Posted by Greenbee on November 28, 2009
1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven with Element IQ
I have been searching for just the right toaster oven for months. I got tired of having to heat up my whole oven when I just wanted to make a quick batch of cookies and I hated having my counters and cabinets cluttered with various toasters and broiler units. With the family also is working on living a more greener life, I wanted something that was energy efficient.
After reading a dozen product reviews on various consumer sites and magazines I finally had narrowed my choices to a few toaster ovens, and believe it or not the Breville The Smart Oven
was not on that list. I had been searching for Toaster Oven and the Breville was called a Smart Oven so it never really came up on my various searches. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Greenbee on November 12, 2009
I learned a new term one that is not in our dictionaries but should be. It is upcycle or upcycling, which is the taking of waste material and making a new and useful of it. Upcycling leads to less material being thrown away and the new end result did not take any new resources to be made. I had not thought of this before but upcycling is everywhere I just did not know it had a term and just how big it is getting.
Many of us have seen upcycling in some form in the Art community a form of this upcycle is used in Found Art. Found Art, is basically the creation of art from objects we find in our everyday lives. I recall an exhibit where a toilet was placed in the center of a white room and that was it. Today upcycling has grown and people are using, wearing, displaying all the new materials and objects created from all the various forms of upcycling.
Upcycling can even help you recycling things that or normally non-recycling. Heidi Hooper is a woman who takes her lint and even has people send her their lint and from the lint comes her art. Over on Etsy.com you can find creations by PopTopLady who makes handbags and more from soda can Pop Tops. Not only is upcycling a green movement but it can also be a lucrative one.
Currently I own a purse made of old Jeans, a handbag made from men’s silk ties, and a CD case made of an old Hawaii licence plate! Not sure if the licence plate is legal, should you return those to the state? LOL oh well… I have had these for a while and never thought I had bought it for a good purpose, I bought them because they were neat. I didn’t have the environment on mind when making any of those purchases. Upcycling has indirectly made thousands of consumers a bit greener without their knowledge of it happening and that is great! 
I truly admire those who upcycle as I would have never thought hey why not take my old jeans and make a purse of it or hubby don’t throw that tie out I am going to make a handbag!
Two form of simple upcycling you can do are:
- One of the oldest forms and we do it all the time are Kids Crafts! Remember taking the old milk cartons and toilet paper rolls to school. Well why not do these at home! I know many of you are and do it all the time but for others when doing crafts you don’t always have to run out to the craft store you got all your material at home
- T Shirt Rugs! OMG these are the craziest things. You buy a simple mat and cut up your old t-shirts or towels and tie them into knots up and down the mesh mat and you got a rug. These things sell for over 100 usd retail and from what I see they are so simple to make. I have not yet made one but I am sure going to try so video soon to follow.
This gets my creative juices flowing and I hope yours too!
Posted by Greenbee on November 7, 2009
The Early Green Days
Growing up in Hawaii I remember one of the first times it hit me that one day our wastefulness will catch up with us. I was about 11 and my Dad had me and my sister tag along to drop to off some old appliances at the city dump, as we drove across the island what seems like hours (20 minutes later) we arrived at the only landfill for the island of Oahu.
Upon entering the stench hit me and my sister first and for some reason we felt our shirts would filter our any smell and bad stuff we might breath in. My Dad backed up to a huge crater that had been carved into the earth along what was once a beautiful Hawaiian mountain range. With the appliances we dragged out a bunch of bulk trash items. The plan was simple as my Dad explained with the van backed up to the huge crater all we did was drag the items to the edge and a worker would push them over to fall down into the crater.
On the ride home me and my sister discussed the things we saw and I remember asking my Dad all sort of questions about the landfill most I can’t remember to this day. I recall a realization of “what happens when the crater is full?” My Dad told me all they will do is cover it up and make a new hole. As I got older and the island began to seem less and less massive I at times recalled that trip whenever I visited the area which was where the city dump was located. I would think to myself how many holes can we make on this island? What happens if we run out of room to put in holes for our trash? As time passed questions came and there were never any answers.
Many years later when I was a partying teen I recall my Mom had began saving all our aluminum cans. At first I never inquired as to why. Perhaps she has a new hobby or the soda company had some new contest with the prize posted on the inside bottom of the can. I only cared when my Mom almost took my head off when she found a few cans in the trash. She stated that no one in the house was to throw away another can and she even put out a bucket for us to put our cans into. Naturally I finally asked what all the fuss was over. Has my Mom gotten bit by the green bug? My Mom explained that there has been some new bill passed and all soda cans and plastic bottle beverages has a tax and by saving the containers one could take them into a recycle station and in return get back their container tax money. Though monetary return was the motive it was something that got even my Mom involved. It is still to this day it is only green thing she does.
