Made from an exposed circuit board with bent-wire hairand a capacitor for a nose, Bob's just doing his part to keep the world green, and you will be too when you feed your double A's to the power-hungry Battery Eater.Watch his LED eyes flash on and off until your battery is no more. When he's finished, you can safely recycle. $7.50 at
www.spoonsisters.com
What is more environmental than recycled paper? No paper! Gone are the days of searching around for scrap paper or looking for the back of an envelope to write on. The To-Do Tattoo Kit includes 12 graphic "To Do" forms that you apply to your body wherever it's most convenient and a skin-safe, washable-ink gel pen. The tattoos sell for about $4 and are available on-line at
www.perptualkid.com
Caulk You!
The air that slips through the cracks in your home can make your heating and cooling systems work harder. This costs you money by reducing the efficiency of your home. Sealing the leaks not only will save emissions and energy and will help to improve your indoor air quality. By keeping an eye on the airflow, you can control the moisture that moves the air, reducing the chance of the condensation that can lead to mold. Boosting your home's efficiency can be a simple, quick home improvement project that will cut your energy bills immediately.
The Outlets
You don't spend a lot of time looking behind the outlets, but maybe you should? Light-switches and outlets can be a large source of air leaks. A foam piece or gasket is all that's needed to fix this airy problem. Remove the covers, place the foam piece (available at any hardware store) over the outlet or switch and then replace the cover To be safe, make sure to turn off the circut braker before you work on any power source.
The Gaps
The gaps where inside walls meet windows and doors can cause lot of leakage. Calk is a great way to fill in. The biggest mistake beginners make with caulk is the size of slice at the top of the tube. Always remember to cut the smallest opening that you can get away with and cut at an angle to get the correct application. Also, don't forget to check the gaps where the baseboard meets the floor.
The Windows
Weatherstripping the windows is worth the time and effort. There are many different types of weatherstripping. The felt vareity is harder to install, so stick with the preformed V-shaped type. It is easier to manipulate and work with.
Are you getting tired of the same old thing in your garden? How about looking at things from a whole new direction. The ELT Easy Green Living Wall System is bringing green to your home in so many ways. In addition to the sheer beauty of a living wall, German studies show how plant material growing on the roof and walls can help a building retain up to 50% of the heat typically lost to convection. The wall provides sound insulation and has both health and horticultural therapy applications. This modular living wall panel is able to control the flow of water through each cell for even saturation, even over many hundred square feet. By angling the cells to have gravity hold the soil in place while still allowing for the maximum green surface area, they have created a wall panel that is both long lasting and quick to establish. The living wall panels are available both pre-grown and non-per-grown and can be used in small groupings at your home or as part of an awe-inspiring feature on a commercial building. Both indoor and outdoor plants can be utilized, so there are no limits to the possibilities that this product holds.
Truly green and molded from HDPE, the panels are very lon lasting and are 100% recyclable at the end of their life cycle. Manufactured with stringent quality controls, the Living Wall panels are backed by a 15-year material warranty.
Your plant choices can range from herbs and small vegetables to long living perennials. The panels were designed with long term plant health in mind. Using a series of grooves to allow root and water movement throughout the panel solved the problem of plants becoming root bound within one cell. Hanging the panels is as easy as fastening a bracket to the wall and fitting the panel to the bracket. The plants can be planted from plugs or from potted nursery stock right into the cells. Most plants establish within a few weeks to cover the entire panel for a completely green wall.
You can find out more at www.eltlivingwalls.com
You have grown Passionate about an ecologically-balanced lifestyle but when it comes to looking for quality organic bedding, one can easily become overwhelmed. You may be thinking, "who can afford organic, green bedding options?" Since organic bedding comes without the host of pesticide-smothered fibers, toxic coatings, and dust collecting qualities, the question is - can you really afford not to? Many green bedding alternatives are priced very comparably to non-natural options, and they provide a wonderfully soft and long lasting defense to help fortify your sacred sleep space against a toxic invasion. Look for items that are certified organic and chemical free. You have many choices, bedding can be made from 100% certified organic cotton and wool. Wool is a naturally flame-retardant and dust-mite repellant, which is especially beneficial for infant lungs if you are buying a baby mattress. Most nonorganic sheets owe their nice, smooth quality to a wrinkle-free formaldehyde finish that adheres to fibers and acts as a sealant. These finishes cannot be washed out and many people report aggravated respiratory functions, headaches, rashes, and sleep pattern disturbances in connection with the bed linens that comes close to their skin. When purchasing bed linens made from alternative fibers, the green options come with inherent and antifungal properties, negating the need to add chemicals.
Regardless of who is going to be sleeping in the bed, purchasing from a reputable store is essential. your purchase may be chemical-free, but at a speciality store they can tell you about the process. Much more is known, they not only test the cotton for purity, but also the dyes, snaps, and zippers, so that you know that anything you purchase from them is free of lead, formaldehyde and pesticides. If you want a sense of the fabric, ask for a swatch to take home.
Beautiful and Eco - Friendly
You may have seen it in the HGTV Dream Home 2009 but did you know it was an Eco-Friendly Bathtub?
The Victoria & Albert tub is created from ENGLISHCAST, an exclusive blend of more than 50% naturally-occurring volcanic limestone. Subject to extreme volcanic heat millions of years ago, volcanic limestone has needle-like strands with light-catching properties that, when ground into a powder and mixed with resin, form an incredibly strong "web". It has a hard-wearing, renewable surface - scratches and stains inside the tub polish out easily.
All Victoria & Albert bathtubs are more energy-efficient than cast iron or acrylic counterparts. ENGLISHCAST surrounds the heat of hot water and holds it. Cast iron absorbs heat before it can contain it. A Victoria & Albert tub creates a hot bath faster and, like a thermos, holds it at a steady temperature for long soaks.
