How to Adopt an Eco-Friendly Oral Care Routine
Eco-Living

How to Adopt an Eco-Friendly Oral Care Routine

When considering sustainable living, oral care hardly comes to mind. But it’s a vital aspect of daily life that needs more attention than you’d admit.

Sometime in 2019, about 373 000 toothbrushes were found among the 262 tons of plastic debris accumulated at Cocos Islands.

Imagine how many such pollutants we have worldwide. It’s time to give sustainable oral care routines a nod to prevent more environmental harm.

This guide will spotlight the best oral hygiene regimen that aligns with an eco-friendly lifestyle. At Dental O So Gentle, a practice committed to both patient comfort and environmental responsibility, they’ve been advocating for eco-friendly oral care routines for years, so we have complied a list of benefits and tips to help you get started on your eco-friendly oral care routine. With our help, you can focus on nurturing your oral hygiene and the planet!

Benefits of Eco-Friendly Oral Care

Opting for sustainable options has perks– toothbrush litter will be significantly reduced! But there’s more:

Reducing Environmental Impact

It ensures you leave fewer ecological footprints. How? Sustainable oral care products like biodegradable floss limit plastic waste or chemical run-off. So, eco-friendly oral care equals less harm to the environment.

Promoting Biodiversity

Eco-friendly products also sustain the health of ecosystems and wildlife, thereby preserving biodiversity.

Conserving Resources

Sustainable oral hygiene encourages the mindful use of resources. Simple acts like turning the water off while brushing save water.

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Biodiversity Protection: Innovative Approaches in Australian Mining
Eco-Living

Biodiversity Protection: Innovative Approaches in Australian Mining

G’day, nature lovers and mining enthusiasts alike! Grab your binoculars and hard hats, because we’re about to embark on a journey that’s more exciting than spotting a platypus in your backyard creek. We’re diving into the world of biodiversity protection in Australian mining, and let me tell you, it’s a ripper of a tale.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Biodiversity protection in mining? Isn’t that like trying to grow orchids in a bulldozer?” But hold your wallabies, because our Aussie miners are pulling off some pretty impressive tricks when it comes to looking after our unique flora and fauna.

From the rugged Pilbara to the lush tropics of the Top End, mining companies are turning into regular Dr. Dolittles, finding innovative ways to protect and even enhance biodiversity. So, let’s dig into how they’re giving our native critters and plants a fair go.

  1. Seed Vaults and Plant Nurseries: Banking on Nature’s Future

Let’s kick things off with something that’s got botanists more excited than a wattle in spring – seed vaults and plant nurseries. These days, mining companies are becoming greener than the Aussie cricket team’s uniform.

I visited an iron ore mine in the Pilbara where they’ve set up a seed vault that looks like a cross between a bank vault and a greenhouse. It was chock-a-block with little packets of seeds from every native plant you could imagine. The site’s environmental officer, Sheila, was grinning from ear to ear as she showed me around.

“See these little beauties?” she said, holding up a packet of spinifex seeds. “We collect these before we start mining, then use them to revegetate the area when we’re done. It’s like we’re putting the landscape into hibernation, then waking it up again when we’re finished.”

But it’s not just about collecting seeds. Many mines are setting up their own nurseries, growing native plants on-site. I had a yarn with Bob, the nursery manager at a gold mine in the Goldfields. He chuckled as he showed me rows of seedlings. “It’s like running a daycare for plants,” he said. “We nurture them here, then when they’re big and strong, we plant them out in the rehab areas. It’s amazing to see how quickly the bush comes back.”

One company that’s really leading the charge in this area is Rio Tinto. At their Weipa bauxite mine in Far North Queensland, they’ve established a massive seed bank and nursery operation. They’re not just preserving local plant species – they’re actively researching how to propagate rare and threatened plants.

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ROI For Businesses Installing Solar Energy Systems
Sustainability

ROI For Businesses Installing Solar Energy Systems

The primary reason many businesses install solar panels in their commercial premises is to enhance their green credentials and thus contribute to the quest to reduce the use of fossil fuels. For others, this may influence their decision to do so. Still, for many, the main driver is seeking a reduction in their energy bills and, ultimately, a return on the initial investment required to install their solar energy system.

