Greenthinkers

Coming Back Soon!

2006-02-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

Please excuse our lack of posting this week... Greenthinkers is re-launching later this week (if I can get my act together!) or early next week.

There is a fresh new look and many other improvements.

And, I know there are a bunch of new posts ready so stay tuned!

The Sustainable Games

2006-02-10T10:04:00.000-05:00

The Turino (aka Turin) Olympics are excitedly touting themselves as the sustainable games.

As they say, the mountain at the centre of the Games is a theatre for competitions, but also as an element to be defended and appreciated. Their goal is to guarantee the sustainability of the Olympic Programme in all of its development phases but to also transform environmental challenges into new opportunities.

Working mantras include ensuring the Games have a neutral impact on the climate, checking the good environmental management of the permanent works, introducing environmental requisites in the creation of temporary works, reducing the environmental impact of the work carried out in offices, minimizing the impact from the management of waste produced during the event, and exploiting the environmental services of the sponsors and suppliers of the Games.

These are certainly wonderful sentiments and goals.

A great wealth of dense, green-themed political-speak material is available on the Games' website here.

Forever Flashlights

2006-02-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

Have you seen this?

The Forever Flashlight uses no batteries or bulbs. Instead it uses Faraday's Principle of Induction and a bright LED to produce light without batteries. The light is shaken for about 30 seconds to recharge a capacitor and it will then provide about 5 minutes of light. As the light is shaken, a magnet passes through a metal coil generating electricity. During prolonged use it can be shaken for 10-15 seconds every 2 or 3 minutes.

Plus, the bright LED will last for thousands of hours and does not burn-out like a typical lightbulb - it should never need replacement.

Interesting. Worth a test-drive for sure.

Photo credit: Amazon.com

Ingredients for Extinction?

2006-02-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

A growing body of evidence indicates that sea lice from salmon farms are killing the Pacific Coast's wild salmon. Salmon are the lifeblood of the coast and must be saved.

In late 2005, the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) began an add campaign alerting salmon consumers to the perils of choosing farmed salmon versus wild salmon.

Part of the campaign encouraged concerned consumers to let Safeway know they have a responsibility to encourage their salmon suppliers to adopt more sustainable practices. The weight of evidence from published science is hard to dismiss. Here’s hoping Safeway listens.

But how can we tell if a fish is farmed or wild? According to the David Suzuki Foundation, being marked “fresh” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wild. But you can tell a great deal by the species: Atlantic Salmon are farmed. Chinook (aka Spring) and Coho might be farmed or might be wild. About 25% of B.C.’s farmed salmon are Chinook or Coho, and Coho is farmed in Chile, although primarily for export to Japan. Sockeye, Chum and Pink are wild.

Greenthinkers Health: French Parad'ox

2006-02-07T13:37:00.000-05:00

As we have all heard, studies suggest a close relationship between the moderate consumption of red wine and a healthy heart. This phenomenon has been named the "French Paradox," because although the French eat as much saturated fat as Amercians and Canadians, they enjoy better overall cardiovascular health.

And with that in mind, Health From The Sun has introduced French Parad'ox which supplies polyphenols and anthocyanosides, potent antioxidant nutrients believed to be responsible for the many benefits of red grapes and red wine. These benefits are said to extend beyond a healthy heart and include keeping the skin healthy and youthful in appearance by protecting the collagen and elastin in your skin - quite a nice product for those who want the benefit of red wine but don't want to imbibe. Each marc extract capsule is said to contain an amount of antioxidant polyphenols equivalent to the amount in two glasses of red wine, minus the alcohol of course.

Why Drive a Hybrid?

2006-02-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

Sticking to the green(er) car theme, Toyata's Camry Hybrid Superbowl commercial.

Go Green By Going Yellow

2006-02-06T14:12:00.000-05:00

GM also goes green in their Superbowl Ad.

It's Easy Being Green

2006-02-06T14:05:00.000-05:00

Kermit and the 36/mpg Ford Escape Hybrid in the Ford Superbowl commercial.

Green Bakery

2006-02-02T12:37:00.000-05:00

The Birdbath Bakery (note: slow, flash-heavy website) is a new green bakery in NYC, said to be the first of its kind, just opened in the East Village. The walls are made from wheat and sunflower seed; the floor from a cork by-product. The paint is milk-based, and its pigment derived from beets. Denim insulation make a base for the bamboo counter, and the staff is clad in hemp-and-linen jackets.

In Cool Hunting's own words...

It's a thought about what a neighborhood bakery could be; a complete expression of its organic/green identity. Milk paint, Bamboo, Ultra Touch, Wheat Board and cork are some of the materials used in the bakery, and all of the ingredients used in the products are organic.

