Alchemy goods AD bag

You believe in advertising. You're a marketing junkie. You live, breathe, wear ads. Take it to the next level, with this utterly fab Alchemy Goods Ad Bag. Seriously, when I found this, I actually said "this is awesome!" over my cup of fair trade coffee. In the coffee shop. How embarrassing. But this is the kind of reaction Alchemy Goods provokes:  Incredibly useful creations made from recycled/upcycled items like bike tubes and old seatbelts. The ad bag? Is made from a former billboard ad. It's big (8" x 12" x 16") so is great for hauling around groceries and big, bulky items. Because it's made from upcycled ads, no two are alike. It's washable, durable, funky and utterly unique. And, do you see the Ag logo on the bag? On that logo, there is a little number. That number tells you the percent (by weight) of upcycled material that goes into each product. They truly show their eco-cred front and center. Eco-proud!  You can buy the Ad bag and much more on the Alchemy Goods website. Enjoy!

Untangled Living

As a new(ish) mom, it's really hard to know what you're going to actually need for your kid. And when. And once you figure out that you need something, there's usually about 15 different versions of that thing, and you don't know what's really good until you get the chance to try it out, and then you end up with a bunch of said item that you don't like and one you do, so the one gets used and the rest get piled somewhere. (Much to the chagrin of my husband.)

So, I'm here to tell you, that here's one item you will love.

Untangled Living creates stainless steel children's dishware. They very kindly sent me a set to test way too long ago, ha. But at the time I received it, my kid wasn't interested in using cups or bowls or plates or utensils; only now at 13 months is she starting to show some indication that she gets the concept that things like food go inside other things like bowls as opposed to just flinging it across the room. Now that she can be trusted within some level of reasonableness to not just tip her cheerios out of the bowl the second I give it to her, we're able to use it. Hooray!

The set comes with a kid-sized square plate, little bowl, little cup and a knife and fork.  They're very simply decorated with either a little gecko or a little butterfly (score big points for tasteful kids' stuff!) and are perfectly sized for little hands. The plate I particularly love, because it isn't just a flat plate: it has a nice wide lip all around the edge to keep things from falling off (at least, not falling off *easily*). They're lightweight, dishwasher safe, totally non-breakable (hear that, glass?) and almost 100% perfect. The only downside: when they do hit the floor they're kind of loud. But my daughter sees that as an upside, actually, so.

The set retails for $44 CDN. You can order the butterfly or the gecko set (or both!) from their online store, or from one of their fantastic retailers.

But you know what? I have one to give you. Aww. Just go to the Untangled Living website and come back here and tell me in the comments what your favourite part of Untangled Living is by Wednesday, August 25. Make sure you leave me an email address (if you put it in the format name AT domain DOT com it can't be scraped by a spammer) or another way to contact you. Good luck!

Carry your own water: OtterBottle giveaway!

Congratulations to Alyjane who  said..."I love that some money goes to teh David Suzuki foundation and they that they look great, but I have to say, the fact that they are dishwasher safe is my favorite feature!!" You're getting an OtterBottle!

And while we're talking about water... remember OtterBottle?  Those awesome, uber-useful bottles from a Canadian company that come in most excellent, gorgeous designs? The ones with two lids - a screw cap and a sports top? The BPA-free ones, that are dishwasher safe?  The ones ranging in size from 500 ml to 1 l? The ones where a contribution will be made to the David Suzuki Foundation with every bottle sold? Yeah, I thought you remembered them. Well, I have a brand new OtterBottle right here to give away to a lucky reader.

Just head on over to the OtterBottle website and take a peek around. Then come back here and tell me your favourite thing about OtterBottles in the comments by Wednesday, April 28. The bottle will be given away by random draw and the recipient will be contacted via e-mail, so ensure you leave me a way to contact you. And, good luck!

Flip and Tumble is having a giveaway!

