Your Eco-Friendly Summer

By Megan McLaughlin

Summer is here and for many, that means more travel. Gas prices are higher, roads are more congested and shore destinations are packed with travelers. If you’re looking to save a little money and make mother nature proud, you should consider some of these ways to make your summer a little more eco-friendly.

Road and Travel Magazine offers some great tips for vacationers, like using public transportation or a bike to get around your destination or “Hit the farmer's markets for locally grown foods, skip the chain restaurants in favor of locally-owned establishments, and buy fair trade products as souvenirs to make sure your money goes into the locals’ pockets.” Both of these tips are great advice, but one of the biggest pieces of advice offered by Road and Travel is “Give your house a vacation.” Don’t leave lights on when you’re not home. Instead, put a few lights on timers while you’re gone. Also, adjust your thermostat to a more modest setting; you don’t want your house to be a heat box when you return, but if no one’s home, there’s no need to keep your normal, probably chilly, air-conditioned setting!

Another great way to reduce your carbon footprint this summer is to purchase eco-friendly travel items. Greenzer offers greener ways to shop online and one of the brands sold there is Solio. “"Plug into the Sun" as Solio says of its eco-friendly, solar-powered charger for handheld electronic devices. Solio brings you green convenience, eliminating the burden to keep track of many different chargers for every different device you own.” Solio offers hybrid chargers to power your iPod, GPS and many other electronic devices while you’re on the go.

So whether you’re traveling to the beach, the lake, a warmer destination to soak up the sun or a cooler destination to beat the heat, consider some of the simple things you can do to be a little more eco-friendly this summer!

The Lazy Environmentalist – The Show!

By Megan McLaughlin

Follow host Josh Dorfman on his quest to save the planet - one wasteful couch potato at a time! With help from a professional "mixologist," a "hypermiler" and other environmental experts, Sundance Channel's original new series, THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST is sure to help change wasteful ways!

Josh Dorfman, the author of The Lazy Environmentalist, now has his own show, featured on the Sundance Channel. His theory is that making good environmental choices shouldn’t cause you to drastically alter the way you live your life or make any sacrifices. On his brand new show, Dorfman finds ways to prove his point. From finding organic and local foods for a chef to improving the gas mileage for a courier service and teaching some frat boys how to help the environment and themselves!

On his website, Dorfman explains, “I love this challenge because it’s an opportunity to demonstrate to people that greening their actions is not only better for the planet, but also for them, in terms of their quality of life. He knows its hard for a lot of people to acknowledge global warming when it doesn’t seem like there is a real, straightforward plan for solving the issue, and that’s why he’s here to show you how to take some easy steps in the right direction.

For some easy solutions for going a little greener, check out these links:

10 Quick and Easy Ways to Green Your Home and Reduce Waste

It’s Easy Bein’ Green: The Environmentally-Friendly Classroom

Green Living

By Megan McLaughlin

Its spring and the world is looking green again, but just seeing green isn’t always enough; being green is always important too. With Green Home Environmental Store, you can shop for the latest and greatest green products for every room of the house! Even if you’re not looking to spend a lot of money, you’ll want to check it out because it may be a great place to pick up a few things or, if nothing else, a wonderful resource for new, green products and ideas!

Whether it’s the bathroom, the bedroom, living room, dining room, or even garage, Green Home has something to offer! Earning itself the title of “#1 search result for ‘environmental products’ on Google,” Green Home is certainly no stranger to the World Wide Web. The site is very easy to navigate, offering several different browsing options from a clickable map of the home, to products and specific categories and even gift ideas.

Within each section of the clickable home map, you can choose from each room in the house and your search is narrowed, from there, down to “Department Areas.” For example, within the living room, you can view chairs, couches, chests, carpet cleaners, accessories, tables and more. From there, you can choose to see the “Better Selling Products” or continue your search within a specific department area of that room.

If you you’re looking for a new way to go about your spring cleaning or if you’re in search of better products for yourself and your family, Green Home Environmental Store is the place to go; one stop, green shopping is one of the best ways to outfit your home and treat yourself and Mother Nature to something new!

The Ultimate Guide to Life

By Megan McLaughlin

Do you spend hours researching the best products whether for your own health, your family and friends or the environment? Or maybe you are just curious to learn more about the products you are purchasing and using from day to day, in your home and at work or school. If you’re usually thinking, “safe, healthy and green,” the Good Guide may just have all the answers you need.

