If you’re about to decorate your home with lights this holiday season I’d like to remind you to use Energy Star labelled products.  Energy Star light string for your tree or outdoor lighting are made up of LEDs (Light emitting diodes) which are very efficient as compared to the old incandescent bulbs we have traditionally used.  LED light strings have been around for number of years and have been shown to be quite durable and reliable - not to mention good for the planet.

In fact, energy star light string typically use 90% less energy than incandescents producing the same amount of light and often pay for themselves in energy savings over the lifetime of the bulbs.

Some other benefits of LED decorative lighting include:

• They can last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs (25,000 hours or around 10 years of use) - no more trips to the hardware store to buy replacement bulbs
• Because they are encased in hard plastic instead of glass they are more durable
• LED light strings are much more shock resistant than incandescent light strings due to the lack of a filament
• LED light strings are cool to the touch making them easier to handle and reducing the risk of fire
• LED lights can be strung together safely.  Whereas with a typical 50-light string of incandescent bulbs you can safely connect 3 strings end-to-end, with LED light strings, according to the Consumer Reports Safety Blog, you can safely string together as many as 50

According to the EnergyStar.gov website, “If all decorative light strings sold in America this year were ENERGY STAR qualified, we would save over 2 billion kWh per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to nearly 300,000 cars!”

Many local energy utilities and some retailers (such as Home Depot) provide incentives for trading in their incandescent holiday lights for LED holiday lights — be sure to try and take advantage of these incentives to help offset the typically 20-30% premium that LED holiday lights command over incandescent ones.

Take a look here for a selection of LED Holiday lights.

Continuing on from the previous post - while the holidays are around the corner there is still some time to find some “Green” (in design or function) gifts.



For the David Bach fan, his new “Go Green, Live Rich“, privides some practical easy ways to go green and some some money to boot! You might even be able to deftly gift this to one of your more skeptical, less environmentally conscious friends and get nary a complaint.



For frugal or budget conscious person on your list, I recommend a plug-in electricity usage monitor - such as the P3 International Kill-a-Watt. It’s not a glamorous gift by any stretch, but you will be suprised how much its appreciated. Your frugal friend or relative will be able to track the energy consumption (and thus operation cost) of their various plug-in home appliances and devices.



For you’re Boss, try pruchasing GreenPrint - software that eliminates unwanted pages saving, ink, money and trees. In these days of companies tightening their belts, you’re Boss will appreciate any way to improve the bottom line. Also, if you’re Boss is a golf fan take a look at EcoGolf’s biodegradable golf balls and teas (it’s more of a green gesture - but it’s something).



For the teen set - Forget video games this year and get a tween or teen a quality bike like the Mongoose Maxim 24-Inch Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike. Green Transportation and an active lifestyle will set them on right course.



For the tyke - A great idea is a recycled rubber wood toy such as the Plan Toys Sports Car. It’s made from abandoned rubber wood trees, colored using vegetable dyes and coated with a non-toxic finish. Or how about a gift from Blue Orange Toys such as Bendomino - Blue Orange Toys plants two trees for every tree used to produce their games.



Lastly, a less personal (but meaningful!) gift idea is to get someone on your list a DriveNeutral Certification - meaning their driving emissions for a year will be offset (and it only costs about the same as a tank of gas).

I was talking to a friend a couple days ago about green gift ideas and, despite Christmas being only a week away, thought I would share some thoughts and suggestions.  Green gifts can be thought of in a couple ways:  The function of the product can be green in nature, or the life-cycle design of the product is green in nature.  In an ideal world a “green” gift could be both those things - but practically speaking those are hard to find.

For a coworker or neighbor I could see a nice digital tire gauge like the Accutire MS-4350B as a nice choice. It’s a very inexpensive gift that has a real green benefit (by reducing fuel consumption through maintaining properly inflated tires) as well as a safety benefit. I admit that it’s more of a stocking stuffer or secret Santa type of gift however.


A neighborly gift that’s a little more expensive is a hand crank radio such as the American Red Cross FR250 Emergency Radio. These devices are green in operation (being crank powered radio’s/lights/cellphone chargers) and are obviously safety devices as well. These devices will really fly with camping and hiking aficionados.


Finally, to end part one of this post, a thoughtful gift for a green thumb neighbor, friend or family member would be a selection of organic or heirloom seeds. Heirloom and organic seeds are not genetically modified and if native to your location (and planted appropriately) will grow well without the need for excess water or fertilizer. Why not pair some heirloom/organic seeds with an organic gardening handbook such as “The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control”. Better yet, buy it used.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Environmental Leader recently blogged about Burt’s Bees stated goals to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Burt’s Bees has set sustainability goals for 2020 based on a GHG inventory they recently completed as part of the US EPA’s climate leaders program. The goals include using 100% renewable energy, having LEED certified facilities and zero landfill waste.

As reported by the Environmental Leader on February 12th Burt’s Bees already purchases enough Renewable Energy Credits to offset 100% of their electricity use. Additionlly the company has begun installing T5-HO high efficiency lighting as well as a sensor activated motorized drive roller conveyor (decreasing energy use).

We already like a number of aspects of Burt’s Bees products including the fact that they are not tested on animals and use almost 100% natural ingredients (no petroleum ingredients) and we now applaud them for their environmental and social initiatives and leadership.

