Greening Cyber Monday: Eco-friendly Packaging

So anyone with children in their lives knows that's it's pretty hard to avoid buying at least a few things at this time of year. We're doing our best to find a few things that our kids will really like while still minimizing our impact on the environment. This year the Nature Conservatory has launched a movement to change "Cyber Monday" into "Green Gift Monday". They are encouraging people to buy Green products and to minimize their impact on the environment with their holiday purchases.

One way to reduce your impact on the environment is to consider the packaging when purchasing kids toys. Most parents have dealt with layers of plastic containers, wires and strings tying the toys to layers of cardboard and difficult to wrap oddly shaped packages. The children don't like this packaging any more than the parents do and it's all headed quickly to the trash. Most of that packaging isn't recyclable or reusable. But what can you do? If you want the doll or toy you have to put up with the packaging designed to hold it perfectly in place while it is shipped around the world and to the store shelf where you purchase it.

Believe it or not, Amazon.com is starting a movement to revolutionize product packaging. Their movement isn't new, they started "Frustration-Free Packaging" in 2008. According to their web page:

It's a multi-year initiative designed to alleviate "wrap rage," featuring recyclable boxes that are easy to open and free of clamshells and wire ties.

Amazon works directly with manufacturers like Fisher-Price and Leapfrog to package products directly into recyclable boxes that can be shipped in their own boxes without an additional shipping box. The item is exactly the same, but when your child opens the box they can immediately pull out their present and use it without waiting for someone to help them free it from its restraints. All the packing materials can be directly recycled in paper recycling or reused.

Vendors are allowed to sell their products in Frustration-Free Packaging in any of their outlets, therefore I encourage you to watch for it wherever you are shopping and purchase these versions. For example, I was shopping directly on LeapFrog's website yesterday and I had the choice to order a product in either regular or frustration free packaging - I bet you can guess which I chose!

There is even an option for you to help influence this program. If you purchase anything that is shipped through Amazon (usually anything eligible for Super-Saver Shipping), after the product arrives you can go to their Packaging Feedback site (only works if you have recently placed an order) and provide direct feedback of the packaging. Amazon then uses this feedback to work directly with manufacturers to improve the packaging of the products they sell.

As I was doing research for this article, I discovered that Amazon has a huge program to implement environmental and energy initiatives throughout their company around the world. You can read more about their "Earth Kaizens" program directly on their website. I was very impressed by the efforts they are making.

You can buy a lot more than just toys packed in Frustration-Free Packaging including electronics, food, household supplies, and even our favorite, toilet paper!

So whether you are going green with your holiday shopping or your regular household purchases, consider the packaging and if you can't get frustration free packaging, let Amazon know you want it next time!

Happy Greening,
Alicia

The Cloth Diapering Accessory Every Parent Should Have

As we enter this holiday shopping system I have been trying to focus on gifts and purchases that are either consumables or things we really need. Last year I even wrote a Green Gift Guide that focuses on those sorts of items. We're also traveling a lot and I'm trying to pack lighter. However, I keep coming back to one cloth diapering accessory that I just can't live without - my diaper sprayer.

While your child is breastfed the diapers aren't bad, you can just toss them in your holding bag to wait for washing. However, once your child starts eating solid foods, the solids really need to be cleaned off the diapers before they go in your holding bag. When I talk to mothers from previous generations they talk about "dunk and swish" and sometimes even flushing the toilet to get the solids off. In some situations it can even get more gross and icky. This is when the diaper sprayer comes in really handy.  It is also great for cleaning older kids underwear and pants when dealing with Encopresis (soiled pants).

When we had our first consultation with the Diaper Lab, Laura recommended a diaper sprayer as a very useful, but relatively speaking, pricey item that we should consider. They even had one attached to the toilet in their restroom that we could check out. At the time we decided to pass, but once Timmy started eating solids we promptly ordered one online.

The sprayer connects to the back of your toilet and there's a holder to hang it off the side of your tank; it's very easy to attach. Then it behaves similarly to a modern low-flow showerhead, in that it uses air to increase the force of the spray. I hold my diaper low over the bowl, take aim and spray. Voila, the solids are rinsed off into my toilet and with any luck, my hands don't even get wet.

