Green Sexy

No Gas Pushmower Support Group

Hello.  My name is Steven and I am obsessed with my no-gas push mower.  In fact, I have two no-gas push mowers!  Just when I thought that I might be alone in this world full of gas-guzzling lawnmowers, a glimmer of hope from across the pond appeared to me via the world wide web.  Dave Thompson, a cricket fanatic from the UK, contacted me regarding his no-gas mower obsession.  Dave likes to use his Ransomes Ajax push mower to cut cricket wickets on his local football pitch, and he loves to share his obsession with the world at his blog MPAFirstEleven.  So far he has five posts about his beloved push mower and all of the wonderful adventures they've had together.  Ah, what a kinship I feel with this gentleman who understands what a joy it is to clip grass with no gas! 

Do you also have such an obsession?  Help is here---there are more of us out there!  Tell me how you feel about your no gas push mower today!

Green Product, Not-So-Green Packaging!

I had purchased rechargable NiMH batteries and an accompanying charger from Energizer because I was

sick of throwing out traditional batteries, as I was instructed to do by my local hazardous waste facility, which maddeningly enough does not take alkaline batteries!  I was quite pleased by my purchase, as this would mean I could reduce my waste and reuse batteries many times over! 

But there was a problem, but not with the product itself (which actually works very well)---no, it's the packaging.  There is no recycling number imprinted on the plastic packaging!  How ironic, I thought, that I purchase a product for its Earth-friendlier properties, and I get saddled with non-recyclable packaging! 

I promptly emailed Engergizer, and basically lambasted them for not having recyclable packaging.  They emailed back that their packaging is "actually rated #3".  I inquired how a recycling facility would be able to tell what kind of plastic their packaging is if it has no number?  They responded that it is not required that they put the number on their packaging.  I retorted that by not putting the recycling number on their packaging, that they were perpetuating wastefulness amongst their consumers, who upon seeing that there is no number on their packaging, would promptly discard the packaging.  Also, I reiterated my confusion as to how a recycling facility would discern whether or not this unnumbered packaging was recyclable or not?  I implored them to consider imprinting the recycling number in their packaging and to be responsible stewards of the environment.

Well, anyway, I don't expect them to bow to my request, but if it is not required to put the recycling number on packaging, then WHY is it not required?  Also, even though it isn't currently required, shouldn't companies in this day and age do it anyways?  I think it's called...um, how do you say...oh, yes---"corporate responsibility"?   

Earthship Nicaragua---Watch It Grow!!!

They're building an Earthship in Nicaragua!  I was contacted by Claudia Gonella and Coldwell Banker Nicaragua team who are in their 29th day of building their Nicaraguan Earthship.  Check out their blog today and you can see their Earthship as it is being built!  VERY COOL!

Invention Nation

Discovery Channel, Discovery Health, HD Theater, Animal Planet, The Learning Channel, The Military Channel, and The Science Channel---sometimes I feel as if I've learned more from watching the Discovery Channel and its offshoots than I did in all of my science classes in high school.  Watching these channels negates somewhat the guilt of watching television because you are actually expanding your knowledge base on a variety of scientific topics.

Imagine my delight when I came across a show called "Invention Nation" that airs at 10 p.m. on Monday nights (Eastern Time) on the Science Channel.  What's so great about this show?  Well, the show is all about inventors of green technologies and what means they used to make their ideas a reality.  The show is "hosted" by three like-minded friends---Nobu, Chris, and Micah---who decided to follow their green convictions and modified a van so that it ran on used vegetable oil.  Then they drove that van from New York to California in search of green inventors.  And they've found some winners!  In one episode, they visited a plant that converted construction site waste to energy.  In another episode they met two ladies who want to install energy-harnessing revolving doors in high-traffic office buildings.  I read on the Invention Nation website that one inventor created solar panels from used CDs?  Now, I must've missed that one, but I'm dying to see it!

You've got to check out this show!  Go to the Discovery Channel Website and check out this and other awesome shows that I'm sure to blog about in the future!

Earthship- Stylish and Sustainable Living

What in the world is an Earthship?  Well, according to creator and architect Michael Reynolds, an Earthship could be defined as a passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials that utilizes renewable energy and integrated water systems to make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.   A community of Earthships presently exist in the deserts of Taos, New Mexico in a development dubbed "The Greater World Community".  There are also Earthships in every state in the United States and a few in Europe.  The homes are powered largely by solar and wind technologies that is stored in batteries and is used to power appliances and other electronic devices.  Water is obtained from rainfall or snowfall and is filtered and used for drinking, bathing, watering indoor gardens, and flushing toilets.  The Earthship is heated via its own dense walls, which absorb and radiate heat from the sun, and from its positioning, arranged in such a way that its glass wall faces direct sunlight.  Some Earthships are built partially underground and benefit from the Earth's stable temperature.

An  Earthship's walls utilize recycled tires that are packed with dirt (which gives the walls great strength, insulation, and are largely fireproof) and recycled bottles (which let in light and heat) and aluminum cans.  Concrete, adobe and sandbags can also be utilized as building materials.  Reynold's structures have a low environmental impact and help to reduce waste and put recycled materials to good use!   Reynolds refers to the building of an Earthship as "biotecture", and no matter where you live on this planet, he says he can build you an Earthship specifically designed to function with your environment.

So, are you going to be the first person on your block to have an Earthship?

Shake It Up! The Forever Flashlight!

