Archive for greener lifestyles
Exercise Generates Electricity with PlugOut Fitness
Posted by: | CommentsNow you can enjoy an even greener lifestyle while you exercise with PlugOut, fitness equipment that actually generates electricity with the energy from your physical effort. A good for the planet, good for your health workout – how cool is that? One workout session can generate enough electricity to power your smartphone or Blackberry for a week or directly offset the consumption of an Energy Star LCD Television. And, it’s not consuming electricity the way traditional fitness equipment does, so your physical energy exerted is providing both personal and planetary health. No, it’s not going to solve our climate crisis, but it’s certainly a much greener option to standard fitness equipment which consumes energy. Plus, it’s an added incentive for the person working out, knowing that they are actually producing energy.
PlugOut Cross Trainer Elliptical
PlugOut’s mission is “to help create healthy people and a healthy planet.” Based out of Seattle, PlugOut was the brainchild of observing rows of people at a fitness facility working out simultaneously and thinking “wouldn’t it be cool if all this energy could be harnessed and used?” Cool indeed. A sustainable workout that doesn’t consume energy and actually gives back by generating 50 to 250 watts of power in a single exercise routine. It’s a win-win fitness regime.
All of the equipment options work straight out the box as long as you have access to a three prong grounded plug, it’s ready to go. There are currently two options, PlugOut Cross-Trainer, a Commercial Grade Elliptical with Touchscreen, and the PlugOut Cycle, an Indoor Cycle Bike. The PlugOut Cross-Trainer’s Touchscreen will not only track your workout but also the power you’ve generated. Additional products are still in development but I for one would like to see this type of equipment revolutionize the way people want to administer their fitness routine and add to their green lifestyle.
Tags: BlackBerry, carbon footprint, climate crisis, conserve energy, consumption, eco-friendly fitness equipment, Energy Star, Energy Star LCD Television, Energy Star LCD TV, generate electricity, green fitness equipment, Green Lifestyle, green lifestyles, greener lifestyle, greener lifestyles, LCD Television, LCD TV, Make-it-Yourself toxin-free Green Cleaning kits, organic fashions, planet forward, PlugOut, PlugOut Cross-Trainer, PlugOut Cycle, PlugOut Fitness, reduce carbon footprint, reduce consumption, reusable bottle, reusable shopping bags, reusable stainless steel bottles, reusable Water bottle, smartphone, stainless steel thermal travel mugs, stainless steel water bottle, sustainable lifestyle, Sustainable Practice, sustainable solutions, waste-free lunch bagsA Daily Dose of Green – Recycle Your Printer Cartridges
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Your daily dose of green is all about exploring the everyday things we do, probably without thinking, that contribute to the health of the planet and your greener lifestyle. This can be anything, from participating in municipal composting programs to making an ecofriendly recipe you love. The only criteria is that it is something small that anyone easily adopt which helps us live greener lifestyles. So without further ado here is my daily dose of green.
I was in the midst of changing my printer’s ink cartridge and I pulled out the new cartridge and then removed the envelope that was attached to the packaging. It was in this moment that I took pause because I realized that my next step was to place the discarded ink cartridge in the pre-paid envelope and mail it off to be recycled. Now, this is nothing earth shattering, but I never really thought about it. I merely filled out my address and sent it on it’s merry way. All this time I was participating in Hewlett Packard’s cartridge recycling program and never really stopped to acknowledge it. I know other companies have similar programs but what makes HP different is that they were (according to their website) “the first computer manufacturer to operate its own recycling facility in 1997. [They] continue to set the standard today through their leading recycling and reuse programs.” Additionally “in 2007, [they] reached [their] goal of recycling over 1 billion pounds of products and materials! ”
Did you know that if you have an HP ink cartridge and have lost the pre-paid envelope, you can simply go to their website and order an additional one at no extra charge? This means that there is no excuse for people not to be able to return their cartridges so they can be properly recycled.
Tags: cartridge recycling program, composting, Corporate Responsibility, green living tips, green tips, greener lifestyle, greener lifestyles, Hewlett Packard, HP, HP ink cartridge, HP recycling program, planet forward, printer cartridge recycling, printer cartridges, recycled, Recycling, recycling printer cartridgesGreener Lifestyles And The Great Toilet Paper Debate
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What is the newest anathema among those who live greener lifestyles? It is toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper is the cause of a lot fervor and debate of late. There are two arguments surrounding toilet paper, one is those super soft premium rolls; because they are made by chopping down and grinding up trees. Critics of these premium toilet papers want you to live greener lifestyles by using toilet paper that is made from recycled paper products like the Europeans do. According to a recent article in the Washington Post “big toilet-paper makers say that they’ve taken steps to become more Earth-friendly but that their customers still want the soft stuff, so they’re still selling it.” This seems incongruent with the current eco-friendly climate; people are trying very hard to live greener lifestyles but it would seem their bums are off limits. So why can’t North American’s make the same simple changes that Europeans have? Is it because we are unwilling to purchase anything that does not make us happy and, more importantly, feel good in a very sensitive region?
A question raised in an article in the Post asked “at what price is softness?” said Tim Spring, chief executive of Marcal Manufacturing; a New Jersey paper maker that is trying to persuade customers to try 100 percent recycled paper. “Should I contribute to clear-cutting and deforestation because the big [marketing] machine has told me that softness is important?” The article also explained the difference between the recycled and virgin (from freshly cut trees) fibers. “The reason for this fight lies in toilet-paper engineering. Each sheet is a web of wood fibers, and fibers from old trees are longer, which produces a smoother and more supple web. Fibers made from recycled paper — in this case magazines, newspapers or computer printouts — are shorter. The web often is rougher.”
Rougher recycled toilet paper is popularly used in restaurants, offices, hospitals etc… and accounts for 75% of that market; where as recycled paper accounts for only 5% of the home market.
The second debate is about how much of the soft stuff we use. If everyone used less of the soft toilet paper it would Read More→
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