With the cost of electricity seemingly rising continuously rather than the reverse, many businesses are looking for ways to reduce their electricity bills, and solar energy systems offer an alternative, reliable, and renewable energy source that can provide significant cost savings. All of this feeds into the ROI that a solar energy system can generate, and in this blog post, we will examine this in more detail.

Understanding ROI For Solar Energy Systems

ROI, or return on investment, is a financial metric that measures the profitability of an investment relative to its cost. In the case of solar energy systems, ROI measures the amount of money a business can save on its energy bills compared to the initial cost of installing the system and, in many cases, increased revenue. Several factors affect the ROI of solar energy systems, including the property’s location, system size, and energy usage so let us look at these.

Location: A business’s location affects how much sunlight its solar panels can receive. Areas with more sunlight will generate more electricity than areas with limited sunlight. Businesses in areas with high amounts of sunlight can expect a higher ROI from solar energy systems than those with less sunshine or are more prone to cloud cover.

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How Your Cowboy Boots Can Contribute To Your Eco-Friendly Lifestyle
Eco-Living

How Your Cowboy Boots Can Contribute To Your Eco-Friendly Lifestyle

As the world’s governments grapple with environmental issues such as global warming, at an individual level, millions of people try their best to have a greener lifestyle by installing solar panels, switching to electric cars, or purchasing only sustainable products and that includes footwear such as women’s western boots.

You might think that the purchase of a pair of cowboy boots made from sustainable sources of leather could not possibly have an impact on some of the larger environmental issues the world faces. On its own, you might be right; however, as opinion shifts and more and more people decide to purchase sustainable cowboy boots and other items of clothing or footwear, then the positive impact becomes greater.

Sustainability is not just about saving natural resources. it also takes us into matters such as how the companies making products such as cowboy boots do so. In other words, what are the manufacturing processes they use, are those processes environmentally friendly, and are the working conditions and practices such that the workers in these companies are well treated and paid a fair wage?

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Recycling

How to Care for Antique Rings 

An engagement ring or piece of jewellery you give as a gift doesn’t have to be new. While browsing the vast selection at an online or bricks and mortar jeweller is a memorable experience, there are other ways to provide the one you love with a special gift.

And there are few gifts as special as an antique heirloom from a since-passed family member. Antique jewellery, be it engagement rings or something else, always has a story that warms your heart and makes you wear it with pride.

In saying that, antique heirlooms also require a little more care, primarily because of their age. If you’re wondering how to care for antique rings or other jewellery, then read on for some helpful tips.

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10 Essential Tools Every Landscape Gardener Needs
Gardens, Renovating

10 Essential Tools Every Landscape Gardener Needs

With any profession, employment, pastime, or hobby there are going to be tools and equipment which are essential, and landscaping is no different. Whether you are involved in landscaping as a business, as a passionate hobby, or simply as an enjoyable and relaxing way to spend a few hours in your garden, there are tools that you will need to complete certain tasks successfully.

On larger scale landscaping projects we might be talking more about machinery than we are tools, but for the purposes of this article, we are only going to look at the sorts of tools you will need for smaller and medium-sized landscaping. In particular, here are 10 landscaping/ gardening tools which are regarded as essential by expert landscape designers:

Gloves: Whilst landscape gardening might not be considered as a ‘high-risk’ activity, that does not mean that all personal safety should be ignored. In particular, it is your hands that are most at risk of cuts from tools or scratches from thorns, for example, which is why a pair of robust gardening gloves is essential.

Spade: If you are going to be able to dig anything then a high-quality spade is needed. Apart from digging ,it can also be used for moving mulch, compost, and soil. If possible, use a flat edge spade as it penetrates the ground more easily.

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The Four ‘R’s Of Green and Eco-Friendly Dentistry
Green Offices, Sustainability

The Four ‘R’s Of Green and Eco-Friendly Dentistry

The concept of a dentist having to operate to protect the environment is at least a decade old, but for many dental practices, that concept is still relatively new. That is not because they do not care or are in any way against protecting the environment.

