Kitchen - TWIST Naked Sponge

How can we clean up without trashing the planet?

TWIST gives us some good options with products like the new dye-free, 100% biodegradable Naked Sponge.

Thick and sturdy, we like the way the sponge gives us something to grab onto as we wipe the dirty dishes.

The lack of a plastic scrubber on the Naked Sponge is good for the planet, but it means you may need to presoak your dishes or use something else (a butter knife?) to remove stubborn bits of food.

We love the fact that TWIST deep-sixed the dye from the Naked Sponge. The 100% natural cellulose sponge actually seems purer and more attractive than its deep blue artificially-dyed cousins that were our previous sponge of choice.

In fact, you could say that the Naked sponge inspired a revelation that perhaps we could with a bit less dying in our daily lives. (Comments welcome. Do you feel like a lesser person without a colorful sponge alongside your sink?)

As for the Naked Sponge’s packaging, we have to admit that we found it a bit gimmicky. TWIST includes instructions for transforming its cartons into bird feeders or mobiles. We appreciate the sentiment, but wonder if consumers really going to fill their homes with TWIST mobiles? Seems unlikely.

Also, it’s not listed anywhere on the package that we can see, but apparently the Naked Sponge contains an antibacterial compound called Barquat CB-50. TWIST may have good reasons for including Barquat CB-50 (to prevent odors and bacteria growth), but we'd like to see some mention of the antibacterial on the package or the website so that consumers can make a better informed choice.

Where to buy:

You can find the Naked Sponge ($2.79 MSRP for a 2-pack) and other TWIST products at Whole Foods Markets, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacies, King Soopers and other local grocery and specialty stores across the U.S. and Canada. Find a store near you by using the Where to Buy link on TWIST's website.

Home - FLOR Modular Carpeting / Act2GreenSmart Sweepstakes Winners!

I'm a big happy face guy.

I doodle happy faces all the time.

So I was pretty much overjoyed to discover that I could carpet my apartment in eco-friendly happy faces thanks to FLOR Modular Carpeting.

Flor's new approachably hip Alexander Girard Fonda del Sol collection contains a cornucopia of cheery smiling faces. You can choose from four different styles to match the color palate of any apartment.

Of course, happy faces are cool, but eco-friendly happy face carpeting is even sweeter.

FLOR says that its carpet products are formaldehyde-free and meet the Carpet and Rug Institute’s (CRI) Green Label Plus standards for VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions.

We love the fact that FLOR has a super-strong Return & Recycle program. Let's say you get tired of happy faces (impossible!) and decide to switch to the cow-themed Stampede design. FLOR will arrange for your old tiles to be picked up, returned and recycled - all at no cost to you.

What happens to old tiles after they're recycled? Some of them probably get turned into FLOR's Fedora tiles that contain 80% post-consumer fibers and are sold for just $6.99 per tile.

(As for the backing on FLOR carpet tiles, that contains at least 39% pre-consumer recycled content. Various FLOR styles are also made from renewable materials including cotton, wool and even corn!)

Want more info? You can get an overview of FLOR's green side at FLORisGreen.com.

For now, I can't imagine returning and recycling my floor tiles. I've got six faces smiling up at me each day, protecting my floor, adding a bit of spring to my step. Life is good.

Where to buy:

You can purchase FLOR online or offline at select retailers. Prices generally range from $6.99 (Fedora) to $19.99 (Counting Sheep). The La Fonda Del Sol collection is sold in sets of six-tile rugs for $159.99 each. You can of course buy more than one set to spread the happy faces even further throughout your home.

We have our winners!

Congratulations to our two winners of the recently concluded 1GreenProduct.com Act2GreenSmart sweepstakes!

Paula from Garden City, Michigan won an Act2GreenSmart messenger bag, while Barbara from Parkersburg, West Virginia won an Act2GreenSmart tote.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Sweepstakes. Remember, as long as you're an active subscriber to our 1GreenProduct.com email updates, you're automatically registered to enter any upcoming sweepstakes.

We'll be on the road quite a bit this month (stay tuned for European green travel updates), but you can look forward to some new eco-friendly sweepstakes in October!

