August 2008

By Susan Seliger

Eco-luxury is fun any time anywhere. Especially in Mexico – where Polartec is offering a Grand Prize of a free trip for two to the Hotelito Desconocido eco-luxury resort. The hotel, 60 miles South of Puerto Vallarta, has luxurious vegetation, 150 types of birds, white sandy beaches protected by the Sierra Madre mountains and two 100% organic restaurants.

And if you don’t win that, you get a jacket — which is waaay better than a T-shirt because this jacket is a very hip 2009 North Face Denali jacket made from Polartec^® recycled-content fabric. You may not think of Polartec – those hi-tech fabrics for outdoor gear — as being natural and eco-friendly but the company is making a big push into recycling. Don’t be put off by the three-question quiz you have to take to enter – it’s fun and you may even learn something new about carbon emissions in the process. Go to Polartec Eco-Champion contest.

By Susan Seliger

Sure, you know you should drive less and walk more. But when you absolutely have to go by car, why not find the cheapest gas around? Here are some web sites that will help you do just that. Many of them let you plug in your address or zip code – and tell you where to go …in the nicest possible way.

And with all that money you save, you can save up for a new (or pre-owened) bike that will save you even more green.

5 Web Sites that Will Help You Save Money on Gas

1. Mapquest Gas

Plug in your address and Mapquest will find you chreap gas – and tell you how to get there – so you an see if the drive is worth the savings.
http://gasprices.mapquest.com/index.jsp

2. GasBuddy

This network of more than 180 gas price information websites will get you to the best prices. http://www.gasbuddy.com/

3. Internet Auto Guide

Fill in your zip code and find gas stations near you with the lowest prices.
http://www.internetautoguide.com/gas-prices/index.html

4. MSN Autos

See the price of gas at stations in your area, with names and addresses.
http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx

5. Motor Trend Gas Tracker

Put in your state, your county, your neighborhood, and find cheap gas near you.
http://www.motortrend.com/gas_prices/

For more information, check out:

Girl Bikes 1500 Miles for Electric Vehicles

15 Tips For Better Mileage — Want to Get 70 MPG in Your Toyota Prius?

The Hype About Hypermiling

Two Wheels Are Greener Than Four

Honda Civic GX Tops List of Greenest Cars

Driving Green = Fewer Greenbacks

Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars: Save Gas, Save Money

Record Month For Selling Gas — Saving Cars Getting Better Than 30 MPG

Photo credit: http://media.myfoxcleveland.com/winterweather/cheap%20gas.jpg

By Susan Seliger

The headlines are filled with the bad news — the housing market is in the biggest slump in decades. But there is a silver lining you may not have read so much about: Homeowners are doing more green home improvements than ever. They may not be updating the whole kitchen, but they are doing the small jobs that count for saving energy and money, such as weather-stripping, caulking those breezy windows, buying CFL bulbs and insulating their bathrooms and water heaters.

Execs at Home Depot, the gigantic retailer for all things DIY around the home, reports in a New York Times article, that, in addition to green repairs, people are also stocking up on pellet fuel before winter hits.

“This is a trend we expect to continue into the third quarter,” one of those execs is quoted as saying, in the Times article: Home Repairs Become Focus as Consumers Feel Pinched. .

Third quarter? How forward-looking!

Try “the next decade” sir.

And as usual, consumers lead the way — and retailers try to keep up.

So what should you do for your home if you can only do one thing to improve energy-efficiency — and save some money?

Big step: Replace old leaky windows.

Medium step: Put up storm windows to keep the heat in.

Small step: Caulk, caulk, caulk. And if storms are too costly, make your own heavy curtains — leave them open during the say to let the sun (passive solar heat) in, and close them up at night to keep the heat high and your heating bills low. And start socking away some cash to tackle that first Big Step one day soon.

And for more on passive solar design in homes, check out this article on the subject by Ellen Honigstock, RiverWired’s Leading LEED green architect.

And check out a great blog on greening your home by Jennifer Chait: Best Green Home Tips.

Photo credit: http://www.housecareservice.com/images/house_wvz9.jpg

By Susan Seliger

Time to get the kids — and yourself — ready for Fall. Tired of that heavy old backpack? Here’s one from Progressive Kid – a web store with some of the best eco-friendly stuff for your favorite small fries — that will work for you, too.

It’s Good: It’s smaller than the average pack (1300 cubic inches/22 liters capacity; 1 pound 9 ounces/.71 kilograms weight). Plus it’s got these features:

• Single zip front panel access with mesh and fabric utility pockets
• Pass-through access to internal pocket
• Two recycled PET mesh side pockets
• Recycled spacer mesh harness and back panel
• Recycled removable web waist strap
• Recycled PET stretch woven cell phone/electronics harness pocket
• Recycled PET main body fabric
• Recycled Regrind buckles
• Internal front panel organization
• Internal laptop sleeve
• Smart key clip that works with electronic keys

It’s Green: Made by Osprey, known for their earth-friendly ReSource series from 70 percent recycled materials. Also the color names alone are worth it: Rainforest green or glacier blue.

It’s Here: Progressive Kids Store

It’s: $59

Photo credit: ProgressiveKid.com

Car-Free Saturday in NY City -- Park Avenue at Grand Central Terminal.

