Brita & Nalgene: Filter Water Yourself

Brita and Nalgene have teamed up on a campaign to reduce bottled water waste.  I’m not sure what to think of the ads above.  I feel that many will just dismiss them as being extremist.  Not quite as bad as red paint being thrown on a mink coat.  Although, with so many plastic water bottles going to landfill, that is a shitload of oil.  According to the site, FilterForGood.com and FastCompany - 38 million water bottles are sent to landfill annually.  If you’ve never read Message In A Bottle from Fast Company last year - then go do it now.  It’s quite the eye-opener. 

Anyhoo - I thought ads were interesting and would share them with everyone.  Click on them to enlarge.  Josh Dorfman of The Lazy Environmentalist and LimeTV offers tips for “green-overs.”  Not surprisingly, you can also buy custom Nalgene water bottles from the site, too.

I could write a long time on the topic of bottled water.  For instance, the City of Chicago is saving over $400,000/year by cutting bottled water from its budget.  I’m stopping before I rant…another time.

Enjoy.

UPDATE:
Our friend, Katie, brings up a great point about Brita. In the US, they don’t take the filter back for recycling. Boo, Clorox - clean up your mess and take them back!

HEY BRITA - TAKE BACK THE FILTERS!!

takebackthefilter.org


 

Photo Gallery: Chicago Green Festival 2008

Sun Chips Offers 100 Green Steps

Sun Chips is going green.  We talked in the past about Frito Lay and solar energy for their plants.  Now Sun Chips is not only going green - they’re getting in on the social media trend with a new Facebook Application.  It’s similar to other green Facebook apps - it just gives you a list of green items and you say if you do them or not on a 3pt scale.  We happened to get this list in magazine ad from Sun Chips.  In bold are the steps we’re taking right now.  There are more that aren’t an option here.

 

 

