Move with Rent-a-Green-Box and Save Big
March 2nd, 2010
Over 20 percent of the American population packs and moves each year- generating massive quantities of waste, that ultimately ends up in a landfill.
It’s a huge problem and we haven’t had a choice or a green sustainable solution in over 230 years. New or used cardboard boxes are just too expensive, very inefficient, extremely wasteful and really bad for our planet.
Spencer Brown, the founder and brain child behind Rent A Green Box has re-invented the cardboard moving box from 100% hard to recycle plastic trash mined from local landfills. His invention is called The Recopack and it stands for [recycled ecological packing solution]. Available in 3 sizes and delivered direct to your door on our fleet of super green eco-trucks powered by waste vegetable oil and bio-fuel.
The company delivers them a week before you move and pick them up a week after giving you 2 full weeks (14 days) to pack and move. Delivery and Pickup are included in your price. Think about all of the time and effort it takes to build all of those cardboard boxes. No handles and messing with that fussy tape. They have re-invented a better, faster, easier and cheaper way to pack and move.
All you need to do is make one call and they’ll drop off your Recopacks on the delivery date. You pack, stack and move. When the Recopack are empty, just call back and they’ll come over to your new place and pick them up. It’s just that simple.
The company convert massive quantities of post consumer trash to make really cool earth friendly packing and moving products that replace traditional and expensive supplies like cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, and Styrofoam peanuts that are really bad for our Earth. Currently 7 unique products are available, made from various types of post consumer trash. We mine landfills and recycling centers for hard to recycle hdpe #2 plastic bottles, millions of used baby diapers, end of life cardboard sludge, end of life newsprint sludge, post consumer packaged food boxes like cereal boxes and frozen food packaging, end of life recycled aluminum cans and tons of plastic bottle caps to make our earth friendly moving products.
Go Green Tips, Go Green and Save Money, Green Home, Re-use it. New green life for old things
Call For Action: I do 30 – do you?
February 26th, 2010
Biotech company Novozymes calls for action, urging consumers to “do 30” when doing their laundry.
“I do 30” campaign was launched by Novozymes on July 2010. The campaign asks consumers to turn down the temperature on their washing machines to reduce their CO2 emissions, while still getting their clothes clean.
”By doing something as simple as this in our daily lives, each and every one of us can support the fight against climate change, encourage fashion to be more sustainable, and take better care of our precious clothes at the same time,” says Eva Kruse, CEO of the Danish Fashion Institute. “This is why we have chosen to support ‘I do 30’, and I hope many of the fashion people gathered here in Copenhagen will do the same,” she says.
Help make your planet as clean as your pants
A number of leading figures from Danish fashion, media and politics have already signed up to the campaign.
Join ”I do 30”, spread the word, and send a message
The campaign is counting the number of people who sign up via facebook or at www.ido30.org. For the moment more than 16 thousands people joined this green campaign. “I do 30” is about sending a clear message: we want a cleaner planet, we want climate-friendly products, and we are ready to make it happen!
Help fight climate change
“’I do 30′ is about washing clothes at low temperatures, but it’s also about something bigger than that,” says Steen Riisgaard, CEO of Novozymes. “It’s about raising awareness that there are already many technologies that can be used to help fight climate change. ‘I do 30’ asks consumers to make a statement that they’re willing to make climate-friendly choices in their daily lives,” he says.
Europe alone can save 12 million tons of CO2
By washing at lower temperatures, moving from 60 or 40 °C to 30 °C, Europeans can save 12 million tons of CO2 a year, the equivalent of taking 3 million cars off Europe’s roads – all this and the chance to save on the electricity bill too!
If you have your own Go Green Tips – share them with the world! Post them here and you might get featured on the LiveGreenStyle.com home page!
Refreshing Green Idea from Pepsi
February 16th, 2010
Cause marketing is a type of marketing involving a “for profit” business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. It differs from corporate giving (philanthropy) as the latter generally involves a specific donation that is tax deductible, while cause marketing is a PR relationship generally not based on a donation.
This is a powerful marketing tool that business and nonprofit organizations are increasingly leveraging. The Pepsi Refresh Project is a groundbreaking effort to foster innovation in social good. This year, the company will award $20 million to the best ideas for moving communities forward. Beginning last January 13th, individuals apply for grants to benefit projects of their own design in one of six categories: Health, Education, Food & Shelter, Neighborhoods, Arts & Culture, and the Planet. Through an online, democratic process, the public will determine the winning grants every month.
