Green tips will be added to Ecobye frequently

Posted on 13 March 2009
Filed Under Green Tips | Trackback

Just a quick post to let readers know that I will also be adding quick tips about things you can do around the home, at the office, in the car and generally anywhere else. These won’t be history making eco-friendly tips by themselves, however, added together they will make a difference.

Many of them won’t mean much of a change to your current lifestyle. For example, is it that difficult to remember to turn off the water when you are cleaning your teeth? If everyone does some of these then the effect will be huge.

By putting out some of these each week it means you can make a commitment to doing them rather than just reading a list of fifty things and maybe remembering half a dozen. This way you can introduced them as they are published, reduce your environmental footprint and probably save a few dollars are the same time.

Underlay slippers - an eco-friendly product from Simple Shoes

Posted on 9 March 2009
Filed Under Footwear | Trackback

Simple Shoes Underlay slippers I’m not a wearer of slippers and just prefer bare feet. Then again, I don’t live in a cool climate so it is not as bad, although a mate of mine takes his shoes off and puts slippers on straight away. Guess who has problems with his feet? No me. That said, if you are looking for a pair of slippers then Simple Shoes offer the Underlay model. Like most of their range they are full of recycled and natural products.

The uppers are felted wool and they are lined in certified organic cotton knit. The outsole is layered natural crepe and all of this is held together with a water based cement. The packaging is just as eco-friendly and with 100% post consumer paper pulp foot forms and box, they are up there with many of the best footwear products.

More details of the Simple Shoes range, including the Underlay slippers, can be found at the Simple Shoes website.

Scarborough Fair Foods fairtrade, organic chocolate

Posted on 2 March 2009
Filed Under Food And Drink | Trackback

Scarborough Fair Foods fairtrade organic chocolate Scarborough Fair organic chocolate, available in the Australian market is a Fairtrade certified organic chocolate. The Fairtrade certification is an important consideration when buying chocolate because it is a product where exploitation is rife, however, it is not widely known. If you wish to do some reading then the article in Fortune magazine, Chocolate’s bittersweet economy is a good place to start.

Originally the Scarborough Fair range was only available for Easter and the good news is that it is now available all year. The four premium chocolate blends are Rapture (70% dark orange chocolate), Sinless (70% dark chocolate), Adore (milk chocolate) and Blameless (fruit and nut milk chocolate).

Full details available at the Scarborough Fair Foods website.

Green initiatives by the web hosting company Rochen

Posted on 26 February 2009
Filed Under Business Services | Trackback

Green hosting initiatives by Rochen Regular readers might have noticed a new image in the right column (like the one in this post) linking through to a web hosting company. When I started this site I had every intention of moving it to a more eco-friendly host. However, this isn’t a decision to make lightly and dealing with multiple web hosts can be difficult. I kept putting off doing more research past the quick Google search as Rochen are a great company and on the rare occasions I need to contact support, they are on the ball and issues are usually dealt with in minutes.

So this week in the course of putting together a new business plan for another venture I visited their website and came across the page summarising Rochen’s green initiatives. Briefly, through Green Mountain Energy they are purchasing carbon credits to offset the emissions of their hosting operations. More importantly they are looking to reduce the emission to start with by utilising energy efficient equipment and just making smart decisions like filling the empty slots in the racks so the climate control is actually cooling the servers and not the empty spaces. This is just one example. Of course they also reduce and recycle packaging and look for this type of commitment in their vendors as well.

Rochen offer some great hosting packages, back up by the best support and you can see more, including details about their green initiatives at the Rochen website.

Peacekeeper Eco Sensual Lip Balm

Posted on 25 February 2009
Filed Under Skin Care | Trackback

Peacekeeper Eco Sensual Lip Balm Peacekeeper and their range, Cause-metics, is a company looking after the environment as well as the people that populate it. An example of the latter is that all after-tax distributable profits are donated to women’s health advocacy and urgent human rights issues. With the assistance of Ceres they also work to ensure a slave-labour free company. Of course they products are free of animal testing too.

The Cause-metics Eco Sensual Lip Balm is 73% organic and 100% vegan and suitable for men and women. The good thing about the Cause-metics products is that all the ingredients are listed on the website. No marketing driven labeling that only includes the ‘good’ bits. The lip balm ingredients include organic palm oil, organic virgin olive oil, jojoba oil, vitamin c, rosemary extract and others, as can be seen on their website.

For more details about their causes and product range please visit the Peacekeeper Cause-metics website.

