GeoBulb Emits Nice Light at Home

About four years ago we completed a swap of all our incandescent light bulbs to CFLs (when they burned out on their own of course) and it has been easy to maintain CFL usage since as just about everywhere carries them these days. What I do not like about CFLs is that once they burn out (it takes longer but it does happen!) I have to locate a special facility to take them due to the mercury content inside. I wanted to find a way to avoid having to do this in the future. Enter the GeoBulb LED light bulb!

Not only does this bulb contain zero mercury but also zero lead. And it is extremely inexpensive to operate. To run annually: a CFL is estimated at $6.89 whereas the GeoBulb is estimated to cost only $3.97. Nice! I love saving $2.92!

And that is per bulb. In my home we have 10 bulbs this could replace; that is a savings of close to $30 per year just for swapping bulbs.

There is a warranty on these bulbs for a full three years and they are estimated to last upwards of 30,000 hours each, just over three years of usage if the bulb is on nonstop for all three years.

Now for the kind of bad news as far as a cost comparison is concerned.

The bulb itself retails for approximately $100. Now this may sound steep, and it is in the short term, but like anything innovative in the realm of energy savings, its cost benefit should be seen over time. Not only will it help reduce the draw on the energy grid but the landfill will benefit as well. At three years per bulb that is a savings of possibly 3 bulbs per lamp (based on CFL average 10,000 hour lifespan).

It is important to note that these bulbs are not to be used with dimmer switches.

After putting this bulb in my floor lamp I noted some personal preferences that made this bulb not the best choice for me. We do not use overhead lighting in our living room so I like my bulbs to be somewhat bright. As a 40 Watt equivalent this bulb was fairly dim so instead of using it in the floor lamp, I placed it in a small accent light and that made a great difference. My chief concern was the low yet audible humming sound it put out, so I will likely not use this light frequently.

Overall, the benefit of this type of bulb far outweighs the impact and as I mentioned, the minor annoyances were just personal preference so I am awarding the GeoBulb a Three Leaf Rating!

As kinks in early models are worked out and more folks come on board to this type of lighting solution I expect the cost to significantly reduce and little annoyances to be well taken care of. Thanks for being an innovative leader in energy efficient GeoBulb! ♥love♥

Green Innovations for All Manner of Oils

I have been hearing all kinds of whisperings about the different oils available for a plethora of things from home heat to the oils we cook with so I thought I’d give a run down of some of the coolest innovations I have uncovered recently as well as some of the folks who provide said oils (if possible). Suffice to say this post is going to be fairly link intensive so feel free to come on back and read through anytime!

Avocado oil - home cooking oil (primarily). In a Vegan cookbook my Mom gifted to Matt and I, the author uses almost nothing but avocado oil for her dishes. I had never heard of it and was intrigued. Lo and behold there is an entire Wiki page dedicated to the stuff. Sounds yummy. Next time I am at the supermarket I will be looking for this oil, review to follow!

Algae oil - petroleum replacement. A leader in production of this revolutionary product is OriginOil. The process entails creation of algae (possible without impacting any ecosystems) and subsequent extraction of the oil left behind after the algae mixture is mixed with CO2, water (greywater is preferred) and minerals. The CO2 is dissolved, water hovers in the middle, biomass sinks and the useable oil rises to the top to be harvested. Without having to drill or chop down a plant. Cool.

Flax seed oil - linseed oil, many uses. I have made use of linseed oil as a furniture polish as it leaves a wonderful sheen and strong protective coat when applied in layers. The flax seed is commonly ground up and used in food products. This oil can be used by Raw food enthusiasts as it is obtained through a cold pressing method. This is linoleum (common flooring material) in its pure form. No matter what is done with the oil take care not to place any soaked rags in confined spaces as it is common for them to spontaneously combust.

Coconut oil - a million and one uses! Coconut oil comes in virgin, refined, hydrogenated and fractionated types. When reading the back of a detergent bottle, there are sometimes the words: “natural surfactant” lurking about. Nine out of ten times this natural ingredient is coconut oil. This versatile oil can also be used in cooking, bath and beauty products, petroleum replacements (especially as vehicle fuels & lubricants), for medicinal purposes and a myriad of other applications.

Bioheat oil - home heating oil. Bioheat oil is created when conventional home heating oil and clean burning biodiesel are combined. In a bold move here in my home state of Massachusetts, a mandate goes into effect January of 2010 that at minimum 2% biodiesel must be used in conjunction with all standard home heating oil. This number is low but the effort is high. As the biodiesel movement becomes more standard and homeowners find it is viable, 2% will skyrocket as the years go on; reducing emissions and increasing clean burning fuel sources nationwide.

