Green Products Blog | Green Depot - Archive

Harvesting the Power of the Sun

The sunniest – and hottest – days of summer are upon us. While these days might be some of the most uncomfortable ones to bear, they also are the longest, and have the most potential for harvesting the power of the sun, using solar technology.

The mobile devices we use every day are remarkable tools, and using them can significantly reduce our paper consumption. But these devices have a dark side: they recharge by drawing on the power grid – and, most likely, fossil fuels – to charge.

Luckily, there are affordable and effective options available on the market for the individual looking to reduce their reliance on the fossil-fuel powered grid. Below are two options by Solio which may be of interest to our readers.

GREEN DEPOT SOLUTIONS

The Solio Mono T solar charger is the perfect companion for living the urban lifestyle wherever you are. Its compact nature allows you to slip it in your pocket or throw in a bag-its durable Lexan shell resists breakage. Designed for the urban enthusiast with a green streak, the Mono battery pack will keep you switched on at a cool price! It works with almost any electronic gadget you own–camera, PDA/phone, GPS, etc.–and stores power very reliably so it’s ready anytime, day or night.

The Solio Rocsta Hybrid Solar Charger is heavier duty than the Best Energy System Classic. Its built-in carabiner makes it ideal for hikers, bikers, climbers, and backpackers and can also charge ahead of time from a wall socket or USB port.

For green building materials, like eco insulation, as well as many other green products for a sustainable lifestyle, visit http://www.greendepot.com.

Caroma: Greening Your Home, One Flush at a Time

August 7th, 2011 | Posted by tjones in Green Products | Living Green | Water Conservation - (1 Comments)

You might be surprised at how much water your toilet consumes over time! Fortunately for environmentally-conscious homeowners everywhere, companies like Caroma are leading the way in water conservation in the bathroom.

The United States EPA launched a partnership program in 2006 that seeks to promote water efficiency around the country. According to Watersense, more than 240 millions Americans rely on public water consumption for their every day use, accounting for more than 43 billion gallons per day. A family of four uses up to 400 gallons water per day on average.

The EPA reports that if the average home retrofitted itself with WaterSense certified toilets and faucets, we could save more than 120 billion gallons and more than $800 million dollars annually.

GREEN DEPOT SOLUTIONS

Green Depot carries Caroma brand toilets, including Caroma Dual-Flush toilets and sinks.

Caroma is a manufacturer with a history of water efficiency. The company was founded in 1941, and has since become the market leader in reduced-flush water efficiency products, citing its “total commitment to water conservation.”

Dual-flush toilets give the user the ability to choose more or less water when needed, by pressing one of two distinct buttons. Smaller flushes use about 0.8 gallons, and larger flushes use 1.2 – 1.6 gallons. All Caroma products are certified by EPA-Watersense as a water-saving device.

For green building materials, like eco insulation, as well as many other green productsfor a sustainable lifestyle, visit http://www.greendepot.com.

When a Baby is on the Way

August 5th, 2011 | Posted by tjones in Living Green - (0 Comments)

You’re expecting! Congratulations! Once the initial euphoria (or perhaps shock) has worn off, it’s time to start doing some research on what to expect, and how to create a home environment that will be healthy for both you and your (new) family. Here are some resources that we at Green Depot would heartily endorse:

CallingAllCoolMoms.com: Calling All Cool Moms is a blog written with humor and candor on pregnancy and raising a new baby. Learning from someone else’s experience can be heartening – lots of women have been through the experience before, and it’s always reassuring to know that you’re not alone.

Babybites: Babybites is a social and educational community for moms and moms-to-be, connecting New York City area women through social activities and meetups. Sharing knowledge on parenting can be empowering – and so can building new friendships.

Celebrate Green!: Celebrate Green! may not be website devoted specifically to raising baby, but it’s a good resource on how to throw events – like a baby shower or birthday party – in a way which is environmentally-conscious and healthy.

Green and Clean Mom: Green and Clean Mom is a professional website for mothers looking for ways to making their own lives and the lives of their families more environmentally-sustainable. It’s a bevy of ideas and resources on how to live, and raise kids, more sustainably.

GREEN DEPOT SOLUTIONS

Green Depot is ready to help you get your home ready for your new family. Our baby section features books on parenting, healthy bedding, build-a-nursery kits, furniture (like cribs!), bottles, clothing, safety accessories, area rugs, and toys and gifts. It’s a great place to get started.

For green building materials, like eco insulation, as well as many other green products for a sustainable lifestyle, visit http://www.greendepot.com.