Many years after that as I was a young newlywed to a Navy enlisted I was excited moving into my first place. We lived in Naval Military Housing right outside Pearl Harbor. After moving into my new home I noticed I had two trash cans. One was a huge 72 gallon monster and the other a cute tiny green square bin. Why two containers? After reading over the military home guide, I discovered that the cute bin was for recycling. Trash and recycle pick up was only once a week and each week the massive trash can would be filled to the rim with additional bags gathered around it and yet the little green bin would be left almost empty in envy of the big bin. I was never given any list of what to put in the bin, so I had no clue what to do with the bin. I would try to put a few cans and the weekly unread newspaper into the bin as I had given it, it’s own pathetic neglected personality in hopes that one day I would help it overcome and show up its huge over towering trash bully bin. I did finally help that bin find its purpose as a nice storage container for my dog’s dry dog food.
For so many of us we were not raised with any knowledge of how to be more environmentally conscious. It seems over the past 5-7 years there has been a call to action. I am sure even before that there has been literature and environmental groups trying to bring environmental issues to people everywhere. I remember one of my major earth awareness awakening moments that really stuck hard and motivated me to change was seeing the cover of a Times Magazine years ago. It was that moment seeing the pictures that I truly began taking steps to change my own actions. We can no longer live in a comfortable naive state trying to drown the truth and tell ourselves it is not happening or won’t happen for many years to go come that is passing the buck onto our kids and that is what our past generations did to us, which is why we are in the mess we are in now. I am just one person but my few changes pass on and the changes my family make pass on and each pass will equal a huge swing of change all around. Don’t tell yourself it is too late, your reading this aren’t you? and that in itself is a start.
Posted by GreenWarrior on October 29, 2009
Once again the Today show will be having its Green series make sure to tune into it! I tried to search the site for more info but was unable to obtain anymore info sorry. Last year they traveled all over the world reporting live from various locations and discussed the environment and the impact of global warming. I remember my wake-up call was while standing in line at Barns and Nobel and seeing the cover of a Times magazine. What was your wake-up call moment?
Posted by Greenbee on October 22, 2009
A person might look at their kids old Barney lunch box and think since their son is now into Xbox and would beat up any images of Barney on first site, it is probably a good time to toss out the Barney lunch box. Today that is no longer the case as there is an alternative instead of adding the item to the land fill. What you might consider trash others consider a treasure.
It is silly to think that one can shop and be helping the environment but it is true. Shopping on Sites such as Ebay.com or any other Auction site is a form of recycling. Items that might have once been tossed out are now finding new homes through the Internet. Many of us either don’t wish to bother with a yard sale or due to our residence are unable to have a yard sale. Now with the power of the Internet a site has given us our very own virtual yard sale for all to enjoy.
Ebay has helped increase the amount of items being recycled and given everyday people the ability to locate vast items we never thought existed anymore. People have been able to buy other people’s unwanted items for great bargains. Trying to recapture your youth or just a collector of a particular item, Ebay has been a gold mine to hundreds of thousands of people.
A few tips to making Ebay buying and selling a greener one.
Sellers:
- Try reusing old boxes instead of buying new ones for each item you sell. This will reduce your cost and help recycle boxes. You can always tape over old postage labels. Many stores will gladly let you have their left over stock boxes if you just ask.
- When packing items and you need some padded protection try using old newspapers or grocery bags. You can even put a “Recycle Me Please” notice on or inside the box so the buyer might get that green bug too.
- Allow for Local Pickup: If the buyer is not too far you can allow them the option to pick the item up from you. If you are worried about them coming to your home then perhaps chose a public place to deliver the items. If you just don’t want anything to do with strangers then stick with postal deliveries as safety and stress is most important.
Buyers:
- The main thing is when you get your Ebay items in the mail try to recycle the material it was packed in and with! Then enjoy your purchase!
To Buyers and Sellers: As much as Ebay is a huge help to the environment make sure that anything sold or bought are not prohibited or recalled. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is cracking down with federal agencies and making sure to check for items being sold that has been recalled and making it a crime to sell such items, so always check any item especially children items for current and past recall notices.
Ebay even has a Green Team for more information on being more earth friendly in buying, selling, and everything we do each day. Check it out at EbayGreenTeam.com