In a partnership with the Good organization, they’re looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact for the planet as a whole. From Education to Health and the Environment. These ideas should be feasible and completed 12 months from the date you receive the first funds. They also must benefit projects taking place and serving the US. Each month, a maximum of 1,000 ideas can be submitted and there will be up to 32 potential Grant Recipients selected.
Unfortunately for the rest of the world, only legal residents of one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia are eligible to apply.
Pedestrian Footsteps Converted Into Energy
January 29th, 2010
If the energy people expend dancing and working out can power cellphones, lights and other electrical appliances, why not apply the same concept to all the energy spent by millions of people every day simply walking along city sidewalks? That’s exactly the premise behind Pavegen slabs, which can be inserted among regular sidewalk sections to capture the kinetic energy people spend just walking.
Each rubber slab from UK-based Pavegen Systems gets depressed by about 5 mm each time it gets stepped on. Using just that small movement, it can convert the kinetic energy used into electricity, which is then stored in the slab. Specifically, 5 percent of the energy harvested is used to make the slab’s LED glow, making it clear to users that their energy has been captured. The rest can be used to power pedestrian lighting, information displays and many other applications. Pavegen’s patent-protected green technology has also been used to harvest energy from users’ footsteps on stairs; custom branding is available.
Following recent tests in East London, Pavegen is now seeking both investors and additional testing sites for its eco-iconic innovation. One to get in on early…?
Library of Green Building Materials
January 27th, 2010
For architects and industrial designers, finding sustainable materials to use in building projects has long been a challenge, with providers and information scattered all across the web. Ecolect, which just launched last fall, aims to provide a single, central library of sustainable materials that makes it easier for designers to be “green.”
Rhode Island-based Ecolect, which was founded by two Rhode Island School of Design graduates, hopes to save designers time and money by answering three important questions: where to find sustainable materials, what makes them sustainable, and who else is using them and how. Toward that end, the site features materials with sustainable attributes—eco paints and bamboo flooring, for example—complemented by content that stimulates discussion about sustainability. Case studies illustrate the successful use of sustainable design, and users can contribute reviews and images of materials in use. The site’s blog, meanwhile, discusses how ecology affects the world. Ad-supported Ecolect is free for users.
“We saw a unique and unmet need in the marketplace,” explains Matt Grigsby, one of the site’s cofounders. “From there, we set out to not only create the world’s first free and accessible sustainable materials library, but also build a tight-knit global community, where individuals from around the world can go to learn and connect around the issue of sustainable design.”
Grigsby won last year’s Rhode Island Innovation Awards Rising Star Innovator title for his role in developing Ecolect, and the company itself has been named a finalist in the 2008 SXSW Web Awards, the winner of which will be named next month. The trend toward sustainability isn’t going away anytime soon, so the opportunities are many in supporting and informing those who make it happen. Since the distribution of building materials varies widely by country/region, this is definitely one to set up in your own neck of the woods. Or how about applying the concept to other industries?
Green design: Agua Table by Domingos Tótora
January 25th, 2010
This gorgeous table is a stunning example of natural, sustainable, green design at its best. Made by the Brazilian independent artist Domingos Totora, the Agua Table is just one example of his gorgeous, yet functional sustainable designs.
Amazingly, those giant rocks supporting the table are actually made from recycled kraft paper and natural pigment. As with all of his creations, the material is completely sustainable, the design completely organic.
Totora works from his studio in Brazil, where he embraces sustainable design in all of his works. From kraft paper furniture to sculptural vases , he attempts to preserve the natural beauty and elements of Brazil.
You can see more of his work on his website, which is unfortunately written in Portuguese, or at Touch, where they sell a number of gorgeous, sustainable designs from emerging artists around the world.
It may look like a rock, and it may even roll like one, but this glass is not being held up by rocks
Raw material cardboard
Substance of cardboard and glue
Moulding of the pieces
Finishing the pieces
Studio of Domingos Tótora
Green Business, Re-use it. New green life for old things, True Green Interesting Facts
Glamorous Christmas Decor on a budget – use your old PET bottles and creativity!
