New 3G iPhone Goes Green…Maybe Not

Well – it actually only comes in black or white and no, I don’t have one…yet.  The packaging of the product is greener.  Apple has called upon a Dutch company called Paperfoam to make a new mold injection for the packaging tray.  The new tray isn’t plastic like the former iPhone.  It’s made from starch.  The starches are either tapioca or potato.  The potato tray reduces the carbon footprint of the packaging by over 90%. 

So while the packaging is greener, the product itself may not necessarily be that green.  Greenpeace is once again criticizing Apple for not taking advantage of this huge opportunity to make their products more sustainable. 

“Based on information available on Apple’s Web site, it appears the electronics company known for innovation has missed an opportunity to reinvent their new 3G iPhone, to be released July 11, in green,” Harrell said. “While new product models such as the MacBook Air and the new iMac made progress compared to previous editions in reducing toxic chemicals such as PVC [polyvinyl chloride]  and brominated flame retardants (BFR), Apple has not announced any new improvements in designing out the toxics (PVC, BFRs, antimony) that Greenpeace found present in the first-generation iPhone.”

Everything can’t be greener – I just wish Apple would have made a bit more of an effort.  They are selling like crazy – so there are tons of “packages” that are greener…and there are also tons of folks shoving toxic plastic into their orifaces filled with pthalates and PVC.  Then again, people aren’t buying an iPhone to be more sustainable.  If they wanted a phone that was going to last, they’d get a 4 year old Nokia brick.

Source: iPhoneFreak, EDN

Giveaway Winner Announcement: The Green Eaters Book and Organic Tote Bag

Who doesn’t like FREE STUFF?  On behalf of SCREAM to be GREEN and Chapter One Organics, we’re giving away The Green Eaters Gift Bundle. 

I want to thank everyone for all of the great entries and comments.  I will be giving away a few more things coming up very soon.   If you’d like to read all of the comments, please go here: http://www.screamtobegreen.com/2008/06/giveaway-time-the-green-eaters-book-and-organic-tote-bag/

ChapterOne Organics is having a sale – just use ONLINE08 – that’s ONLINE – ZERO – EIGHT – until August 31st for 15% off your online order.

AND THE WINNER IS… (watch to find out)

GIVEAWAY: Green Eaters Book and Tote – ENDING TOMORROW

GO TO THIS POST AND LEAVE A COMMENT TO WIN!

ENDS TOMORROW – JULY 4TH

Who doesn’t like FREE STUFF?  Free GREEN stuff at that!  I know I do.  So here’s what we’re going to do – after this brilliant, cleverly written article about Chapter One Organics, I’m going to be giving away The Green Eaters Gift Bundle.

Giveaway Time: The Green Eaters Book and Organic Tote Bag

Who doesn’t like FREE STUFF?  Free GREEN stuff at that!  I know I do.  So here’s what we’re going to do – after this brilliant, cleverly written article about Chapter One Organics, I’m going to be giving away The Green Eaters Gift Bundle.

Chapter One Organics is primarily a clothing company for children…no, they don’t employ children, far from it.  The clothing is all made here in the good ole US of A.  They employ women who have trouble obtaining work to make their goods.  So you’re not only supporting something sustainable like buying organic cotton clothing for your kids, you’re supporting a sustainable paycheck for some deserving sole. 

They have a nice selection of cool clothes for tots on their site ready for purchase or if you want to see the merch in person – head over to this section and they may be available in your area.  I think that it is very important to vote with your dollars.  Organic cotton is so much better for everyone – the land, the air, the streams, the earth, and the person wearing it.  It’s soft and cuddly and not full of pesticides. 

Now let’s talk about The Green Eaters.  Rather than reinventing the wheel, this is what the site has to say:

“A fun and heart warming picture book for babies and young children that tells the story of five farm animal friends who dream of a better life outside of Dreary Day factory farm.

A fun and friendly way to introduce the importance of organic living to children!”

The founder of Chapter One Organics, Jennifer Murphy, penned this lovely childrens book.  For every book purchased, a tree will also be planted.  So I suggest buying enough to replant a forest. It’s a perfect gift for: your kids, your friends kids, a baby shower, a donation to a library, Christmas, Easter, Hanukka, Eid, Yom Kipur, Canada Day, Boxing Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Arbor Day…well you get the point!

GIVEAWAY TIME – HERE’S HOW IT WORKS…

Leave a comment below.  Tell me something about how you live sustainably or changes you’d like to make to your life to lead a more sustainable existence.  On July 4th, I will randomly pick a winner.  Make sure you leave a valid email address so I can contact you!

WHAT WILL I WIN?? You’ll win The Green Eaters Gift Bundle

Office Furniture Company Hires Dwight Shrute

Neocon, The World’s Trade Fair, began today in Chicago.  This is a pretty cool conference – a little pretentious overall – but cool.  There is a huge focus on sustainability.  Many of the companies are embracing Cradle to Cradle as well. 

My first stop today was the press room.  I was happy to see that they not only had someone manning the trash station to ensure proper recycling, but they were composting as well.  The plates were compostable.  The glasses were made from PLA corn-based plastics.  The flatware was made from potato starches and fully compostable. 

After that stop, I hit up a ton boothes and show rooms.  I saw everything from carpet made from recycles PET plastics, to sustainable fabrics, to plant-based foam cushioning mainly for office furniture.  I’m sure I’ll be writing more about those different products and I know I’ll have a giveaway of somekind – probably some tote bags.  Stay tuned.

So the title of this little article.  Rainn Wilson, star of The Office, was on hand to promote office furniture, I suppose.  He was recruited to be in the HON Furniture showroom.  I wrote about HON awhile back.  I’m not sure that Rainn will actually help them move any furniture or if people will even remember that they saw “Dwight Shrute” at the HON showroom.  They’ll just remember HON.  It was quite a surprise as I was being given a tour by a young girl who was barely out of college.  I’m not sure if she caught on that I really didn’t care about the latest furniture styles and designs.  I cared about their GREENGUARD certifications and what they are doing to be sustainable…then she sprung the surprise on me…”oh yeah – I wanted to show you that Rainn Wilson is here…he’s Dwight on The Office.”  I prefer to think of him as “Arthur on Six Feet Under” or closer to the heart is “he was that one celebrity blogger on that one Entourage episode.”  I think to myself – did she just say that “Dwight Shrute” is sitting 10 feet from me?  Oh – that’s what that long line is for?  I’m an indie movie fan and loved Rainn Wilson as the host of The Spirit Awards last year.  So yeah – I follow his career a bit – no intentionally – he just happens to be in good stuff – like Juno.  Anyway…

Tomorrow, I will be taking a tour of the Merchandise Mart (the home of Neocon).  The Merchandise Mart is so large that it has its own zip code – even zip+4, probably.  Anyway – why would I take a tour of this building?  It’s the largest LEED-EB Silver certified building – a retrofit, existing building, LEED certification.  I hope to provide more details on that after the tour.

PS – look for a photo gallery in the coming days.

Brita & Nalgene: Filter Water Yourself

[singlepic id="66" w="320" h="240" mode="" float="left" ]


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
[audio:http://www.andyslife.org/misc/TV%20Themes/Happy%20Days.mp3]

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