EcoFlip Has Recently Been "Flipped" by a Bigger, Greener Outfit...Stay Tuned!!!

30 Going Green Tips: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Image via WebEcoist

We were excited to see EcoFlip plugged in the comprehensive article entitled Going Green: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle on WebEcoist. Of all the top green tip lists I've seen, this one stands alone...

Great work WebEcoist!

5 Reuses for Baseball Hats

We've all got them hanging around, sitting around and stuffed in closets...Whether you've hung onto your little league tee-ball caps or you've stuffed away the company-branded hat you earned for kissing up all year, you may find the list below to be useful.  

From Planet Green

1. Relocate the logo. Carefully cut out the logo from the front of the hat. Sew it onto any part of a plain t-shirt. In one swift move, you transform your tee from ordinary to extraordinary.
   
2. Build a band. Create an adjustable headband out of the base of the hat. Lose the brim and the top part of the cap to fashion and accessory that’s functional and fun.
   
3. Make a bird feeder. Use your old baseball hat as a feeder for your favorite feathered friends.
   
4. Play catch. If you don't have access to a catcher's mitt for your afternoon game of toss with the kids, never fear. An old baseball hat can make a catch competition come to life.
   
5. Decorate your walls. Root for the home team with happening hat decor. Make your guests go wild with an arrangement that shows your fan flavor and your fabulous style.

Join EcoFlip on Facebook!

We recently created a sustainable EcoFlip fan page on Facebook and we invite you to join us. Facebook has proven to be the leader in bringing people together. We look forward to providing unique and fresh content on the page and will begin developing useful green-oriented applications for the facebook community to enjoy.

You must already be a Facebook user to join EcoFlip's fan group. To join, simply click "become a fan" from EcoFlip's page. See you on the Book!

Find Green Products on EcoFlip.org!

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Green Gadgets Can Be Eco-Hazards Too!

From EcoGeek

With everyone and their mother jumping onto the green bandwagon, we’re bound to have a whole bunch of non-sustainable junk items pawned off as “green” by the loosest of standards, and a whole bunch of greenwashing. It’s something we have to be wary of and keep a diligent eye out for posers. An art project, “Subverting the Green Aesthetic,” helps us remember this and gives us a few IDing skills.

Creator Nick Bampton is a design student in Middlesex who encourages people to take a closer look at green labels through his project of pairing green and un-green products with graphics that show there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the details of so-called green products. For instance, he shows two MP3 players, one that looks like it has sustainability on the brain, but in actually can’t be recycled, can’t be upgraded, and toxic substances are used in its manufacturing. The other MP3 player looks sleek in a non-sustainable way, but is more durable, can be upgraded, and recycled.

We seriously dig this here at EcoGeek, since one of the greenest things to do is make what you have last as long as possible, and if you have to get rid of it, recycle. Gadgets that are made to be unfixable or disposable – especially when they’re supposedly “green” or from a “green” company – are just completely uncool and are the essence of greenwashing.

Bampton pulls the same comparison trick with a pair of chairs and several other objects. This kind of project is a good reminder that there are a whole slew of factors that go into evaluating the sustainability of products that claim a green lineage.

Give, Sell and Trade your stuff on EcoFlip's Reuse & Recycle!

Looking for a business partner? Make a free post on BizzFlip's BizzPersonals section!

Young Green Savvy

Many Marin residents at the core of Bay Area's rise in enviro-friendly businesses...

 

Above: Forrest Kolb (left) and Joe Paone, seen in Sausalito, co-founded the classifieds Web site EcoFlip.org in an attempt to become the craigslist for green products and services. (IJ photo/Alan Dep)

From the Marin Independant Journal

ENTREPRENEUR Neal Gottlieb was 28 when he started Three Twins Organic Ice Cream in Terra Linda in 2005 and now bills it as the first "chain" of organic ice cream stores.

The owner of two ice cream stores also sells his ice creams, gelatos and sorbets to restaurants and at farmers markets and grocery stores. He is hoping to expand production at a plant in Petaluma.

Gottlieb is among Marin entrepreneurs whose businesses are young and green. He chose ice cream because it was a business that could be started small and grow.