1.       Get an Energy Audit

2.       Donate Used Computers

3.       Use Cloth Napkins

4.       Switch to energy-savings bulbs

5.       Hang dry your clothes (we try when we can)

6.       Make your next outfit vintage

7.       Ride the Bus (Train)

8.       Pay your bills online

9.       Say no to Plastic Bags

10.   Plant some Bamboo

11.   Unplug appliances when off

12.   Taste test a local wine

13.   Say Bye to your leaf blower

14.   Rediscover your library

15.   Switch off your computer

16.   Plant a Garden

17.   Buy rechargeable batteries

18.   Start a compost heap

19.   Put back unused napkins

20.   Bring you own coffee cup

21.   Learn to love weeds

22.   Read about green weddings

23.   Carpool

24.   Keep car tires inflated

25.   Support Local Farmers

26.   Use both sides of paper

27.   Turn Heating down 1 degree

28.   Return old Cell phones

29.   Drive smart-Plan your trip

30.   Wrap water heater in blanket

31.   Install low-flow showerheads

32.   Wash clothes in Cold or Warm

33.   Lights off when you exit a room

34.   Use a lunch box, no paper lunch sacks

35.   Give cloth diapers a chance

36.   Pick up litter and recycle it

37.   Take shorter showers

38.   Choose Green-E products

39.   Buy the largest size practical

40.   Tune up your cars engine

41.   Donate used books

42.   Seal drafts around windows

43.   Leave your car at home for a day

44.   Don’t idle car more then 10 seconds

45.   Think before you print

46.   Look for EnergyStar Appliances

47.   Unload your car of excess weight

48.   Don’t buy veggies in trays

49.   Choose an energy-efficent vehicle

50.   Fix leaking faucets

51.   Wipe spills w/ reusable towels

52.   Install low-flow toilets

53.   Make your own Cleaning Solutions

54.   Hold your own “buy nothing” day

55.   Reuse Jars & Containers

56.   Clean windows w/ old newspapers

57.   Build w/ Salvaged wood

58.   Share magazines

59.   Wrap presents in old calendar pages

60.   Make Rags from old t-shirts

61.   Send e-cards

62.   Buy spices in bulk

63.   Capture rain water for gardens

64.   Return unused sugar packets

65.   Drive the speed limit

66.   Make note pads from used paper

67.   Don’t accept plastic utensils

68.   Take a break from TV (No way!  I love my TV)

69.   Give a donation instead of a present

70.   Buy a bike-Use it.

71.   Buy organic cotton

72.   When buying clothes, say no to tissue wrap

73.   Start a green team @ work

74.   Don’t boil more then a teacups worth

75.   Read about carbon credits

76.   Appoint an “office lights” monitor

77.   Use your legs, not the elevator

78.   Stop chasing “the latest”

79.   Invigorate your green passion, spend time w/ nature

80.   Start a toy-swap w/ friends

81.   Ease up on meat products

82.   Buy items for durability

83.   Buy seasonal produce

84.   Take bubble wrap back to packaging stores

85.   Upgrade your furnance

86.   Snip six-pack rings (don’t buy 6-packs?)

87.   Use low-phosphate detergent

88.   Avoid chemical flea collars

89.   Choose sustainable flooring

90.   Offer art schools your “trash”

91.   use a bucket not a hose

92.   Learn to mend your socks

93.   Eliminate impulse buying

94.   Take extra hangers to dry cleaners

95.   Teach kids thriftiness

96.   Don’t sign up for mailing lists

97.   Slow down- consume less

98.   Fertilize w/ Grass clippings

99.   Consider using a solar cooker (how did this tip get in there?)

100. Eat simply, choose whole grains

Our Purchase: Noise And Air Pollution Fighting Machine

Well, I guess I can’t say that I am participating in Crunchy Chicken’s Buy Nothing Challenge for April.  It’s not like we’re out buying willy-nilly.  We really don’t just go out shopping and buy things on a whim.  Everything is pretty calculated.  I can tell you that I spent a good $700 on Saturday.  I can’t tell you the last time we spent that much in a day on anything - probably when we had to put new carpet in our basement last fall. 

The first item was a backup sump pump - nothing sexy, but needed.  If you can’t guess, our basement flooded last fall and that’s the reason we had to replace the carpet.  So I figured it was time to buy a backup pump.  The second item was a yard of dirt/mulch combo for our new veggie garden.  Now, on to the sexy purchase.

Goodbye gray skies, hello blue (yes, that’s from Happy Days for those of you keeping score).  If you read my post on Saturday, you’d have read about how we took our gas-powered mower to a recycling event in Chicago.  In return for the mower, they gave us a rebate of $100 towards the purchase of a reel-mower or a rechargeable/electric mower.  That really softened the blow as these rechargeable mowers aren’t cheap.  Another added bonus was that I didn’t have to try and sell my mower - I got $100 for it with no questions asked.  Beautiful.

I knew exactly which mower I wanted to buy.  So I convinced my wife that I should to go the local home improvement store for more than just the mower reason.  I couldn’t wait any longer - the excitement of buying the new mower was killing me.  Finally, I showed up to the store and the exact mower I wanted was being wheeled to someone’s car.  I crossed my fingers and went in.  Phew, there were two more left.  I think I heard bells ring and there was a glowing halo around the prized beauty.   Even better, when I walked up to it, the thing was on sale!  Alas, we are the proud parents of a brand spanking new Remington Power Mower. 

I’ve researched the various gas-alternative mower options available to me in the past, so I had some good ideas as to what I wanted.  My yard is too large for a reel-mower.  It is also too large for me to hassle with a corded mower all the time.  So that narrowed my search down to rechargeable mowers.  I had seen the Neuton mower and someone recommended it to me.  I liked the fact that you could just drop in a fresh battery if you ran out of juice.  I didn’t like that it was only a 14″ cutting width (they now have a newer one with a 19″ width).  We happened to see an infomercial for the Remington Power Mower.  So we looked into it.  It had the drop-in battery option like the Neuton and had a 17″ width.  Our old mower was 22″, so this is still a big step down in that department.  The drop-in battery was a big selling point for us.  Something the Remington Power Mower has that the Neuton is lacking is the corded option.  If I want more power or don’t have a spare battery, I can plug it in like a corded mower and continue to cut the grass.  It has a nice cord management feature to keep the extention cord out of the way, too. Oh - did I mention it’s about $0.10/charge.  Remington has a full demo of their cordless Power Mower.

I almost forgot to tell you how quiet this thing is.  Normally, we can hear someone mowing their lawn about 3 blocks away.  My wife was in the back yard and couldn’t hear me mowing in the front.  Rock star!

