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May 11, 2007

Green Gear & Recyclables Roundup

I am way behind in my postings and I'm going to apologize now and then try to catch up. I never seem to have enough time, and right now life and work are so busy, it's not even funny. I thought I'd start with a couple of blurbs about products and services I've been using lately.

Stinky Stationary

For my birthday, a friend gave me a recycled paper journal made entirely from elephant excrement, by the The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company. The first thing I did when I opened it up was sniffed it and no, it really doesn't smell. The paper itself is smooth enough for a ballpoint pen but a little rough, which is to be expected in an artsy handmade paper journal. I keep the journal in my purse for jotting down blog ideas I won't have time to write about.

Toothsome Treats

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were going away for the weekend and I realized we had forgotten our toothbrush. As I was at Whole Foods buying the best chocolate bar on Earth (Vermont's Lake Champlain Hazelnut Five Star Bar), I decided to check out their personal care stuff. All of their toothbrushes are made with recycled handles and have replacable brush areas. I snagged Radius's Source Toothbrush with a handle made entirely of renewable plant fibers. Not only is it pretty, it has a very nice large brush surface with wide, radiating bristles. It comes with a replacement brush head. Also, the handle can be reversed for lefties.

Recyclable Disposables

All this running around has made caffeine more necessary. I happened to be in Starbucks the other day and was glad to see so many of their paper products, including their baked goods sleeves, using recycled paper. I've been becoming more and more frustrated with public places that are not providing recycling as an option for their customers.

Cleaner Air...ports

And speaking of recycling. I was very pleased to see that the San Jose International Airport in the Bay Area is now offering recycling bins with all their trash bins. Very few airports do this, but it makes a huge difference since most airports sell a lot of bottles, cans and newspapers. I think all public buildings, especially government ones, should have manditory recycle bins. I also think that counties should pass legislation requiring retail business locations of a certain size (think Wal-Mart, grocery stores, airports, amusement parks, rest stops and malls) to have recycling facilities available as part of their planning.

I had to buy a cross-country plane ticket the other day and I was shopping around for the best fares. I hit upon one that was half the price of all the rest and decided to purchase it through Expedia. When I was going through the checkout process, I was offered an opportunity to purchase a TerraPass, which basically funds clean energy projects enough to offset your flight's carbon emissions. As I was doing two cross country flights, I purchased two $16 passes, which funded 5,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. You also get cool green luggage tags, which just arrived in the mail.

Green Car Rentals

Lastly, when I went to rent a car, I found that a new class of vehicles is available - The Green Cars. In the areas I was visiting, these cars were generally just fuel efficient (28 MPG+) cars like the Ford Fusion, but I know that in places like California, there are more green rental car options. Still, it's a start.

Posted by sorsha at May 11, 2007 2:45 PM