A quick 1 minute video gives some interesting stats about the production of phonebooks:

You can sign the e-petition on the Downing St website and visit www.saynotophonebooks.org.

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

70% of Us Want an Opt-In System for Phonebook Delivery

The first obvious thing to raise your eyebrows is that these are disposable wipes – not very eco-friendly is it? Will yes and no really. These are made from bamboo and will biodegrade unlike mainstream brand disposable wipes that sit in landfill for millions of years. It’s important that the eco world offer alternatives to mainstream products, people who use wipes will not want to move back to cloths and spray so these are a eco-friendly alternative.

That out the way it was time to test the wipes. But first I had to get into the packet – and for some reson I found it a joy. There’s a little plastc pop up lid that I’ve never seen before. Maybe lots of products have it but the last time I used wipes they had an allegedly resealable sticky cover that doesn’t work. This little plastic lid is genius. Although it doesn’t say whether it’s made from recycled plastic but hopefully people who buy these will recycle this bit.

Right, now to try out the wipes. The smell is exactly the same as the Method Stainless Steel Cleaner spray I reviewed a while ago, which is probably as it’s the same stuff! But using the wipes is a different experience that the spray and cloth. I immediately thought I preferred the spray as that worked brilliantly but I struggled a little with the cloths, but after a while I realised as that’s because I don’t clean my sink and draining board very often so need to use a more abrasive cloth that these disposable ones. These wipes work really well, I just need to use them more regularly than I have been!

I did find I needed to use another cloth after the wipes only after I got one wet. If you’re cleaning your sink I’d advise you to wait until it’s dry before cleaning it as once the wipes are wet it leaves a milky residue on the surface that you need to wipe away. Not a big problem, but something to look out for.

I think these are a really good alternative to buying other disposable wipes, although I might stick to the spray version and a cloth. Or maybe I’l clean more often with these, hmmm.

Method Steel For Real Wipes cost £3.50 from most supermarkets and online shops such as Big Green Smile.

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

Method Steel For Real Wipes Eco Product Review

Unlike other technologies and facilities that often rely on one primary source of feedstock, the company’s flex ethanol facility will be producing ethanol from numerous sources, including wood biomass, agricultural waste, construction waste and even household garbage. In addition, their patented microorganisms and bioreactor designs will produce ethanol for the same as, and in some cases less than, the cost of producing a gallon of gasoline. This new technology also reduces CO2 emissions up to 96 percent compared to gasoline.

Flex Fuel vehicles that can run on gas, E85 or a combination of both, are already available from Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and GMC. GM has built 5 million of these vehicles to date, watch the video below to learn more.

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

Turning Trash Into Gas

Available only in America at the moment, the Eco ATM is an automated reuse-and-recycle machine that helps people get rid of old gadgets while making it financially rewarding for them to do so as well. A bit like when you put your old mobile phone in the post and then get either cash or reward points, instead of posting you feed it into the Eco ATM.

The device then analyses the phone and gives it a value – which could be store credit (depending on where it’s situated), you could choose to donate it to charity, or if it’s not worth anything then it will be recycled.

The Eco ATM will soon take MP3 players, digital cameras, computers etc as well as mobile phones. The easier they make it to recycle, the more people will do it, and this sounds pretty easy.

Spotted via Springwise.

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

An Eco ATM That Takes Your Old Electronics

And it was. It was a see-through yellow colour for a start and it also smelt of pineapple and coconut bizarrely. A quick look at the ingredients doesn’t really shed light on why it smells like that, but I’m not complaining.

There are a lot of plant extracts – there’s the sea kelp obviously, but also such unusual things like kukui nut, awapuhi (Hawaiian ginger), plumeria and orchid. It never ceases to amaze me where they find this stuff, every product I review seems to have some plant or flower I’ve never heard of in. It shows what a diverse planet we have and the need for man made ingredients is getting less and less necessary.

Talking of ingredients, this shampoo is free from lauryl sulfates and has what it calls plant panthenols and proteins to mositurise the hair. I keep my hair pretty short but it’s long enough to see if it works. And it’s quite nice. It’s a pretty thick liquid and I used too much on the first go and it foams up nicely, covering my hair.