Bed - Natural Elements Pillow

Do you love a firm pillow? If so, we've got a great green product for you - the Natural Elements pillow from Hollander Home Fashions.

Hollander has taken plastic soda bottles that might otherwise have gone into landfills and recycled them into lofty polyester pillow filling.

And when we say 'lofty', we mean incredibly resilient. If you're the type who frets over flat pillows, you will worry no more with the Natural Elements pillow cradling your noggin.

No doubt you'll also have sweet dreams thinking of all the plastic bottles you've saved from the landfill. Hollander says that up to 40 post-consumer recycled green soda bottles are used to make the filling of its jumbo pillows.

And what makes the perfect for cover for such a green pillow? How about an unbleached, non-dyed soft cotton shell? (The only way that Hollander could make the Natural Elements pillow any greener would be to use organic cotton for the shell. We'd be willing to pay a few dollars more for an organic cotton Natural Elements 2.0 pillow...)

Where to buy:
Get a great deal on a Natural Elements pillow ($9.99 - $14.99) at Marshalls, TJ Maxx or Home Goods.

Drink - Hall Wines

Let's raise a 1GreenProduct.com toast to Hall Wines. 

This winery company has more than five hundred acres of prime Napa Valley vineyards devoted to the classics - Cabernet Sauvignon (2005, $39.99), Merlot (2005, $27.99) and Sauvignon Blanc (2007, $19.99).

The wines are not only tasty to drink (do I detect hints of peach in the bouquet of the summery Sauvignon Blanc), they're also pretty darn friendly to the Earth.

Hall is still in the first year of its three-year Organic certification process, but it's off to a good start with its commitment to use only natural products for weed and pest control. 

If you want to know why this is important, just check out this recent AFP story on pesticide contamination in wines sold in the EU. Anyone want to bet that US wines are any better? 

In addition, Hall says it plants cover crops in all its vineyards to minimize erosion and the sedimentation of locla waterways. Modern farming requires the use of fuel to run machines. At least Hall uses 50% biodiesel to run its machinery. The National Biodiesel Board points out that biodiesel is renewable, biodegradable, less toxic than table salt, domestically produced and produces fewer emissions than petroleum diesel. 

Where to buy:
Pick up a few bottles in person at the Hall wineries in St. Helena or Rutherford.

Can't make the trip? Provided your state allows you to accept wine shipments, you can shop online at Hall's website or from sites like Wine.com.   

You can also find Hall Wines in stock at many Whole Foods Markets.

Children / Toys - Peter Rabbit...Naturally Better

Everybody loves bunny rabbits (except for a certain Fudd).

But for the rest of us, rabbits are lovable if mischievous creatures, and Peter Rabbit is one of the most adorable rabbits of all.

Created by author Beatrix Potter back in 1902, Peter Rabbit has been captivating children ever since with his adventures.

Now the bunny is back and better than ever in a new collection of Naturally Better Peter Rabbit books, toys and other products.

There's something for everyone in the Naturally Better collection.

New stuffed animal versions of Peter Rabbit and his sisters Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-Tail from Kids Preferred are reportedly made out of 100-percent certified organic cotton and other eco-friendly materials. These buns come in PVC-free packaging made from recycled materials.

FYI, the spokesperson who represents Peter Rabbit Naturally Better told me that each company making goods for the collection has commited to a 'Corporate Social Responsibility Charter' that guides the manufacturing, marketing and packaging of the products.

Families with infants can pick up Peter Rabbit Organics - Naturally Better toiletries by Eco Natura including shampoo and baby balm. The products reportedly meet strict USDA-certified organic standards and come in bottles that are free of Bisphenol A.

Meanwhile, families in the States will finally get access to the Peter Rabbit Organics foods that have been delighting UK families for years. The foods will be USDA-certified organic and, if the UK products are any guide, will not contain any added salt, sugar or artificial ingredients.

And of course since Peter Rabbit began as a book, it's only natural that the Peter Rabbit...Naturally Better collection will include a baby record book, two board books and a special edition hardcover version of the classic Peter Rabbit stories. All of these will be printed on recycled paper or FSC-accredited paper, using vegetable-based inks.

Hm...vegetable based inks? Sounds like the sort of thing a rabbit would like!