Instead, it is partly because specific dental processes identified as having some of the most significant negative impacts on the environment might be consideredconsidertal procedures.

Just two prime examples include x-rays for identifying issues within teeth and gums and the filling of tooth cavities. Both of these use toxic materials such as mercury and x-ray fixers, yet they are used in abundance throughout the world of dentistry.

To assist medical professionals, including dentists, in better understand how they could improve their green credentials, a simple concept called the four ‘R’s was introduced. These four ‘R’s are four words that go to the heart of how dentists and any individual or business can reduce the harm they do to the environment.

The ‘R’ words are, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rethink. They are given in that specific order, which often surprises people who assume that recycling would be the fir. However, reducing and reusing can play a more significant role in decreasing waste.

Whilst you probably have some understanding of each of the words, we shall go through each of them with a bit more of an explanation as they relate to how they can guide a dental practice towards protecting the environment.

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Why Should We Go Green in the Office?
Green Offices

Why Should We Go Green in the Office?

Creating “green” office spaces is becoming an increasingly popular discussion topic, ad for good reason. Green offices offer a great way to reduce your and your business’s carbon footprint and associated environmental impact.

I’ve worked with a range of different businesses over the years, but I’ll always remember the first day a digital marketing agency asked me for advice on going green in their office. I mean, this sort of business isn’t exactly known for their environmentally-harmful practices.

But, with a bit of digging, I soon found out that there was still a huge number of benefits associated with going green, even in a traditional office setting. In this article, I’ve outlined a few of these benefits.

Get Cleaner Are and Become More Productive

For starters, implementing eco-friendly office practices will help clean your air, which can have a great range of positive impacts. Consider eliminating the use of toxic cleaning products and other chemicals, adding a few indoor plants and even opening the windows rather than using a heating/cooling on nice days.

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Save Power
Green Offices

How Can We Save Power in the Office?

With the rise of digital technology and our increasing reliance on computers and other devices, our reliance and consumption of electricity has skyrocketed. Everyone from sign-writers and retail stores to SEO agencies and accountants use some form of modern technology and therefore consume a significant amount of electricity.

However, power generation is a significant contributor to climate change and the destruction of our planet, so it’s important to take steps to minimise consumption wherever possible. In the rest of this article, I’ve looked at a few of my favourite ways to save power in the office – and don’t worry, they aren’t too hard!

Ensure Everything Is Switched Off at Night

The first and arguably easiest thing to do is to ensure everything is turned off or powered down at night when you leave the office. A huge percentage of office buildings leave their lights turned on 24/7, and this simply isn’t necessary at non-working hours, installing CCTV will work as great security and double as making sure everything else is being turned on at night.

I’d recommend implementing some sort of green office policy that outlines end of day procedures. Make sure your employees know that they should be turning the lights out and shutting their computers down before they leave for the day.

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Moving More Eco-Friendly
Eco-Living

The Best Ways to Make Moving More Eco-Friendly

Unfortunately, moving house or moving your office can result in a lot of rubbish, with single-use packing materials and unwanted items often finding their way to the local tip. Professionals from Brilliance Removalists Melbourne will help reduce the waste associated with your move, but there’s plenty more you can do.

Office Relocations Perth has recommended this list of the top things you can do to make moving more eco-friendly. They include:

  1. Spend Some Time Decluttering Your Home

One of the keys to reducing waste during the moving process is decluttering your home in the weeks leading up to your big day. If you’ve been living in the same house for some time, the chances are that you’ve probably accumulated a fair amount of stuff that you don’t need or want to take with you.

Rather than sending this stuff directly to the tip, please spend some time sorting it out and putting any useful, working items aside. Then, you could:

  • Sell them online for a little extra income.
  • Sell or give them away via social media.
  • Donate them to your local charity shop.
  • Give them to friends or family members.

There’s no reason to and no excuse for throwing perfect items in the trash – so don’t do it!

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Water Saving
Sustainability

Top Water Saving Tips to Protect the Environment

Saving water should be a significant plumbing consideration across the world. Countries globally suffer from increasingly severe water shortages every year, and as global climates change, these shortages are expected to affect more and more people.