"Organic sets us apart," Gottlieb said. "When you think of what is done to cows and the chemicals you put into our body - we are so lucky in Northern California to live in close proximity to so many great organic dairies and having an abundance of organic produce."

Gottlieb tried the corporate world for a while after graduating from Cornell University in New York in 1999, but he decided it wasn't for him.

"After Sept. 11, I thought about how I would feel about my accomplishments if I got killed in the World Trade Center," Gottlieb said. "I wanted to do something more meaningful."

He said that if he was going to work 40 to 80 hours a week, he wanted to feel passionate about what he was doing.

"It's such a great opportunity to make people love you and not just think about the bottom line," Gottlieb said. "Customers talk about you and they spread the word - they want to support you."

Green businesses, or environmentally friendly enterprises, are on the rise in the Bay Area, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments, which started a green business program in 1996. Since then 1,375 businesses have been granted green certification.

Marin launched its program in 2002 and now lists 254 certified green businesses.

To qualify for certification, a business must comply with a checklist of requirements, such as buying only recycled paper and copying on both sides, cleaning premises with nontoxic products, installing energy-efficient lighting systems and conserving water with low-flush toilets and faucet aerators.

Sarah Diefendorf, executive director of the Environmental Finance Center at Dominican University of California, said green business momentum is building. "We're not at the crest of that wave yet," Diefendorf said. "Everything is pointing in that direction, but we haven't reached a point where industry is saying 'we need this.'"

She noted the university's green MBA program is beginning to see a demand for hiring sustainability coordinators.

She said the future is bright for Marin's young green entrepreneurs. "We are going to be forced into energy efficiency and conservation, and those who are ahead of the curve are always going to fare better."

Sausalito resident Forrest Kolb, 25, earned a bio-engineering degree at the University of California at San Diego and got a job in research and development at Genentech Inc. in the East Bay. He moved to Marin about three years ago.

He was inspired to start his business, BizzFlip Inc., while he was driving through Silicon Valley, noticing how many technology company names were posted on buildings. He realized businesses needed a way to talk to each other. He and a business partner, Joe Paone, began to research a Web site that would serve as an online classified advertising site for entrepreneurs.

BizzFlip.com was launched in May 2007 and includes postings for businesses for sale, business services and venture capital pitches.

This year, Kolb and Paone launched EcoFlip.org, a platform for environmentally friendly listings for products and services. Users can place free online postings for buying and recycling green products, fuel-efficient vehicles and environmentally friendly services.

"Our vision for EcoFlip is for it to be the first place people go for eco-friendly and green business," Kolb said. "We want to be the craigslist for green products and services."

He loves living in Marin and setting his own schedule so he can enjoy the outdoors while working long hours.

"We are on the computer all day," Kolb said. "When you're really passionate about your business, it's not work.

"We are looking at taking investments from angels to scale it up," Kolb said. "We don't want to take money and lose control, we want people who are passionate."

Another young Marin entrepreneur, Jorge Lee, grew up in Mill Valley and graduated from Cornell University in December 2006. After working as an intern for the Clorox Co. in Oakland and then in payroll at Catholic Healthcare West, the 23-year-old Lee decided he didn't want to sit in a cubicle and do paperwork.

"I wanted something where I would keep learning," Lee said. "I talked to entrepreneurs and they said they wished they had started earlier."

Lee spent time in cafes learning about Web sites. He knew he needed to learn how to sell so he took a door-to-door sales job with AT&T in Oakland. "You learn real quick how to sell," Lee said. "You have to impulse someone."

Lee saw a need for nontoxic house cleaning services and decided that would be his niche. "I wanted a low start-up cost that would grow," Lee said. "Growing up in Marin I was very aware of green."

Lee experimented with nontoxic materials such as baking soda, club soda, vinegar, borax and Castile and developed his own line of cleaners in his parents' garage.

He brought in a family friend and the two began cleaning the houses of friends in March. He developed a checklist to let clients know exactly what had been cleaned.

He was certified as a Marin green business, boosting visibility. His Web site is www.marinhousecleaning.com and he has about 15 clients. Lee plans to hire a manager to head several teams of cleaners and let the business run itself.

