Toxins in your House

When you're working on making your house more green and environmentally safe you also have to think about making your body more safe. There are toxins in your house that can eventually create respiratory problems, cause weight gain and slow your metabolism making you feel tired.
These toxins are found in everyday common house cleaners. Recent EPA reports show that indoor pollutent levels are two to five times higher than outdoor levels, and a lot of that pollution is caused by our household cleaners.

One new chemical enters industrial use every 20 minutes," says Paula Baillie-Hamilton, MD, only to join many hundreds of thousands of synthetic chemicals already in use. "As a result, the average person living in the developed world is now contaminated with up to 500 industrial toxins, few of which have been properly tested for harmful effects."
[Source: www.mindfull.org]

There are a large number of companies that provide organic, toxic free cleaners. I'm sure there are many cleaners in your own grocery store that are organic. Rather than let these household toxins slow you down, get organic and help your body stay healthier.

Today's Green News: A Summery

Loblaw's Superstore in Milton, Ont., has become the first big-box store in North America to ban the plastic bag. Galen Weston, Loblaw Companies Inc.'s executive chairman, tells CBC News Morning about the grocery chain's green initiative.
[Source: CBC.ca

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Organic fashion includes silk dresses, certified organic t-shirts and linen jeans. 'Under the Canopy' is an organic clothing line out of Boca Raton. They've designed a line that's eco-friendly down to the natural dyes.

Owner Barbara Cavanaugh says, "The main fabric we're using is organic cotton and that means the cotton is grown without the use of any kind of pesticides."

That's a big deal when you consider that 25-percent of the world's pesticide use goes to growing conventional cotton, according to the World Health Organization.
[Source: Fristcoastnews.com

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BUND: Busting Earth Marketing

Heres a great ad campaign from BUND.

Titled: "The world can't take anymore CO2."

Members of the BUND put globe-balloons on exhaust-pipes of cars in Berlin. The exhaust gas inflates the balloons. And after the message becomes readable, there is a big bang.

Greening Up Your House In London Ontario: Episode One

So this is the start of what i'm assuming will be a multiple part blog on my experiences trying to make my house more environmentally friendly. I'm going to look into everything from solar power for lighting and heat, to building my own garden watering reservoir. I'm mainly doing this in the London, Ontario area because I want to show the readers from this locale how to make your house more eco friendly from any possible local resources.
I just want to point out that any companies that I talk about have no idea i'm doing this right now so it is in no way an endorsement to them.

So the first course of action in making your home more green is to see what local sources there are.
Searching online, I found a renewable energy supplier in London called 'The R.E. Source Store'. They supply everything from solar panels to lightbulbs.
Hitting up the phone book I found "UL Lovett Inc" which specialise in 'Tubular Skylights', wind generators and some solar heaters.
There are also a slew of 'Environmental Consultants' which I have no idea what they do. I'll have to call one sometime and ask.

Going by this list I can see that finding eco friendly products may be hard in this area. Prices seem to be pretty high, which makes buying them tough for anyone not in the 6 figure-a-year bracket. I guess i'm going to have to research a bit more into where I can build my own energy savers on a small budget. I'm thinking that stores like Home Depot will be of use for some of the minor parts.


Next Episode: Creating a garden watering reservoir.

Upcycling: The Fourth 'R'

Here is a great article from www.etsy.com, explaining the idea of 'upcycling', which goes beyond recycling and utilizes used products for new uses, such as art or jewelery. Why should the recycling companies have all the fun?
The article goes on to say how, even when buying green products, you still contribute to the landfills eventually. What upcycling hopes to do is take a waste product (say glass bottles) and use them for something that will be sustained continually(say in building supplies). One hopes that in the future we can find better uses for used products, maybe as something that is functional in our lives!

Here's the full story.

New Mexico: Restaurant Plans on Wind Power

Chipotle Mexican Grill in Gurnee Mills, New Mexico, has gotten the zoning permits for building a a 60 foot wind turbine to power their new restaurant. The project is expected to cost about $60000 USD and will pay for itself in 10-15 years. This is just one of the new wave of companies going entirely green power.
Chipotle restaurants are also known for their use of farm bred pork instead of using 'factory farms' where pigs are kept in crates since birth and don't even have the opportunity to move on their own. Chipotle believes in using the old fashioned farm way of raising pigs:

Since 2001, all of the pork served in our restaurants has been from pigs raised in this humane, ecologically sustainable way. In addition to all of our pork, nearly 60 percent of our chicken and more than 40 percent of our beef is naturally raised. And we'll continue until all of our meats in all of our restaurants meet this standard.
-Taken From www.chipotle.com

Its good to see companies who are this conscious of the world.

German Car Show

From the Wall Street Journal:

The Frankfurt auto show is normally a venue where German car makers show off their sportiest, most technically sophisticated models.

But when this year's show opens next week, it will have a more schizophrenic character — much like the industry itself. Manufacturers are torn between producing models that consume less fuel and those that deliver the most performance, between serving their established customers in the Western world and those in fast-growing emerging markets like China and India.

The rush by German car makers to offer "greener" versions of their most politically incorrect models illustrates the bind many auto makers find themselves in: They are skeptical of customers' willingness to pay extra for fuel efficiency, yet afraid of being left behind should demand for such vehicles take off.

More here.

Hydrogen Fuelcell Bicycle

This is a cool idea for the future. See more at www.ecogeek.org

Going Green is Good for Business

A recent poll done by analyst firm IDC shows a growing trend in IT businesses looking at the greener side. Over 30% of the IT execs surveyed say that they look at their supplier's 'green credentials' when buying products.

The survey, which interviewed 854 IT professionals, also revealed that 28.6 percent of IT managers saw green technology as a "moral obligation," and 23.8 percent said it was the responsibility of IT suppliers.

Further, 12.2 percent saw the implementation of green technology, under corporate social responsibility agenda, as a competitive advantage.
[quote from www.pcworld.com]

Read the full story here.

I've often wondered how long it will be until supply companies fully show how green their products are. They can say 'using recycled materials' but that doesn't really mean that ALL their products are green. It will be nice to see companies posting full info on their products (say on websites), so that the people concerned with green products can fully understand and see what goes into the suppliers products. I know this is a long way off, but this blogger can dream!

GoingGreen 2007

September 10-12 are big days for 'green' industries.

"GoingGreen" is where cutting-edge greentech CEOs meet the movers and shakers from the biggest industries on earth. Green technology innovators are transforming the global energy, water, agriculture, transportation, construction, manufacturing, and resource recovery establishments - trillion dollar industries.

We'll have more info about any news from this event as we can find it.

More info here.

Victoria's Secret Goes Organic

This coming spring a few runways are going to feel more 'real' than before when Victoria's Secret brings its organic line out. Their new set that is targeted to the younger 'eco conscious' crowd and consists of a more playful line of lingerie and loungewear. Lets hope this is just the beginning of more public companies going the eco friendly way.

Source: Fashion Week Daily

Incredible Lifesaving Straw

There are over 1 billion people on earth without access to clean drinking water. A company from Denmark has now introduced a revolutionary device that could help these people clean water easily and cheaply. The LifeStraw is a portable water purifier "offering relief from common diarrhoeal diseases – and can be carried around for easy access to safe and clean drinking water."
The LifeStraw is only 31cm long and 2.5cm wide and requires no electricity or replacement parts. Each 'straw' can purify at least 700 liters of water and only cost $3.
Go to www.lifestraw.com for more info.