Green Unlimited

Eco-urinals?

2010-02-08T08:22:00.000-05:00

One of the more...interesting innovations launched by the Metro Manila Development Authority in the Philippines is the urinal, with several of those scattered in unexpected locations all over the city in an attempt to address the...needs of men who just can't hold it in any longer. But now, the urinals are not just for men. The MMDA has also begun constructing these for women, with three of them opened just recently. Apparently, the green thing about this urinals is not just their color, but also their waterless toilets and translucent roofs that make good use of sunlight. Probably worth checking out, eh?

Emma Watson debuts People Tree line

2010-02-08T07:40:00.003-05:00

The lovely Emma Watson, who we're pleased to see isn't going down the typical destructive Hollywood road, has been a busy bee, making a name for herself as an actress, a fashion icon, a model, and is also currently a student at Brown University. She has also begun trying her hand at becoming a designer, and her efforts haven't been in vain. She recently teamed up with People Tree, a fair trade fashion company offering organic clothing. Check out her clothing line right here.

Sun Life Philippines HQ to go green for Gold

2010-02-04T09:08:00.014-05:00

I was about and about yesterday and spent sometime in Bonifacio Global City, where a lot of buildings are being constructed, and I spotted a sign proudly proclaiming that Sun Life Financial is setting up house there--and that their future building is shooting for LEED Gold certification! The building is set to rise in 2011, and it'll be interesting to find out what is being done to meet LEED requirements.

The ECOsack

2010-02-03T09:23:00.000-05:00

I could've just bought any old reusable bag out there, but the ECOsack called to me yesterday and I responded happily. The bag is made of organic canvas and comes in three different styles: a tote, a body bag, and a foldable bag that tucks neatly into a little pouch, which also serves as the main bag's pocket when it's unfolded. I purchased my ECOsack at Sesou in a nearby mall, along with Messy Bessy's dishwashing liquid. If you can't tell, I'm positively thrilled about the presence of more green products here in Manila.

Kudos, Sunday Inquirer Magazine

2010-02-01T07:18:00.000-05:00

I rarely get a chance to read an actual, physical newspaper these days, but I was able to flip through Inquirer's Sunday issue, which comes with a weekly magazine. I was pleased to find out that they print it with mineral-based inks on recycled paper. Great job!

Green Valentine's day ideas, anyone?

2010-02-01T05:19:00.000-05:00

Instead of dishing out tips on having a green Valentine's day, we want to know how you spend Valentine's in an eco-friendly manner. E-mail us at greenunlimited101(at)gmail.com and share your stories and suggestions!

Omega-3 Man

2010-01-31T19:57:00.004-05:00

I happened upon a headline that the demand for Omega-3 fish oil tablets is adversely affecting fish population. I searched for alternatives and found this, Cardiotabs Ocean Safe Marine Oil supplement. It is made from calamari instead of fish.

Be a Green Explorer with Nokia

2010-01-29T12:50:00.021-05:00

Need tips on living a greener life and a guide for eco-friendly travel? Who'd have thought that you can turn to Nokia for that kind of advice? They recently launched Green Explorer, perfect for anyone who wants to see more of the world. Green Explorer also comes as a widget for several of Nokia's phones. This is still an experimental project from the looks of it, and they're even on the lookout for more writers and photographers. Hopefully, it catches on and that Nokia also begins to do even more for the environment.

Protect the Hudson

2010-01-28T22:10:00.004-05:00

From PIRG's Anna Aurilio:

"The Hudson River is one of New York's treasures -- a home to wildlife, a place to enjoy with our families and an asset to our economy.

Unfortunately, polluters have been given a free pass to pollute in the streams that feed the Hudson and many of the rivers, lakes and streams across our state.

It's time to protect the Hudson and all of New York's waters. Click here to join me in telling Congress to take tough action now.

We know why our rivers and streams are threatened. Recent Bush-era rollbacks to the Clean Water Act have swept away 30 years of protections for streams, lakes and wetlands across the country.

We know that polluters are taking advantage of the loopholes in the Clean Water Act. Right now, industrial facilities are dumping in our rivers and paving over our wetlands.

Fortunately, the answers are just as clear: Congress needs to step up and finally reverse the rollbacks to the Clean Water Act as soon as possible. Without timely action, the EPA estimates that 20 million acres of wetlands across the United States could lose protection.

While the Senate has introduced legislation to strengthen protections, our leaders in the House still need to stand up for America's waters."

