Happy New Year

It’s a new year which means time to make some resolutions.  Why not make a resolution to be more green this year?  Why not go vegetarian, or at least cut back on your meat intake?  Going green is so easy; here are a couple things you can do to better the environment.

Read labels.  Reading food labels might take a few minutes, but it’s worth it to know what something’s made of — and it will help you avoid chemicals and additives that may not be good for you, or the planet.

Recycle.  An easy one.  Recycling cuts back on the amount of trash that would end up in landfills and allows for the reuse of materials.  Most communities offer recycling at no extra cost.

Clean green.   By not buying paper towels, the amount of garbage you produce can be decreased by up to two-thirds.  Also, consider cutting out cleaning products with harsh chemicals.  Natural products do get the job done, and they smell good- plus they’re way better for the environment.

Carpool.   It can’t be mentioned enough when it comes to going green.  Also to save gas, make lists so you don’t forget anything and have to go back, buy in bulk, and call stores ahead of time to make sure they have what you need.

Buy local.  Buying locally reduces the need for shipping and cuts back on fuel consumption.  And when it comes to local produce, nothing beats the fresh taste of a local fruit or vegetable.

Don’t Toss Your Toothbrushes

Small as they are, tossed toothbrushes create a lot of waste.  Assuming everyone follows the dentist recommendation to replace your toothbrush every three months, that’s four toothbrushes a year per person- about 50 million pounds into America’s landfills each year.

Fortunately there are some greener alternatives as well as toothbrush recycling programs.

Recycled Alternatives

The handle of a Recycline Preserve toothbrush, designed by dentists, is made out of polypropylene plastic that has been recycled from used Stonyfield Yogurt cups. And when a Preserve toothbrush reaches the end of its effective life, consumers can either recycle it with their other plastic recyclables (if your community offers #5 plastics recycling), or send it back to Recycline in a postage-paid envelope supplied to you with your purchase. It will then likely be reborn again as raw material for a picnic table, deck, boardwalk, etc.

Toothbrushes with Replaceable Heads

Another greener choice is the Terradent line of toothbrushes from Eco-Dent. These innovative toothbrushes have replaceable heads, so that once the bristles have worn out, consumers can just snap on a new head, thus minimizing waste.

Sustainable Toothbrushes

Meanwhile, Radius offers stylish recyclable toothbrushes that are made not from plastic at all but from naturally occurring cellulose derived from sustainable yield forests. Beyond its standard toothbrush line, the company also sells a battery-powered electric “Intelligent Toothbrush” that uses replaceable heads to reduce environmental impact. And the company will take back the handle for recycling once the battery has worn out, usually after about 18 months.

Toothbrush Subscriptions

The online retail website Toothbrush Express offers a toothbrush recycling program similar to Recycline’s. Consumers can sign up to receive new toothbrushes from Toothbrush Express at predefined intervals ranging from monthly to semi-annually. And for only a few dollars extra, the company will include a postage-paid mailer inside each shipment for consumers to use to send their old toothbrushes back for recycling.

Go Green With Your Holiday Presents

Half of the paper America consumes each year is used to wrap and decorate consumer products.  In the US, the annual trash from gift wrap and shopping bags totals over 4 million tons.  If everyone wrapped just three gifts in reused paper or fabric gift bags, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 hockey rinks.  As Christmas nears, it is important to remember these facts and the impact of wrapping paper on the environment, and it is a great opportunity to lessen your impact this year by choosing only green alternatives to conventional wrapping paper.

• Use wrapping paper made using fibers such as hemp.  Look for paper using recycled content.
• Avoid buying glossy foil or metallic wrapping paper- this kind of material is difficult to recycle.
• Reuse gift wrap when possible- large wrapped presents usually have large enough uncreased sections to be reused for wrapping small gifts.
• Use tape sparingly, or not at all- if you’re going to be using ribbon to finish off your wrapping, you may not need to use tape.  By not using tape, more of the wrapping paper can be reclaimed, and it’s easier for the recipient to save the paper for reuse.
• Choose alternatives to commercial gift wrap- there are many options which are cost-free, attractive solutions.  Gift bags can be made using fabric scraps, or wrapping can be made using comic strips from newspapers, old calendars, maps, posters, and more.

Some companies that offer recycled gift wrap:

Fish Lips Paper Designs - made from 100% recycled paper and soy based inks

Paper Mojo - made from all natural materials such as recycled cotton, banana fiber, and mulberries

Green Field Paper  - 100% recycled, printed with soy based inks

Taking the Gross Out of Grocery Carts

You no longer have to worry about getting more than just groceries at the supermarket.  20 stores across the country have installed sanitizing devices for shopping carts.  The machines, which look like a mini car wash, spray a misty peroxide solution over the entire cart after every use that is guaranteed to kill 99 percent of germs including E. coli and salmonella.  Peroxide is a much safer, more-environmentally friendly option over other more harsh chemicals.  

In fact, University of Arizona researchers tested shopping carts and found that their handles have more saliva, bacteria, and fecal matter than a public toilet.  Kids are usually the culprits, touching raw meat packaging, and putting their mouths on cart handles.  However, even with sanitizing methods, it’s still a good idea to wash your hands when you get home.

These cart washing systems cost about $8000 a year to run.

Apple Unleashes Greenest MacBook Ever

Apple has done it again with it’s newly unleashed MacBook Pro.  It has been redesigned to be even more simple- a revolution in the way notebooks are made.  One of the best aspects of the update is its more environmentally friendly design.  It is made with aluminum so it’s highly recyclable and comes in smaller packaging.  In fact, the packaging is 37 percent smaller than the previous generation, which means less paper used for smaller boxes and fewer planes can be used to transport the same number of products.  

The new MacBook Pro is much more energy efficient.  It has been given the ENERGY STAR certification by the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy.  To get an idea of how much electricity it uses, when turned on, the new MacBook Pro uses one third the power of a single lightbulb.

The new MacBook Pro also features a LED-backlit display. LED uses 30 percent less power than conventional LCD displays. The LED-backlit display is mercury-free, highly recyclable, and encased in arsenic-free glass.

The MacBook Pro is so green it has received the highest rating of EPEAT Gold, evaluated by the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool.  It was evaluated and received the gold status based on how recyclable it is, how much energy it uses, and how it’s designed and manufactured.

Apple engineers have designed the new MacBook Pro with LED technology and arsenic-free glass.  The notebook contains no brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in logic boards and PVC in cables and connectors.  (They’ve also removed these toxins from the rest of the new MacBook family, the Apple LED Cinema Display, every iPod, and iPhone 3G.)

The MacBook Pro is almost entirely recyclable, made from materials like aluminum and glass.  It also makes it possible for the raw materials used in MacBook Pro to be used again later in other types of products.  And Apple offers recycling services in nearly all countries where Apple products are sold.

The new MacBook Pro also features advanced NVIDIA graphics processors and a glass, multi-touch track pad; it’s even faster and easier to use.

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