"I've learned so much about sustainability doing this," Lee said. "It's going pretty much according to the business plan - the business is scalable.

"I'll knock on every door in Marin before I see this business fail."

Gardening provided a green ticket for Zachary Wahle of Fairfax, who grew up in West Marin and developed a passion for sustainable agriculture. He earned a master's degree in ecological agriculture and did his thesis on banana sustainability while living in the Caribbean.

When he returned to Marin, he started Edible Attractive Terrains, or EAT, a certified green business, and began to work with clients, designing, installing and maintaining sustainable, organic landscapes and gardens to produce food for the household.

Wahle, 29, said his plan was to start a business that would let clients produce food no matter how small the property.

"I wanted to build food security - I saw the threat to our food sovereignty," Wahle said.

Wahle plants fruit trees, artichokes, strawberries, okra, root crops and blueberries, among others, along with edible flowers such as roses and marigolds. He uses natural pest control and water-conscious designs. "I don't have a mower, a blower or a weed wacker," he added.

He thinks of himself as a mobile farmer and works with clients based on the level of service they prefer, from being a guide to maintaining gardens and harvesting crops.

"People can produce more than they think," Wahle said. "It's all going to depend on how much of their property they want to devote to it and on how much time they are willing to spend - or how much they are willing to pay me to do it."

Recycled Tires Aid Cell Phones

From EcoGeek

Whoa. Who needs triple lattes when there is Strapya World? Nothing gives a jolt of adrenaline to the system like a quick perusal of what’s new in Strapya World, the Japanese company that designs cell phone gadgets. The company’s website is a non-stop bombardment of Pokemon, Hello Kitty and Manga stuff for your cell phones.

Recently, the company came out with its phone strap-solar charger. The concept is a metallic holder on the phone strap recharges power from sunlight for your cell phone. That’s neat, but the practicality and utility of solar straps charging cell phones seems a bit too gadgety. If there is any charging going on with straps, it might be best to use dancing instead of the sun, of if you’re set on the sun, then using the Freeloader and Supercharger.

On a more practical level, Strapya has come out with a new accessory. “We made this with ecological ideas,” Strapya proudly proclaims for its cell phone case called “Zero.” “Zero” is made from used tire tubes remade as cell phone straps and holders. Prices range from $8 US for straps to $25 for holders. Like snowflakes, no two Zeros are the same because the company uses hundreds of recycled tires and every tire travels down the road marking its own unique path. Talk about a one-of-a-kind accessory for your beloved cell phone.

EcoFlip's Reuse & Recycle category allows you sell or trade your old stuff rather than throw it away!

Buy or sell a local business on BizzFlip's local business classifieds. Need funding? Post under Venture Capital! 

A Tale of Green Cities

From The Green Guide

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Mr. Dickens probably had no idea that his opening line about poverty and monarchies might one day apply to humanity's climate crisis. And nearly everything else, come to think of it--since it's probably the most hackneyed opener in the history of writing.

Lame as my writing device might be, it works here so just stick with me. The worst of times part is easy, and need not be revisited here--gas prices, food prices, violent weather events, endangered species, yada yada yada.

Why the best of times? I think that the worst thing that could happen to all of us--the big hit to our wallets--is the very thing that will save us. What's more, I have seen so many examples of promising change that I find myself momentarily losing my comfortable cloak of catastrophe and dipping my toe in the melted glacial pool of optimism.

Examples forthwith (in no particular order):

