reuse
The Green GTL (Gym Tan Laundry) Bag by ‘The Situation’
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, made famous on MTV’s Jersey Shore reality television show, is now jumping into greener endeavors. Pairing up with Green Garmento to offer his own official limited edition version of the eco-friendly all-in-one reusable drycleaning and laundry bag.
Tote your dry cleaning to an eco-friendly CO2 dry cleaner in a sleek black or green GTL logo reusable garmemt bag. Cut down on your plastic bag usage and pick up some GTL style.
“There’s nothing sexy about plastic bags,” says Mike.
Sorrentino is fist pumping the estimated 300,000,000 pounds of drycleaning plastic that ends up in US landfills and waterways each year out of existence. Available for only $11.99, it could be one of the coolest and greenest things to come out of the Jersey Shore. › Continue reading
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
Our landfills are filling up faster than ever, and the garbage problem, is only getting worse. Recycling the obvious cans, bottles, and cardboard are the first step. Beyond that, it’s our job to develop green shopping habits that will help us lead a more sustainable lifestyle. I’ve listed some of the eco-friendly shopping tips that have come in handy for me, as I’ve tried to rethink the way I shop, and develop more sustainable habits in my life.
Tips for eco-smart shopping:
- Try out your local thrift stores. Second hand stores are great, and they’re full of things for you to reuse. I live in a very affluent area of California, and the thrift stores are full of clothes and books that have barely, if ever, been used. Plus they are dirt cheap! I can find the greatest button up shirts and cookbooks at thrift st
ores. I not only get to feel great about reducing my monthly spending, but I get to feel good about buying used products instead of adding to the landfill.
- Give your old stuff to charity. Just as thrift stores are great for finding great stuff, they’re also a more eco-friendly way of getting rid of your stuff. Most charities for the homeless, or lower income families, are always in need of used clothes, books, or toys. This is a great way to give back to the community while reducing your net output.
- Cut back on your purchases. With the economy the way it is, it’s the perfect time to cut down on your purchases. Reducing your “stuff”starts by reducing what you buy, and keeping it down to the essentials. How many times have we found a screaming deal on something at our favorite store, only to watch it sit in our house unused, and wasted? › Continue reading
Recycle Your Greywater Into Your Landscaping
Harvesting rainwater is a great way to reuse the free water from the sky, however, unless you have a lot of rain barrels and a lot of rain, the dry season will cut your supply short- or will it? Grey water is another great source to recycle from since it is just being wasted by going down the drain.
Greywater is non-sewage waste water from your sinks, bathtub and laundry drains that is safe for your yard. The benefit to recycling or reusing this water is that it recharges aquifers and waters your plants while nature cleans the water. It is even better if the only thing going down the drain are natural cleaners, detergents and soaps. An individual may produce 15,600 gallons of greywater a year, all of which is wasted by going down the drain when it can be safely used on landscaping. Buckets have been used to collect this water from bathtubs, but can be cumbersome and labor intensive and there are easier ways.
Flotender has a great automated system that acts as a collection, storage and irrigation system all in one. Available for your rain collection devices as well, this system gathers your rainwater or greywater and pumps it out to your landscaping through a drip irrigation system. They have other systems available so you can customize the irrigation system to your needs, but they all use the same principle- collect the recycled water and distribute it to your plants. Hook it up to your rain barrels, tap it into your greywater drains and never have to water your yard again!
Neogreen Insulated Lunch Totes and Kozees
I usually tote my lunch to work in a re-used paper bag, but by the end of the week that bag ends up looking pretty haggard. Thankfully the guys over at Neogreene heeded my call and sent me one of their new eco-friendly insulated lunch tote along with a waterbottle cozy.
Many of you may remember my article a little while back about green neoprene technology, where I first mentioned Neogreene and their laptop sleeves. They have since expanded their line to include lunch totes, water bottle cozies and wine bottle carriers in a spread of color combination’s.
Aside from how green they are, they are also very cool looking and well constructed. I have to be honest in saying the shapes are a bit feminine for me (rounded corners and such make them look a bit like womens handbags) but my girlfriend loves them. I’m not giving up the cozy though- it is perma-plastered to my stainless steel kleen kanteen.
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.
