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By Annabelle Smyth

2013 has arrived, and to most people, a new year means a new beginning of sorts, a fresh start and a new chance at life. If you are looking to make a resolution this year about reducing your carbon footprint, consider getting a few of these environmentally friendly gadgets, which you can find at Vivint.

A Solar Powered Charger

There are a few solar powered chargers on the market and getting one would not only lower your energy bill and lessen your footprint, but it may as well be what keeps you connected in the event of an emergency. These chargers can charge anything from a laptop or a tablet to a few cell phones at once. If there was an emergency, and your power was cut, you would be able to use this charger to keep your electronics on and keep you connected with the outside world and able to make contact with people. It also is simply an eco friendly way to charge your phone, and gets that energy sucking phone charger out of your outlet.

Occupancy Sensing Light Switch

This amazing light switch is designed to turn on only when necessary. It detects if someone is in the room, and automatically turns on when someone enters. It also will shut the lights off after a period of inactivity. And, a super cool bonus, it has a sensor that determines the amount of natural light in the room and will turn the lights off accordingly, so they are only on when absolutely needed. Most people will leave their lights on when they leave the room, or even the house, and this handy little light switch will definitely lower their light bills and lessen their impact on our environment!

Shower Timer and Alarm

Wasting water is probably the most common bad habit among people who are trying to reduce their footprint. Whether it is from those long showers we insist on taking or running the water when we brush our pearly whites, most of us can admit to being careless when it comes to our water use. When you run the shower, you use about 5-8 gallons of water per minute, meaning that 30 minute shower could fill a small pool or an inflatable hot tub. That is a lot of water. Getting this gadget, which you can use to take shorter showers, will reduce your costs as well as your carbon footprint.

Getting some cool environmentally friendly gadgets can help you turn things around and go green in 2013! If you want more information about solar panels and security systems, you can follow Vivint on Twitter.

By Lyndsi Decker

Saving the environment has become increasingly important. While recycling and reusing products are two ways to help the environment, using eco-friendly cleaning products is another. There are many benefits to using environmentally safe cleaning products. These products help reduce waste and do not contain toxic chemicals. Here are a few eco-friendly cleaning solutions:

Homemade Products

Learning how to make homemade cleaning products will decrease the household’s reliance on non-renewable products – and save you money. Some products can be made from items already found in the house. Baking soda doubles as a cleaning agent that cleans pots and pans, bathroom fixtures and counter tops  especially when coupled with vinegar and/or lemon. When you do buy green products, make sure they do not contain petroleum or other synthetic ingredients.

Use Natural Sponges and Cleaning Rags

Synthetic sponges, mops and cleaning rags are often made from non-biodegradable materials. If the products are antimicrobial, they more than likely contain toxic ingredients such as polyester. Consider switching from synthetic cleaning implements to natural ones such as cotton. Natural mop heads and rags will often be marked as such. The use of natural mops and sponges will decrease the need for non-biodegradable substances. Use recycled t-shirts as cleaning cloths. It gives the shirts another life; they can be reused and decrease the waste caused by paper towel usage.

Read the Labels

Pay attention to manufacturers’ labels. Labels that have words like “toxic,” “caution” and “poison” should be of concern to consumers. They are placed on products because they contain ingredients that are harmful to you and your family. These products should not come into contact with skin, be ingested or even inhaled, which will occur while you’re cleaning with them. Some of these products are also known to cause allergies. Making an effort to buy eco-friendly cleaning agents can reduce the amount of pollutants in the home and the environment.

Air Purification

Air purifiers are a good way to remove pollutants from the air. Some purifiers clean the air, but release unsafe byproducts into a room. Some plants have the ability to act as natural purifiers. They absorb the chemicals in the air and introduce oxygen back into the room. Aloe and ferns are examples of good air-cleansing plants. Not only are these plants a natural way to purify the air, but they are also lively and cheerfully decorative.

The cleaning products used in the home should be safe — but often aren’t. Many widely available cleaners contain dangerous chemicals that can harm the environment and affect your and your family’s health. By using eco-friendly products, the amount of poisonous chemicals and waste released into the environment can be greatly reduced. Natural products can also help improve the health of those in the home.