December 24th, 2009
If you love to decorate your home on your own – they are simple but well looking green projects that cost just cents and will impress your guests and give you and your family many creative and funny memories.
All you need is:
- 4 plastic bottles as the main material
- left over sparkles from projects, postcards, etc.
- some beads of different colours and sizes
- a leftover balloon with gold paint from last Christmas
Cut out shapes with scissors, and use a needle heated on a fire to make holes.
Snowflakes are fixed with see-thought tape to the wall. They are so light in weight, that even the biggest one (diameter around 30 cm) will hold on.
Go Green Tips, Go Green and Save Money, Green Home, Re-use it. New green life for old things
Air Drying Clothes
November 25th, 2009
Air Drying Clothes Without A Clothesline
by Jill Cooper
We all know that if we don’t dry our clothes in the dryer we save on electricity, but many of us don’t think about how the dryer reduces the life of our clothes. For a long time I couldn’t understand why so many people were buying scads of socks and underwear for their families every few months.
* * *
When my children were growing up, they almost never wore out their underwear and socks and we owned only about a quarter as many pair as most people. No, I didn’t buy some name brand known for its child proof quality. I usually bought the least expensive ones I could find.
Fast forward a couple decades. One day after folding my grandson’s new underwear, I noticed that the waistband was terribly rippled. After doing some research, I discovered the answer: The dryer was destroying the rubber elastic in the socks and underwear.
I rarely dried my family’s clothes in the dryer, so the elastic never broke down. It doesn’t just happen with underwear – Have you ever noticed pilling (those little fabric balls) on your clothes and linens and the resulting lint in the dryer? That is the result of the fibers being rubbed thin. The dryer also shrinks clothes and sets in stains.
The two reasons I think most people don’t line dry their clothes are that they think it is inconvenient or they’re just not sure how to do it. Here are some of the best tips I have found to air dry clothes without a clothes line.
Though I don’t use the dryer to dry my clothes, I do use it for five minutes or so with some loads (just long enough to fluff the clothes). I put one load in the dryer and only leave then there as long as it takes me to load the washer with the next load.
If you have no clothesline, you live in an apartment or your homeowners association won’t allow clotheslines, here are a few ways to dry without a clothesline.
You need at least one drying rack and some type of clothes rod. You can buy drying racks at most discount stores or hardware stores. You might locate a clothes rod in your laundry room above the dryer, use a sturdy shower curtain rod in the bathroom or get a metal clothes racks that hooks over the back of a door. You don’t need much. I can hang two loads of laundry on one drying rack and 2 feet of clothes rod.
Hanging on a Clothes Rod
Hang as many items as you can on clothes hangers, beginning with the obvious things like dresses, dress shirts and blouses and hang the hangers on a clothes rod to dry. Be sure not to put the hangers too close together or the clothes will not dry. You can also hang things like pajama tops, t-shirts, small kids shirts and one piece outfits. Lightweight pants, pajama bottoms, skirts and sweats can be pinned on clothes hangers and even sheets can be folded and hung on them. If you are really short of drying rack space, you can hang socks, underwear, wash rags, hand towels and towels on hangers and add them to your clothes rod, too.
Hanging on a Clothes Rack
When hanging clothes on a drying rack, I start at the bottom with socks and underwear, wash rags and baby clothes. Young children’s clothes and hand towels go on the middle layer and the top rack is for towels, jeans, pillow cases, sweaters, sweats, pajama bottoms and t-shirts. I try to use every inch of space, so if I put a pillow case on the rack and there are a couple of inches left next to it I put a sock there. I even hook bras on the corners of the rack.
Drying racks are handy because they can be moved to speed up the drying process. Place them outside on a sunny (but not windy) day. Inside the house, try putting them over a vent and the heat or air conditioner will dry them faster. If you don’t have central heat or air then you can place them in front of your heater or a fan. Don’t place clothes close enough to heaters to be a fire hazard.
If you are short on space and don’t want to look at a drying rack in the middle of the room, do the laundry before bed, hang it and in most cases it will be dry by morning (especially if you set it above an air vent).
Try hanging large king sized sheets or blankets over your shower rod, over the rail of your deck, between two lawn chairs or folded in half or quarters over your clothes rack. When you fold large items, you must flip and turn them every 5-10 hours so that each side gets dry.