Eco-Friendly Friday – Sustainable Sushi n Rice + Tshirts
If you are following me on Twitter, you probably already have seen many of these, so start following @chicecologist for up-to-the-minute eco-friendly updates from The Chic Ecologist. Hope you are having a great Friday, and hopefully this will make it even better!
Sustainable Sushi
If you love sushi like I do, then you should check out Seafood Watch’s sustainable seafood initiative. You may already carry around a pocket guide (or the cool iphone app they have), but now you can help your favorite sushi restaurants also be more aware of the seafood they serve.
You can even get a sushi kit by pledging to get sustainable with your sushi. The kit includes chopsticks, sustainable sushi cards and informational brochures to leave with your sushi chef. For those who don’t know, Seafood watch is a part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a very respected marine institution.
Free Rice
Helping to feed the hungry and improving your vocabulary don’t seem like they go together, but freerice.com pairs them like white on rice. For every correct answer you get, you donate (through their sponsors) 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program.
Let me tell you, it gets very addicting, and before you know it you have a bowl-full of rice on the screen. You can even change the subject to different languages, geography, math, chemistry, even art! If you are a teacher, or know a teacher, pass it on to the students- they will love the game-like play and visual rewards. All for a great cause.
T shirt recycling
Andy over at hideyourarms.com put together a great blog article on how to customize and recycle your old t-shirts. From scarfs to dog clothes, pillow cases, underwear and more. Tons of great ideas, videos and how-to’s to reuse those favorite old T’s.
Recycled Totes and Bags – UrthBags
I have always been intrigued by the many creative materials used for recycled content bags, especially things like juice boxes. I recently purchased a recycled fire hose bag which I have been delighted with, and I have several recycled cotton, plastic and vinyl bags for shopping and such, but UrthBags has taken the cake with their creative reuse and recycled materials.
With everything from bright and colorful recycled juice box clutches, to understated but exotic coconut & sea shell bags, UrthBags utilize just about anything that our society produces plenty of. Recycled Newspaper, Magazine, and Telephone Book Bags are formed into purses, messenger bags, tote bags, diaper bags and more.
They were kind enough to send me a juice box bag so I could get a closer look at the quality and composition of their products, and I must say it was impressive. They really take the reuse and recycling idea seriously as the bag was packaged and delivered in a re-used box (plus one for practicing what you preach!) The bag was woven together in a tight and sturdy pattern exploding with color. It had a feel similar to a vinyl or soft plastic, but did not appear ‘cheap’ or ‘flimsy’, rather the opposite- it was of exceptional quality. My girlfriend quickly snatched it from me to become her new traveling makeup bag.
High Flying Recycled Retro Furniture
Vintage planes are like vintage automobiles, they have a certain class and distinct style about them. Some people like them, and some people love them. I personally love all the polished aluminum, patterned rivets and sleek forms of the aircraft from the past- back when you used to wear a suit on the plane and they used to fly to places like Havana.
MotoArt brings that feeling right into to your living room, bedroom or office with their vintage aircraft furniture. Sourced from actual pieces of aircraft history, each design incorporates a meticulously cleaned and polished piece of and truly unique vintage plane. More than recycled or reused, these pieces are re-fashioned to accentuate their beauty and design.
Most pieces are modernized into desks, beds and office components- a meld of vintage technology with modern technology into a wondrous work of art. If automotive is more your thing, you may want to check out these vintage car furniture designs.
Don’t Recycle Soda and Sparkling Water Bottles
As you may have guessed from previous posts about eco plastic bottled water and soda bottle reuse, I’m not a big fan of these ubiquitous containers. With the average American consuming over 600 cans or bottles of soda and sparkling water each year, think of the environmental impact of reducing just a fraction of that.
Enter the perfect replacements – reusable containers paired with water filters and CO2 infusers! I am almost overwhelmed at the reasons why these are such great devices, here are just a few:
- Huge reduction of ‘disposable’ glass bottles, plastic bottles and cans
- Reduction in indirect transport-related emissions (from moving all those very heavy, liquid filled containers)
- Make your own sparkling mineral water and soda (without High Fructose Corn Syrup)
- unlimited flavor combination’s
- no more ‘flat’ drinks wasted or thrown away- just recharge them
- it’s cheaper!