Arzu hand woven Hope Signature rug

Posted on 19 February 2009
Filed Under Homewares | Trackback

Azru hand woven Hope rug It is impossible not to know about the hardships faced by the people of Afghanistan. Arzu, meaning hope in Dari, is a not for profit organisation that follows the three principles of employ, educate and empower. They do this by working with the Afghani women to produce magnificent hand woven rugs. The company provides weaving looms to households on a ‘rent to buy’ arrangement and this allows them to earn an income whilst still being able to look after their families at home. This kind of arrangement is open to child labour problems so they have implemented rules that are more stringent than the government laws.

All the rugs, including the Azru Hope Signature rugs, are 100% handmade with natural fibres and dyes. The wool comes from sheep bred in central Afghanistan that is handcarded and hand spun. They dyes are derived from natural plants and fruits and thus, no harmful chemicals are used in the process. The use of handspun wool also means the dyes give a variegated appearance to the wool and so each rug is truly unique. The floor rugs are available in a variety of sizes to suit most areas.

More details about the work they are doing and the other rug ranges at the Azru Rugs website.

Del Forte Sabine organic denim jeans

Posted on 13 February 2009
Filed Under Clothing | Trackback

Sabine organic denim jeans by Del Forte Del Forte Denim designs a range for the fashion conscious and more importantly the eco conscious. The company is based in Los Angeles where the garments are sewn and finished. No offshore sweatshop labour used to produce these clothes.

The range is made from organic cotton and in addition, Del Forte has partnered with The Sustainable Cotton Project, via a portion of their sale proceeds, to help foster good relationships between the cotton farmers, manufacturers and consumers.

The Del Forte Denim Sabine jeans are an update to their best selling Eugenia jeans and come is ‘Sera’ black over dyed wash. They are a mid-rise slim boot cut. The combines the good bits of each style with the great looks of a straight leg and the flattery of a boot cut.

Further details at the Del Forte Denim website.

Greenworks natural biodegradable cleaning wipes

Posted on 8 February 2009
Filed Under Cleaning | Trackback

Greenworks natural biodegrable cleaning wipes Twelve months after the first Greenworks products were released to the market, the biodegradable cleaning wipes have been introduced. Cleaning wipes are a quick, convenient way of maintaining a healthy environment at the home or office and especially where it isn’t practical to keep one of the other natural Greenworks cleaners.

The Greenworks cleaning wipes are biodegradable and made from 100% cellulose fibres and derived from renewable plantation trees. They are 99% natural and can be disposed of in normal compost systems. They are suitable for most surfaces, such as stainless steel, chrome and sealed granite.

Proceeds from the sale of the Greenworks products are donated to the Sierra Club, one of the oldest environmental organisations in the US.

To see the complete range of natural cleaning products check out the Greenworks website.

Madera sustainable surf shoes by Vans

Posted on 6 February 2009
Filed Under Footwear | Trackback

Vans Madera eco-friendly surf shoes Vans Madera shoes are part of their eco-friendly footwear range. Most of the shoes in the lineup are made from sustainable resources and the use of petroleum based glues and inks is avoided. Pity about the rest of their ranges because the surf shoes aren’t suited to skating or BMX. Maybe one day.

The Madera is classic Vans style. They are similar to the original slip-ons even down to the ones with the checkerboard print. They are made using hemp and canvas textiles, have a bamboo charcoal lining, hemp infused gum rubber outer sole and natural cotton jute wrap. Of course they use water based glues and inks too.

For details about all the Vans surf range check out the Vans Surf website.

Scarborough Fair Foods Organic Fairtrade Green Tea

Posted on 3 February 2009
Filed Under Food And Drink | Trackback

Scarborough Fair Fairtrade organic green tea Scarborough Fair Foods have a range of specialty teas, coffees and chocolates that are Fairtrade certified. Some go further and are organic and biodynamic certified as well. The Fairtrade logo ensures the growers are not exploited and receive fair prices for the produce. The flow on to the communities helps them maintain self sufficiency and not be subject to exploitation such as child labour.

The Scarborough Fair organic green tea is one of the range of specialty teas and is available in plain, lemon, mango and lime and finally, mint. Being biodynamic certified it ensures the leaves are grown without chemicals and pesticides and follows ecological and sustainable farming methods.

They are available throughout Australia and New Zealand in supermarkets and come in packets of 50 and 25 bags.

To see more about the range of specialty organic teas see the Scarborough Fair website.