Burt’s Bees was recently purchased by Clorox - makers of a number of environmentally unfriendly products (ie. Clorox Bleach). I believe Burt’s culture of environmental and social responsibility can be taken up by Clorox. In a mid-June post of Burt’s Bees blog, CEO and President John Replogle addresses concerns of the Clorox Purchase. Reploge says

During the past six months, we’ve also learned to effectively collaborate with our Clorox colleagues to assist each other on this journey. Clorox continued to move forward with their environmental commitment and joined the EPA Climate Leaders — initiatives we fully support.

And on Clorox’s use of animal testing, he writes

… We believe Clorox is committed to eliminating animal testing altogether, and we will continue to engage the issue with our Clorox colleagues.

Recently Clorox came out with their Green Works(TM) line of cleaners made from 99% natural ingredients that are biodegradable, not tested on animals and use recyclable packaging (I’m considering adding them to our Database pending more research),
which I hope is not merely greenwashing but, combined with their acquisition of Burt’s Bees, evidence of a culture shift.

Anyway, the original point of this post was the excellent sustainability goals set by Burt’s Bees. And to find the best price on a large number of Burt’s Bees products check out our Burt’s Bees Brand Section.

July 4th was a good time to stop and think about the effects of fireworks on our environment. Since, as the saying goes, what goes up (and explodes) must come down. Typical pyrotechnics consist of an oxidant and a fuel. The oxidizer of choice in most fireworks is potassium perchlorate - a potential hormone disruptor - can readily accumulate in groundwater. Theoretically, in a working pyrotechnic, combustion should consume most of the perchlorate. However, in practice, premature burn outs, duds and fireworks loaded with excess perchlorate contribute to environmental exposure.


I came across this Journal article in Chemical and Engineering News (via ScienceDaily.com) that describes research focused on finding a replacement for perchlorate in pyrotechnics. Interestingly, scientists at the Pyrotechnic Operations Branch of the Crane Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center are leading the research into concocting more environmentally benign pyrotechnic formulations. The military has numerous uses for pyrotechnic flares, including distress signalling for downed aviators, location indicating for ground troups and in training excercises (to similate explosions).


The Pyrotechnic Operations Branch scientists have had some success with using strontium-based oxides as a perchlorate replacement in red signal flares.


Pyrotechnics have additional shortcommings from an environmental perspective: The coloring agents used to give fireworks those vivid bright hues often consists of heavy metals. For example, “green” fireworks contain barium compounds.


For much more information check out the article in Chemical and Engineering News.Technorati Tags: fireworks, pyrotechnics, july 4th

want to persuade you local big box store to stop carrying product X that contains ancient forest wood, or product Y made from Palm oil taken from South American rainforests? One of the best ways to go about this is to show the offending retailer that there are many people out there who feel the same way as you. And how is this done? Well, by creating a petition, of course!



Back in the day this was a laborious process that involved numerous phone calls and standing on street corners with a clipboard and stack of petition papers. In the Internet age, however, we have much better options — A plethora of e-petition sites that centralize the process of collecting name for hundreds or thousands of different causes.



Some sites you may want to take a look at are:

• Ipetitions.com
• GoPetition.com
• ThePetitionSite.com
• PetitionOnline.com

Are Internet petitions as effective as hard-copy paper petitions? Well, name-for-name, probably not. For one thing people don’t sign online petitions (a petitions site using digital signatures would be nice) and the potential for someone petitioning more than once is high. But at the end of the day you can leverage the power of the web (ie social networking such as facebook, digg, twitter etc. etc.) to get many many more people to attach their name to your e-petition — and their is definately power in numbers!

I admit, I don’t have a big lawn. But even if it was 2 or 3 times as
big - I would be quite happy using my push reel mower. Here’s why:

• With no loud engine or motor, I can mow early in the morning or late at night and not worry about bothering the neighbors.
• I’m not spewing noxious pollutants in to the air like a gas mower does.
• My mower starts when I do - no pulling a crank or plugging in a
  cord - or with rechargable electric mowers, worrying about having a
  charged battery.
• My mower is considerably safer - with no gas or electricity powered
  blades whirling at very high speeds. No gas to store in my garage, no
  cord to worry about running over - with lot’s of little kids in my
  neighborhood safety is a big concern.
• Push reel mowers are cheaper!
• Fewer parts & no engine or motor means fewer breakdown and lower maintenance required.
• Reel mowers are better for your grass (no kidding!). While rotary mowers tear your grass, reel mowers work more like scissors.
• It’s pretty good exercise - and who couldn’t use some more excercise?

Reel mowers have come a long way since the time when there were no
other options. So do the world and yourself a favor and replace your
gas or electric powered mower with a human powered one. Check them out here.

The recent consumer uproar about BPA (Bisphenol-A) in consumer products such as water bottles has led Nalgene to announce that they will be phasing out the use of BPA in their Outdoor line of polycarbonate containers in the next several months.


BPA has been shown to be an endocrine disruptor and tests have confirmed that it can leach in to liquids stored in containers made with BPA. The jury still seems to be out on whether this presents a significant health risk to humans - however in cases where not all the evidence is in, I like to follow the precautionary principle - meaning I am avoiding products containing BPA.


We just added a subcategory for BPA-free Reusable Water Bottles - the inventory is quite low now, but we will be adding more products in the near future.

Thought I would make a short mention of the earthNOW ‘Green Retail’ conference in Las Vegas on June 5 - 6. I don’t have much information as to whether this is a worthwhile conference that can lead retailers down the path of environmental stewardship or merely a conference capitalizing on green hype and promoting greenwashing. However, Vegas, with its huge monstrous hotels and every growing thirst for energy and water seems to me to not be the greatest choice of venues.