 Now for some lawn mowing facts: 

• Mowing your lawn (with a gas mower) for one hour creates emissions is roughly equivalent to driving your car for 100 miles. 
• Another way to put it is that a gas mower emits as much pollution as 40 cars in an hour. 
• Traditional mowers emit 5% of the nations air pollution
• Garden equipment users spill 17 million gallons of fuel each year.  That’s more than was spilled in the Exxon Valdez accident.
• A traditional gas powered lawn mower operates at about 85 decibels or more

Source: People Powered Machines

Happy Days Theme

Beep Beep! Roadrunner Shower Head Review

Evolve has a shower head called the “Roadrunner.”  It’s a lower-flow shower head at 1.59gpm.  I had been using a shower head that was under $10 - that was basically an aerator - kinda like this one, but without the shut-off.  The old shower head worked well.  It had an output of 1.5gpm - I even timed it and measured out the water once.  The only issue was that since it was so stubby, the water seemed to spray all over the place.  I wasn’t necessarily looking to replace my aerator one, but I read about the Roadrunner from Evolve and it sounded interesting.  I emailed them to ask questions about it when I first read about one in February.  They graciously sent me one to try out. 

One unique feature of this shower head is the Showerstart™ technology.  I was never one to run the water and do other things while it was heating up, but I guess some people do.  So here’s how it works.  You turn on the shower.  When the water reaches 95°F the water shuts off to a trickle.  Now I turn on the shower, and I get out my toothbrush and stick it under the cold water.  I fill up a glass with some water coming out and I brush my teeth while the shower is heating up.  As soon as it gets to that magical number, the water shuts off waiting for your nakedness.  When I’m ready to get in the shower, I pull the rip cord - a little cord that hangs from the shower that starts the water back up again.  You want to make sure the water is the right temperature so you don’t burn yourself. 

Yeah - Showerstart™ technology sounds like a gimic.  It’s actually kinda nice.  This shower head is pretty cool.  The water pressure is great for me.  The water flows nice and evenly now - it’s not spraying wildly.  I’ve waited a bit to write this review because I wanted my wife and I to get ample use out of it to make a sound decision.  This shower head is staying put in our house. 

I had a bunch of questions for the company when I first emailed them.  One nice feature would be the ability to pull the cord again to turn the water off.  You could turn the water  while lathering up, shaving, or whatever.  There is a work around for this.  Just turn the water off and right back on.  The water will already be above the 95°F and be at a trickle.  I shave in the shower, so this is great.  I can turn the water off, shave, and resume easily by pulling the cord.  I also asked for a clarification on “low flow” vs “lower flow.”  Technically, anything below 2.5gpm is “low flow.”  Evolve uses the term “lower flow” because they are significantly below the 2.5gpm.

Evolve is based out of Scottsdale, Arizona.  It’s always nice to see companies in an arid region like the southwest developing products that promote conservation.  So much water is wasted in this country.  Technology has come a long way since that famous Seinfeld episode called “The Shower Head.”  Don’t be afraid - the water pressure will be fine.  You can adjust.  You don’t need your old 3.5gpm shower head.  The water usage at our house has dropped significantly.  Not only from the shower head, but from things like our rain barrels and just general conservation.  Every site I check has a different number, but the average American uses about 110 gallons of water every day.  My household is at about 35gal/day/person.  That may change as our children get older, but I hope that they will be smart enough to conserve.  I’d think that if we switched to a front load washing machine, we could reduce our water usage even further.  Starting with a shower head and new aerators in your faucets is a very easy DIY project that can make a difference.  The Roadrunner is only $40 at most places online.  You should recoup that money in the first year of use.  A 1.5gpm shower head will give you a 40% savings over the standard.  Give it a try! 

Still on the fence?  The folks at Evolve also sent me a white paper that goes over many considerations people should consider when choosing a lower flow shower head.  I’ve attached it here for everyone to check out - Choosing Lower Flow Shower Head

Neti Pots Are Nasalicious

The song “Lollipop” is ringing in my head, but instead of the word “lollipop,” it’s “Neti pot, neti pot, neti pot…”  I’m not sure how many of you, if any of you, use a neti pot.  It sounds kinda gross, but isn’t so bad.  Jala Neti is the official term for this nasal irrigation technique.  You take this little “genie” lantern looking pot and fill it with a salt water solution (you can buy kits, little tubs of special salt, or you can make your own solution).  Then you take the neti pot filled with warm salt water and shove it in a nostril.  Next you tilt your head and pour.  Water should start coming out the other side. 