Where to buy:

You can find the Peter Rabbit Naturally Better stuffed animals at FAO Schwarz ($18-30).

Look for the Peter Rabbit Organics toiletries ($9.99-14.99) in the Whole Body department of Whole Foods stores nationwide starting later this month or early next month.

The organic foods are scheduled to start hitting the shelves of fine food stores in September.

You'll have to twiddle your paws until January when the Peter Rabbit...Naturally Better books bounce into your local bookstore and show up online at retailers like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Food - Kopali Supergood Superfoods

Sometimes I just find advertising really confusing.

For example, I never understood those jam ads that said, "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."®

Why did it have to be good? Does the name Smucker's somehow intrinsically embody goodness?

On the other hand, with a name like Supergood Superfoods, you're certainly creating some high expectations.

Created by Kopali Organics, all 10 varieties of Supergood Superfoods are certified Organic according to USDA standards. Kopali says that means a government-approved certifier has checked the organic standards each farm, producer and processor involved in the production of Supergood Superfoods.

Kopali quotes the standards from the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP):

Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations... Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.

Four varieties of the Supergood Superfoods (Mango, Pineapple, Mulberry and Goldenberry) contain just organic dried foods with nothing added at all - no sugar, no oil, no sulfites.

I thought maybe Kopali had created the term 'superfood', but according to Wikipedia, usage of the word stretches back more than 90 years to mean a food with lots of beneficial phytochemicals (compounds derived from plants or fruits).

Kopali's Supergood Superfoods certainly seem to fit that bill. Take the Goldenberries. These puppies are packed with Vitamin A (81% in a 1.8-ounce serving) and dietary fiber (20%).

I don't believe I'd ever tried a goldenberry before, which isn't too surprising since apparently goldenberries are one of the Lost Crops of the Incas. But now that Kopali has rediscovered this lost crop, I hope others jump onto the goldenberry band wagon. Simultaneously sweet and tart with a bit of crunch, the experience of eating a goldenberry is a bit like biting into a slice of honey-soaked lemon (only less messy).

Have a sweeter tooth? Indulge in one of the five varieties of Supergood Superfoods covered in Fair Trade Certified™ dark chocolate. The chocolate enrobes cacao nibs, goji berries, espresso beans, banana or mulberries. I tried the Chocolate Goji Berries and have to say that the chocolate sort of cloaks the organic berry hiding inside, but it felt good to know that I was getting 23% of my Vitamin A while nibbling on a chocolatey snack!

Incidentally, it doesn't show up in the Nutrition Facts box, but according to a December 2007 article in the UK Telegraph, goji berries are #1 when it comes to concentrations of antioxidants (substances that may protect your body's cells against damaging free radicals).

Finally, if you just can't make up your mind, you can always choose the Supergood Superfoods Organic Mix - goji berries, mulberries, pistachios and cacao nibs.

We don't have any gripes about the taste, presentation or ethos behind Supergood Superfoods, but we do have two quibbles. First, all the Supergood Superfoods come packaged in plastic pouches. Since the pouches themselves are kind of small, you'll go through a lot of plastic if you nibble a Supergood Superfoods snack every day.

Second, with an MSRP of $3.99 for 1.8 ounces (which translates into approximately $36/lb.), you'd need a SuperBankAccount to make Supergood Superfoods a daily snack.

At prices like those, you might want to grow your own Superfoods. Incidentally, that Telegraph article did say that goji berry plants are tough, self-fertile and easy to grow, so if you're looking for a new gardening project...

Where to buy:
According to Kopali, you should be able to find Supergood Superfoods at every Whole Foods Market for an MSRP of $3.99 each.

Sweepstakes Tip -- Green Your Decor & SuzyJack

Looking for an eco-friendly way to decorate your walls or organize your desk?

Green Your Decor, one of our favorite sites for green product info, has the scoop on nifty pencil cups and wall hangings from SuzyJack.

As Green Your Decor points out, SuzyJack uses recycled paper, soy-based inks and wind power in manufacturing its products.

Now until September 1st, Green Your Decor is running a sweepstakes where one lucky winner will get a 2 SuzyJack decorative Iris wall panels. Here's the contest link.