Code named after the sunflower seed husks used in one of the materials, check it out early in the day as it is said to remain open only until all the cookies are sold.

Photo credit: Cool Hunting

The Reviews Are In: Hand Crank-Powered Phone

2006-02-01T18:11:00.000-05:00

The SideWinder Cell Phone Charger from Innovative Solutions and Technologies' is a sweet little hand crank-powered gizmo that you can use to charge your mobile phone anytime and anywhere - without an electrical outlet, of course.

Each two minute wind-up session is said to give you about six minutes of talk time. With a small LED light for extra illumination, it is also said to work with most cell phone models.

According to the review on CNET:

The good: The IST SideWinder is compact, light, and reusable. Its LED throws 5 minutes of light after a couple minutes of cranking.

The bad: The IST SideWinder is tough to crank; several minutes of cranking gave us only a few minutes of phone life. Also, it won't work on a completely dead phone battery.

The bottom line: The IST SideWinder might be small, reusable, and environmentally friendly, but we never got a decent cell phone charge from the device.

Hmmm, certainly not an A+ review. But maybe it's worth checking out for ourselves.

Ekobo!

2006-02-01T12:58:00.000-05:00

Ekobo is an eco-friendly enterprise specializing in the design and manufacture of contemporary hand-crafted home accessories made from a natural and renewable resource: bamboo (a fantastic material with which to work...and it replenishes itself in half the time as other woods, though it is technically a grass).

They combine modern aesthetics designed in France and hand-crafted with local Vietnamese craftmanship to sustain artisanal communities, while promoting bamboo as a socially and environmentally-responsible material, for our current market place. Check out their colourful kitchen accessories!

Photo credit: Sustainable Style

That's A Wrap

2006-02-01T12:50:00.000-05:00

Paporganics (paper gan' iks) is a New Hampshire-based, artist-owned company creating stationery and gift wrap made from organic cotton, hemp, flax, and recycled fibers. A love of organic food and gardening inspires their designs, and a commitment to sustainable living dictates their choices of papers and inks.

Sustainability means living in a way that will create a future for all people to flourish while keeping the planet balanced and healthy. Stationery is only one small piece of the picture.

Even so, approximately 7 billion greeting cards are purchased annually by consumers. Think of the impact of producing those cards on 100% recycled paper and other organic agricultural fibers, and then keeping them in the paper stream by recycling them again. Now expand that vision to encompass the entire paper industry. Now we're going somewhere!

Environmental Science Symposium at the University of Guelph

2006-02-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I attended the 12th annual Environmental Science Symposium at the University of Guelph.

The theme symposium this year was water. Water conservation, science, products, politics, etc. It was all well-covered.

A vareity of exhibits and speakers made for an informative day, including well-known Canadians Margaret Trudeau (speaking of her experiences with WaterCan) and Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians). Others included Mike Nagy of the Green Party and Karen Farbridge, the former Mayor of Guelph.

I don't quite fit into the famous Canadians category, but I was there wearing my Envirolet® hat to discuss our composting toilets systems. I brought a funky green toilet with me too!

You can read more on Envirolet® Buzz, where I have also posted on the symposium.

A great film called Thirst (directed by Alan Snitow & Deborah Kaufman) was also screened and was able to perfectly sum up the entire theme of the day:

Is water part of a shared "commons," a human right for all people, or is it a commodity to be bought, sold and traded in a global marketplace? Thirst tells the stories of communities in Japan, Bolivia, India and the United States that are asking these fundamental questions, as waste becomes the most valuable commodity of the 21st century.

[Via the sysmposium web site]

Here There Designs

2006-01-30T11:55:00.000-05:00

Here There Designs' lights are cast in thin, remarkably durable shells of premium abaca fiber using entirely new techniques developed specially around our forms.

The bases are made of brushed steel set in artfully sculpted and polished concrete. Every piece is 100% non-toxic, 100% recyclable, 100% sustainable, and 100% archival. From conception through execution these pieces have been designed to be beautiful, unique, durable, comforting, thoroughly modern, and altogether uplifting.

Personally, I'm a fan of the Stay Puff lamps (at left).

Greenthinkers Health: Organic Bedtime Tea

2006-01-30T11:43:00.000-05:00

In the first edition of a new running feature here at Greenthinkers where we will point out interesting, useful, healthy alternatives to products in your medicine cabinet, we're going to be the first to admit that we have a difficult time falling asleep. Who doesn't?

And after several years of enjoying various night-time-themed teas, we have found one that is also organic: Organic Bedtime by Yogi Tea.

