Eternal Coil Has a New Home

Eternal Coil has set up on its own domain. The response to this blog has been great, so I figured it was time to get on my own domain. For any feeds, change them to this site:

http://eternalcoil.ca/?feed=rss2

Update bookmarks and links to:
http://eternalcoil.ca


Feel free to comment on the new site setup.

TheFind.com Launches FindGreen

Product search engine TheFind.com has now launched its eco-friendly counterpart TheFindGreen.com. The website allows you to search through 300,000 products from over 1,200 stores, giving your environment-friendly shopping an online boost.
They also feature a list of 'Hot Searches' that give you a peek into organic and green products that you probably wouldn't have thought of before.
The search results page is a great feature too, allowing you to scale the target price up or down, to filter results into your price bracket. There is also a color feature that searches a product's colors.



-

Today's Green News: A Summery

Welcome to Thursday! Here's a few links of interest that have been building up in my memo box.

This first story is a great write up by the Toronto Star about creating a bicycle friendly city. A bicycle-friendly city is environment-friendly, too

-----------------

Heres a list of 100 things to think about that will help the environment. Most of it is pretty standard, but its a good to refresh your memory on the topic! 100 Ways to Save the Environment

-----------------

This article talks about finding the 'real' organic food in your grocery store. It goes on to say that you really need to read labels on food packages, even if the package promotes organic food. Check out the rest at: www.southernillinoisan.com





-

Chickens in the Backyard

No, the title isn't a metaphor for the glory days gone by, or for short, funny stories that will uplift you. I'm talking about real, honest to goodness chickens. And why would there be chickens in the backyard? Well for the eggs of course!
A new idea thats been brought about in the green world is that of keeping your own chickens, even in a slightly urban setting. I don't think its responsible to have them in your apartment building, but that is up to you.
Basically the idea is that with a little work, you get organic (mostly free!) eggs, and eventually chicken meat. Chickens don't require too much space (they'll never fly away). Besides feeding, the occasional cleaning and protection from your neighbours cat, the work can be minimal. And they're just so fun to watch, heads bobbing when they walk. They also provide a sort of pest control, since they eat mosquitoes and other bugs that would annoy you.
Now there are difficulties in raising chickens, such as you can't just leave for a week (much like any pet), you do need to collect the eggs unless you want rotten eggs sitting around, and there are bird flus and predators that come around, but if you want to guarantee fresh, organic eggs to eat there is no better way than that.

Here is a great site to get more info on raising chickens in your backyard: The City Chicken




-

Business: Starting Green

With 'Green' as the big word in business these days, businesses are not only starting to supply greener products, but now they must be envrironmentally friendly in their practices as well. Customers are getting smarter in the ways that they deal with big businesses. The internet provides access to product reports, company info and more at the click of a button, and now companies can't just say they are going green, they must act on it.

If you're considering starting a green business, here are a few links and ideas to help you get a foothold in a growing market.

Choose Your Market
'Green' products are no longer limited to food, energy saving or cosmetics. There are new products in every line imaginable, from insulation to books to sports equipment. To begin, you must figure out what part of the market you want to dive into. Here are a couple links that list green companies in various markets:

• GreenPeople.org
  
• Global Sources
  

Green All The Way
The best way to promote your green products is to live the life yourself. If your company doesn't live up to its claims, then customers won't believe your products. Imagine walking into a 'green' shop to find its owner driving a gas-eating SUV or the light bulbs are energy consuming, super bright, short lived, well you know where i'm going here. Your company must live it up green. And with new products coming out all the time it wouldn't be that pricey to start off.
Check out this www.green-business.ca for some more info.

And lastly, there is an amazing site that provides daily links and info on being green. I mean this site is just what you need for a green business. Its just awesome. Are you getting where I'm going with this? No? Well let me spell it out for you.
Eternal Coil. Yes, THIS website! Wow was that hard or what?

Green business are starting to bloom. And there is always room for more!

Bamboo Bikes and More

Sporting goods is one of the newest eco-friendly trends to hit the markets. If green cars and houses can do it, why not sports and fitness!

When you paddle out (into the waves) and you see Styrofoam cups, plastic bags, cigarettes, what enters your mind is what you’re buying and ... what you’re riding in the ocean,” says Travis Wilkerson, membership director for the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, a trade association for the suppliers of surfing products, including several that sell surfboards made of materials selected for their eco-friendly composition.
[Source: journalgazette.net]

Calfee Design, a high end bike designer started building bikes out of bamboo over 10 years ago, when owner Craig Calfee noticed that bamboo was as strong as the carbon fiber he had been using. Bamboo also is reported to absorb vibrations better than metal or the carbon fiber.
This sounds like a great new idea, using one of earth's more hardy products.
See the website for the full story.

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

----------

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

-----------

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.

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.