And remember, if you want extra entries to our own 1GreenProduct.com Act2GreenSmart Sweepstakes, you can still blog about the contest or invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list before 11:59 p.m. on August 28. Good luck!

Office - Bagasse Notebooks, Composition Books and Writing Pads from Staples

Some people get pessimistic about the state of the environment, but I am continually filled with optimism thinking of human ingenuity.

Sure, our curiosity gets us into all sorts of messes, but it also helps us come up with ingenious solutions to reducing waste and producing useful Green products.

Consider the example of bagasse, a.k.a. sugarcane waste - the plant fiber that's left over after the sugarcane has been processed and crushed to make sugar.

What would you do with this crushed sugarcane? (I have a sweet tooth, so I might suck on the cane a little just to see if there were any sugar left, but that's not the best answer in this case.)

Office products company Staples® decided to use the bagasse to create a collection of eco-friendly notebooks, notepads and filler paper. These paper products are manufactured from a formula that includes 80% bagasse and marketed under the Staples EcoEasy™ brand.

Staples says that the quality of bagasse paper is "just as good as tree-based paper," but we think that's incorrect.

In our humble opinion, the bagasse paper looks and feels even better than tree-based paper. There's a sort of silky smoothness and sheen to the paper that we rarely experience in tree-based paper.

Now we don't mean to diss trees, we'd just rather see them standing tall, pumping out oxygen, providing shade and making the world a beautiful place to live rather than pulped into paper.

Could bagasse paper ever replace tree-made paper entirely? One other bagasse benefit to consider (per Staples) is that sugarcane can reach maturity in just 15-16 months, where trees apparently require at least 10 years to mature. This seems to make bagasse a much more efficient (and did we mention sweeter?) renewable resource. Although there are probably many other variables to consider, such as how much paper you can get out of a 16-month old acre of bagasse versus a 10-year old acre of trees.

According to Staples' media reps, the bagasse paper can go straight into the usual paper recycling stream. One more point in its favor...

Where to buy:

Currently, you can only find these bagasse notebooks ($1.99-$2.99), composition books ($1.99) and writing pads ($1.99) in Staples stores. Use the handy Store Locator to find a location near you.

Don't Forget:

You can still enter the 1GreenProduct.com Act2GreenSmart sweepstakes that runs until August 28!

Sweepstakes -- Act2GreenSmart Bags

Trying to kick the plastic bag habit is a good thing.

Doing while using a bag made from recycled plastic bottles truly constitutes poetic justice.

That's why we're pleased to recommend the versatile tote bags from Act2GreenSmart (formerly known as Shoreline).

According to the tags on Act2GreenSmart's bags, 1 billion plastic PET water and soda bottles are dumped in landfills worldwide every day.

Cutting down that waste stream won't be easy. Partly it will depend on consumers deciding to drink tap water and drink from environmentally-friendly reusable bottles like those made by Kleen Kanteen.

The other way to reduce the waste stream while demand for disposable bottles remains high would be to figure out a way to reuse the bottles as raw materials for other consumer goods.

That's what Act2GreenSmart has done by recycling PET bottles into stylish totes, messenger bags, laptop bags and shoulder pouches. According to the company, making one tote bag saves 10 16-ounce PET bottles from the landfill. The tags on the tote ($39.99) - and on other products like the shoulder pouch ($29.99) - make it clear that 100% of the bag's internal and external fabric comes from recycled post-consumer PET bottles.

Both the bags we tested us impressed us with their versatility and build quality. The tote in particular seems like good value. We like the reinforced, structured base and the internal pockets and dividers. Our only quibble is that the handles seem slightly puny for a bag this tough.

In addition to the tote and shoulder pouch, Act2GreenSmart also makes messenger bags and laptop holders from recycled PET.

The company even has a shopping bag made from #5 polypropylene type plastic. From what I've heard, #5 plastics are more difficult to recycle. Usually, you see #5 getting made into something rugged like plastic lumber, so it's exciting to see that Act2GreenSmart has figured out a way to remake the material into a shopping bag. (You may still want to avoid consumption of #5 plastics like many yogurt and sour cream containers if your local recycling authority does not accept that type of plastic. Here in NYC, we're still limited to recycling #1 PET and #2 HDPE plastics.