Thank you for taking action.

A green residential building: Arya Residences

2010-01-28T09:45:00.016-05:00

I received an e-mail a couple of days ago from a real estate professional exhorting me--and probably a dozen other people--to check out Arya Residences by ArthaLand. Since I'm always ready to sneer, I was just about to do so until I came upon this portion of the e-mail:

Setting a new standard at the prestigious Bonifacio Global City, Arya Residences gives its future residents the chance to Live Well, enjoying the comforts of gracious living, and to Live Right, leading a greener, healthier and more cost efficient lifestyle.

We are the first environmentally sustainable high rise residential in the Philippines registered with the USGBC'S LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program with a certification goal of Gold.

Okay, now I'm impressed. That's Gold, people. They must have really pulled out all the stops on this one. Completely unrelated: The same day I received the e-mail, I came across a full-page ad for Arya Residences in the newspaper. A sign that I should invest in a unit? Nah, probably just a reminder for me to check it out myself and learn more about how they made it green.

Buttermilk Spa

2010-01-22T08:26:00.009-05:00

I was looking up information on medical spas the other day and found Buttermilk Spa in New York's Hudson Valley. Now how cool was it that I found an eco-friendly medical spa? Because that's what Buttermilk is. Not only do they use organic and natural products--obsessively organic, in their words--but they also use renewable energy. Solar and geothermal energy are toiling hard to heat the sauna, steam room, and mineral pool. The best part is you get to enjoy luxurious services and even have access to hiking trails, the nearby waterfalls, and the gardens of the Buttermilk Falls Inn, and even enjoy organic cuisine. Sounds like it's got the ingredients of a perfect weekend getaway.

A green PC?

2010-01-20T20:16:00.019-05:00

This creation by Design Hara is calling itself an eco-friendly PC, with its recyclable casing made from untreated cypress and rosewood and the front cover from sheep leather. Hmm, not entirely sure that ups its green qualities, but at least its insides can be taken apart from recycling purposes? Anyway. It mainly banks its eco-friendliness on its energy-saving properties, using 60 watts an hour. The specs: 1TB of space, 4GB of RAM which can be expanded up to 8GB, Blu-Ray/DVD. (You gotta admit, it looks pretty good.)

Florida cities clean up with eco-friendly garbage trucks

2010-01-19T09:23:00.000-05:00

Hialeah, Miami, and Miami-Dade county are making the switch to eco-friendly, fuel-efficient garbage trucks, looking to cut carbon emissions by 28 tons a year. Apart from that, Hialeah also plans to switch to an automated garbage pickup system in the future.

Leave nothing but footprints with Green Silence

2010-01-17T12:53:00.025-05:00

Not carbon footprints, by the way; just your own. Brooks' new shoe, Green Silence, is totally green and anything but silent. Its yellow and red color combination (about which I'm kind of doubtful) shows that green fashion doesn't have to be dull or full of earth colors, guaranteeing that the shoes will catch people's eye and make them ask, "Where did you get those?" At which point you can start telling them more about this green running shoe.

And there are plenty of things to say about it. Various parts of the shoe are either biodegradable, recycled, or made from recycled materials. 75% of it is made from post-consumer recycled materials, with 50% of the heel being made out of recycled CDs. The shoe also makes use of water-based adhesives and soy-based inks.

Unfortunately, it looks like female runners who want to give this shoe a try will have to wait. It's currently filed under "Men's" on the Brooks website. Hopefully there will be different color combinations available soon.

Kolarbyn

2010-01-16T12:42:00.014-05:00

Could this be the world's most primitive hotel? Who knows? Maybe there are more primitive hotels out there that are so into the primitive theme that they don't have a website. But for now, Kolarbyn in Sweden is a contender for the title. The lodge features 12 forest huts with a wooden heater for each one, and the beds come with sheepskin rugs. Kolarbyn also offers various tours that give you a better look at nature and wildlife, like the Moose Safari, a night in wolf territory, and a night's stay in lynx territory.

Hungry? There's an app for that.

2010-01-15T14:03:00.002-05:00

If you're hungry for fruit, that is. Neighborhood Fruit has developed an iPhone application that will help you find readily available fruits in your neck of the woods. Did you know that there are lots of fruit trees on public lands? I didn't, but this app will greatly help those who are on the lookout for fruit. As co-founder Kaytea Petro said, "We created the app so that people could have more 'fruitful' trips around their neighborhoods."