Ah, the oft-used "C" and "D" batteries.  The only thing I ever use these batteries for are flashlights.  And doesn't it seem that when you most need a flashlight, that the batteries are dead, dead, dead?

Well, you'll never have this problem if you get the Forever Flashlight III by Excalibur Products.  The best thing about this product is---NO BATTERIES REQUIRED!!!  Not only that, you'll never need a bulb because the LED bulb will not burn out, the flashlight is waterproof, and its light is visible for over a mile!

But how does the Forever Flashlight work?  Shake it up, baby!  With just 15-30 seconds of shaking, you'll get 5 minutes of continuous light.  Now, what exactly is going on inside of the flashlight?  WELL, here's the technical explanation from their website:

"The Forever Flashlight uses the Faraday Principle of Electromagnetic Energy to eliminate the need for      batteries. The Faraday Principle states that if an electric conductor, like copper wire, is moved through a magnetic field, electric current will be generated and flow into the conductor."

What they said.  Anyway, we love the Forever Flashlight and made good use of it last summer while camping.  So, check out this Green-Sexy product today!

Lifeline to Africa

*  Nearly 2 billion people in the world, approximately 35% of the global population, still do not have electricity.

*  The areas in the world with the high levels of poverty also have the lowest levels of modern energy consumption.

*  People in least developed countries on average spend 6% of their income on batteries ($24/year) – if people in developed countries were to spend the same that would amount to $2331/year!
(excerpted from Freeplayenergy.com).

I first discovered the Freeplay Foundation when I was writing a post on the Freeplay crank/solar-powered radio that I own.  The Freeplay Foundation is a non-profit humanitarian organization that supplies the Lifeline Radio (pictured here) to those in developing countries, giving them a "lifeline" of information and education they would otherwise lack.  You can donate a Lifeline Radio for only $70 U.S. Dollars to places like Rwanda and Afghanistan.  Also, CEO, Kristine Pearson, has been named one of TIME magazine's Heroes of the Environment for 2007!

For a limited time (Jan. 22-Feb 1), the Freeplay Foundation and  will eBay be auctioning off ten Lifeline radios (which are not available to the public).  The radios will be autographed by Tom Hanks and will be accompanied by a personal letter from the actor himself.  All of the dollars raised, including $15,000 donated by eBay, will go directly to the Freeplay Foundation.

People can go to www.ebay.com or can click on www.shopvictoriously.com to place their bids.

 

Windup/Solar Powered Radio!

I wake up early for my schoolteacher job, and as tedious as it is to wake up at six in the morning, I look forward to listening to the morning show on my local a.m. station WHAM1180.  The first thing I do (after I'm  finished hitting the snooze on three different alarms for half an hour) is get up, head to the bathroom,  and crank up my Freeplay Radio.  54 cranks later, my blood is pumping (because of the residual exercise) and my ears are filled with traffic reports, entertainment news, author interviews, and news recaps as I shower. 

How exactly does the Freeplay Radio work?  Well, my model (which is much older than the one pictured here) requires 54 cranks, which yields 30 minutes of music or talk radio.  If you put it in the sun, the solar panel on top of the radio sucks up the light and utilizes solar power as its power source.  Cool, eh?    I just love this radio and the fact that it uses alternate energy sources.  I love being a battery (not in the Matrix sense)! 

So, next time you're listening to some cool tunes and someone asks you to "crank it up", oblige them and crank up your Freeplay Radio!  What a Green-Sexy product!

LED Stands for Luminously Excellent Decision!

The future's looking bright!  LED (light emitting diodes) lights have played a major role in prominent U.S. displays in Washington, D.C. and New York City this holiday season.  The National Christmas Tree in Washington D.C. was illuminated by LED lights and both the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center and the New Year's Eve Ball were lit by LEDs too (to see a video on the New Year's Eve Ball check out the one on blip.tv)!  With such prominent national exposure, the nation as a whole is sure to follow their examples as the year progresses!

What is the basic difference between a traditional incandescent light bulb and an LED light?  An incandescent light emits light because of the electric current that is channeled through a wire filament.  Not only does the filament eventually burn out, but also these bulbs waste more energy producing heat than light.  An LED on the other hand depends on a small semiconductor chip that produces light through the loss of energy and doesn't waste energy through the production of unnecessary heat.  The chip is much more durable than the fragile filament, so the consumer saves money because of the LED's longer life. 

For an example of the LED's energy-efficiency and longevity, let's look at the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C.  According to GE Consumer and Industrial lighting designer Kathy Presciano in a USA Today article (December, 20 2007): "...the traditional 26-light strings burned at 125 watts and lasted for about 1,000 hours. 'The same size string in LED lasts 20,000 hours and burns at 2.3 watts' ".

Wouldn't it be great to not have to finagle with those incandescent Christmas lights every year, trying to figure out which bulb burned out?  Try out LED Christmas lights next holiday season!

Magnetic refrigerators?

Can this really be? I don't quite understand how this can work but Danish researchers are working on a refrigerator prototype that runs silently and cools using magnets. Now I know there are magnets out there that can take pictures--the MRI, but those are very noisy. If you've ever had an MRI you know that you can't wear any metal around them, would that be the same in the residential home? Will grandpa be barred from visiting because of his pacemaker. I know I am being a bit facetious. I'll admit I am curious but we will have to wait until at least 2010 until we see a magnetic refrigerator prototype,  don't recycle that old energy star quite yet.