Eco-Cide

Eco Funerals: Weave Your Own Coffin

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:35:05 +0000

Looking for an eco-friendly end to your life? Forget a pine coffin, weave your own final resting place from willows. UK based Musgrove Willows is offering a course where you weave your own coffin, which doubles as a “blanket box” while you wait to die. Except for the fact I want to be cremated, I would love to weave my own coffin. Not sure I want it sitting in my living room though.

Via: Groovy Green

Original article from: Green Options blogs

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Eco-minded Crafts for Kids: The Imagination Factory

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:35:04 +0000

When my daughter started preschool last year, my life as a craft collector began. From rock monsters to paper plate people, our family grew by the day. While I always welcomed the creative creatures and inventions into our home, I was disappointed that many of them were adorned with things that had likely been purchased at dollar stores (i.e. pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, googly eyes), which in addition to being wasteful also made most of them choking hazards for my younger son (80% of the kids had baby brothers or sisters at home).

I was excited to learn about The Imagination Factory, a website dedicated to helping children turn solid waste into art. Marilyn Brackney, founder of The Imagination Factory, is an artist and educator out of Columbus, Indiana who has been reusing materials for art projects for many years. In 1996, she launched her website where she helps visitors learn how to use trash for activities such as drawing, collage, and sculpting. The site also offers educational information for kids, such as how to be a paper saver. Brackney believes that it is often the children who inspire the adults to be more environmentally conscious.

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Original article from: Green Options blogs

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UnTreehugger: Gas Powered Party Blender

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:35:02 +0000

Uhm. Yeah. We’re not sure exactly what this is even used for. Maybe if you need to make enough margaritas to feed an entire army, literally, and in under 2.5 seconds, then what you need my friend is this gas-powered-party-blender. The best thing they have to say about it is that it is “the sensible alternative to cutting ice with a chain-saw.”

It has a “2-stroke, 43cc gas powered variable speed engine” so you can go from chop to puree to obliterate with just the flick of a switch. Did we mention it’s gas-powered? Get one now before gas prices go back up again. Seriously. At $275 USD, don’t worry there’s free shipping, you’d better se…

Original article from: TreeHugger

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Back to School: Not Buying It

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:35:08 +0000

I feel the consumerism of back to school season like a stiff wind in my face. I’m sending my oldest off to preschool, and after 3 years of not caring what she is wearing except for holidays and birthdays, forgetting to brush her hair for days on end, and rarely buying things new for her, I am a bit swept up in how to get her ready.

I’ve been obsessing about backpacks. Really, there is a lot to think about: No PVC (vinyl), lead, no or not much plastic, preferably made in the U.S. with sustainable materials. And all this for under 50 bucks.

I can tell you for preschoolers, it doesn’t exist. (Mama entrepreneurs, take note!). After searching each link on the Center for Health and Justice’s list of back to school items without PVC, I found nothing that would work. I’ve also searched some great resources posted recently on Enviroblog.

I think the search for the backpack is really a front for feeling anxious about letting her go. She is beginning that journey, up up and away, and while that is beautiful and exhilarating, it is also painful and sad for me.

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Original article from: Green Options blogs

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Swift Enterprises Joins Race for Alternative Jet Fuel

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:35:07 +0000

Add another contender to the alternative aviation fuel race: Swift Enterprises. The company, which is based in Indiana, has developed a renewable jet fuel made from landfill waste, sorghum, algae, woodchips, and other feedstocks.

Swift’s biofuel currently costs $60 per gallon to produce, but the company believes that the cost will drop to $1.80 once they begin full-scale production.

And while other companies are also working on alternative fuels for planes, Swift believes that it has the most promising solution.

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Original article from: Green Options blogs

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Organic Beauty View :: For Alima, Natural Isn’t Just A Buzz Word.

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:35:07 +0000

Honestly, “natural” seems to be about a common a word as “green” these days and hands up who besides me is getting tired of the all the rhetoric? Being a natural brand should mean something and that’s exactly the position of Alima Pure. Not content with being ‘just another mineral makeup line, they went in search of the most rigorous and highly coveted natural certification they could find, and passed with flying colors. Being BDIH certified ensures that all the products contain only the safest natural ingredients, and are created and packaged in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.

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Original article from: Green Options blogs

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Green Gym Uses Human-Powered Energy

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:35:12 +0000

The opening of Portland’s The Green Microgym this week seems like a perfect complement to the announcement of M2E’s kinetic charger. Adam Boesel, the gym’s owner, doctored up spin bikes with weed whacker motors and truck alternators so that patrons can create energy to help power the 2,800 foot space.

According to DailyTech, the Team Dynamo and Spin Bikes at the gym can each generate up to 75 watts per hour. Next on Boesel’s list is generating power from elliptical trainers.

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Original article from: Green Options blogs

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‘Commie’ Green Blogger’s 55 MPH Drive Instantly Enacts Crushing Law Upon Others

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:35:12 +0000

I’ve been taking the occasional punch to the kidneys here at Sustainablog. That’s okay. I’m not alone, and it’s par for the course for those who put their real face, real name and real, considered thoughts out to the public.

But some recent comments, especially about the Drive 55 campaign that has been in the general media again lately, have me thinking about some particular gaps in our common understanding and, therefore, overall communication.

Interestingly enough, I’m not even an advocate for a change in speed limit laws. I’m not against such changes. But I’m not pushing for them, either.

What I am is a facilitator of a discussion about the matter that is under consideration for the purpose of saving fuel, money, and lives.

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Original article from: Green Options blogs

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New Life for Old CDs

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:35:11 +0000

This is a guest post by Becky Haas, who is an amateur crafter/environmentalist who also tries to make a living as a professional musician. You can also find her at the craft blog Sew and So.

I have a confession to make…I’m addicted to music. I guess it comes naturally, since that’s what I spend a lot of my time doing. So I always love it when I stumble across a craft project that uses music-related materials, like Kelly Rand’s recent article on things to do with old cassette tapes.

By this point, I don’t have too many old tapes lying around, but what I do have is a lot of CDs–most of which I still listen to. But we all have those CDs that are too scratched up to play properly, or came free in the mail with unwanted software, or have those songs that seriously tempt you to throw the disc out the window if you hear them just one more time, if it wouldn’t be considered littering. So here’s a couple of ideas for things to do with them.

My first thought was jewelry, and it turns out that it’s pretty easy to transform an old CD into that. Here’s what you need for a very basic set of earrings and a necklace:

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Original article from: Green Options blogs

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Every little thing I do is magic*

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:35:09 +0000

From one of my favorite former students:

I know it’s been a long time and you may not remember me with all your students year in and out, but I’ve been reading your environmental econ blog daily the past month. I just want to say thank you and keep up the good work! It’s so refreshing to read intelligent things based on economic theory/principle. I usually balk 10 times a day when I listen to NPR/CNN/MSNBC, (or other people) and realize the things people are buying into (like drilling domestically will lower gas prices tomorrow). I live in Colorado now and as you may know congress just leased off the Roan Plateau to oil and gas. It’s disappointing to see the impacts of misguided thinking influenced more by what the media decides to pick up than fact. Anyhow, I love the blog and it keeps me sane (and glad that I majored in Economics).

Weird: I love the blog and it keeps me insane.

*Note: In case you younger than, oh, 35 or so? A YouTube explanation of post title.

Original article from: Environmental Economics

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