Going Green by Putting By for the Winter

July 26th, 2011 | Posted by tjones in Green Products | Living Green | Waste Reduction - (0 Comments)

image: flickr user smoovey

One of the hallmarks of the sustainability movement is a recognition that many of the ways we have conventionally consumed food over the last fifty-odd years haven’t been the most sustainable. We turn to organics to be kinder to our bodies and our earth; we turn to natural, unprocessed foods to eat more healthfully and more naturally.

But consuming foods out-of-season can be a detriment to the environment – and in turn, to ourselves – as well. According to the International Institute for Environment and Development and Oxfam, food in the U.S. in 2004 traveled an average of 5,120 miles from farm to fork. That represents a seriously carbon-intensive way of sourcing our food supply.

Buying tomatoes or strawberries or almost any fresh produce in the winter (at least for those of us on the East Coast, or in the Northern Hemisphere) almost invariably means that food has traveled a long distance, from warmer climates. So what can you do about that?

GREEN DEPOT SOLUTIONS

Canning! Canning is one of the most surefire ways to preserve fresh fruits and vegetables from your garden, CSA, or the farmer’s market for the winter. Stocking up and canning now can ensure a steady supply of healthy foods throughout the winter, sourced locally.

Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff is a new, updated guide to canning fruits, vegetables, chutneys and more, containing over 150 recipes. With recipes for canning like “Classic Peach Jam,” “Salsa Verde,” and “Zucchini Pickles” – and recipes for foods to be enjoyed with canned foods “Applesauce Cake,” “Rustic Almond Cake,” and “Joe’s Basic French Bread,” this handy guide is all you need for year-round inspiration.

Green Depot carries Weck Canning Jars with Glass Lids. These jars are available in a variety of shapes and sixes, and have unique glass lids with rubber gaskets, meaning no BPAs. They stack easily, and have wide mouths making them easy to fill and clean.

For green building materials, like eco insulation, as well as many other green products for a sustainable lifestyle, visit http://www.greendepot.com.

Checking Your Green Credentials – and Learning How to Do Better!

July 24th, 2011 | Posted by tjones in Environment | Living Green - (0 Comments)

One little personal sustainability tool that we here at Green Depot are fond of is Practically Green’s green quiz. We’re sure that a lot of folks who are interested in how to boost their “green credentials” have taken sustainability lifestyle tests before – whether about your carbon footprint, or your water consumption, or you energy and fuel usage.

Practically Green takes sustainability quizzing in another direction, though, to not only provide an evaluation of your sustainability efforts (or perhaps lack of effort, as it were). The site takes your results and turns them into both a tool to help you find resources to do more, and to use those new tools as a way to engage with others using social media, to help them boost their sustainability credentials. It’s a five-minute green quiz, bundled together with a web 2.0 sensibility.

As Practically Green’s website says, their tools help you to figure out better what you’re doing, and what more you could be doing. PG is a resource providing an assessment of your lifestyle in the areas of energy, health, “stuff”, and water; customizable suggestions for further actions; a robust interactive database of effective environmental actions and products; a social network; and ultimately a practical way for anybody to live more sustainably.

Click the link below to visit PG and take the quiz! And don’t be discouraged if your results don’t come back as “superbly green.” Despite all my efforts, I only scored a 7 out of 10.

http://practicallygreen.com/quiz

For green building materials, like eco insulation, as well as many other green products for a sustainable lifestyle, visit http://www.greendepot.com.

Ensuring a Healthier You: The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011

July 19th, 2011 | Posted by tjones in Current Events | Living Green - (0 Comments)

The cosmetics industry is astonishingly unregulated. The most recent law governing the safety of ingredients that may go into cosmetics – for everything from moisturizer to shampoo to lipstick – is the Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act of 1938. This ancient relic of a bill is so outdated that it allows known poisons and toxins into cosmetic products – like lead in lipstick, or hormone disruptors in fragrances.

On June 24 of this year, Representatives Schakowsky, D-Ill., Markey, D-Mass., and Baldwin, D-Wisc., introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 designed to update the aging Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act of 1938. Doing so would grant regulatory authority to the FDA that it is now lacking, ensuring that all cosmetic products are free of harmful ingredients, and that all ingredients are fully disclosed by the companies that produce them. As it stands, it is the industry itself that is responsible for all regulation and disclosure, which has lead to some surprising lack of oversight in the last 70-odd years.

Last year Annie Leonard (of the Story of Stuff fame) produced a new video chronicling the lack of oversight of the cosmetics industry, and what that means for consumers: The Story of Cosmetics. The video is fun and informative. Check it out by clicking the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfq000AF1i8

For green building materials, like eco insulation, as well as many other green productsfor a sustainable lifestyle, visit http://www.greendepot.com.

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