You may remember Flip and Tumble, the creators of fantastic reusable bags. Out of all the bags I own, these are my favourites, because of the easy way they stuff in to the little bag to get tossed back in to my purse - meaning these are the bags that get used the most around here because they're the ones I'm least likely to forget. In a rainbow of colours and even some gorgeous prints like the one at left, these bags are sturdy, stylish and super fun to use.  They're also reasonably priced and have good shipping rates to Canada. Nice!

But it's always better to get things in a giveaway, and so to that end you should check out their earth day giveaway. All you need to do is drop them a quick email along with your address information to contest@flipandtumble.com before April 22nd. The winners will be notified on Earth Day - and I did confirm that Canadians are eligible. So get emailing and good luck!

Awesome Otterbottle: Earth Week Giveaway #1!

And the lucky, lucky recipient of this Otterbottle giveaway is Stisso who said...

The blue tree is a pretty one that donates to cancer and represents both the earth/sea and green land....but it's not my choice. The green flowers are also pretty, and represent the beauty of nature, but it's not my choice either. My choice is for the alien, because we're all going to be living on Mars if we don't start taking care of the earth, and that would suck donkey balls.

Amen to that, girlfriend.

For the rest of you... venture over to Otterbottle to get your own... they're so amazing! Thanks for participating, and don't forget to check out the rest of the Earth Week giveaways.

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You're thirsty. You don't want to use a plastic water bottle, because plastic sucks. But you're still thirsty. And frankly, you're also kind of girly, and you don't want to drag around one of those hideous water bottles that looks like a leftover WWII torpedo or something.

This is why you need an Otterbottle. Not only are these 100% recyclable stainless steel water bottles uber-lightweight and easy to carry... not only are they aluminum-free... not only do they come with two tops - a sport top and twist top with lid, to suit your needs... not only do they come with a clip to easily hook the bottle onto your bag or knapsack.. not only are they a Canadian company... but girl, they are hot. Really, really hot. In 950 ml, 700 ml and 500 ml sizes and a series of gorgeous designs, this water bottle will be the envy of your yoga class. I've been getting compliment after compliment on mine, which of course I smugly bask in.

So... you want one? You could buy one from their website. You could buy one from one of their in-store carriers. (And if you buy one, know that a portion of the proceeds from every bottle sold go to the David Suzuki Foundation.) Or, you could just comment on this post by Monday, April 27 telling me which one of their fancy styles makes the best eco-statement, in your opinion. Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you such as an email address (sorry, this giveaway is Canada only). And if you do that, I might just send you one. Good luck!

Earth Imprints - your source for eco-friendly products and gifts

Are you in charge of getting promotional items for your company? Then you need to check out Earth Imprints. Based in Squamish, BC, Earth Imprints has a wide range of products suitable for branding that are also suitable for the earth. You can order something as simple as Lanyards made with recycled yarn, or something as unique as wheatgrass grow kits. There are hemp or organic cotton tote bags, water bottles, soy candles... basically, everything that you usually get for an employee promo item or to take to trade shows, except everything is eco-friendly, so has less impact on the planet than traditional items. Nice!

You can find everything at Earth Imprints and follow their newsy Blog here.

GreenBar: your eco-friendly browser toolbar

Are you interested in getting the latest in green news, straight from your browser? Then check out the Greenbar Toolbar. It installs right in to your browser and gives you easy access to blogs, feeds, links, green resources, and more.

The Greenbar also features embedded twitter, a built in email system, google search, and a popup blocker.

It's usable in either Internet Explorer or Firefox, so should be accessible to most folks. Give it a try and enjoy your green news!

EcoWeb June 17

Don't worry, ecochicks: I have read the internet so you don't have to.

You a geek who wants to be green? Gizmodo showed us this new Monitor from LG that uses about 45% less energy than traditional models. Now you can feel a whole lot less Green Guilt about your WOW addiction.

Looking for a new source for green news? The Huffington Post, the US political commentary site named the World's Most Powerful Blog by the Guardian, recently launched a new channel: Huffington Post Green, with news, blogs, and commentary about all the latest green news. This one will have some clout!