I change my mind about whether or not to take the liner out of the diaper before spraying. Because I have a front loader, my diapers wash better if the load is heavier when I put it in, therefore arguing that soaking wet liners are better. However, they drip less and they are usually easier to take out of the pocket if I take them out before spraying. Which is better? I leave it to personal preference and the situation at the time.

I always lift the seat before spraying and afterward I like to take some toilet paper and wipe down the edges of the bowl before lowering the seat.

Right now I'm traveling for the holidays and I really miss my sprayer.  Thankfully my husband is willing to employ the "dunk and swish" method.  Next time I'm away from home for more than three or four days I just may take my diaper sprayer with me. If you have a cloth diapering mom on your holiday gift list who doesn't have one of these, consider a diaper sprayer as a very practical gift she'll love!

Happy Greening!
Alicia

Going for Solar: Construction (Step 9)

Beyond the first few steps in the waiting process comes the real work, construction.  Every solar project will be a little bit different depending on the design, location and local building requirements.  Our solar awning project construction happened in three steps:

• Awning Construction - Step 9a - coming soon
  Because our roof orientation and configuration was not suitable for a solar installation, we decided to think outside the box and go with a solar awning.  This is basically a ground mounted system, which is technically attached to the house.  One big advantage to this approach is that we could avoid the trouble of replacing the roof before installing the solar.  Since the solar system should last 25+ years, if your roof isn't new, then the best practice is to replace your roof and then do the solar.  Another wonderful advantage is that we now have a beautiful covered porch area.
• PV Panel Installation - Step 9b - coming soon
  
  After the structure is in place, comes the actual PV panel installation.  We used a Unirac solar mounting system, which SunBug Solar installed when they built the structure.  The panel installation was very quick and all 24 panels were installed in one a day.  We choose Sanyo HIT Double panels so that we would get some light under the awning which spans the entire 1st floor southern wall including several windows and a door.
  
• Inverter Installation & Wiring - Step 9c - coming soon
  
  
  The final step in construction is wiring all the panels together into the various parallel series and then hooking that into the grid-tied inverter and eventually into the utility meter.

Follow the links (coming soon) to see the construction and installation process of our solar pv awning in more detail.

Here are some pictures throughout the construction process:


Having a good solar contractor/builder makes the construction much better. Read on to find out about the other steps in our Going for Solar Series.

Happy Greening!
Jon & Alicia

Going for Solar - Waiting (Step 8)

After you have done all the hard work of planning, negotiating, selecting a contractor and signing all the papers, comes the hardest and easiest part of the process: The Waiting!  Waiting is easy because there is nothing to do, but wait.  Waiting is hard because there is very little you can do to accelerate the process and you hopefully are excited by the project our you wouldn't be installing solar.

Below are the various periods of waiting we experienced.  I expect most projects will experience a similar set, though durations and order will vary from project to project.

Read more »

Holiday Light Trade-in and Recycling Program at Home Depot

Program re-instated for 2011 - More details!

Do you have strings of old incandescent holiday lights around your house?  Do they even work?  Even if they don't you can trade them in for a discount on energy efficient LED holiday lights at Home Depot from now until November 14, 2010.

Home Depot will recycle the old lights and you can save energy too

More details from Home Depot

Features & Benefits
• Use 80% less energy than traditional incandescent holiday lights
• ENERGY STAR® qualified
• Can last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent lights
• Cool to the touch, reducing the risk of fire
• Do not have moving parts, filaments or glass, so they are much more durable and shock resistant than other lights
• The amount of electricity consumed by just one 7-watt incandescent bulb could power 140 LEDs – enough to light two
24 foot strings

How Lights Are Recycled
• The light bulb coupler and the socket plug are manually clipped
• Three byproducts result and four categories of raw materials
• Each byproduct is independently shredded for separation, returning glass, HDPE plastics, and non-ferrous copper as 
well as ferrous steel
• The prepared separated raw materials are then sent to licensed smelters for re-casting or re-molding, all in accordance 
with local, state and federal statutes

They even have a video you can watch: Home Depot Christmas Light Trade-In Video.

Now's the time to dig out those old holiday lights, get them recycled at Home Depot and get $3 off when you upgrade to high efficiency LED holiday lights.  I'm taking over my stash of old holiday lights left over from last year today.

Happy Greening!
Jon & Alicia

p.s. Home Depot had a similar program last year that we wrote about and used.  I'm glad they are being clear about how the lights are being recycled this year.