Sometimes it is useful to hang a clothesline in the basement or attic. Be sure to check out your department stores and hardware stores for other ideas. They have many clever items like retractable clotheslines, things to hang over doors and some not so new ideas like extra large drying racks that can hold two loads of laundry each.
Even though this may sound complicated at first, once you do it a few times it becomes second nature to you. Pretty quickly, you will discover the most efficient way to hang your clothes on the rack. I know automatically that three wash rags fit across the bottom bar of my rack and the two socks will fit next the that particular t-shirt. It’s like putting a puzzle together- the first time takes you longer than the times after that because you know where the pieces fit.
Dry your clothes outside
November 9th, 2009
Why do people dry their stuff in driers?
First of all, they are used to it. Habit is a King, and no options are taken in consideration.
- It’s convenient.
- The using of outdoor clotheslines are prohibited in many communities.
- Laundry lines are still associated with old fashion stile of living and even with poverty.
Times are changing, and regulations against outdoor clotheslines are crumbling as more people now associate them with green style of living.
Do you know that by just drying clothes outside instead of using a dryer you can save up to 6% of household energy?
So, what are the benefits of drying your clothes outside?
- You will save a lot of energy and your money.
- You can save on fresh air dryer sheets that you used to put in with your laundry….and enjoy the REAL fresh air!
- It’s one more step to greening your life.
- This will actually help add humidity to the dry winter air in your home.
- Less known fact, your clothes will last longer and retain their color better.
if you can’t use clotheslines, at least start drying small stuff at the laundry dryer!
If you have your own Go Green and Save Money Ideas – share them with the world! Post them here and you might get featured on the LiveGreenStyle.com home page!
$42 K tax break on the hottest electric sports car on the planet: best green incentive or worthless spending?
November 6th, 2009
It sounds too good to be true, but here it is: You can buy a 2009 Tesla Roadster, with a list price of $109,900, and pay just $67,800 for it. At least, you can if you live in Colorado and buy it before December 31. That’s when a special Colorado tax credit, designed to encourage the purchase of low-emission cars, is due to be capped to eliminate the huge credit end.
$42K Tesla tax credit details
Colorado residents can get a credit on their 2009 income tax for up to 85 percent of the difference between the price of certain alternative-fueled vehicles and the price of an equivalent vehicle running on liquid fuel.
In the case of the 2009 Tesla Roadster, the tax credit is $42,083. Which translates to a healthy 38.6-percent discount on a brand-new Tesla.
That’s better than the best incentive you could get on some deeply undesirable model from the most desperate dealer in the country. And this sounds like the most generous green government rebate ever.
The generous Tesla tax credit has car-lovers stunned and amused and some taxpayers fuming with anger.
“Colorado is broke, but they can offer a $42,000 rebate on a sports car,” one critic emailed 7News.
“Is the thin air up there distorting people’s better judgment?” joked Jeremy Korzeniewski on green.autoblog.com.
“A good question is how do Colorado tax payers feel about their hard earned money going to the wealthy to purchase a Tesla Roadster?
While the rest of you/us and our employers are tightening our belts to get through these tough financial times, your liberal state government (and Federal for that matter) is spending like gamblers in Las Vegas, giving the wealthy who purchase a $109,900 Tesla a $42,000 discount.”- says iReport.
That bodacious deal is partly why state lawmakers earlier this year passed a measure to cap the clean-machine tax credit at no more than $6,000.
But that law doesn’t take effect until January, giving eco-minded — and rich — motorists a couple months to buy the sleek two-seater that flies from zero to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds.
“Someone who can afford a $109,000 car does not need a $40,000 tax credit,” said Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a Denver Democrat and member of the Joint Budget Committee.
“I do think it’s ridiculous that people are buying a luxury car and getting a tax credit that’s equal to, greater than what most people by a normal car for,” Ferrandino added. “For every car that’s bought over this time, we’re losing $43,000 roughly on this car, so that’s money that we won’t have coming into the state otherwise that would help us.”
It’s timely news for Tesla Motors, which is launching its first Colorado showroom — they call it a “gallery” — on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall Friday night. Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes said the company had several motives for expanding to Colorado, including the tax credit.
“It’s no coincidence that we try to go to markets where they have laws on the books that try to promote clean cars,” Reyes told the Denver post.
State officials expected no more than 10 taxpayers to take advantage of the Tesla tax credit, said Mark Couch, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Revenue.
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