Sustainablog brings us news about Power of Green Consumers working together through Earth Aid Group Buys: Groups of consumers combining their purchasing power to buy in bulk and get better prices on green goods. Take the power into your own hands! They also posted a great article on Low Impact Living: 10 ways to cut energy consumption. What changes can you make?

Inhabitat featured several cool stories, including these awesomely funky Lamps made with recycled bottles, cool Solar Curtains that shade your home from the sun while absorbing energy, and an uber-useful Crank USB Battery that you could use right away to generate power, and that you will need to surf the web in case of the apocalypse.

At Treehugger, they featured this cool Lettuce Billboard, the Whippy Light (hide your CFL bulbs no more!) and these recycled plastic cutlery cases to curb your need for take-out cutlery with your pad thai.


There was also one piece of ironically good news: the high price of petroleum means that the Cost of Petro Plastic is Skyrocketing, forcing companies who rely on petro-plastics to find alternatives - natural rubber vs. synthetic rubber, reducing plastic packaging, and looking to increased use of recycled materials. While the price of petroleum is hard on the wallet, it's forcing industry to make changes that make things easier on the planet - which in the end, is good for everyone.

Oh, muffin - is all this gloom and doom getting you down? Don't worry: the Budget Ecoist has a great list of 5 Great Organic Wines for Summer to help you through.

Got any ideas for ecoweb? Send 'em to me at talk at ecochick dot ca!

Solar Panels for your Prius

From Gizmodo: California company SEV has created solar panels to fit the roof of your hybrid Toyota Prius, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Rav4, Ford Escape and Dodge Sprinter. The solar panels absorb the power of the sun and add power to your hybrid battery, claiming to add up to 20 miles (32 km and change.. enough for doing your zipping around town on the weekend!) and up to 29% improved fuel economy.

Obviously this sort of thing will work a little better in sunny California than it will here in no-weather-guarantees-Canada, but this is the kind of innovation ecochick loves: mining the obvious energy sources around us instead of digging out planet-killing petroleum half a planet away.

Lightwedge

Reading in bed. It's a lovely way to end the day, or get you through a bout of insomnia. However, if a crabby ecodude and snoring ecopup are asleep beside you, you're best advised not to turn on a glaring light and wake up the house.

There are lots of book lights out there, some of which work better than others. Often you're left having to awkwardly position the light or constantly shift it to avoid having strange shadows on the page. Lightwedge solves all those problems. Using environmentally friendly LED light, it casts light evenly and smoothly across the page you're reading and flips easily over to the opposite page. It's even more environmentally friendly if you use rechargeable batteries (4 AAA batteries are required).

Lightwedge's partner, Bigger and Brighter, ships internationally but the charges are unknown. Still looking for a source for this cool product in Canada!

UPDATED: Found them at my local Chapters store - check it out in person or you can go to chapters.indigo.ca!

Nokia Eco Sensor Phone at CES

At CES, the focus in electronics is slowly but surely shifting to more environmentally friendly, sustainable technologies. One example of this is the Nokia Eco Sensor Phone. Although all they have on display is a non-working prototype, the concept is very intriguing. From the website:

"Our visionary design concept is a mobile phone and compatible sensing device that will help you stay connected to your friends and loved ones, as well as to your health and local environment. You can also share the environmental data your sensing device collects and view other users’ shared data, thereby increasing your global environmental awareness."

The unit will have a wrist or neck strap made from wearable solar cells that provide power to the environmental sensors. These sensors will track data on personal health, local environmental conditions and local weather, telling you more about your own personal environment.

The unit itself will be made from as much recycled or sustainable material as possible, including printed electronics (an innovative technology which allows smaller electronic units to be created), biomaterials (sustainable materials which can be used in place of environmentally hostile plastics) and 100% reclaimed steel - thus reducing the footprint of the unit.