Fortunately, there are numerous things that you can do to ensure you’re saving as much water as possible. We recommend speaking with your local plumber to ensure you’re not using old, inefficient plumbing systems. However, there are also plenty of things that you can do in your own time to save water, including:

Using Water-Saving Appliances

Modern appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines are becoming increasingly water-efficient. If you can afford it, we’d recommend upgrading to a more water-efficient appliance as soon as possible. You might be surprised by just how large the water savings are.

Install a Low-Flush Toilet

Similarly, low-flush toilets are becoming increasingly efficient as well. Although they became increasingly popular around twenty years ago, many people were put off from using early models because they didn’t always work like traditional toilets.

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The Lemon Life
Eco-Living, Sustainability

The Lemon Life: The Many Uses of a Humble Lemon

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But you can also make a lot of other things, as well.

According to expert cleaners Gleam Clean WA, believe it or not, lemon trees are one of the most common fruit trees in the average Australian’s backyard, but not everyone is using them to their full potential – such as for sustainable cleaning, crafting, and cooking. Read on to learn how underutilised your lemon tree is.

Clean Your Microwave

It can go against every fibre in your being to use a multi-purpose spray solution inside something that heats your food. You might think it’s the only way to clean your microwave, but lemon is sitting right in front of you, ready to take the reins.

Slice lemons in a bowl of water and microwave it for up to ten minutes. Once you remove the container, use a washcloth or recycled paper towel to wipe out the food mess. Your microwave will be lemony fresh for as long as you need it.

Carpet Cleaning

To assist with your carpet cleaning, you can mix lemon juice with a small amount of water. Scrub it into the area using a clean cloth. Then rinse the specific area and then wipe the lemon juice away using a steam cleaning machine with some detergent. Leave it to dry and then the smell should have disappeared.

Cleaning Your Clothes

Okay, so lemon doesn’t really clean your clothes, but it can certainly offer a new brightness. If you want to steer away from manufactured products in favour of sustainable cleaning products, then try lemon as a brightening and whitening agent. A small amount of lemon juice to a load of whites can have more of an impact than you think.

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Compostable vs. Degradable vs. Biodegradable
Eco-Living, Gardens, Sustainability

Compostable vs. Degradable vs. Biodegradable – What’s the Difference?

In a world that’s far more aware of the importance of sustainability, it can be a challenge to get to grips with marketing jargon. You want to make sure the products you purchase are safe for the environment, but how do you understand the various terms that describe if it is or not?

Three terms you will see thrown around quite a bit are: compostable, degradable, and biodegradable. Do they mean the same thing? Are they different? Is one better than the other? Read on to learn what these three words mean, and if you should be using any product labelled with any of them more than the other.

What is a Biodegradable Product?

Something biodegradable is the epitome of sustainability. It means that the item you have just bought can break down into the natural environment through natural elements and organisms.

The way in which they biodegrade can make all the difference as well. If they use water, organic material, and carbon dioxide, they are breaking down without doing any harm to the environment.

Most products that boast a “biodegradable” label feature sustainable materials and plant by-products.

However, how you dispose of your biodegradable product can matter more than you might think. In a landfill environment, it may not be able to break down while being buried under tonnes of trash. The best way to dispose of such products is by sending them to a recycling plant.

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Watering Your Garden
Eco-Living, Gardens, Recycling, Sustainability

Are You Watering Your Garden Right?

It is easy to understand the ‘why’ when it comes to watering the plants in your garden. However, the ‘when’ and the ‘how’ are often the most misunderstood aspects of the practice of gardening. Landscapers Sydney say this can literally make or break your garden. Therefore, it is best to understand what reticulation practices are good, and what methods spell disaster.

Tackling the ‘when’ –

Truth be told, professional landscapers tell us that there is no right time or wrong time to water your plants. The ideal time depends on a number of factors such as the climatic conditions in the area concerned, the type of plants that need to be watered, the kind of soil they are planted in, and a number of other criteria. A little trick to work around this arbitrary situation is to check the soil.