Lyndsi Decker is an entrepreneur and works with several storage facilities including storage units Fayetteville and Extra Space Storage – Lakewood. Lyndsi is also a photographer and a coach for her son’s little league soccer team. 

By Kevin Vogel

Solar power is a great way to use an alternative, renewable energy source to provide electricity for a home. It is cheap and plentiful, and offers a long term energy solution for the home where the consumer does not have to rely on the utility company to provide their power. Even with tax incentives and rebates, the initial cost to the consumer can be expensive, and this added cost may scare the consumer away from adopting solar power. One way in which the consumer can manage the cost is through a piecemeal adoption of solar power units to target individual appliances in the home. A hot water heating system is often great place to start with solar power because it is a standalone unit and can be modified more easily for a solar hot water heating system.

A solar heating system consists of two main parts. There is the storage tank which holds the water and the solar collectors themselves. Depending on the system they adopt, the consumer may not need to replace their existing water heater with a system that will work with solar power, but this is still much more affordable than installing an entire solar system for the household. Essentially, there are two kinds of solar water heating systems. There is an active system which consists of circulating pumps and controls. There is also a passive system which has none of this added equipment. The storage tank in these systems operates in a very simple way. It can be a standalone solar system that preheats the water before it enters a conventional water heater. Some storage systems are combined into one system, but both require good insulation and additional inlets and outlets from the solar collectors.

The operation of an active solar powered water heating system is relatively easy to understand, and this in turn comes in two types. There is a direct circulation system that uses pumps to circulate household water through the solar collectors. The collectors themselves are what provide the heating element for the water. This kind of system works great in climates that are not prone freezing since the collectors themselves will be outside. The other kind of active system is called an indirect system. In this system pumps circulate a nonfreezing heat transfer fluid through the solar collectors and a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger then heats the water that flows into the home. A passive system is useful for climates that are prone to freezing.

For the passive solar powered water heating system, these systems are typically less expensive and less efficient than active systems, but they do last longer. In passive systems, the solar collector is separate from the system, and the hot water and cold water are kept separate and the storage tank is used as a backup. Because the collector tank must be kept elevated, there are some structural concerns that the consumer must keep in mind for installation.

Solar power can be a great way to providing hot water heating for a home. It can replace gas and electric hot water tanks, and provide an entry point for the consumer in adopting solar power.

Kevin Vogel writes for ecofriendly design sites. Check out http://www.exclusiv-home.de/#solarkollektor for solar power ideas for your home.

By Jeanie Barcus

Energy efficiency can help you save money each month on your electric bills, but you will also contribute to the well-being of the environment. Although there are a number of things that you can do to improve your home’s energy consumption, such as installing solar panel systems, some of these investments might turn out to be a little expensive. Moreover, if you can’t afford to take some of these energy-efficient steps or don’t have the time, you don’t need to worry –because you can also do simple things that can make your home more energy efficient.

Fluorescent light bulb

1. Switching from Incandescent to Fluorescent Lighting

This method is probably one of the easiest and most affordable ways to make any home energy-efficient. Even though incandescent lighting might be cheaper at the cash register, in the end, fluorescent lighting will turn out to be much less costly. One of the reasons that fluorescent bulbs are better is that they will last eight to twelve times longer than incandescent light bulbs.

2. Planting a Tree

A tree can help you save money on your electricity bill each month. Planting a tree will also contribute to the well-being of the environment. When it comes to your home, planting a tree will give you shade in those hot summer months, which will help to keep your home cool. During winter, the tree will end up bare and will allow the appropriate amount of sunshine to come into your home and keep it warmer.

3. Air Conditioners and the Home

The last thing that can do to keep your home more energy-efficient is to keep your AC running at optimal performance. You can change out the air filter of your AC unit once a month. By doing this, you will keep your AC running smoothly, which will keep your home nice and cool in the summer months. You will also avoid any malfunctions that may occur because of dirty air filters and prevent expensive maintenance or repairs that you may otherwise need done to the unit.

These three simple steps that can get you started on having that energy-efficient home you have always wanted. You can do your part in the world’s mission to have a cleaner environment while cutting down your energy costs on a monthly basis. Once you begin your journey on energy efficiency, you will not be able to stop: you are certain to see great results in both the short term and the long term.