Image courtesy Domk

Green field trip: Connecticut Science Center

Hola, GLR fans. Melissa here with a tip for a great and green day trip, if you're a New Englander, and a nice destination for Columbus Day weekend travelers.



With Columbus Day weekend just around the bend, it seems like the opportune time to share a great possible excursion. Just off I-84 in downtown Hartford, Connecticut, is the brand spanking new Connecticut Science Center (this past summer was its first season). My kids are science nerds in the making (a big "yay!" in my book!), and one of my best friends lives not too far from Hartford, so we planned to get our boys together and check out New England's newest place to geek out for fun.

We went expecting lots of cool, hands-on exhibits for giving a fresh jolt to the kids' interest in science and were not disappointed there. There's lots to see and, maybe even more importantly, to do, from building and trying out Lego racers to designing and testing your own paper "helicopter" to building your own noise-producing circuit board. And there's a sizeable area devoted to pleasing even the smallest budding scientists...let's just say waterproof gear is provided!


But working our way through the various floors, I began to notice efforts to incorporate green thinking all over the place. Chatting with an employee, I discovered this wasn't an accident or simply a marketing ploy, but part of the Center's very fiber.

• Carpets are all made from recycled plastics.
• Ninety-five percent of the steel used to construct the building is reclaimed from cars and other objects.
• The "sand" in the river model exhibit is made of recycled plastics.
• A roof garden, when completed, will help with heating and cooling the building.
• The Center's cafe offers meals made with fresh, locally-grown and organic foods.
• The cafe's utensils are made from corn, and therefore biodegradable.
• Lights in bathrooms and offices are on sensors.
• Bathrooms have the new "up for #1, down for #2" system for water conservation.

A glance at the Center's green mission revealed even more:

• The Center is projected to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.
• Builders used locally manufactured building products, cutting back on transportation impacts and helping the local economy.
• Down the road, a 60-foot wall of solar panels and a 200kw fuel cell will supplement electrical and heating sources.

Add to that a theater running a film about climate change and a major exhibit that allows visitors to learn about and experiment with a variety of energy-saving technologies, and you've got one green field trip. Oh, and it's just plain cool to look at, and look out of, too! So, New Englanders and/or motivated Columbus Day tourists, get ye to Hartford and check it out!

Football Gets Greener Every Year

There are likely few people who would use the words “football” and “environment” in the same sentence, least of all to compliment each other, but new efforts by players and teams all over the National Football League (NFL) are popping up to show that even these extremely tough, physical folks have a soft spot that is all Green.

In 2008 Super Bowl XLII (42) was played in Glendale, Arizona. A Super Bowl, with its many flights, tons of food consumed, general waste and thousands of vehicles driven to and from the location, tends to be an enormous drain on the environment but Arizona stepped it up and initiated some amazing efforts in 2008. 65,000 pounds of prepared food was donated to food banks, soup kitchens and shelters and upwards of 9,000 trees were planted (NFL's reforestation plan) to offset the 350 tons of CO2 emissions generated during Super Bowl week.

The same efforts to offset emissions through planting of thousands of trees in the local area (Tampa Bay) also took place prior to Super Bowl XLIII. This effort marked the fifth year the NFL was doing a little something to give back.

The efforts do not stop with Super Bowls however.

Recently I was introduced to the story of Ovie Mughelli, a Fullback for the Atlanta Falcons and arguably the Greenest player in the NFL today. He has such a strong passion for protecting the youth of society that he started the Ovie Mughelli Foundation, an organization which, in addition to numerous confidence building efforts, encourages eco-awareness. The Foundation made an appearance at the Emmy’s “Alive! Expo Green Pavilion” this year; its first. The overall motto, “Our future is Green.”, is designed to encourage feelings of strengthened community through the environmental efforts of society’s youth.

As a New Englander it is so exciting to learn that the stadium where the Patriots play, Gillette in Foxboro, Massachusetts, has just deemed wind power an important option. Through Constellation NewEnergy all electricity used during home games this season will be matched through Renewable Energy Credits for wind power. Since the stadium was constructed in 2000 it has been a shining example of how large commercial construction can incorporate eco-friendly efforts into the design with great efficiency and no noticeable impact on the overall cost.

Through the leadership examples of players like Ovie Mughelli, and teams like the Patriots, it is only a matter of time before the entire NFL goes Green. I look forward to hearing more about the thousands of new trees planted in Miami as well. Thanks for being responsible NFL!