Where to buy:

Order Act2GreenSmart bags ($29.99 - $74.99) and other eco-friendly products directly through the company's affiliated e-commerce site - AGreenPlace4U.com

Act2GreenSmart has generously offered an exclusive discount code just for 1GreenProduct.com readers. Order your bags through AGreenPlace4U.com and get 15% off any order by using the code "aug1GreenProduct". The discount is good from now until September 30.

Alternatively, you can find Act2GreenSmart bags at both online and offline third-party retailers. Note that some of these links may still mention the Shoreline name. Check to make sure you're buying the new Act2GreenSmart designs if you want to help keep PET bottles out of the landfills.

How to win:

Yep, it's another exciting 1GreenProduct.com Sweepstakes! Two lucky winners will receive either an Act2GreenSmart Messenger Bag (Approximate Retail Value $69.99 - $74.99) or an Act2GreenSmart Tote Bag (ARV $39.99).

Entering the sweepstakes is easy. Just sign up for the 1GreenProduct.com email subscription list. Most weeks, you'll get 3 emails from us (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) with news, reviews, discounts and sweepstakes announcements on great Green products.

Note that you must verify your email address and thus activate your subscription in order to actually enter the sweepstakes. To do this, just respond to the activation email that Feedburner will send you.

Already a subscriber?

Kick back and relax, because you my friend are already automatically entered into this and all subsequent 1GreenProduct.com sweepstakes.

Want more chances to win?

This time, you have two ways to get additional entries.

1) As usual, you can blog about the Act2GreenSmart Sweepstakes and get three (3) extra entries. Just send us an email with a link to your blog posting.

2) Invite your friends to enter the Sweepstakes. For every friend who signs up for our email list, you can get 1 additional entry up to a maximum of ten (10) additional entries. For example, if 5 friends join, you get 5 additional entries. Just make sure that your friends send us an email after they sign up for the mailing list and mention your email address so that we can give you credit for referring them. (As an added bonus, your friends will of course get entered into all future sweepstakes as long as they remain active subscribers.)

When it ends: 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 28, 2008.

How we choose a winner: On August 29, we will pick two (2) winners using an Internet-based random number generator at Random.org.

Our promise: We will never sell your email address to marketers or spammers. Your email address is used solely to deliver 1GreenProduct.com news, reviews, discounts and sweepstakes announcements.

One entry, many great prizes: Remember, as long as you remain an active 1GreenProduct.com email subscriber, you'll automatically be entered into all future sweepstakes. We'll try to run an average of at least one sweepstakes per month.

The fine print: Unfortunately, for legal and/or logistical reasons, we apparently have to limit the sweepstakes to residents of the 50 United States and D.C. who are 18 years of age or older.

Please play fair. You can only subscribe once to the email list. If you want additional sweepstakes entries, please either blog about the contest or invite your friends to sign up for our email list as described above. To read the complete list of Sweepstakes rules, follow this link.

Thanks for your participation and good luck to all!

Update - This contest is now listed on Sweepstakes Advantage, SweepsGoat and Swisher Sweetie.

PS - Congratulations to the third winner of our Green Works Dishwashing Liquid sweepstakes - Jamie from Rome, New York. We're still waiting to hear back from the owners of two more winning email addresses. If they don't respond, we'll eventually hold a supplemental drawing and pick two alternate winners, so stay tuned...

Green Works Sweepstakes - We have our winners! // New sweepstakes starts tomorrow!

Thanks to all our current email subscribers and all the new folks who signed up for the email list to enter the 1GreenProduct.com Green Works(TM) Dishwashing Liquid Sweepstakes.

(Please note - If you're viewing the blog with Microsoft's Explorer browser, the ending of the Sweepstakes post may be mashed into an earlier post for Beleaf organic cotton tote. We're not sure how that happened or how to fix the problem, but we do recommend viewing the blog via the Firefox browser where everything looks just fine!)

The Sweepstakes ended Tuesday night at 11:59 p.m. EDT and yesterday we picked 5 winners, each of whom will receive 1 bottle of Green Works Dishwashing Liquid.

In the interests of transparency, we are pasting below screengrabs from Random.org showing how we randomly choose the winners from all active email subscribers. (Note that if you never verified your email address, we're unable to include you in the sweepstakes drawing.)