The app can currently help you find fruits in eleven cities, namely Austin, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Fe, and Seattle. You can get the app now for $0.99 at the App Store or from this link.

EcoBrokers®

2010-01-14T08:41:00.001-05:00

Did you know that there is such a thing as an EcoBroker? They're real estate agents who have a thorough knowledge of green architecture and living, to put it simply, and the title is bestowed on real estate professionals who have achieved the green certification after undergoing the training program. I found out about them through Burke Sisco's website, where he talks about properties with green features, related blogs, and his other efforts to live a sustainable life. So if you're looking for eco-friendlier, energy-saving properties, you can do a search for EcoBrokers on their website.

A better use for Coke

2010-01-13T12:41:00.015-05:00

I tend to drink lots and lots of Coca-Cola, although lately, I've been able to go for five days without it. My sisters are not pleased about my habit, but oh well, I do my best.

Apart from satisfying my thirst, it looks like Coke can serve a different purpose now, thanks to a discovery by designer Daizi Zheng: as a power source for a phone being developed for Nokia. The phone's battery can be charged by enzymes extracted from the drink's sugars and carbohydrates.

This looks like it could just be one of those dreamy concept phones that make you wonder why they aren't properly released to the market, but one can only hope that this model really will come out in the future. And wouldn't it be cool if the phone itself can be manufactured out of recycled soda cans?

Sony Vaio W Series: The Eco-Edition

2010-01-13T10:33:00.028-05:00

Okay, so I'm not really into netbooks, though gods know I need one, but this one by Sony is a pretty interesting piece of work. The eco-friendly Vaio has 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and can keep going for seven hours fully charged (hah, loads better than the three I get on mine). But this 10-incher has more to offer than nice little specs, like impressive greenness. 23% of its plastic case comes from recycled CDs, while its carrying case is made from recycled PET bottles. Apart from all that, it doesn't come with a manual booklet, but a digital one instead. The damage you can expect from buying this laptop: $480.

Hello Ella

2010-01-13T09:13:00.006-05:00

British import Ella's Kitchen organic food products for babies and children made its way across the pond this past fall. The foods are available at Babies R Us and Toys R Us.

Ford electric vehicles by 2012?

2010-01-12T13:27:00.000-05:00

Ecoseed reports that Ford is pouring in more money to make sure that more electric vehicles will be out on the market by 2012. The extra $450 million will turn their assembly plant into a facility that will roll out electric cars and hybrids, with the Ford Focus Electric slated for release in 2011.

LBC starts green initiatives

2010-01-11T13:38:00.000-05:00

I was just looking up information on how I can send packages to my sisters in the U.S., so I visited LBC's website. Not only did I find what I was looking for, but I was pleasantly surprised to read news about their green projects and changes. They've switched to biodegradable plastic for their delivery pouches, and they also launched the LBC Linis Dagat (Ocean Clean-up) program. In this program, families from a community in the province of Batangas collect plastic waste which is then sent to a facility that molds them into shelving materials, which are then used in LBC facilities all over the Philippines. It's a win-win-win situation for all. We'd definitely love to hear from green projects from LBC; my sister's been fond of them ever since she found out they were shipping donations to victims of Typhoon Ondoy for free.

Where to find green jobs

2010-01-11T12:17:00.000-05:00

It is said sustainability and the development of green technologies will generate more jobs, and The Daily Green has a list of the best cities in the U.S. where you can find green jobs.

Meet the Flexy

2010-01-10T14:09:00.012-05:00

A Slinky's always loads of fun, and this eco-friendly version, called the Flexy, could present a greener way to play. The Flexy is made of recycled, biodegradable cardboard and works just like a regular Slinky, capable of doing everything its shiny, metallic cousin can. Now the only thing I can find wrong with this is that it's not going to make that fun jingling sound as it slinks down the stairs.

Climate Pilots

2010-01-10T11:11:00.014-05:00

How easy is it to go green? If you knew you could benefit from a little coaching and advice in living in a more eco-friendly manner, would you go for it?

That's what four Washington, D.C. families did, becoming part of the Climate Pilots program. They faced challenges in greening up their food, spare time, energy, and traveling/transportation. The program started on July 1, 2009 and the families are currently tackling their final challenge. They are being advised by climate coaches from Sweden, who themselves were part of the country's Climate Pilots program in 2007.