1. The bloggers at Triplepundit call it a "triple bottom line"--society, business, and the environment --and if that's where the future is headed we all stand to gain. The blog is almost as successful as mine (oh, wait, I have that backward… it's way more successful than mine) and I find this encouraging. When future MBA grads and corporate America get behind going green, and it's not just niche entrepreneurs, economically powerless moms, and treehuggers, change can happen on a broader scale.
2. Case in point--T. Boone Pickens. The new Fast Company magazine has an interview with this Texan who was formerly a big oil man and is now investing in alternative energy like wind farms. When asked if it's about the money or the environment he responds "Money!"
3. Meanwhile, Wired magazine's current issue takes a characteristically iconoclastic view on environmentalism. In the process it makes some worthwhile points--like how it's actually more "green" to drive a used car than it is to buy a new Prius, and how living in the middle of a city is the greenest way to go.
4. No more wire hangers! Mommy Greenest has found an alternative. Ecohangers are made of recycled paper and are being phased into right-thinking drycleaners everywhere. Plus, that cardboard hanger offers a new advertising opportunity for retailers, giving even more support for that triple bottom line (see #1.) Ask your drycleaner to use them.
5. Even before grocery prices started climbing, the cost of buying organic products was prohibitive for so many of us. I'm noticing, however, that this is changing. So much of what I buy now is organic or recycled or otherwise green and it costs the same as the non-green competition.
6. Clean green power. I wrote about this awhile back too, but it's easy to opt for clean power from your utility. Go to your local utility's website and poke around until you find the "clean power" link. When you opt for your percentage of energy to be derived from a clean source, it's like voting. The more of us that do it, the more inclined utilities and business people will be to create clean energy sources.

All I need is a set of knitting needles and I could be a kinder (and more attractive?) 21st century Madame DeFarge, inciting my neighbors to cry out for change…Vive La Revolution!

Search Local Green Products and Eco-Friendly Services on EcoFlip.org

Cut out the middle man by selling your business on BizzFlip. BizzFlip has 1000's of businesses for sale worldwide!

Bottled Water Boiling Point

From Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A debate over water is boiling over in the United States and elsewhere amid growing environmental concerns about bottled water and questions about safety of tap water.

The US Conference of Mayors in June passed a resolution calling for a phasing out of bottled water by municipalities and promotion of the importance of public water supplies. While largely symbolic, the vote highlighted a growing movement opposing regular use of bottled water because of its plastic waste and energy costs to transport drinking supplies.

Janet Larsen, director of research at the Earth Policy Institute, cites a "backlash against bottled water as more people are realizing what they get out of the bottles is not any better than what they get out of the faucet."

The Pacific Institute, a California think thank on sustainability issues, contends that producing bottles for US water consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil in 2006, not including the energy for transportation. The group says bottling water for Americans produces more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide and consumes three liters of water for each liter of bottled water produced.

The debate in the US mirrors that taking place worldwide in places such as Paris; Liverpool, England; Florence, Italy; Vancouver, Canada. According to the EPI, the issue making waves among policymakers in locations including Denmark and New South Wales, Australia, among others. The backlash comes even amid surging sales of bottled water in the United States. Some of this is linked to concerns about contamination of public water supplies, although critics of the industry say marketing hype is a greater factor.

Aficionados of Evian from France or Fiji from the South Pacific swear by the taste and health benefits of those waters, but others decry the high cost of energy for a product that may not be any better than local water.

A Natural Resources Defense Council concluded that "most of the tested waters were found to be of high quality (but) some brands were contaminated." The group said bottled waters "are subject to less rigorous testing and purity standards than those which apply to city tap water."

In fact, says the group "about one-fourth of bottled water is actually bottled tap water" while government rules "allow bottlers to call their product 'spring water' even though it may be brought to the surface using a pumped well, and it may be treated with chemicals."

Americans drank about 8.8 billion gallons (33 billion liters) of packaged water in 2007, or 15 percent of their total liquid intake, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. Per capita bottled US water consumption is up to 29 gallons (109 liters) per year, from 20 gallons in 2002. The US is the largest consumer of bottled water, but on a per capita basis it ranks far behind Italy, the leader which consumes nearly twice as much, and others such as the United Arab Emirates, Mexico and France.

Advocates of bottled water they the industry is being used as a scapegoat. Kevin Keane of the American Beverage Association said the mayors' resolution was "just cynical politics. It's like being against rope until you need a lifeline."

Keane says the bottled water industry is needed for communities hit by floods or other natural disasters and compromised municipal water systems. Bottled water "is convenient and a good tasting beverage, especially in this day when you have fewer water fountains and even when you have them, people are skeptical about using them."

Beyond questions of safety and environment, some activists say the bottled water industry is seizing a public resource. In the northeast state of Maine, a battle is brewing over access to a large aquifer by Poland Spring, a large US bottler owned by Swiss-based Nestle.

"Nestle's water grab is ruining streams, ponds, wells and aquifers," said Judy Grant of the activist group Corporate Accountability.

