Can Prefab Homes be Green?

I know that in some cases, prefab homes get a bad rap. Some people think of prefab homes as being inferior, but a whole new type of prefab may make some people change their minds. Prefabs have now gone green. Well, at least in some cases. While many are still hesitate to install solar panels in their traditional homes, how would you feel if you could buy a prefab home that already had solar panels? How about one with a green roof? Some even offer LEED certifications. Green prefabs may be the perfect home for today. After all, the housing … Continue reading →

Environmental Working Group Recommends Few Sunscreens for Use

It’s almost summertime and here in Jacksonville, North Carolina, it is already heating up. Most moms start stocking up on sunscreen to slather on themselves and their little ones, but you may want to know about the latest study from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) EWG has conducted a study on the safety of sunscreens for the past four years. This year, they only recommended 39 sunscreens, which make up only 8 percent of the approximately 1,400 tested. Two things in particular worried the EWG when they were conducting the study. One was that they felt many sunscreens exaggerated their … Continue reading →

Review of EconoGreen’s Trash Bags

Not long ago, Amelia from Jig-A-Loo sent me an email asking if I could like to review their newest product, EconcoGreen Plastic trash bags for this blog. I was sent a nice selection of trash bags – large kitchen bags, tall kitchen bags, and lawn and leaf bags. Of course, I haven’t had a chance to use the lawn and leaf bags, but we did use the large and tall kitchen bags. They looked just like the regular trash bags we use and, as the letter Amelia sent me said, they were “strong, tough, and flexible.” What makes these bags … Continue reading →

New York Fashion Week’s Greenshows

It is Fashion Week in New York and many up and coming designers were concentrating on one thing – sustainable fashion. The Greenshows part of Fashion Week was held during four days this week in Village Green, an environmentally friendly condo in East Village. Among the designers featured their eco couture was Gary Harvey, who made a fun dress of recycled laundry bags and newspaper pages. Other designs of his featured reclaimed fabric from such items as wedding dress, old t-shirts and jeans, trench coats, scarves, and Army jackets. Harvey said, “Too many garments end up in landfill sites. They … Continue reading →

Mount Everest Trash Turned into Art

The other day, I mentioned how climbers were literally leaving tons of trash on Mount Everest. Even Sir Edmund Hillary admitted to leaving behind oxygen cylinders during his historic climb. Since most climbers require oxygen, cylinders are plentiful and usually left behind because climbers don’t want to carry the extra weight. As I was doing research on this blog, I came across an interesting article about Jeff Clapp. Clapp is an artist and one thing is true of artists – you never know where their inspiration is going to come from. For Clapp, an ice sculptor, it came from watching … Continue reading →

Coca-Cola Goes Green

Coke is going green. No, not the drink itself, but the bottles. Coca-Cola announced that it will begin distributing Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light, and Coke Zero in new greener “plantbottles.” The bottles, which were unveiled at the COP-15 conference, will, in part, contain material that is made from sugar cane and will be biodegradable. Those attending the Winter Olympics in Vancouver will get to try sodas and water in the plantbottles. It is estimated by the Pacific Institute that Coke’s traditional, petroleum based bottles use up to 17 million barrels of oil each year. The new plantbottles will leave a 12 … Continue reading →

Tween Book: “My Life in Pink and Green”

My 12-year-old daughter is reading a great book called “My Life in Pink & Green,” by Lisa Greenwald. I took some time today while she was at school to peruse it. It’s a great book not only because it speaks to her tween age group but it’s also eco-friendly. If you have a tween daughter I strongly suggest this book. First of all it features common tween topics including: make-up, makeovers and adolescent anxiety. The story is about a 12-year-old girl named Lucy. Her mother and grandmother run the Old Mill Pharmacy, which is in dire straits. To drum up … Continue reading →

Green Art – Floppy Disks

I have blogged about green celebrities, but today, I am going to talk about green artists. These are artists that keep ecology themes and social issues in mind when making their art. Most use recycled items or trash to make their art. One such artist is Diana Ritter. She uses something that used to be very dear to my heart – 3 1/2 inch floppy disks. I was in the computing field when you simply could not live without 3 1/2 floppy disks. God only knows how many of these were created during the ‘80s and ‘90s. Then, technology changed … Continue reading →

Green Coffee

If you are like many people, you were drinking coffee this morning. You may have made it at home or driven through Starbucks to get it. Either way, as you enjoyed your hot beverage on this cold day (as it is in most of America), you may not have thought about the environmental and social issues behind that coffee. It is estimated that Americans drink 400 million cups of coffee each day. The only thing in higher worldwide demand than coffee is petroleum. It keeps us going on long days and some studies have shown that it may prevent heart … Continue reading →

US Ark of Taste

You may have heard of the slow food movement, which is a direct antithesis of the modern fast food reality. The slow food movement is a grassroots idea of slowing down and linking the pleasure and nutrition of food to a commitment to the planet. I’ll be blogging more about this movement. For now, though, I wanted to focus on one organization called the US Ark of Taste. This domestic program aims to protect the variety of natural food on the planet. right now, there are hundreds of foods that are actually in danger of extinction from the planet, never … Continue reading →