So here’s the story.  My wife is into yoga and has been thinking about getting a neti pot for a long time.  She’s seen it on TV and from her yoga instructor.  She has sinus and allergy issues, so she figures that this can’t hurt, right?  The warm water flows into your sinuses and flushes them.  Ahh - you can breathe clearer.  She finally bought a neti pot about two months ago.  To be honest, it has intrigued me, yet kinda scared me at the same time.  At first, she struggled a little bit.  If the water doesn’t flow as planned, it can kinda make you feel like you’re being drowned (or waterboarded from the US government).  Who doesn’t like that drowning sensation, right?  She gets the process down after a while and is using the pot regularly each night and she feels great after.

I finally break down and think about the line from Risky Business where the then some-what-normal Tom Cruise says the line, “sometimes you just have to say ‘what the f..k’.”  So I say, “WTF!”  Let’s do this thing.  I get everything out and shout out the bathroom door to my wife, “how much salt do I put in this thing?”  I put in the required one tiny scoop and fill the magical lantern with warm water.  In my mind, I’m thinking that I’m going to start choking and semi-drown while my wife is in the next room laughing at my failure.  It’s go time.  I tilt my head and start to pour.  I can feel the water percolate throughout my nasal cavity and slightly drip saline in my throat and then all of a sudden water is freely flowing out my other nostril.  It’s fantastic.  I must have the magic touch or just be lucky because I stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.  I do the other side with the same ease, just staring in the mirror as the water flows like a Japanese water feature. 

I recommend giving it a try.  It’s really not that bad and you feel great afterwards. 

 

GM Using Kids To Sell Hybrid SUVs

There are a series of GM Chevy commercials all featuring little kids.  Most of them are promoting the Chevy Tahoe hybrid.  My 7 year old daughter was watching one earlier today during a program we were watching.  I had to tell her that they weren’t telling the full truth.  She sees the kids and hears the message and believes every word.  Apparently it’s the “green car of the year.”  A gigantic SUV is the green car of the year?  Is that rating from a made up organization from the GM gas guzzler lobby? We’re even told that hybrids dont’ have to be “tinsy weensy.”  Then there is a Chevy commercial that just promotes Chevy.  In that one, they flash a huge SUV and then tell us, “we believe a hybrid should fit the way you live, not the other way around.”  I guess that sells to most Americans, but to me it’s just irksome.  I know too much about consumerism.  An SUV that gets 21mpg is an improvement, but it’s not the answer.  It shouldn’t be the future.  It is not fixing any of our worldly problems.  I guess HGTV didn’t get that message, either.  Anyway…enjoy some YouTube…

More not-so-brilliant commercials after the jump…

(more…)

Who Owns Your Favorite Organic Company? Take 2

 

Back in November, I wrote about who owns who in the organic industry.  Mi amigo and tipster, Señor Doyle, pointed me to GOOD Magazine’s version of the infograph from Dr Phil Howard.  I think the layout is a bit dumbed down and easier to read than Phil’s version on his site at MSU (which was updated in January 2008).

• Organic Industry Structure
• GOOD Magazine Buying Organic Chart

HGTV Greenwashing Giveaway?

HGTV - let me ask you one question.  Why?  Why, why, why?  You have this beautiful home that is Gold LEED Certified.  You’ve put a lot of technology and innovations in this home, in the kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, counters, appliances, etc.  But why did you have to go ruin it with this one item?  Maybe I can lend this out to the winner of the house - please do me a favor and sell one item. 

I picked up on this story from our friends at Ecorazzi.  Maybe labeling HGTV as greenwashers is a bit harsh.  The house is LEED certified and looks fantastic.  As part of their Green House giveaway, they’re also giving away a Yukon Hybrid with the house.  A HUGE SUV that gets a whopping 20mpg.  I wrote about the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid back in December and you can read my comments and feelings there.  The Yukon just kinda ruins the entire picture for me.

Please sell that damn Yukon!  If you want to live a green life, do it.  Sure, every little bit helps, but come on, a massive vehicle that gets 20mpg…and that is what the manufacturer says and that figure is never correct. 

I think John Lennon once sang, “Imagine there’s no Yukon, sitting in the driveway.  Imagine all the people taking public transportation.   Imagine there’s no greenwashing or corporate America exploiting all the people… Woohoo, hoo, hoo.”  Maybe I’m paraphrasing…

Source: Ecorazzi, HGTV

Imagine

Bamboo Laptop? I Want One