The consistency required to determine if the time is right to water your patch is somewhere between moist and dry. The right balance has to be struck between these two states. The mud has to be moist enough to form a consistent ball in the fist of your hand, but also loose enough to fall apart when you drop it. If you have plants sheltered in a nursery, over time, you get better at determining just how heavy or how light the soil should be when it is adequately watered.

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Small Packages
Sustainability

Sustainability in Sending Small Packages

If you are a small business who uses a transport company to deliver small items of freight, there are many ways you can be sustainable and save your costs as well.  Many businesses also receive goods such as supplies, so they will have various kinds of packaging to dispose of. While it may be sent off to the recycling centre, it could be a better option to keep it and re-use it for the packaging needs of your business.

Recycling packaging for your business will save in many ways.

  • It saves on the cost of purchasing more packaging
  • It saves on the cost of disposing of it in some other way
  • It saves on the cost of fuel in having new packaging delivered to your business.

While the latter may not be saving your own fuel costs, it still helps to save the earth’s resources.

You may think that being, in effect, your own recycling centre will take up more room, you would still have to find storage for the new packaging materials if you purchased that. This room can be utilised to store recycled packaging just as well.  It is possible to flatten cardboard boxes so they don’t take up too much room. If you store them in piles according to size, it will be easy to find the right ones for your needs.

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Solar Panels and Colorbond Roofing
Eco-Living, Sustainability

Solar Panels and Colorbond Roofing

With solar panels becoming ever more popular in Australia, anyone with Colorbond roofing or who is thinking about getting one will want to know whether it is okay to put solar panels up on such a roof. The simple answer is yes, but there are certain things you should be aware of before you start.

For a start, only allow a professional tradesman to do the work – and make sure they have a good reputation. Unfortunately, there are professionals whose work is nothing short of shoddy and who just want to get the job done quickly and go – after getting paid, of course. Choose someone who is proud of their standard of work and cares about doing the job properly.

When walking on any roof, but particularly on Colorbond, you should wear shoes with soft soles that will not scratch the surface of the paint. In addition, it is important to tread only on the top of the corrugations, never in the bottom part, especially if you have chosen a profile with a wide pan or valley.  The top curve is the strongest part. It is also wise to only tread where the steel sheeting is supported by the timber frame underneath.

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Expert In Gardening
Gardens

Tips To Make You An Expert Gardener

10 Effective And Practical Tips To Make You An Expert In Gardening

So you want to become an expert landscaper like harrisonslandscaping.com.au? Well, if you’re passionate about working amongst nature and love flowers, have an eye for design, then you certainly have what it takes to become one.

Gardening requires practical and viable solutions that go hand in hand with the raw resources at your disposal. You also need to have the right attitude because unless you aren’t interested in gardening, it would only seem a tedious and muddy task in which case call professional help. But if you are zealous enough, then your personal touch can create for yourself a beautiful garden with a landscape design to match.

Here are 10 effective do it yourself tips to make you an expert gardener.

    • It’s All About Good Soil

The most basic and primary need for gardening and planting is soil. The best way to enrichen soil is to build a compost pit to produce organic matter through waste material. Dry leaves, dead wood, used tea leaves, leafy vegetables waste, peelings, are great sources nourishment for compost matter. Soil enriched with compost ensures healthy plants.

    • Low Maintenance Plants

Choose plants like perennials that require low maintenance. Astibles, Siberian Iris, bleeding hearts, yucca, yarrow and ornamental grass not only require less work but also lend an aesthetic look to your garden not to mention the beautiful colors of the flowers. Such plants don’t require constant staking or deadheading.

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Gardening Ideas
Eco-Living, Gardens

Gardening Ideas for the Not-So-Green-Thumbed

So you haven’t tried your hand at gardening ever before? Or perhaps, have you tried it a few times and failed to create the perfect haven? Not to worry. By following a few tips and tricks from garden landscaping experts, as given below, you can create a beautiful garden space of your own.

