By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Got a greenie on your shopping list this year, someone who’s yearning for a composter or a bat house? Here are a few gift ideas for the newly minted or entrenched ecoist.

A Chlorine Filter for the Shower.

Rainfall Showerhead filters out the chlorine and other chemicals

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Let’s shop green without being obvious about it, OK? You can, you know. There are many ways to tweak the holiday list this year to skew it toward recycled, socially conscious, energy-conserving goods. Of course, we don’t like to advocate lots of consuming. We definitely don’t buy that theory that it’s our patriotic duty to purchase our way out of the recession.

On the other hand, we are going to exchange gifts this holiday season. With that in mind, here are a few humble suggestions for keeping it green (and affordable), subtly.

A TOASTER OVEN

Black and Decker CTO6301 Convection Toaster Oven

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By Bill Sullivan
Green Right Now

In Omaha, Neb., Travis Freeman is a bit of a local Christmas legend. Not only does he own and operate Brite Ideas Decorating – which specializes in both commercial and residential seasonal lighting – but he also is known for his efforts in putting together the Salvation Army’s Tree of Lights, a big part of the local holiday landscape.

Omaha's Tree of Lights uses LEDs (Photo: Brite Ideas Decorating)

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
You’ve gotten rid of your plastic water bottle. You turn down polystyrene to-go containers.  You ask for local fruit and you only drink Fair Trade coffee.
What’s left to help lower your dining-out carbon profile?
Reusable titanium chopsticks.
Alan Folts’ colorful and gracefully turned titanium “TiStix” chopsticks are made from surplus titanium; they’re [...]

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The EPA announced today it has revised the qualifications for televisions to achieve the Energy Star label, requiring TVs to be 40 percent more energy efficient than conventional models.

The new requirements raise the bar on how energy efficient a TV must be to earn the Energy Star label. They require TVs to use less energy when turned on, ensure a satisfactory level of brightness and curb power associated with downloading program guide data. The EPA says this will translate to greater savings for consumers and the environment. If all televisions sold in the United States met the new Energy Star requirements, Americans would save $2.5 billion annually in energy costs while reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the emissions of about 3 million cars, the agency says.

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By Tom Kessler
Green Right Now

When it comes to clogged drains, it’s been a struggle to find an effective alternative to the many harsh chemicals that most people rely on to break up trapped debris. But a Houston company has developed a product that is brilliant in its simplicity and has the added benefit of being as green as you can get where brownish goop is involved.

The PermaFLOW Self Cleaning Drain by PF WaterWorks has already won the Best of What’s New Award from Popular Science. It replaces an existing P-trap — that curved section of pipe just below your sink — with an improved version that has been engineered to eliminate the need for secondary maintenance products and procedures such as plunging, caustic drain cleaners and messy drain disassembly.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Still using paper coffee filters? You might not be able to break your caffeine habit, but getting rid of disposable coffee filters is easier than you may realize.

Permanent filters made of stainless steel mesh (and typically gold colored) can serve for many years. So can filters made of hemp, the same fiber used to make ropes and more recently, a raft of other items from T-shirts to washrags. Hemp is tough and these filters promise to last for years also.

We bought one from Cusp Natural Products, a family-owned Washington company that began making a few hemp items in the 1990s and today finds itself making hot pads, dog toys, baseball caps and even iron board covers from hemp fabric.

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From Green Right Now Staff

If you’re ready to turn over a new, green leaf this school year, there are plenty of opportunities to go eco-friendly, from recycled paper and pencils to lunch boxes and sandwich wraps made of recycled PET plastic. Compared to last year, there are more green school supplies now available and more stores are carrying them. Here’s our guide to some of the basics you be looking for:

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From Green Right Now Reports

Paper products are getting unquestionably more environmentally sensitive. With even big name brands like Kimberly-Clark publicly committing to using fibers from sustainably managed forests, you can expect to see stores make more room on the shelves for at least one “alternative” paper product brand.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Paper plates are not just paper anymore – they’re made of recycled plastic, or PLA-plastic derived from vegetables, or bamboo, or birch wood.

Now there’s a new entry, Earth Shell paper plates made of potatoes. How do you like them paper plates? You may not know yet, they’re just rolling out in regional groceries like Kings Super Markets and Wegmans in the Northeast; Meijer in the Midwest; HEB in Texas and Smart and Finals in California.

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Photo: CDC Public Health Image Library

Female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads dengue

By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

Ahh, the sounds of summer. Birds chirping, food sizzling on the grill, the buzzing and buzzing and buzzing, the slapping, the spraying and, of course, the slamming of the back door as everyone races back inside.

Summer’s biggest bummer is that swarm of mosquitoes heading your way. As if their irritating blood-sucking isn’t bad enough, they can carry serious diseases.

Of the roughly 200 species of mosquitoes in the U.S., according to the fact-filled American Mosquito Control Association website, there are varieties that can transmit West Nile virus, malaria, dengue and Eastern Equine encephalitis.

There are lots of products on the market that promise to repel mosquitoes. The ones considered most effective, since 1957, contain the chemical DEET. It’s been approved by the EPA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control for use on anyone older than 2 months.

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From Green Right Now Reports:

The promise of energy-efficient LED light bulbs is getting brighter, with technological advancements and new entrants turning up regularly in the retail market.

The latest new bulb comes from GE, and while it may not be the perfect fit for home use, it could work for certain applications. For retailers and commercial customers who need display lights, GE’s new LED lamps could mean big energy savings.

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