For the last two Saturdays, I have been enjoying one of the most exhilarating rides New York City has to offer — I have been peddling my bike down the middle of Park Avenue — one of the busiest and most beautiful promenades in the city. Six miles of car-free bliss.

This weekend is the last of car-free Saturdays. So don’t miss it. You save gas, clean the air, and you get to ride the city streets without dodging those kamikaze yellow taxicabs.

Hey– Mayor Bloomberg– why just 3 half days? Let’s ditch those cars every Saturday.

Other cities are doing it. The Mayor Bertrand Delanoë in Paris, is planning to make the center of that city car-free in time for the Olympics in 2012, which they hope they’ll host.

If your city has similar car-free events, let me know. And if you have photos of such events, even better — send them to me: susan (at) Riverwired.com.

Photo credit: Susan Seliger

By Susan Seliger

Will your cell phone really do you in? The evidence is not all in. The well-respected Swedish National Institute for Working Life reported (in the largest study on the issue) that they may cause brain tumors. But the Dutch Health Council reviewed international research and found no such links as did a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Still….brain tumors?!? Why mess around? Especially for phone calls that consist largely of shouting, “Can you hear me now?”

So here are 5 things you can do right now that definitely won’t hurt you and might just keep that little brainpan of yours safe from killer cell-phone radiation (no promises regarding the Loch Ness monster and space aliens).

1. Put your phone on speaker – and keep it away from that cute little ear (because the earbone (am I getting too clinical here?) as you know, if you had any singing ability, is connected to the brainbone.) But make sure you go outside because the rest of us do not want to listen to your lame excuses for why you’re running late.

2. Use the Bluetooth earpieces – that’s even safer than speaker phone. Who cares if people think you’re talking to yourself as you walk along the street – if they think you’re crazy, maybe they’ll keep their distance.

3. Make fewer calls and keep them short – so you can save energy, too. Maybe then you’ll only have tiny tumors.

4. Text instead – and practice doing it at full arm’s length. Holding your arms out in front of you while texting is a neat isometric exercise and will build muscles at the same time – all right, very little muscles, but still…

5. Check your phone’s SAR Rating — Next time you buy a phone (if you last that long – just kidding) choose one with a low SAR rating. Honestly I do not know what that means – OK, Specific Absorption Rate. But really can manufacturers actually measure how much radiation your body will absorb? Do they know how thick (or thin) your skin is? Anyway, all you need to know is BUY LOW.

Which, in the current economy, is not a bad philosophy for the rest of your life as well.

FOR MORE INFO TO SAVE YOUR LITTLE BRAIN:

* Check CNet for a list of the 10 phones with the lowest SAR rating.

* University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute – on the potential dangers

* And if you want some more tips, check out The Consumerist which may or may not have some serious advice – I leave that up to you.

Illustration credit:

mooreslore.corante.com/…/computer_interfaces/

By Susan Seliger

You know the most fun part of cleaning is spraying with that pump nozzle. So when you’re done with the old commercial cleaners, wash out the bottle and start saving money – and breathe more easily as well. No fumes, no fuss, no big bucks. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

Recipe 1 – Grease and dirt removal

Just mix one Tablespoon of a mild dishwashing liquid per cup of water – and spray away.

Recipe 2 – Dirt and disinfection

For disinfecting and cleaning, fill one bottle with hydrogen peroxide, another bottle with white vinegar, and start spraying counters and sinks etc. They both kill bacteria as effectively as harsh cleaners.

Recipe 3 – Mild abrasive scrub

Make a paste out of Baking Soda and warm water, apply to sinks, counters, bathtubs, etc. Rub and rinse. Either finish with a spray of Recipe 1 cleaner – or save yourself a step and add a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid to the baking soda paste.

Spray Bottles: if you don’t have one you can use re-use, buy cool spray bottles from Dirtworks that you can color code or write on and label as to contents; or the Container Store or from Pawmarks Online, which has multi-colored aluminum bottles.

Photo credit: Pawmarks Online

By Susan Seliger

A prominent Japanese tea company, Tea’s Tea, is holding a contest in America – and the grand prize is Japan’s red-hot green car, the Prius. If you don’t come in the big winner, the next prize is still a happy green choice: a bike. You’ve only got until September 1, 2008 – and you can enter every day. There are even instant winners, so start clicking.

Photo credit: http://john1701a.com/prius/images/homepage/Prius_Kayak_21.jpg

By Susan Seliger

I know you’ve been waiting for this – lead singer and songwriter for the Hot Red Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis and pop princess with Spirit (that’s her Billboard-topping album not a character assessment), Leona Lewis, have been voted the sexiest vegetarian celebrities alive!

Leaf lovers at Peta.org tallied the votes and made sure these celebs passed the vegan sniff test. Lewis has been a clean-living, animal-shunning British pop singer for most of her young life. Kiedis, on the other hand, is a recent convert, who followed the healthy veggie diet recommended for his son. Big change for him after the druggie life he documented in his autobiography, Scar Tissue. So there’s still hope for the rest of us retrograde, burger-chomping greenhearts.

Check out Leona Lewis and her album on her MySpace page:

And more on Kiedis on Answers.com :

Photo credits: Kiedis: http://www.venicequeen.it/images/Anthony%20Kiedis/juliacher9mh.jpeg

Lewis: from her album, Spirit.