1GreenProduct

Welcome to the second installment of Tidbits, shorter but still important eco-friendly news and product reviews.

We hope you’re enjoying this new type of 1GreenProduct.com feature. Please feel free to email us or leave a comment about whether you like the Tidbits format. And now, here are February’s Tidbits:

• Aurora Products now packages more than 15 varieties of its all-natural and organic dried fruits, nuts, granolas and trail mixes in post consumer recycled plastic packaging. You can find Aurora in various supermarkets across the country including Stop & Shop, Giant, Shop Rite, Acme, Shaw’s, Price Chopper, Big Y, Whole Foods and A&P.;

• Online eco-boutique Ecosaurus launched back in September offering 100% recycled, 50-100% post-consumer waste, chlorine-free, Green-e Certified and FSC-Certified note cards, greeting cards and gift wrap. All products designed and printed in Phoenix, Arizona using vegetable-based inks.

• The husband and wife team behind North Carolina-based Figs & Ginger offers jewelery made from at least 50% recycled/reclaimed gold and silver. All Figs & Ginger literature is printed on 80-100% post consumer stock, mainly with soy-based inks. The company ships its products in padded mailers made from 90% recycled, 50% post consumer materials.

• Pet lovers should dig the cute 100% organic cotton tote bags from New York-based Pillow Pillow Pillow. Find a convenient retailer or e-tailer through the company’s extensive Where to Buy page.

• Keep track of your year with 2009 Weekly Planners from Sarah Pinto. Sporting cheerful designs, these planners are made in San Francisco using soy-based inks on recycled paper.

• Body care product company Terressentials claims to use only 100% USDA-certified organic ingredients in its shampoos, lotions and other personal care products.

• Want to do something to reduce the impact of the estimated 39 billion items of disposable cutlery that end up in American landfills every year? Encourage your local take out restaurant to consider something like Vegware(C) – biodegradable plates, bowls, knives, forks, cups and to-go boxes made from natural materials like vegetable starch (corn, potato, cassava) or bagasse sugar-cane residue. You can browse a selection of Vegware at Amazon.com.

• How can you show your appreciation in an eco-friendly way? Why not send a Green gift basket like the ones sold through Growing Presence?

• Stay warm all winter cuddled under an oversized plush towel – a.k.a. blanQuette(TM) by Yumi & Laurie made from a mixture of organic cotton and bamboo. blanQuettes have anti-microbial properties (courtesy of the bamboo content) and are fully machine washable.

• The selection of cards at Minted.com offers proof that wedding invitations can be fancy and eco-friendly at the same time.

• Specialty food manufacturer The Lollipop Tree has introduced nine new organic products and completely reformulated its entire line of baking mixes, pepper jellies and jams, dessert sauces and grilling / glazing sauces to include organic ingredients.

• G-OIL(TM) from Green Earth Technologies has become the first bio-based motor oil to achieve all the criteria for the highest-rating four-cycle oil certification (SM) from the American Petroleum Institute. According to the manufacturer, G-OIL itself is bio-degradable and comes packaged in recyclable bottles made from recycled plastics.

• Have old recyclable batteries or cell phones that you want to get rid of? Don’t just throw them in the trash! Recycled them through Call2Recycle, a national program that lets you drop off old cell phones and used rechargeable batteries from cordless electronic products (i.e. laptop computers, digital cameras, PDAs, Blackberrys, power tools and camcorders) at participating retailers such as Radio Shack, The Home Depot, Best Buy and Target.

• The North Face has introduced a new Denali fleece jacket ($165) made from Recycled Polartec 300 Series fleece. The solid fleece jacket has 87% recycled content, while the heather fleece fabric contains 65% recycled material. Most of this recycled content is post-industrial waste (i.e. manufacturing scraps), with 10% of the recycled content coming from post-consumer materials.

• Cool news on the package-shipping front. Apparently UPS has teamed with HP to save paper by printing sorting instructions in ink directly on packages without the use of labels using a device called the HP Handheld sp400 All-in-One. This isn’t something you can buy, but if you’re trying to pick an eco-friendly shipping company, knowing UPS has taken this initiative may make a difference in yo
  ur choice.

• Eco Lips (which we originally covered back in August ‘08) has introduced a new line of 99% organic Pure & Simple lip balms flavored with Grape, Coconut or Kiwi-Strawberry. Find them for $1.99 each on Eco Lips product page.

• Quick congrats to Dana Rubinstein, one of the co-founders of Dapple for winning the Yahoo! Small Business and Carolyn Kepcher’s Finding What Matters Seeds for Success: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs grant and mentorship program! (Whew, that was a mouthful…). We’re happy to have been an early supporter (and regular user) of Dapple dish soaps since our review back in June ‘08. Congratulations Dana!

• Experiment with reading magazines online (saving the environmental costs of printing, mailing and disposal/recycling) thanks to Zinio and the Read Green Initiative. Just provide your email address to get a 1-year digital magazine subscription (readable online or downloadable to your computer) for free.

• Looking for a new washing machine? Bosch says its Nexxt series uses up to 76% less water and 72% less energy than conventional models. Read reviews and find out where to buy online at Amazon.com.

• Want to help design an eco-friendly shopping bag and maybe even win $500 in the process? Check out this contest over at GreenEyedMonster.

• Discount – 1GreenProduct.com readers get 10% off Picci’s new collection of Italian baby bedding when ordering via Goores.com. Discount code “1gppic” should be valid until May 1, 2009.

• Heading to Lake Tahoe or Reno? Check out the newly opened sections of the Tahoe-Pyramid bikeway that will eventually offer bicyclists a dedicated path through 116 miles of California and Nevada.

• The middle “R” sometimes gets short shrift in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle environmental mantra. Teach your kids early about cutting out trash by replacing disposable lunch containers with sturdy reusable lunch kits from Kids Konserve.

• Some more nicely designed and eco-friendly recycled cotton totes and 100% recycled cardstock stationery from Rebecca Peragine, the designer behind the online shop Print Pattern Paper.

• Earth’s Best organic infant foods has an interesting (if slightly complex) coupon / sweepstakes offer called Celebrate the Firsts taking place through March 31, 2009.

• Which cleaning option is most eco-friendly – a reusable and washable cloth, a sponge, unbleached paper towels or premoistened cleaning wipes? Honestly, we’re not sure which option is best from an eco standpoint, but if you do decide to use cleaning wipes, the new biodegradable Green Works Natural Cleaning Wipes could be a good option. Clorox claims the wipes are 99% natural and made from 100% cellulose fibers derived from farm-grown trees. The plastic container for the wipes is both recyclable (#2 HDPE) and contains a minimum of 25% post-consumer plastic. In our testing, the wipes performed kitchen cleaning tasks better than paper towels. MSRP $3.39 for 30-count container or $5.99 for a 62-count container. (FYI, if you have an eco-friendly community project, you can apply for a $10,000 Green Heroes grant from Green Works. You must apply by February 28, 2009. See details here.)

• Discount — Finally, if you’re still looking for a good Valentine’s Day gift for your sweetie, LaLicious has come out with a lovely new Sugar Kiss scent for its sugar souffle scrub ($34) and body butter ($24). Blending aromas of citrus, rose and vanilla, Sugar Kiss not only smells great, it’s also all-natural and paraben-free like the rest of the LaLicious product line. 1GreenProduct.com readers get 20% off through February 28, 2009 by using the discount code “1GREENSUGAR” when making their purchases through the LaLicious website.