Category: Sustainable Living

Amazon launches Vine, an eco-friendly shopping site

Amazon has started a new e-commerce site, Vine.com, where they’re focused on selling environmentally-friendly products.  Vine offers free two day shipping on orders over $49, 95% recycled shipping boxes, and supposedly intelligent shipping software to ensure an appropriate box size (without all the wasted space I often find in Amazon packages).  They have a pretty broad selection of green products, such as seeds from Seeds of Change, organic catnip for your cats (really), recycled toilet paper, yoga supplies, and, well, you get the idea.

It’s always best to BUY LESS STUFF…but when you do need something, buy eco-smart…and websites like Vine help out there.

Shopping for Quality Camping Gear

One of the best things you can do for this planet is, if you have to buy something, shop for quality. Buy something that will last as long as feasible, not something designed to be thrown away and replaced in a short time. For camping, I came across a great article in TheGoodHuman with information and links to sources for quality camping gear. Tents, sleeping bags, etc. Check it out!

Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries

In my opinion one of the easiest things you can do today that’s also great for the planet is to invest in rechargeable batteries.  Not only do you reduce the waste that either ends up in landfills or has to be recycled, but you also save money in the long run.  My favorite has been eneloop batteries (a NiMH application), and we’ve completed a transition of our household to these.  If you’re new to this, start with the starter kit pictured here, as includes a charger, a selection of AA and AAA batteries, and adapter pieces to use AA batteries in place of ‘C’ or ‘D’ batteries.

Why do I like eneloop?  Reasonable cost, more than 1500 charge cycles, and they hold their charge a long time when not in use.  I’ve been using them for over a year now and have had no complaints, it’s a good product and worth checking out.  I just wish they’d make rechargeable 9 volt batteries for all the smoke detectors in our house!  I found some by Tenergy that look promising, though I have not yet tested them for long term use in smoke detectors…that’s my next battery project.

If you’re not convinced and are instead wondering which disposable battery is best, check out batteryshowdown for some comparison tests of those.

Self-watering earthenware planter

The idea behind self-watering planters is pretty simple – they’re basically pots that hold extra water, designed to provide water as needed to the plants without drowning their roots.  Usually, however, they’re made from cheap plastic, or else are DIY adaptions of ceramic pots.  Here’s a cool one though from from designer Joey Roth, made from unglazed earthenware.  The center column holds the water, and since the pot is porous, water can seep out as needed into the surrounding soil.  Simple, eco-friendly, and looks great too.  Available for $45 preorder at this website.  Apart from decorative purposes, one great use for this would be as a small herb garden!

(via CoolHunting)

The case of the extra water

Over the past forty years or so (1961-2003), global sea levels have risen an average of .07″ per year.  Global warming is largely the culprit here, but scientist have struggled to truly make that hypothesis work.  You see, when you account for global warming’s effects on the oceans  (slightly lower density at higher temperatures, and melting ice), the numbers don’t add up…that only accounts for about .04″ of the .07″ per year rise.  Where’s the rest coming from?  Scientists in Tokyo believe the answer is all around us.  Or rather, it IS us…the extra water in the oceans is due to extraction of water from underground aquifers over the past many decades, which is not being replenished at the same rate.

So why does this matter?  Look, the aquifer levels are decreasing (in many areas at least). Forget the ocean for a minute, our lifestyles are not sustainable like this and it’s immoral to pass this problem on to future generations, not when we see it happening around us and have the technology to fix it.

Based on current sea ice melting trends, sea levels are expected to rise 3-5 FEET by 2100.  Living a sustainable lifestyle with water usage can help with that, though we really need to be addressing global warming as well.

(via Phys.org)

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