The tub has the strength and rigidty of cast-iron without the extreme weight, so transportation and movement impact are minimal.These bath tubs are shipped in recycled, post-consumer cardboard on pallets made of reclaimed wood, with strapping.
For more information or to find a dealer in your area go to www.vandabaths.com/usa
Sometimes the easiest way to add a little green to your home is to simplify and sometimes it is to start anew. There have always been ways to eliminate waste in your home, but they are not always things you want to do. Hanging your laundry instead of using the clothes dryer may work for some families, but for the rest of us these simple gadgets will make life a little easier and greener:
Microfiber cloths - Save water by dusting and cleaning using microfiber cloths.
They are reusable, designed to clean, and are color-coded to avoid cross contamination. You can find them just about everywhere, from health-food stores to internet retailers. The cloths are designed to be
used either dry, for dusting, or damp, for wiping and spot removal.
Solar Charger for all your smaller electronics.
Not only is it easy to charge your cell phone, iPod, etc., using a solar charger, but you can easily find solar-powered media players and radios. Here's how it works: Light form the sun hits the solar cells,
exciting electrons within the cell. Some of them break free, and are
channeled through a conductive metal strip to create an electric current.
This current can either be stored in a battery or used directly in the form
of electricity. The stronger the sunlight and the more rays that hit the cell
the more electricity is generated. Solio has been designed to harness the
suns energy, shortening the process of transforming it into electricity by
using photovoltaic cells (PVs). PV's convert sunlight into electricity that
can be used immediately. The process is clean, fast noiseless, and -
thanks to Solio- easily portable. www.solio.com
Static Eliminator Chemical-Free Dryer Sheets
Stop throwing away all of those dryer sheets by using Static Eliminators.
They can be used 500 times, or three or more years for most of us who do
just one load a week. A reusable dryer sheet system offers an alternative
that is safe for infants, allergy sufferers, eczema sufferers, and the whole
family. Unlike traditional chemical-based dryer sheets, Static Eliminator is a
100%hypoallergenic, reusable, woven cloth. The weave of the Static
Eliminator Reusable Dryer Sheets gives them their static fighting power -
instead of coating your laundry with harmful chemicals, they "conduct" the
static and softens fabrics while remaining chemical free ans maintaining
your laundry load. The Static Eliminator removes static and softens fabrics
while remaining chemical free and maintaining your dryer warranty. Just
click on www.staticeliminator.ca
Mythic Paint is the first and only high performance paint that guarantees zero-VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and zero-carcinogens. What that really means is that they have a great product, in brilliant colors that is completely safe for you, your family and the earth that we all live on. Available in 1,232 colors in both interior and exterior finishes. These great paints have three to seven times the durability of traditional paints. Available locally at Greener Building Supply in Chatsworth or if that's too far, you can register to purchase the paint on-line at www.mythicpaint.com
Since 1993, CPLIGHTING has been committed to sustainable practices, incorporating salvaged and recycled materials whenever possible including a line of lamps made from recycled and hand colored acrylic as well a custom fixtures made from post-consumer aluminum . Besides the made to order lamps and furniturefeatured on their website, custom-designed work is also available. Check out www.cplighting.com
While working at the family salvage yard as a young man Jason Wein saw the potential of industrial machinery and surplus being repurposed and recycled as functional design for the home, office and retail setting. For well over a decade now, Cleveland Art has been at the forefront of vintage and recycled industrial design. The simple design of each piece coexists seamlessly with modern and traditional decor. Their new 7,000 sqft warehouse located in downtown Los Angeles across the street from the Barker Block Lofts as great new items eveyday. Pleas call them at 310- 940-4134
When I Grow Up I Wanna Green House...
Each year, HomeAid Los Angeles/Ventura's Project Playhouse brings together members of the community and building industry to build and donate unique 8' x 10'x 10' children's playhouses for public viewing and subsequent live auction. This year marks the first LEED certified playhouse built for Project Playhouse. Local architecture firm, VPR Design, headed up the design process with only local vendors providing support and donations for construction. This play home utilizes solely recyclable materials to provide an environmentally-friendly play area while teaching children different ways they can help in "going green." Environmentally-friendly carpeting and paint are only the first step. To conserve energy, solar paneling across an outdoor climbing wall, side, and swing!
The playhouse village will be open for six weeks starting Saturday, September 13 through Sunday, October 19, 2008, at The Lakes at Thousand oaks. Tour times are Saturday and Sunday, from 12:00 to 6:00pm at $2. per person. All funds raised assist with HomeAid Los Angeles/Ventura's housing development program. For more information or to find out how to bid, go to www.homeaidlaven.org/projectplayhouse.
ORGANIKS, 100% Recycled Glass Mosaic Tile is making use of something you never dreamed of, the leftovers after your car accident. Available in nearly 100 color choices-solids or patterns, ORGANiKS is made from damaged car windshields that are pulverized into glass powder. Recycled glass mosaic tile is now becoming a mainstay green choice for counter tops, back splashes, showers, floors, pools and spas. It can be installed as easily inside as outside. It installs
anywhere and lasts for decades, but before it was a beautiful touch to your home, it
was the leftovers from a really bad day on the freeways. After an acident, damaged
car windshields are sorted by hue. They are then smashed into mountains of broken glass. The mountains of glass shards are then pulverized into glass powder. The glass powder is formed into mosaic tile shapes and through a refiring process, being re- made into hundreds of colors and arrays of gorgeous glass mosaic tile. To check out this great product, try the website at www.susanjablonmosaics.com
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