I think someone with long hair would get a lot of pleasure using this as it doesn’t just smell nice and foam up, once washed off my hair felt nice and smooth, almost silky which is what all the shampoo adverts keep telling us is a good thing.

The bottle obviously suggests to use JASON conditioner but as I don’t have any, I didn’t, and to be honest I don’t see the point of conditioner that much as my hair feels lovely just after using the shampoo. Maybe if you have longer hair it’s more important.

JASON Natural Sea Kelp Shampoo costs £5.75 from Big Green Smile.

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

JASON Natural Sea Kelp Shampoo Eco Product Review

“BBC television wildlife presenter Kate Humble has joined the campaign to educate Britons about the importance of water saving measures.

Figures published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show that the average Briton uses 150 litres of water every day, compared to the 127 litres used by the average German.

It is estimated the water treatment process and the use of hot water creates 35 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year in the UK.

Ms Humble is now trying to get the message across that straightforward water saving measures can save money and help the battle against climate change.

“Simple changes can really add up to a better environment – meaning more water for the wildlife and countryside around us as well as saving on carbon emissions,” she said.

Among the water saving measures recommended by Defra are turning the tap off while brushing your teeth and using a watering can instead of a hosepipe when watering the garden.

Waterwise recently launched a campaign to persuade people to spend less time in the shower, pointing out that an electric shower uses around six litres of water a minute.

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

Kate Humble Backs New Water Saving Campaign

And being the nice company it is, if you sign the petition through a link on this page, and give them the details of what you posted, you’ll get a money off voucher. Lovely eh?

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

Follow What’s Going On In Copenhagen And Save Money With Method

This time I received Miessence After Shave Balm. It’s a pretty expensive product, at $23.95, but less than some high end traditional after shave balms and lotions.

It’s Certified Organic which according to their standards means that “it contains at least 95% organically produced agricultural ingredients (excluding water and salt). The remaining ingredients (up to 5%) can be non-agricultural substances or non-organically produced agricultural ingredients, with strict processing criteria (eg: absolutely no GMOs or synthetics chemicals)”.

Made with organic chamomile and marshmallow, these are the two things you can smell the most. It also contains organic witch hazel, aloe vera and St. John’s wort to help soothe and calm razor burn. It comes in a pump bottom which makes it easy to apply. It works nciely, it was quickly absorbed, didn’t leave me looking shiny or greasy, and I didn’t feel like I needed to wash my hands to get it off afterwards.

Putting a balm on that contains only edible ingredients makes me think it’s got to be better for me that those weird long-named chemicals I see on other after shave products.

Apparently the ingredients are also cold-formulated so precious oils are never exposed to damaging heat. I didn’t know that, but sounds good.

You can ge Miessence After Shave Balm and a lot of other green products for your home and office from BuyGreen.

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

Miessence After Shave Balm Product Review

A company called GreenSmart were determined to find a cleaner, greener alternative. They have expanded to lunch bags and wine bottle carriers, taking the stink out of lunch and giving a stylish way to carry and keep wine chilled during the holidays. The water bottle sleeves have now gotten refined in their design and come in a range of colors.

They have three designs of lunch bag, called Sifaka, Margay, and Javan, that expand on the often staid concept of what a lunch bag can look like.

Wine bottles get a non toxic, stylish home as well, with models called Finback (holds one bottle) and Bowhead (two bottles).

As you may have noticed, all the products have animal names. These are endangered species, a reminder that GreenSmart now donates 10% of net profits to the World Wildlife Fund and other environmental organizations.

Neogreene is a result of a long, careful collaboration with GreenSmart’s supplier, and is a vast improvement:

• All water based adhesives
• No Chlorine
• PVC & Lead Free
• No Formaldehyde
• No VOCs
• 25% less petroleum than neoprene
• 25% less energy (compared to producing neoprene)
• Even the green coloring of the Neogreene is a water based dye (neoprene cannot be dyed)

Check them out at GreenSmart

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

Neogreene Provides Even More Alternatives To Neoprene

They also launched an interactive Climate Change Challenge Game where players can test how much they know about CC and complete through Facebook. The game features a host of celebrity supporters and is designed to raise public awareness. Click the image below to take a look.

All information is © Life Goggles 2009

The Impact of Climate Change in Gabura, Bangladesh