Jeanie is a writer and a stay-at-home mom. In her spare time, she loves to find new blogs to follow and spend time with her family.

Related posts:

Go green by killing vampires

Passive houses will rock you green

Gothenburg: future sustainable ecotopia destination

GOOD has some fantastic infographics, some of which are even interactive.

Check ‘em out:

Your Daily Dose of Water – Find out all the hidden ways your daily habits add to your water footprint on a typical day.

How Does Lack of Water Affect Women and Children?

What’s Wrong with Our Food System? – “People are hungry not because there isn’t enough food produced but because our food system is broken. … Check out our latest infographic to learn about some of the ways that the food system can be fixed to improve the quality of life for millions.”

Why Don’t Americans Recycle?

How Does a Hybrid Car Work?

How car maker CODA is redefining electric vehicles (sponsored infographic)

How Levi’s is saving water (sponsored infographic)

Created by: Marketing Degree

Environmental contamination with pesticides

This is Part 2 of a two-part series of blog posts on the health dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and ways we can fight back against the corporations that produce them. Part 2 of the series discusses recent developments and some GMO trends, mentions promising anti-GMO phenomena, and lists some things you can do right now to oppose Monsanto and GMOs worldwide. Part 1 talks about the emergence and spread of superweeds, the litany of problems associated with GMOs, and some steps you can take to remove genetically modified (GM) foods from your diet. Both posts contain myriad links to resources so readers can learn more about various related topics.

Recent developments

In a baffling move, the U.S. Government has made a deal with the agricultural biotechnology industry to allow for the expansion of GM crops. Why the U.S. is echoing Argentina’s efforts (Argentina’s Government inked an agreement with farmers this year) is beyond me – although it probably has to do with crazy-strong lobbying efforts and a bribe here and there (just guessing). In addition, the U.S. continues to push Monsanto pesticides on Argentina despite the latter’s opposition. Some Argentines support it but it looks like most oppose it. Argentina is one of the world’s main soy producers, by the way.

More shockers:

• 95% of soybeans and 93% of corn grown in Minnesota this year are GM.
• More than 80% of soy grown and nearly two-thirds of the world’s cotton worldwide is GM.
• 94% of soybeans and more than 70% of corn and cotton planted in the U.S. contain the Roundup-resistant gene.

Documentaries on Monsanto and the dangers of GMOs

If you’re interested, here are two documentaries on Monsanto that I fully recommend:

• The World According to Monsanto
• Controlling Our Food

Watch ‘em and let me know what you think! I found them both fascinating and utterly terrifying, but ignorance is definitely not bliss when your food is toxic and you’re the one who will lose when your health falters. Thus, I’d rather know and take preventative steps, even if it’s inconvenient and potentially troublesome, than tell myself that everything I eat is innocuous. What about you?

Sacramento 2003 GMO USDA protest. "Resist" flag.

Exciting anti-GMO developments

Fortunately, it’s not all bad. Hungary is kicking butt by driving Monsanto’s GM crops out and criminalizing the dissemination of GMO seeds. The country has destroyed all of Monsanto’s corn fields in its territory! Fantastic and tremendously inspirational. The U.S. (and all other countries, of course) should follow suit. Let’s do all we can to make this happen!

Take Action

• Join the campaign Millions Against Monsanto and sign its petition
• Promote sustainable agriculture through Greenpeace’s action campaign
• Join this group to learn about organic and self-sustaining gardening practices so you can take direct action to look after your health
• Check out the Organic Consumers Association and support its efforts
• Sign in support of Greenpeace’s call for Australia to stop unsafe GM wheat trials
• Sign a petition against GMOs in Poland
• Join the Facebook page Say No To GMO Foods
• Join the Facebook page Environmental Labels: Your Right to Know
• Do your own research
• Spread the word by linking to this blog post and any others you find informative

Want to add something? Did I miss anything important? All contributions are welcome, including guest posts!

GMO cultivation, 2009

This is Part 1 of a two-part series of blog posts on the health dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) — also known as GM (genetically modified) or GE (genetically engineered) crops – and ways we can fight back against the corporations that produce them. Part 1 talks about the emergence and spread of superweeds, the litany of problems associated with GMOs, and some steps you can take to remove genetically modified (GM) foods from your diet. Part 2 of the series discusses recent developments and some GMO trends, mentions promising anti-GMO phenomena, and lists some things you can do right now to oppose Monsanto and GMOs worldwide. Both posts contain myriad links to resources so readers can learn more about various related topics.