"Nestle's practices are raising serious questions about who should be allowed to control water, our most essential resource, and to what end."

The mayors, meeting in Miami, approved a resolution proposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom along with 17 other large-city mayors to redirect taxpayer dollars from bottled water to other city services. Joe Doss, president and chief executive of the International Bottled Water Association, an industry group based near Washington, said it was "unfortunate this is turning into a tap water versus bottled water debate."

Doss said most people drink both and that in many cases bottled water is a healthy replacement for sweetened or carbonated drinks. The IBWA says the industry uses less than one percent of groundwater supplies and produces only a tiny fraction of greenhouse gases. According to Doss, water bottles represent a tiny fraction of plastic waste that even if not recycled, and that any effort to improve recycling should cover all industries, not just bottled water.

EcoNews, green products and local eco-friendy services on EcoFlip.org. Post your Local Green Classifieds today!

BizzFlip's local business classifieds provides free business classifieds for local business people!

GreenEdge Kids Eco-Fashion

 

I came acrosss this hip children's line under EcoFlip's Green Living section and I was compelled to share it with other green moms and eco dads in the community...Enjoy!

GreenEdge Kids specializes in hip and trendy eco-fashion for kids, sizes 2-12. We find the greenest and the latest in eco-friendly children's clothing, and bring it to you in an easy-to-shop format.

You can "shop by conscience" for hemp, organic cotton, soy, Tencel, recycled fabric, organic wool, recycled fabric, Made in USA, Fair Trade, sweatshop-free, etc. Or just shop for what you like, knowing that you will find 100% green and 100% style at GreenEdge Kids.

Fall 08 is shaping up to be a breakthrough season, with an incredibly expanded size range (much more in the 8-12 range for both boys and girls), and more selections of stylish tops and bottoms for boys. Organic wool and recycled fleece outerwear is also in the works and coming soon. We think you ought to be able to outfit your boy or girl in stylish eco-friendly clothing for any occasion, and we receive new arrivals often, so please visit Greenedgekids to sign up for our newsletter so you can be apprised of the latest arrivals as well as to our exclusive discounts.

Be Green...Look Good...Play Hard!

Find local green products like green totes on EcoFlip.org!

Looking to have your green business funded? Post on BizzFlip's Venture Capital setion for free!

Top Green Totes

From Sprig

 

Best Font Lover's Tote

Why It's Good: Vancouver-based BYOB enlists local artists to design a line of ultra-hip totes. Our favorite is for obsessive type lovers by printing company owner and d.j. Adrian McInnes, a.k.a. AGE.

Why It's Green: The bags are made from 100% natural cotton and are designed with eco-responsible dyes. A percentage of the profits from the limited edition Artist Series bags goes to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Where to Get It: www.bringyourownbag.com$36.99

Most Precious Totes

Why They're Good: Mel Lim's child-like, dreamy and fantastical designs already grace her popular coasters, cards and wall art. Slung on your shoulder, a Joy by Mel Lim Sweet Dream tote can conjure up seventh-grade memories of a time when life was simpler and sweatpants with words across the butt weren't the norm. Use one to carry your journal and the pound cake you made for your colleagues.

Why It's Green: Each tote is made in the USA of 80% recycled cotton and 20% recycled soda bottle. The company has contributed to a variety of organizations, including the Nature Conservancy.

Where to Get It: www.joybymellim.com $29

 

Most Crafty Tote

Why It's Good: They're as durable as 37 plastic supermarket bags — because that's what they're hand-knit from, by owner Kristin Jordan as she rides the subway or hangs out with her dog. It takes 10 hours to create each unique, textured bag.

Why It's Green: Kristin J washes, cuts and knits donated plastic shopping bags into these strong and slightly stretchy totes, thereby "upcycling" them, or taking them one step up and away from the landfill, as opposed to the natural progression, i.e., taking them closer. You can help her crafty cause by sending your plastic bags to her via her website.

Where To Get It: www.kristinj.com $50 - $80

Find more totes on Sprig... 

Find local green products like green totes on EcoFlip.org!

Looking to have your green business funded? Post on BizzFlip's Venture Capital setion for free!