bath towel in between washings.  And, it’s made from my favorite sustainable resource!

Here’s a water purifier that will help you ensure that your drinking water is free of VOCs and eliminate the need for purchasing bottled water.  The Waterwise 8800 is a water distiller that uses steam distillation to remove toxins from drinking water including arsenic, nitrates, sodium, fluoride, and chlorine. 

The water purifier does not require a connection to a water line.  Just plug it into a wall outlet, and pour in water from your tap.  This system will produce up to 6 gallons of distilled water in 24 hours.  The Waterwise 8800 is available at Fresh Water Systems.Com. 

Having your own water purification system, and avoiding bottled water is an excellent way to bolster your green living efforts.  Here are the facts on the effects of bottled water on the environment. 

If you’ve read much about adopting a green lifestyle, you’ve probably heard about the dangers of chlorine when it comes to public water supplies. Although chlorine is an effective means of killing disease and illness-causing waterborne organisms, many worry about possible long-term effects of chlorine within our bodies, including cancer and respiratory system damage.

One way to limit unnecessary exposure to chlorine is through your showerhead. The showerhead above contains a built-in filter which removes 99 percent of the chlorine from your shower water. The filter inside the showerhead uses KDF-55 Media, a patented technology for removing chlorine and heavy metals from water.

The chlorine filtering showerhead also has 5 massage spray settings, and the filter must be replaced every 6-9 months. It’s available at H20 distributors for $39.00.

A new organic mattress can be a costly investment, and it’s one that many budgets might not be able to handle right now. Even if you’re not ready to shell out hundreds or even thousands on a new mattress set, you can make bedtime environmentally friendly with these, less expensive, green bedding products.

Buy New Bed Sheets: A new set of organic bed sheets will breathe some green into your existing mattress. Organic sheets are available in everything organic flannel, wool, and even bamboo. The bamboo sheets above are made from 100% organic bamboo fiber.

Buy a Mattress Pad: Consider covering your existing mattress with an organic mattress pad made from unbleached cotton or wool. A new mattress pad will freshen up an old mattress, and give you a nice organic surface to sleep on. Here’s a mattress pad that is made of organic cotton flannel to keep you toasty this winter.

When you buy a new mattress, there’s always the nagging question of what to do with your old one. According to Ideal Bite, Americans throw away about 20 million mattresses each year. When you consider how large a typical queen size mattress is, that’s a staggering amount of landfill space.

The good news is that mattress recycling programs are popping up across the country, and some communities are even mandating mattress recycling.  Once your mattress reaches a recycling center, it will likely be dismantled and separated into recyclable categories such as wood, metal, and fabric.

Earth 911 offers a recycling search tool that will help you find mattress recycling programs near you.  Simply type in “mattress”, or any other item, and your zip code.  If there’s no recycling program near you, or even if there is, you can always donate your mattress to a shelter, second hand store, or list it on Craigslist or Freecycle.

The organic mattress in the photo above has a quilted top that’s made from 100 percent organic cotton.  It’s also vinyl and PVC free.  I found the NaturePedic Deluxe organic mattress at Living in Comfort. Com.