  • Clean up the space – This is the most obvious way to begin setting up and planting a garden of your own. Mow up the entire space, and weed out the surface completely. Rake the yard up during the spring in order to remove the debris that accumulates over autumn and winter. This clean up helps to prepare your space for a lush collection of plants.
  • Prepare the soil – The key to a great garden is good soil. The soil needs to be fed with nutrients in order to prepare it for supporting a plethora of plant life. In order to achieve this, you need to add layers of organic matter to the soil. For established or predesigned soil beds, it is advisable to allow the layer of organic matter, consisting of manure, dried leaves, and compost, to sit on the surface for a few weeks, so that it can work its way into the soil bed. In case you are making do with the naturally available soil surface, you can dig it and let the manure mix fill the gaps.

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Aluminium Windows
Renovating

Why Choose Premium Aluminium Windows

10 Reasons Why You Should Choose Premium Aluminium Windows for Your Home

Are you still stuck to wood or vinyl windows? It is time to update and switch to the better options that are available at minimal prices. Premium aluminium home windows are a current favourite among the masses.

Here are 10 reasons for their huge popularity:

  • Strength: When deciding on a window for your home one of the essential factors that everyone prioritizes is its durability. In that case, Aluminium windows last for a long period of time for its strength and its resistant feature which eliminates all signs of deformation and decay. Again, it is pretty simple to use aluminium in constructing different shapes as it is light-weight.
  • Maintenance: People often have preconceived notions that aluminium windows are tough to maintain. Not at all! All you need is water and sponge to wipe it clean within minutes. Moreover, you do not even need to paint or touch-up aluminium windows as they are pre-manufactured in a broad range of colours.
  • Energy Efficient: As compared to the other expensive window options like vinyl and fiberglass, aluminium windows can successfully meet energy efficiency standards successfully. Excellent prevention of heat gain and heat loss through the windows is a superb feature that makes aluminium windows stand out.
  • Noise Prevention: Aluminium is much stronger and heavier than vinyl. Being more is mass allows aluminium to deliver high acoustic performance and prevent noise from escaping or entering the home. Aluminium windows beat vinyl and wood windows by a far mark in noise abatement.
  • Elaborate Designs: There is a huge range of aluminium window designs available to suit your home, office, restaurant or any kind of need. They come in a broad range of colours and can be customized to suit any colour scheme of your home perfectly.

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Maintain Your Swimming Pool
Gardens

How to Clean and Maintain Your Swimming Pool

If you have just finished pool renovations and are new to the delightful world of home swimming pools you will want to know the best ways to keep that pool clean. The easiest way of all is to purchase an automatic pool cleaner. That way you don’t have to work quite so hard to clean and maintain the water in your pool.

However, automatic pool cleaners can’t do all the work that is needed. Here are some of the other ways in which you can ensure good water quality and reduce the need for extra chemicals in the pool.

  • Use a pool scoop to skim leaves and other debris out of the pool on a daily basis. The sooner they are out, the less likely the ph of the water is to change. Rotting starts immediately, even though you cannot see it with the naked eye and it is that which interferes with the ph level of the water. Vacuuming should be done at least once a week, but daily is better.
  • If you don’t have an automatic cleaner, brush down the walls of the pool. Algae tends to form on the walls of the pool. Since it seems to grow there, it needs to be brushed off. It will then sink to the bottom where the robot cleaner can deal with it. If your pool is concrete lined with plaster, a stiff brush will be needed. Other types require a soft bristle brush.

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Freight Transport
Sustainability

Strategies for Sustainability in Freight Transport

Our world today is full of freight being sent across the city, the country or the ocean. Altogether, it accounts for a great portion of fuel use, environmental emissions and energy use.  Not every transport company seeks to find ways and means to be environmentally friendly, yet it can actually reduce costs and make their business a great deal more efficient.

Determining the strategies for sustainability are not difficult. There are many ways in which packaging can be optimised.

  • Analyse the shipping weight of various containers. Both crates and packaging materials add to the total weight. The more the packaging weighs the more your goods cost to send and the more resources are used to carry them to their destination.
  • Look at shipping densities. Empty space that could be filled with more goods is costing the company in terms of wastage. One large box that is not filled to capacity costs more to send than one of the right size, due to oversized rates and the fact that more could be sent for the same amount of fuel used if that space was reduced.
  • Observe the damage. There is always some wear and tear on boxes and crates. You need to find the fine line between damaged goods through not enough or the wrong type of packaging, and absolutely no damage to the box or its contents, which might point to over-packing that costs more than necessary.