“Good Guide" provides the world's largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home.” You can use the Good Guide as a wonderful resource for finding green products and healthy foods to make sure you’re choosing items that are right for you. You can browse products by category; food, household cleaners, toys and more.

With the Good Guide, you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about fruit and cereal, for example; some may be low in sodium and high in fat. You probably didn’t know that Reduced Sugar Cinnamon Toast Crunch (normally a very sugary cereal) can actually be good for you! According to The Good Guide, it’s rated at the top of the Cold Cereals category. You can also gather details about different medicines, for instance, which is better: Advil or Tylenol? Just let The Good Guide be your guide!

Green Building Resource Guide; Eco-friendly Building

By Megan McLaughlin

Whether you’re buying your first fixer-upper or you’re looking to remodel your current home, planning and building that dream addition or updating an outdated room can be costly, to the environment, that is. If you’re looking for yet another way to take part in greening our world, turning to the Green Building Resource Guide may be your best bet.

“The Green Building Resource Guide is a database of over 600 green building materials and products selected specifically for their usefulness to the design and building professions, rather than merely their green material content.” Clearly, a lot of effort has been put into this guide, to make building with green materials, just as effective as building with materials that aren’t safe for the environment or that could be better for the environment.

The Green Building Resource Guide is offered for a 30-day trial period. The CD-ROM allows you to initiate searches and modify your exact needs; this can save you time and money during the planning stages of your project.

In many cases, these materials are not only better for the earth, they are also better for you. For example, within the Green Guide Photo Gallery, a photo displays a project where formaldehyde-free laminated sheathing was used. Many first-time users of this guide may be surprised at how practical some of these materials are.

Did you know that newspaper can be used as loose-fill insulation? You’ll find yourself saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?” And the beauty of it is…you don’t have to, because the green guide will do the thinking for you!

Reduce, Reuse, Reinvent…the Hand Bag

By Megan McLaughlin

Some people couldn’t care less about style and fashion, but those who do are constantly searching for new and unique ways to reinvent themselves and their wardrobe. Staying on top of the latest trends and styles can get pricey, but perhaps you are just in need of quality instead of quantity. Designer Ilanit Neutra, dares to tread a road less traveled with her interesting and eco-friendly hand bags.

Graphic and Industrial Designer, Stylist and Set Designer, Ilanit Neutra “is recognized for the exceptional quality and style of her creations.” A new and different way to reduce and reuse, Neutra began creating handbags from used tires. Her design involves using the rubber inner tubes of old truck tires. These handcrafted pieces are each unique in their own way. You will have to see it for yourself to believe it, but apparently, these old tire tube bags feel soft and silky!

As stated on the Neutra website, “every tire tossed away is an irreversible environmental devastation, as tires are made from non-recyclable materials.” Although, you may not be able to get your hands on one of these handcrafted pieces, it’s refreshing to see that someone is turning trash to treasure and besides, its fun just to peruse these designer bags!

To learn more about clothing and style that speaks to you (and the environment), check out this blog about AuH2O Designs. See how one woman is saving the world, one recycled t-shirt at a time and how she got her business off the ground.

Windy Cities

By Megan McLaughlin

Humans have been using wind power for thousands of years with no signs of stopping. Wind power plays an important role in our society and its use is growing rapidly.

According to Wikipedia, Wind produces about 1.5% of worldwide electricity use, but this percentage is growing. In fact, it has doubled since 2005. “In several countries it has achieved relatively high levels of penetration, accounting for approximately 19% of electricity production in Denmark, 10% in Spain and Portugal, and 7% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland in 2008.”

The United States is working toward using wind energy more frequently. Wind energy professionals are constantly working on new products and methods. Thanks to the WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition, these professionals are able to gather each year to exhibit and promote new products and services and to learn and discuss the latest industry developments. This year, WINDPOWER is being held in the windy city itself, Chicago, from May 4th through 7th.

The WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition has grown immensely over the years. In 2001, 1,000 people attended WINDPOWER. Just last year, over 13,000 people attended and according to the Why Attend section of the WINDPOWER site, “The United States wind energy industry installed 8,358 MW in 2008.

This means that wind energy capacity in the U.S. grew by 50% in one year and has grown by an average of 32% annually for the past five years.” It’s the growth of conventions like this one that are inspiring people and educating them to learn the best ways to give our earth the attention it deserves.

Get some facts and stats about wind power here. Also, take a second to learn how non-professionals are getting involved in wind energy solutions too! Check out this blog; Wind Power for the World.