Green Girl's Blog

Happy Earth Day

greengirllearns — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:54:40 +0000

What does earth day mean to you? Is it just another government ‘holiday’ where everyone thinks about the earth? To be honest, in the past I never really gave a thought about this day and what I should do on it.
Everyone is celebrating differently. Wegmans is giving away a free reusable tote if you bring in plastic bags. That seems very earth friendly. The mall last weekend had a green fair. Which was very disappointing. In the past colleges around the country had rallies and protests about the way we treated our environment. I wonder if this still happens today.
On this earth day I believe that we should take time to enjoy the planet we live on. Go for a walk in the park or sit outside for lunch. Maybe it will help you remember why we recycle and waste less.

Takeout

greengirllearns — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:00:48 +0000

Whenever we get takeout we use excess plastic and styrofoam, a lot of it non recyclable. Plastic forks, styrofoam containers, and straws just to name a few. A while back I visited the San Diego zoo and sea world. Both of these parks do not allow plastic lids for their drinks because of the animals. I thought this was a great idea not only for the animals but for the planet. Think of how useless those lids are, do they help you from spilling your drink? Yes, but can you just be more careful? Yes. I did spill some soda on my 3 year old niece but she survived. Many companies are starting to use biodegradable silverware and straws. Sea world had paper straws and sprinkles cupcakes have wood forks and knives. I think it’s great that people are finding alternative ways for takeout products.

It’s packaging….it’s trash

greengirllearns — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:21:42 +0000

Packaging is one of the biggest trash creators. We as consumers sometimes buy more packaging than product. A larger box creates more percieved value for the product and protects the product but we are creating unnecessary waste. Some companies are trying to combat the packaging waste. LUSH a Canadian beauty line stocks their products on shelves with no packaging. The customer than puts their chosen product in a compositable bag.( it also has a nifty cartoon of how to dispose of your bag). This type of display not only creates an interactive shopping environment but saves waste!

Sunchips also just created packaging that was compositable. These products still look just as nice but also help your garden grow. That’s just cool.

Some recycled fun!

greengirllearns — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:35:06 +0000

Dara has to take the credit on this post, she sent me this link a few weeks ago, which was awesome!

Product: The Earth Angel

A 100% recyclable materials in both the product and packaging. It never requires batteries, just wind it up for 4 minutes and you will receive 30 minutes of power. The product is……..a vibrator!

It’s good for the environment and its never going to disappoint….. don’t we wish other things in life were like this?

Recycling Part Deux

greengirllearns — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:13:27 +0000

So I finally discovered something about Recycling! So after you put all your lovely numbered containers and papers in the bin, it gets picked up by the recycling truck. (We all know this) It then goes to a recycling facility, where the recyclable items are then sorted by hand! Not by a machine as I would have thought. Someone sorts through your waste to make sure that everything is actually recyclable. The bottles and papers are then bundled up to be bought by companies who product recycled products.

Ok more to come later!

I have a feeling this is going to be a very long drawn out lesson……

Recycling…. Part 1

greengirllearns — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:37:35 +0000

What really happens to your recycling? I am still researching this question but I have come across bit of stats that are pretty interesting:

For all you Buffalonian’s- Buffalo only recycles 6.5% of its solid waste ,which is 20.5% below the national average of 27%.

Not only is recycling good for the environment and keeps things out of the landfill (aka the “hill” in Niagra Falls, I still can’t get over this), it brings money to the community. According to Buffalorecycles.com if Buffalo raised it recycling 1% it would bring $72,000 to the community. Maybe then Buffalo would plow its streets in the winter.

More about recycling later…

Irregular socks and Water Bottles…

greengirllearns — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:26:37 +0000

My first real post is going to be about something I know about, Stuffed Animals.

One of my favorite lines by Mary Meyer is the Fuzz that Wuzzz. The Fuzz that Wuzzz is a line of products is made from 100% Recycled plastic PET bottles, both outer and stuffing. I mean how cool is that, that water bottle you drink is now a stuffed animal! According to Mary Meyer each animal keeps over 10 bottles out of the landfill. I wonder how many water bottles are actually recycled a year and how many go into a landfill? If you can make a stuffed animal out of a water bottle what stops someone from making something like a couch? I wonder how many water bottles that would take. Maybe if we started making large items using post-consumer materials that grassy “hill” in Niagra Falls would be a bit smaller.

: Fuzz that Wuzz Giraffe

Another really cool item are the Maggie’s Organics Animals. After a co-worker had been looking for a US manufacturer, he came across Maggie’s Organic’s. A clothing company that makes organic, fair trade clothing and they had just begun a line of Stuffed Animals made from irregular socks, overstock and fabric scraps. Stuffed animals produced with socks didn’t seem like they would be cute, boy was I surprised.

Maggie's Organics Tye Dye Chicken

This adorable creature is made from socks that may have not been so fortunate in the sewing department (like no heel, oops). Not only is the outer part re-purposed, but the stuffing is made from fabric scraps. Also, the sewing facility is a 100% worker owned co-op. I wonder if there are more uses for products that are irregular or scraps of materials. I’m sure that not all irregular socks go to TJ Maxx.

Both of these products are just so interesting, both use unusual resources to make cute new things. It makes you think what else could be done…

I will be shamelessly promoting my company, Stuffedanimals.com where you can find these products if say you wanted to buy them :0)

Hello world!

greengirllearns — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:33:20 +0000

Most of you know that I have been interested in the “Green” movement for some time now and it has fascinated me to no end, Eco friendly products especially. I mean how cool is it to use “trash” and make a new product. After searching and buying Eco-friendly products I realized that I don’t really know what I am buying, or how these products are good for the environment. Does it mean it was a post consumer product like a water bottle? Or are they materials that have been recycled from the factories making the products. Obviously once these questions started rolling, it spawned more questions about recycling, sustainability and real Eco friendliness.

This blog is dedicated to finding really cool products that are truly Eco-Friendly and to learning more about the “Green” world. Finally finding answers to questions like : What does 100% recycled really mean? and What really happens to the items in our recycling bins?

While I am researching and posting, I hope those who read this learn something new. I promise there will be no Green preaching, just interesting information and cool stuff.