Recycled · Eco-Chick

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Smartest Car; Still Worse Than The Dumbest Bike

by Katie Kish · 12/30/07

Pink Car

The process of buying and making new cars isn’t the solution to this enormous fossil fuel problem we’re having. Hackneyed as it might seem, we need to develop long term sustainable community transportation, AND to rethink the way that we structure our lives around cars.

Buying a smart car is kind of like putting a band aid on a giant gash- technically, at a minuscule level, it’s helping- but if your concern stops at your purchase, you’re still going bleed to death… and worse, you may begin to confuse consumerism with activism. Often, trying to change the world by buying things isn’t really creating the change that companies convince us it is.

However, having said all that…

activism, Animals, car, cars, community, consumerism, death, design, driving, eating, emissions, Energy, epa, Europe, gadgets, garden, gardens, gas, hummers, MPG, oil, Plants, produce, recycle, recycled, spa, sport, sustainable, transportation, waste, water

Green Gifts: The Top 5 Regifting Don'ts

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by Olivia Zaleski · 12/27/07

It’s the day after Christmas. Aside from feeling fat and hungover, you’re probably wondering how you’ll get rid of all the terrible gifts you’ve collected–the gizmo you’ll never use, the book you’ll never read, the sweater you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing. Rather than toss that hideous scarf or Ricky Martin album in the trash, take a moment to think . . .there’s got to be someone with an upcoming birthday and terrible taste.

Yes, I’m talking about regifting, the act of taking a gift you received, but don’t want and giving it to someone else. Although the practice pre-dates the green trend, regifting is one of the most environmentally responsible things you can do over the holidays.

By regifting you’ll eliminate the need for new gifts, whose production requires the unnecessary dissipation of energy and extraction of natural resources. Regifting will also prevent items from ending up in the landfill or incinerator. According to the EPA, each American throws away an average of four pounds a day. That’s a total of 210 million tons a year. Garbage cans everywhere should now read, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle . . . Regift!”

Even Emily Post–Madame Manners herself–was a regifter. According to Post, good etiquette doesn’t require you to keep anything. Good etiquette simply requires you pretend you like the gift upon reception.

So there you have it! Regifting is neither tacky, nor cheap. Best of all, it’s good for the environment. But first, a few cardinal rules to keep in mind. Follow these tips and you’ll be sure to regift with finesse and tact.

1. Avoid Perishables.
Next Christmas, that food basket will be a collection of moldy crackers, rancid cheese, and outdated muffin-mix. Unless you’re going to claim it’s vinegar, best to avoid beverages with a funny smell and inch of sediment on their bottle’s bottom.

2. Avoid Out-of-Date/Extinct Products.
Unless your giftee is an avid collector, avoid articles of clothing, music and electronic gear of decades past. Chances are your recipient will know you originally received that home BETA video recorder in 1988.

3. Avoid Dead Giveaways.
Certain regifts are a plain and clear message that a) you’re regifting and b) you’re an idiot. For example, never regift monogrammed items . . . unless you have a plan to explain why your initials should be emblazoned on their bathrobe. Promotional items from your company’s “fun day” are also poor choices.

4. When in Doubt, ReWrap (with recycled or “green” wrapping paper, of course).
Gifts should always be in their original condition (i.e. unused and in box). If you’re not fortunate enough to have “an original-condition situation,” then make sure your gift is covered in non-tattered or faded paper. Nothing says this has been sitting in the bottom of my closet like disheveled wrapping paper.

5. Take Notes.
If you are going to regift, be sure you know who gave you what. Keep track in a notebook or computer file. Yes, it’s nerdy, but you’ll be happy you did. Nothing is quite as awkward as regifting to the person who gave you the gift in the first place, especially if that original giver is a grim-faced and resentful relative. You know, the one with a sense of humor akin to a dead fish?

Check back for more tips on living the green life from Olivia Zaleski every Wednesday on the Huffington Post’s Living Now Page.

bath, book, car, Christmas, clothing, Eco-Chick, Energy, epa, fish, Food, garbage, giveaway, giving, Green Gifts, holiday, Holidays, Home, humor, mom, Music, Olivia Zalesk, Olivia Zaleski, paper, recycle, recycled, reduce, resources, reuse, trash, treehugger, video

Recycle Your Toxic Electronics!

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by Starre Vartan · 12/26/07

Did you get a new PDA, mobile phone, laptop, iPod, or other fun gadget for Christmas? If you did, make sure to recycle your old unit. There’s toxic heavy metals and other stuff that can end up in our air and water if it’s just tossed in the garbage. Making it really simple to make sure this stuff doesn’t end up in landfills, or as e-waste in China is Staples’ Eco Easy campaign.

Some not-so-great facts about electronics recycling (or current lack thereof):

+ Only 10 to 15 percent of electronics are currently recycled
+ From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, household waste increases by more than 25 percent.
+ An estimated 133,000 computers are discarded every day in the U.S.
+ There are 750 million cell phones and PDAs in America and that each year 1/3rd are thrown out in favor of new ones.

Staples recycles the following in all of their stores whether you bought the item there or not:

cell phones, chargers, computers and peripherals, CRT and LCD monitors, digital cameras, fax machines, inkjet and toner cartridges, keyboards,
mice, pagers, PDAs, printers, rechargeable batteries, and “all-in-ones”

Kudos to Staples for being the first national retailer to address the problem of e-waste and taking such a bold step to address it! So before you are ready to throw out your old Sony laptops or Samsung phones, keep Staples in mind and help protect the environment!