A safe, gentle and tasty way to help you get a restful night’s sleep, it includes organic valerian, chamomile, st. john's wort, passion flower, skullcap and other calming herbs that have been used for centuries to promote sleep and decrease anxiety without the risk of a morning “hangover” that can sometimes result from the use of drug products.

And of course, it is caffeine-free.

Stainless Steel Fire Pit

2006-01-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

Staying with fire-themed posts, this Fried Ulber design for Blomus is a stainless steel fire pit that promises to add design to the outdoor patio or lakeside cabin.

It lasts - it won't tarnish or rust, making it a great outdoor accessory. Created in genuine 18/8 grade stainless steel the ultra contemporary lines of this fire basket are sure to please. The round stainless basket is supported by three unique cylinder stainless steel legs giving this fire pit superior stability. The actual fire bowl is 15 inches in diameter. Overall diameter of the pit is 21 inches.

Photo credit: In House Products

Ecosmart Fire

2006-01-25T13:11:00.000-05:00

The EcoSmart Fire is an Australian innovation - an environmentally friendly open fireplace.

The EcoSmart Fire is flue-less and does not require any installation or utility connection for fuel supply, which makes it ideal for apartment and city living. Fuelled by a renewable energy (denatured ethanol), it burns clean and is virtually maintenance free.

Featuring remarkable design flexibility, the simplicity of the EcoSmart burner and the modular nature of its design grants consumers with significant versatility and choice. Pretty cool.

Whole Foods & Wind Power

2006-01-24T12:39:00.000-05:00

Natural and organic foods supermarket chain Whole Foods Market has made a landmark purchase of renewable energy credits from wind farms to offset 100% of the electricity used in all of its stores, facilities, bake houses, distribution centers, regional offices and national headquarters in the United States and Canada.

This is the largest wind energy credit purchase in the history of the United States and Canada and makes Whole Foods Market the only Fortune 500 Company purchasing wind energy credits to offset 100% of its electricity use.

Very exciting stuff. For comment, check out this USA Today article. Click here for Whole Foods' press release via Yahoo! Finance.

Photo credit: Energy Projects

Loans That Change Lives Update

2006-01-23T12:12:00.000-05:00

I previously posted about Kiva, a program that allows you to loan money to small businesses in developing countries.

We loaned $100 to a business called Blessing. Read all about Blessings in the previous post.

Here is an update:

Tororo, Uganda
January 19, 2006, 8:42 am

Business Update
Greetings to you all my business supporters. Who made it possible for me to become changed in the way and size of my business with the loan you gave me through Kiva. Fore most, I would like to thank God for his love and provision upon my life and my work.

I used to struggle so much for my families daily survival but all I say is you have made it possible to increase and widen my business with a very high percentage of stock, my shop was lacking a lot of things, I used not to get good profits in my shop, I could not even some times feed well but now I am so proud and happy to say that with Kiva loan everything has become possible within one month period, my life has changed in most ways both in my personal life, family and business that gives me a lot of profits that I am able to use to meet three quarters of my family basic needs it’s to the extent that my business is not only important to me but more important to the community in that their energies to struggle to go and buy small items in distant areas covering of kilometers has existed no more now they get every thing they need available at my shop with even fair prices as compared to some other retail shops in neighbouring villages. I want to once again say thank you very much no body could ever do this to my business but only Kiva, has done it and pleased.

Yours truly,
Margaret Etyang.

[Via the Blessings update page on the Kiva web site.]

In total, Blessings has re-paid $100 of the total $500 received.

If Sunscreen Can Change The Sex Of Fish, What Can It Do To You?

2006-01-23T11:55:00.000-05:00

According to The Independent, scientists have found that male hornyhead turbot and English sole, feeding near sewage outfalls on the Californian coast, are being feminized - and a chemical found in sunscreens is the likely culprit.

University of California scientists found that the only culprit they could "exclusively identify" is oxybenzone, used to protect the skin from the ultraviolet component of sunlight.
Oxybenzone, which mimics oestrogen's chemical make-up, is washed off tanned bodies in the shower, passes through sewage works unchanged and settles on the seabed, where bottom-feeding fish eat it.

Of course, we are exposed to such chemicals several times over - first by applying them on our skin, then injesting them in drinking water, and also via the fish we eat.

The cosmetics industry denies the chemicals are dangerous, and says that"sunscreen phobia" could lead to more cancers. However, there have been other concerns about potential health effects. The author Geoffrey Lean also reports that some clear sunscreens use nanoparticles so small they can penetrate the skin and even get into the brain.

The article also points out that there is also concern about the universal use of sunscreens: by shielding ourselves from sunlight, we produce less vitamin D, which of course protects against as many as 16 different cancers.