Three of the winners have already responded and two have given us permission to personally congratulate them on this site. So a hearty congratulations to Kendra from Greensboro, North Carolina and to Jackie from Ocala, Florida!!

Meanwhile, even if you didn't win the Green Works dishwashing liquid, we hope you'll stick around to find out all about the great green products we're reviewing these days on 1GreenProduct.com.

We can tell you that we're running one more August 1GreenProduct.com Sweepstakes starting tomorrow in which all current email subscribers will automatically be entered.

This time, we're planning to experiment with a new way for you to get extra Sweepstakes entries!

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment or send us an email with your comments or suggestions on future sweepstakes or the site in general.

- Aaron Dalton, 1GreenProduct.com

Office - Office Depot Green products

I once had a job where I was in charge of ordering office supplies. That meant I got to browse through the big catalog of supplies and see the staggering variety of envelopes, file folders, calendars and other essentials of modern office life.

I don't recall many - if any - recycled products in that catalog, but fortunately things are beginning to change.

In April, Office Depot® announced the launch of a new line of 'Office Depot® Green™' products including copy paper, hanging folders, all-purpose wipes, manila folders, hand soap, cleaning sprays, academic planners and note pads.

Some of these products are better and greener than others. The 100% recycled hanging folders ($9.99) are made from minimum 95% post-consumer recycled content. Not only that, but they look and feel almost the same as conventional hanging folders.

On the other hand, some of the other products like the perforated writing pads ($5.99), weekly/monthly planners ($8.99) and manila folders ($21.29) contain only 30-40% post-consumer content.

It would be great to see Office Depot increase the percentages of post-consumer content in some of these products, especially items like the manila file folders where having a uniform writing surface is not of paramount importance.

Still, there are plenty of office products on the market that contain 0% recycled content. If you've been buying those supplies, you can take a giant green step forward by switching to Office Depot Green products.

FYI, we didn't get to test any of the soaps or cleaners first-hand, except for the all-purpose wipes ($5.99). Honestly, we weren't terribly impressed with their green-ness. For one thing, they come in a big plastic tub. For another, the label says the cleaning solution used on the wipes is "formulated with less toxic chemicals than traditional cleaning products". OK, less toxic is good. But non toxic is better. And since there's no ingredient list, you can't judge the toxicity for yourself or do any research on it. Finally, the label calls the wipes biodegradable, but an asterisk qualifier points out that only the cleaning agent is biodegradable, not the wipe itself.

Where to buy:
Find Office Depot Green products at more than 1,200 Office Depot stores nationwide or buy online at Office Depot's website.

Travel - Buttermilk Falls Inn, Blue Ridge Destination Center, HomeAway.com, Hotel Rosa Alpina, Hotel SO, Earthsong, Callaway Gardens, Aerial Trams

In the summer, New York City (1GreenProduct's home base) can be a summer festival, but the heat and crowds can also get a bit overwhelming.

That's why it was so nice to get away for a couple of days last week to the historic Buttermilk Falls Inn, located about two hours north of the city along the Hudson River.

What makes Buttermilk Falls Inn a great destination for eco-minded travelers looking for a little rest and relaxation?

1. The organic kitchen garden and the organic eggs from the resident heritage breed chickens. This organic bounty goes into delicious and beautiful breakfast dishes such as scrambled eggs with cheese and broccoli or raspberry pancakes. As Local Harvest says, "The best organic food is what's grown closest to you." It's hard to get more local than an organic garden on the property.

2. A new spa that uses solar and geothermal systems to heat the mineral pool, sauna and steam room. The spa also features natural and organic skincare lines such as Dr. Alkaitis, Spa Technologies and Jurlique in its treatments.

3. The Inn's 70 acres of bucolic riverfront property provide plenty of room for hiking and strolling. You can borrow bikes to ride on gravel trails or the lightly trafficked local roads. You can play a bit of tennis or take stale bread down to the pond and feed the ducks, swans and one very aggressive goose.

4. Technically, you don't need a car. It's possible to reach the Inn via a 2-hour train ride on Metro North from Grand Central station. You get off at the Poughkeepsie station (last s