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Haygarth's Recycled Art

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by Starre Vartan · 12/23/07

A couple days back I was checking out EcoStreet, where Tracy Stokes had written up a great post about Stuart Haygarth’s amazing recycled plastic bottle chandelier. Haygarth took the bottles from the Stanstead (UK) airport where they were among those confiscated by people who forgot to get rid of them before going through security. Waste from reactionary anti-terrorism can be beautiful too.

The excerpt above is just part of the rainbow from ‘Tide Mark.’ You can see the whole image here.

As I delved further into his work, I realized that the chandalier wasn’t the first time Haygarth has created art (and made a statement) about what we throw out. Haygarth has also taken detritus (that’s trash) from his local seashore on the Dungeness coastline in Kent and made it into this gorgeous intstallation and photographic piece. What better way to recycle?

‘Tide Mark’ (2004) which is both an installation piece and a photographic work. Tide Mark is a collection of primarily plastic objects categorized by colour. Starting with white objects and ending with black, a kind of tide mark through the colour spectrum is produced.

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Green Gifts for All the Lovable Weirdoes in Your Life

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by Starre Vartan · 12/07/07

You know those lists of gifts everyone has now? They’re killing me. So I had to make my own because my friends and family are a motley bunch, and the usual stuff (even the usual green stuff) isn’t going to cut it. Plus, they have high expectations because I am an Eco Chick! Sheesh! Well here goes what I’m going to give some of my favorite folks (yes, all of these are actual people in my life!) this year:
For The Discerning Partyer

Who doesn’t love vodka? There are some great ones out there that are organic and/or sustainable. Check out my reviews of 360 vodka and Reyka, which are both good bets. I’ve also enjoyed Square One at more than a couple of green events I’ve attended in the last year. It’s delicious and made from 100% organic rye. If your local liquor store doesn’t carry it, ask them to stock it, or check here.

For the Obsessive-Compulsive Worried Mom’s Kids

Oompa toys are classy and so very adorable so they will fit in with “grown-up” decor from modern to antique. Blocks and playsets are made from wood, not plastic, a healthier, more eco-friendly (and less tacky) choice. Besides the wooden toys, there are super-mod sustainable easels and organic stuffed animals. So cute I kinda want some of these playthings!

For the Essentialist Dad

My Dad’s been a minimalist for years, eschewing anything that isn’t utilitarian; you know, he’s one of those people who’s living room looks a bit like an art gallery with barely a chotchke in sight. He’s also a surfer and loves the ocean as much as I love the mountains, so this year I’m going to give him a Starfish from Oceana, which is an organization that works to protect marine ecosystems. Of course I’m not buying a real starfish, but a symbolic one, which comes with a cute cookie cutter in the shape of a starfish (there are 15 other animals you can buy, each with it’s own cutter). A sugar cookie recipe is included from celebrity chef Warren Brown of eco-friendly bakery CakeLove in DC.

For the Ex Who’s Still a Good Friend

A laptop case from Act2Greensmart is a great gift for someone that deserves a something they can really use. This one is the only one I’ve found that’s 100% recycled as its made from recycled plastic bottles.

For the Vegan Chef

They’ll love you forever if you show up with some vegan marshmellow (technically ricemellow) or hot chocolate mix, both of which are hard-to-find items when you’re totally a totally animal-free eater.

For the Back-to-the-Lander

The Self-Sufficiency Handbook is a comprehensive, illustrated, and detailed new book that gets into the nitty gritty details of how to live an off-the-grid lifestyle. Topics include water collection and storage, soil care, sections on geothermal, wind and solar power, toilet systems, stoves, chicken- and beekeeping and more. Fun reading even if your idea of getting back to nature is sipping a soy latte at the corner cafe al fresco.

For the Design Whore

The Green Glass Company makes this gorgeous, gorgeous glassware, all by recycling wine bottles!

With the machinery Bobby and Kobus custom engineered and built (only one of its kind in the world), The Green Glass Company added a ‘twist’ to its original goblet design. Producing two separate drinking glasses from one bottle without any waste glass was the challenge. The result was separating the bottle into two pieces, creating a tumbler from the bottom portion of the bottle and a goblet from the top portion of the bottle.

For the Green Tech-head

The Hymini is just so damn cool. This little device (it’s about the size of my hand) converts either solar power or wind power into stored charge that you can then connect to your iPod or cell phone for instant energy. Use the wind-converter while you’re riding your bike, on a boat, or just out the window on a breezy day. Use the little solar panel when it’s….sunny! Either way, in about an hour you’ll get enough for two hours of playback on a device. The energy can be stored for about two weeks, so you can collect free energy now and use it whenever. You can also stick it into the wall to grab a charge from conventional power sources. The Hymini has a cool little LED light and it’s cute too!

For the Spa Junkie

There’s a lot of great eco-friendly bath stuff out there. I should know as it’s one of my jobs to keep up on this stuff. But when you’re talking luxury, and you also want some seriously sustainable suds, Maile Kauai makes quite the impressive combo. Most ingredients are organic, and essential oils are wild harvested (meaning they are culled from uncultivated lands without overharvesting). In a handmade box you’ll get (to give) a whole home-spa set including a soy candle, Body Lather, Mango Butter Bun and Body Cream. Choose your Hawaiian-inspired aromatherapy with options of Pikake, Plumeria, Gardenia or Coconut Vanilla.