Hmmm...

Save One Tree

2006-01-21T16:46:00.000-05:00

In my gmail trash folder today the web clip was:

Recycling a 3-foot-high stack of newspapers can save one whole tree.

If that is true, wow! Start recycling or reading online!

All the clips in the trash bin are recyling related. The ones in the spam folder are spam recipes!

In the Field: The Composting Outhouse

2006-01-20T19:07:00.000-05:00

On Greenthinkers, we talk about a lot of green products. Well, this is a great example of a green product at work out in the real world.

Earlier this week, I reported on Envirolet Buzz about the The Composting Outhouse. A greener take on an old idea.

Instead of the old fashioned and dreaded "hole in the ground" toilet, this "outhouse" houses an Envirolet waterless composting toilet system.

The Envirolet system features a waterless toilet in the bathroom with the composting unit located below. It uses zero water, saving thousands of litres from being flushed away. Waste is converted to compost that is emptied 1-2 times a year.

The structure was built by Bayfield Builders in Wisconsin for a client. They opted for the extra-green 12VDC battery powered model leaving the option open to add a solar system to power the unit.

Send Greenthinkers your photos and stories "from the field" about green products you are using.

Ecoholic: Alternatives To Salt On Your Icy Walkway

2006-01-20T11:06:00.000-05:00

This week's Ecoholic column in Now Magazine discusses the idea of green alternatives to using salt to break up ice on your walkways.

You probably already know that basic rock salt (sodium chloride) isn't great for your grass and flower beds but did you know salt can cause heavy metals like lead to leach to your soil's surface and into groundwater? And when it washes into our storm sewers and overflows into lakes and streams, we're talking long-term damage to aquatic life.

Ask at any hardware store if they have eco-friendly salt-alternatives and they'll point you to calcium chloride. The stuff will cut through ice at much lower temps than regular salt, but it stresses the environment in a lot of the same ways. What makes it earth-conscious is that you have to use way less of it than other types – 3 ounces per square yard versus 8 of the other stuff.

Other options include Magic Salt, which is more efficient than regular salt and less damaging to vegetation and concrete. It is also biodegradable and water-soluable.

Calcium magnesium acetate is a non-corrosive, biodegradable de-icer that's generally petroleum-derived but can be made from corn, whey or wheat. Unlike plain salt, calcium and magnesium actually improve soil quality, and acetate is biodegradable. However, it doesn't really melt the ice, it just breaks it down a bit - you still have to shovel it away. But isn't that the idea anyway - just use it to loosen the ice before you try shovelling it away?

Paw Thaw is a supposedly animal and vegetation-friendly blend of calcium magnesium acetate and "fertilizer-grade ingredients." Unfortunately the manufacturer won't release the list of "ingredients." We'll put this in the TBD file.

As for homemade solutions like kitty litter and ash, well, neither does anything to melt ice. They just provide a little extra traction. Plus, neither is particularly great for the earth, your plants or our waterways.

Some municipalities use sand on roads, but again, it does nothing to melt ice and can actually clog sewer systems. Plus, when crushed by car tires, the particles become fine enough to take flight, polluting the air and irritating asthma sufferers.

Sorry to say this, but the wisest, most conscientious option is also the most labour-intensive. That's right, good old-fashioned shovelling. Get yourself an ergonomic shovel if you have back trouble, and a flat hoe to break up icy patches. Bend at the knees, not the waist – you know the drill. If you must, use a little de-icer, and shovel your snow toward the road, not your flower beds and bushes.

Thanks Now Magazine!

Firewood Table

2006-01-19T11:44:00.000-05:00

The Firewood Table (seen here with the Logger's Delight Bench) by Joel Harrison-Off combines deadfall wood and fire wood connected together with walnut splines and steel. And this is just a glimpse into his work.

Made in his Eastern Ontario home, designer and park ranger Harrison-Off uses reclaimed timber, beams and found deadfall to construct all sorts of tables, chairs, benches and chests of drawers.

He also designed a permanent room in Toronto's newest boutique hotel, the renovated Gladstone Hotel. Check it out!

Lenore Collection Bags

2006-01-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

In true Cinderella fashion, green designers around the globe are transforming trash into eco-chic bags beautiful enough to take to the ball - without the benefit of a magic wand.

Chic, unique. Lenore Collection handbags blend traditional weaving methods with today's fashion appeal. Lenore Española individually designs these one-of-a-kind ‘paper' handbags. Through her partnership with Manila-based master weaver, Lulu Ocampo, you get the hippest handbag – intricately hand woven using recycled newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, posters, and other paper products. Recycle in style.