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Sustainability

Choosing an Environmentally Friendly Exhaust System

There are multiple ways to make your car’s exhaust system more friendly for the environment. It depends on the parts you select, the fuel you use, and your own conservative mindset as a driver. The following methods can all be used to create a more environmentally friendly vehicle for the road.

Use an Eco-friendly Catalytic Converter

Catalytic converters are an essential part of your car’s exhaust system. They utilize a catalyst comprised of precious metals, which react against the harmful exhaust gasses. These gases are converted into water through the catalytic converter and then expelled from the vehicle.

This is the process of a catalytic converter for virtually any modern car, but if you want an especially environmentally friendly converter, you can buy a new model which lasts longer and boosts a vehicle’s fuel efficiency. Environmentally friendly converters enhance the oxidation process, reducing the amount of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides emitted.

Burn Fuel Wisely

You can make your car more environmentally friendly simply by being more conscientious of the fuel you use. One easy way to do this is to buy a vehicle that has a high fuel efficiency rating. You can also be conscious of the fuel you’re using by keeping your vehicle well-tuned and your tires at full inflation in order to reduce exhaust emissions.

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Green Roof
Green Offices

2.3 Acres Of Green Roof Installed On Top Of Mall

The largest modular green roof ever installed, a beautiful 2.3 acres, is now happily growing atop the new “Court at Upper Providence” shopping center in Pennsylvania. The project was created using GreenGrid modules; which are made with recycled plastic and contain small but hardy plants like sedums. From the release,

Project developers were committed to using a green roof system to minimize the stormwater runoff and associated impacts on the surrounding watershed from these buildings. Occupants will also benefit from potential energy savings during hot summer months when the GreenGrid® system keeps the roof cooler than exposed roof surface. “We believe the benefits of adding a green roof to this large a project far outweighs the additional costs. We are not speaking of economic benefits, but of environmental benefits to our county: reducing stormwater runoff from the site, adding plant life and their beneficial air quality impact, and reducing the energy used by the retailers,” added Fred Levin, of The Highland Development Group, Ltd.

Damn. First the CIA gets a green roof and now a shopping mall? Would you even believe these developments a few years ago? So cool to see green building becoming a part of everyday projects across America. Rockin’.

Float-Bed
Eco-Living

Beautiful Float Bed Is Green, But Pricey

I’ve got nothing against my bland square mattress — it gets the job done — but looking at this photo just makes sleep time seem that much cooler with the Float Bed. Of course, I live nowhere near the ocean, so this might look a little awkward in my house; but I digress.

The Float Bed comes to us from designer David Trubridge of New Zealand. His new company, Okooko, is an eco-friendly mattress and bedroom-furniture company. It’s a modern take on the traditional canopy bed — and is made of natural latex, bamboo and wool. From the product description,

“In exploring what sleep means to people, David came to the conclusion that beds needed to be more romantic, and more flexible in their design and application. The design elements drawn on in his concept come from the idea that the bed could be moved and used wherever required. The concept forms a cocooning space that gives a feeling of security and serves the purpose of sheltering sleep from the elements, creating a private sleep space within another space.”

Very cool — though as a kid, a couple cardboard boxes and a sheet would have created the same effect. As an adult, if you’d like to grab the Float Bed to recreate those memories, it will cost you $25,000. And it doesn’t even really float! Damnit!

Streetlights
Eco-Living, Sustainability

Streetlights Powered By Both Wind And Solar Energy

When does a streetlight stop becoming something ordinary and turn into a self-sustaining work of art? Apparently, once it finds its way to Japan. Outside the Panasonic Center in Tokyo, one is greeted with several streetlights that incorporate both solar and wind energy systems. The design is called a ‘Seagull’ and takes advantage of light during the day to store energy for night; while producing electricity to push back into the grid thanks to the wind. The vertical turbine on this pole doesn’t appear to require too much wind to turn. No idea what the payback on this might be, but it’s certainly cool to see it in motion.