Farmers have been aghast to discover that their Monsanto Roundup crops are spurring Roundup-resistant superweeds. Even scarier, these plants are not only resisting Roundup but also other types and cocktails of pesticides. Nature’s fighting back against corporations’ thoughtless genetic engineering practices — and now it’s getting out of control for both farmers and Monsanto, and there will be repercussions for everyone from India to Argentina.

The problem is getting worse – and quickly — because the resistant weeds are replacing their non-resistant counterparts as well as cross-pollinating them with the resistant gene as they are carried by the wind across vast regions of the U.S.

Mother Jones reports:

“These weeds adapt faster and more vigorously than their weed cousins, choking fields and clogging irrigation ditches so badly water can’t pass through. ‘Pollen can transfer the resistant trait; that’s the problem,’ said Kevin Bradley, a weed scientist with the University of Missouri. ‘There’s not much we can do about pollen flying through the air, and that’s why we see such rapid spread of resistance.’”

Maize/Corn field in South Dakota, USA

What are the problems with GMOs?

• GM crops are dangerous on many levels, including health. GMO pesticides have been linked to cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, miscarriages, birth defects, and other severe ailments.
• A study has found that GM crops causes endocrine disruption, birth defects, cancer, damage to DNA, reproductive and developmental toxicity, and neurotoxicity.
•  A 2010 study linked GM corn to organ failure in rats:

“Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. …These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown.”

Monsanto of course accused the study of being “based on faulty analytical methods and reasoning” and said the findings “do not call into question the safety findings for these products.” Right, Monsanto.

As the Huffington Post reports, the study’s author, Gilles-Eric Séralini, subsequently fired back on the blog Food Freedom:

“Our study contradicts Monsanto conclusions because Monsanto systematically neglects significant health effects in mammals that are different in males and females eating GMOs, or not proportional to the dose. This is a very serious mistake, dramatic for public health. This is the major conclusion revealed by our work, the only careful reanalysis of Monsanto crude statistical data.”

• Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide has led to superweeds that grow a mind-boggling 3 inches a day. Perhaps scarier is the fact that herbicide-resistant weeds will probably have an adverse effect on food production across the globe. The outlook is grim. Superweeds are multiplying across the United States like wildfire. At least 21 weed species have thus far become resistant to Roundup. Food will become more expensive as a result and become harder to obtain for people in financial straits – often the people who are already malnourished or starving and thus in great need of nutritious, safe (read: non-toxic) foods in order for their health to recover. This will affect us everywhere in the world.

“The same selection pressure creating bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics is leading to the rapid evolution of plants that survive modern herbicides. If the trend continues, yields could drop and food costs climb as weeds grow more difficult to uproot,” Fast Company reports.

• Hungary is incurring billions of forints in losses thanks to GM seeds.
• There is evidence suggesting that GM soy, corn, and canola colonize your gut bacteria and genetically alter it to also produce pesticide within your own cells. In other words, eating these food products transform your digestive system into a pesticide factory. Fun!
• Read about how Monsanto has refused to provide independent scientists with seeds for research or else has set restrictive conditions that severely limit outside scientists’ research. The article behind the link also includes information on potential health hazards caused by GM crops.

Spraying pesticides in California

Some ways to remove GMOs from your diet

There are excellent reasons why we should opt for organic foods, including to not just support organic and local farmers, but also to stop supporting Monsanto. If only organic foods weren’t so expensive! Most of us can’t afford them, of course. So what do you do?

A good idea is to avoid buying foods and food products containing the crops that we know are treated with a deluge of pesticides and the crops that are doused with the evil Monsanto’s Roundup chemicals – corn, soy, canola, and cotton (but you probably don’t eat cotton, so feel free to focus on corn, soy, and canola here). Roundup, by the way, is the most widely used pesticide in the world.

You should also look for “non-GMO” and similar terms on the labels of food products, from cornstarch to legumes. Unlike organic products, many GMO-free foods are only slightly more expensive than regular items.

