It’s been a while since i’ve last posted - i was away for a trip and just couldn’t keep up with quality postings! Anyway, i’m back and back to blogging about how we can/not shop our way to sustainability!
I’ve discussed Walmart’s sustainability policy before, and I’m excited to see how companies such as Walmart is enforcing some sort of environmental responsibility to their suppliers. Really it’s a win-win situation for Walmart because they really don’t need to do much other than “asking”, while getting all the credits. Personally, I’m just happy that things are moving in the right direction.
Yesterday Walmart announced that they will be creating “green labels” to measure the social and environmental impact of the products it sells in its discount stores. Although only 100 out of 40,000 products will bear the label in the beginning (which are the Energy Star appliances), I’m sure more will come eventually. I’ve always wanted to be making green labels for products! Now there might be some opportunities for me to dig in more!
I got an email from Airmiles.ca summarizing a range of eco labels that we migh see on a day-to-day life - EnergyStar, EPEAT, WaterSense, and a whole lot more. It’s great! You should check it out when you have time!
This eco infographic is great! Better yet, this idea is being implemented! Published on Wired, they reported that the Port of Portland has incorporated the “Living Machine”, which uses soil and bacteria to filter out pathogens and turning wastewater into nonpotable water. But the signature element of the system is the plant life that grows up and out of it—right into the lobby. It’s awesome!
This is how it works:
- toilet water goes into a septic/holding tank
- the overflow gets pumped into “wetland” cells where water, pathogens, and biological content are absorbed by the plants
- whatever that’s leftover is treated with UV light and sent to a storage tank
- water in the storage tank is used in the toilet…..
- repeat steps 1 to 4
I came across the green gift guide to father’s day on inhabitat.com, a blog with future designs/innovations including green products. I went through the guide and am most attracted to the Recycle Typewriter Cufflinks! I like them because they’re personal and practical yet with a small environmental impact. Do you like them?
If you were a student not living from home, you probably have moved several times during the duration that you’re a student. I was personally in Kingston Ontario for about 6 years, which I moved 5 times. When I move, there are two types of moving boxes: cardboard boxes and plastic totes. For cardboard boxes, we usually take some from grocery stores or collect used ones from the lab. We moved so much that we know which types of boxes are sturdier than others! Yes, those apple boxes =). For certain items that may contain liquid (shampoo, sauces, cleaning products, …etc), we use plastic totes. We reuse these cardboard boxes, give them away when other people need them, and we’ve recycled others when we don’t need them anymore. We keep all plastic totes.
We try as hard as we can to not buy any boxes, and we’ve done quite well. But wouldn’t it be nice to just rent some reusable boxes for the move? Well, if you live in Vancouver, you’re lucky! FROGBOX does exactly this! It’s an awesome idea and in an environmentally conscious and transient city like Vancouver, they could do quite well! The process is simple - they drop them off, you pack the boxes and move, and finally they pick up the boxes! I would consider using it in my next move if I need more boxes!
What do you think?
Big Green Big Deal | flo | 
July 16, 2009 7:49 am | 
Comments (0) 
Subscribe