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.

Product Spotlight: Keen Bags

Keen, a shoe and outdoor company, has been in the eco-product business since 2003 when they launched their first earth friendly shoe.

This year they've released a new line of bags, made of recycled material and in an environmentally-friendly way. The bags contain recycled rubber and metal reclaimed from their shoe factory.
They have also included their packaging as an eco-friendly option, with it being 100% made from bio-degradable materials.




Visit www.keenfootwear.com for more info and locations.

Product Spotlight: Eco Hot Cups

Most paper hot cups on the market today contain a plastic lining made from a petrochemical. This lining helps ensure the integrity of the cup against hot liquids such as coffee. In American alone, more than 14 billions cups of coffee are served annually in disposal cups with plastic linings. Hot cups that use petro-based plastic linings will not fully decompose, and are also dependant on a limited and costly resource, oil. Ecoproducts.com brings you an eco-friendly alternative. The new ecotainer hot cups from International Paper are the only hot cups on the market with an inner lining using a plastic biopolymer derived from corn. Along with making a strong and dependable hot cup, plastic derived from corn is also renewable. These new pla hot cups are the perfect eco-friendly cup for they help reduce pollution, save energy and is also fully compostable.

These compostable hot cups are the perfect cups for greening your coffee shop. Compostable in a commercial composting environment, the Ecotainertm hot cup has an inner lining made from 100% corn whereas conventional paper hot cups have inner linings made from petroleum.

Also, the paper comes from trees that were harvested sustainably and the cups are Elemental chlorine-free. These cups perform the same or better than regular paper hot cups.


Get more info at www.ecoproducts.com

Eco-Friendly Lamps Win at Top Drawer Autumn Awards

This past week at the Top Drawer Autumn Awards in England, top designers from all over the world showed their latest designs in food products, interior design and more. Among the awards was the one for Best Eco Product, going to lighting and homewares designer Ulrika Jarl, for her 'cell lights'.
The ceramic lamps give off a peach colored light. They are all created locally(in England), and use materials sourced locally and all waste bone china is reclaimed and reused. The lamps are supplied with energy-saving lightbulbs.
Although ceramic is not a material that is seen as environmental, Ulrika reports that the ceramic is only kiln fired once, and does not require a second firing for the glaze, which keeps the energy consumption to a minimum compared to most other types of ceramic.





-

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.



-

Use Air Fresheners And You Could Die.

Did that title get your attention??
So the actual situation isn't as dire as it sounds. But its still pretty bad. A recent study by Natural Resources Defense Council found that 12 out of 14 popular air freshener products contained a chemical known to be harmful to the health of humans. Phthalates, known to cause reproductive problems and hormone disruption in humans, were found in virtually all air freshener brands, including several Walgreens-branded air fresheners that the popular retailer has now pulled off its shelves.

In a hopeful lapse of judgement, neither the FDA or the EPA test air fresheners for homes, meaning consumers could be exposed to unknown chemicals without warning.

Only two products tested by the NRDC -- Febreze Air Effects and Renuzit Subtle Effects -- contained almost no detectable levels of phthalates, yet the twelve other products tested positive for the chemical even though some were labeled "unscented" and none of them listed phthalates as an ingredient.

This just raises the question as to how many lethal chemicals we are being subjected to each day in our own homes. Maybe its time that the government starts filtering new products? Or maybe we should start using nature's air fresheners instead of ones made in factories?



-

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





-

The Solar Bike

A few weeks ago we presented a Hydrogen-fueled bicycle. Now we come to you with a Canadian version. Designer Peter Sandler, President of Therapy Products and Inventor of the E-V Sunny Bicycle, developed the first all Solar electric bicycle.

The E-V Sunny Bicycle has solar panels built right into the wheels, which give constant energy while in the sun and maintaining a constant charge to the batteries. The bike is propelled by a 500 watt front hub motor.

The propelled bike has a speed of up to 30 kilometers per hour. The overall weight is 75 pounds which could be a hassle if you want to get up some hills on a cloudy day. There is only a 10 minute charge time needed to start again (maybe by putting the bike on its side?), so a quick rest in the sun would help for any annoying hills.

The starting price is $1300 with a 90 day warrantee, but if you're happy with your own ride there are $800 add-on kits available.

See their website here: www.therapyproducts.com

Product Spotlight: Sway Stool

From Branch Sustainable Living comes a envrionmentally friendly, ergonomic designed stool, called the Sway Stool (because it sways!). Perfect for office work, or just to peacefully sit and think.

From the site:

The central column of the stool, located directly under the spine of the user, is flexible, solid cork while the rest is perforated. The result is a seat that flexes and pivots under the weight of the user, responding to the slightest body movement. The user's muscles remain slightly engaged to maintain balance, improving posture and circulation. Many have reported this to be a perfect seat for working at a desk or computer, enabling the user to move and rock while working and thinking. Because cork is 100% waterproof and impervious to rot and mold growth, this piece functions as well outdoors as it does in.

Check out more product specs here: Sway Stool




-