Hold tight for Part 2 of this two-part series to learn about recent developments and things you can do right now to make an impact against the GMO threat.

Choroni Beach, near Maracay, Venezuela

If you’re new around here, you might not know how strongly I feel about sunscreen – which kinds are bad and which are good, both for the planet and for you. Most people think sunscreen is the best way to avoid skin cancer. I partly agree. I also know that many ingredients in the most popular sunblocks are themselves carcinogenic (cancer-causing) and that vitamin D, which we can only get through sunblock-free sun exposure, actually prevents cancer and other health problems. Read on to learn more.

Here’s a brief post at the green tips website Green is Sexy that summarizes several of the things I’ve talked about in the past: green your sunscreen. It mentions a few harmful ingredients to watch out for and why.

Chemicals to avoid

Like the GIS post says, you should steer clear of the following ingredients in all your sunscreens (lip balms, sprays, and so on): octinoxate, oxybenzone, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor, and butylparaben (a preservative).  Another one to avoid entirely, this one not mentioned in GIS, is retinyl palmitate, which may speed up cancer growth. Click on the links to read all about these treacherous chemicals.

In truth, all parabens have a bad reputation, so look out for those in the ingredients of your shampoos, conditioners, body lotions, deodorants, toothpaste, makeup, personal lubricants (!), etc. You’ll be surprised at how ubiquitous parabens are once you start looking for them! It’s scary, really. But that’s why educating yourself is the best thing you can do to protect yourself and the people you care about, as well as marine ecosystems (these toxic ingredients bleach corals!). Speaking of which, all the chemicals than end in –zone, such as the aforementioned oxybenzone, are supposedly unsafe – I recommend that you avoid them.

The Environmental Working Group

Educate yourself

The cosmetic database of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a wonderful resource where you can look up chemicals and learn what they are, what they do, whether they are harmful, and if so, why and to what extent. The website is a gem. You can look up sunscreens by SPF and other products and it will tell you which specifically are the safest and which are the most dangerous and why.

I would also like to note that it’s perfectly healthy to spend a moderate amount of time each day in the sun without wearing any sunscreen. This is the most efficient way for the body to absorb the much-needed vitamin D (it’s actually a hormone). Interestingly, patients of many types of cancer, including that of the breast, have been found to have exceptionally low levels of vitamin D, and vitamin D has been shown to prevent multiple types of cancer as well as heart disease and other conditions. Some experts argue that it is a lack of vitamin D as well as the carcinogenic ingredients in sunblock that are causing cancer – not the sun!

Some articles by Dr. Mercola on the subject (I love Dr. Mercola, and although he does sell some products, which presents a conflict of interest, he doesn’t sell sunshine!):

• The Sunscreen Myth: How Sunscreen Products Actually Promote Cancer
• Four Out of Five Sunscreens May Be Hazardous to Your Health
• Does Too Much Sun Really Cause Melanoma?
• Trash Your Sunscreen and Other Summer Sun Tips (This one lists many harmful sunscreen ingredients.)

Posts right here on Save Eco Destinations:

• Doing your part: natural skincare for eco travel
• What sunscreen is doing to us and our planet

Natural German sunscreen

Alternatives

Several friends have asked me what brands are safe to use, since most are loaded with the dreaded –zones and parabens.

I’ve tried Hawaiian Tropic Biodegradable sunblock SPF 50 in spray form and Kiss My Face sunspray lotion in SPF 30. They’re both good and I especially like the Hawaiian Tropic, which is very easy to apply and doesn’t need to be rubbed in. However, Kiss My Face is a much more trustworthy brand, as they don’t test their products on animals and they offer fragrance-free options. I bought the Hawaiian Tropic when I was abroad and it was the most eco-friendly sunscreen I could find.

Dr. Mercola, whom I mentioned above, sells some sunscreens that should be pretty swell. Instead of containing harmful chemicals, they use green tea and zinc oxide to protect the skin while avoiding artificial fragrances and toxic ingredients of all sorts, according to the website. The products are also hypoallergenic and water-resistant. Here’s a long article that explains all about his products.

On EWG’s cosmetics database you will find lots of safe sunscreens bunched by SPF. For example, here are the ones with SFP 30+. You’re sure to find some awesome ones there. I’d love to hear recommendations!

Stay safe, everyone.