In business, one of the most popular promotional items to give away is pens.  Think about it.  How many times have you put a pen from the bank in your pocket?  Or you’ve attended a luncheon and there was a pen in your grab bag?  Did you ever stop to think about whether or not that pen was environmentally friendly?

Well, our friends over at Quality Logo Products have introduced a Eco Pen that serves both needs – solid promo materials with an environmentally conscious finish.

These click-action ballpoint pens are high quality, black ink, and each barrel is made from “100% post-consumer recycled paper with a natural wooden clip and 98% post consumer recycled plastic accents.”

When is the last time you saw something environmentally friendly offered at a promotional items store?  Frisbees? Mugs? Bags?  Most of those items cause tremendous harm to the environment when they’re produce.  And even the so-called eco-friendly products that are just badged that…  They do more harm in producing them than their less environmentally friendly counterparts!

With the QLP Eco Pens, you’re assured great pricing, incredible value, and awesome customer service.  Plus, bonus points when you hand them out to clients!  Who can argue with that?

Treehugger has a great how-to for buying cheap, damaged solar panels and putting them together.

Included in the post, there is a parts list for all those DIY’ers out there!

The end result is a solar panel that will charge a 12 volt battery – creating almost 18 volts of total power!

Check it out and let us know what you think…

JD

Over the past couple weeks, I have been looking into solar pretty heavily.  In the last few years, solar has become a much more widely accepted form of alternative energy, and has come down in price considerably!

In my searches, I found a how-to that I wanted to pass along to you.  It’s Earth4Energy.com.

Earth4Energy is a revolutionary solar guide that has been featured on CNN and CNBC.  It’s all about building your own solar powered home system – complete from the panels to the battery stations.

The thing I liked about it particularly was that it included both and inter-grid and an off-grid setup so you could tie it into your house’s existing electrical setup!

Check out the program.  And let us know what you think of it…

We’re going to be doing a comprehensive review coming up here shortly :0)

JD

Chemical free cleaning products are not only cheaper than the typical cleaning products, but they are better for the environment.  Granted, the name brand companies are making green versions of their products.  Every little bit helps, but here are a few general recipes to help you clean while being green.

I tried to find cleaning ingredients that you could mix in bulk, not recipes that you would need to make for individual instances.  This way you only need to make the products once and it will last awhile.

PLUGGED DRAIN:
1/2 Cup of Baking Soda
2 Cups Boiling Water
1/2 Cup of Vinegar

**Pour baking soda and vinegar into the drain.  Make sure you cover tightly to allow the chemical reaction to break up the gunk. Finally, pour the boiling water down the drain to rinse.

TOILET CLEANER:
1 cup borax
1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice

**Mix the ingredients together to make a paste. Put the paste along the inside of the toilet bowl, let sit for 1 to 2 hours, and scrub.

KITCHEN CLEANER:
Kosher Salt
Water

**If you have tough stains and grease sprinkle on kosher salt, and scrub.

GLASS CLEANER:
2 tablespoons white vinegar, club soda or undiluted lemon juice
1 gallon of water
Newspaper

**Combine white vinegar with water. Add both of these to a used spray bottle. Spray on glass and scrub with newspaper. Do not use towels; they cause streaking.

CARPET FRESHENER:
1 cup crushed dried herbs (such as rosemary, southernwood, or lavender)
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda

**Mix all ingredients together in a jar. Shake well. to freshen carpets, sprinkle some of the mixture on your carpet. Let it sit for an hour, and then vacuum it up.

WOOD FLOOR POLISH:
1/4 Cup Vinegar
30 Ounces of Warm Water

**Mix the white vinegar and warm water. Add to a used spray bottle, then spray on a rag.  Use the rag to polish your floors.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my avid readers!!! Hope you have a great one!

Going green to me means doing all you possibly can to help preserve and protect the environment. But there are obviously some restrictions. At minimum do what you can in your normal day, with the same amount of money you are spending now and the same amount of time. No matter what your financial situation, there is always something that can be done. People think that they are going to spend more money and waste their valuable time trying to “go green.” Yes it sometimes does cost a little more and yes it does take time. But once you get the hang of it, it truly is easier. Just remember every little bit helps. Greener = happier!

Here are my top 10 favorite green sites as of now (in no particular order). I tried to find a site for everyone. Check them out! Read the rest of this entry

Welcome to GreenHackz. This is the newest member of the hackz family! In this blog we will be discussing green technology, global warming, green products, going green, and anything you can think of that is related to preserving and protecting the environment. Feel free to ask any questions or provide product reviews. Enjoy!