Atlanta Falcons schedule
New England Patriots schedule
Super Bowl XLIV

Photo courtesy Jayel Aheram

Eco-friendly rinse aid: Does it work? Does it matter?

Hi there, Jenn fans...Melissa here for the first time in ages. I tried something new, and Jenn asked me to review it, so here it is, for your blog-reading pleasure. Thanks.

In my quest to find a greener automatic dishwasher detergent, I have run into one consistent pitfall: dishes that emerge spotty or, worse, scummy with film. Some detergents seem a little better than others, but in the end, I was spending a good amount of time re-rinsing or rubbing scuzz off my glasses and plastic. Yuck.

It dawned on me that the problem might be that I had stopped using a rinse aid. To be honest, I only stopped using Jet-Dry because of a vague sense that, if my old detergent was bad, my old rinse aid probably was, too. And I guess on some level, I was thinking rinse aid was like fabric softener: no big deal to go without. But unlike slightly staticky clothes, scummy dishes are tough to ignore, especially when your husband says, “Ewwwww!” every time he takes a glass from the dishwasher.

At some point, I tried using some of the old rinse agent with the new detergent and got shinier dishes. So, clearly “sheeting action” was what I needed (this is how companies describe what rinse agents do...technically, they decrease the surface tension of water so it rinses off your dishes more easily, along with all those fun mineral deposits).

Recently, after many fruitless searches for a Jet-Dry alternative, I found and tried Seventh Generation's offering, which is simply called “Rinse Aid” and described as “Free & Clear.” Did I see any improvement in my dishes? Yes. There's definitely less scum on the glasses and plastic containers than when I was using greener detergents alone. Is it as effective as Jet-Dry? Honestly, not quite – there is still a slight film at least sometimes. But I was feeling good about it, because the dishes were less icky, and after all, the product had to be less environmentally threatening, right?

Well, maybe. I have no real doubt that Seventh Generation is making a product that should have minimal impact on the water it's discharged into, but still have a few other questions. And does it follow that Jet-Dry necessarily a baddie, just because its maker isn't touting it as a “green” product?

My conclusion, after much poking around online, is that I can't draw a definite conclusion. An online glance at Reckitt & Benckiser's Jet-Dry material safety data sheet says its active ingredients are “nonionic surfactants.” According to one definition, examples include alcohol ethoxylates, nonylphenoxy polyethylenoxy alcohols, and ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block copolymers. Stop! Eyes...glazing...over! I have no idea whether these are good, bad or indifferent, but we shouldn't all have to be chemists to feel safe using cleaning products, right?

Since Seventh Generation prides itself on full disclosure of its ingredients, you might assume they'd be more forthcoming. Maybe, if you're satisfied with “plant-containing cleaning agents” and “cornstarch-derived water softener” as a full reveal, but to me, those terms aren't superprecise, either. What plants? How are they being raised and managed? And saying something is derived from a plant shouldn't be a free pass.

Further, the Seventh Generation label refers to “trace materials.” That gives me pause – anytime someone throws a catchall term into their ingredient list, it makes me go “hmmm.”

Another tidbit contributing to my mental muddle on this subject is the fact that Jet-Dry reportedly contains no phosphates (found this online; Jet-Dry doesn't boast this on its product). Again, I'm no chemist here, but it's quite possible that phosphates would simply not typically be an ingredient in rinse aids. I'm glad they're not in there, but not sure anyone gets any extra points for that.

And by the way, even the ever-vigilant Environmental Working Group and Treehugger make no mention on their sites about Jet-Dry, or rinse aids in general. That, of course, doesn't necessarily mean they're “green,” but it definitely makes me feel a little better.

On the subject of toxicity, Seventh Generation's label recommends keeping it away from children and, you know, not swallowing it, but the company maintains the rinse aid is “not poisonous” (though the label still suggests contacting a physician if swallowed). Jet-Dry's label warns that it may cause eye and skin irritation and recommends avoiding contact. It doesn't say what happens or what to do if someone swallows it. Most likely, a phone call to a doctor or poison control wouldn't go amiss.

One alternative, as no doubt many of you Jenn-philes have been screaming for the past several paragraphs, is white vinegar. And yes, I have tried it. I have to admit I wasn't scrutinizing the results at the time, but had the impression that it reduced the spots and scum by a lot but still didn't leave the dishes as dazzlingly shiny and clean to the touch as ye olde Jet-Dry. Nevertheless, I'm thinking I should revisit vinegar as a rinse aid and see what happens.

In the meantime,

to Seventh Generation for its continued efforts to make more environmentally friendly products available to those of us who've been clamoring for them.