Reusable totes
Posted by admin on November 8, 2009
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Water conserving shower heads
Posted by admin on October 20, 2009
Save water as well as electric/heating the shower water using a water conserving shower head.
You can buy your Roadrunner shower head here
Energy Efficient Lighting
Posted by admin on September 11, 2009
Check the chart below for comparison of CFL’s wattage vs regular lighting.
Waste free lunch kits
Posted by admin on September 1, 2009
With some kids already back in school and more starting after Labor Day, now’s the time to invest in waste free lunch kits and help educate your child on being more environmentally friendly during lunch time.
Environmental: The kit eliminates 100% of the paper and plastic waste generated daily by a brown-bag lunch. This waste usually ends up not being recycled or in landfills.
Personal Health: All food containers are stainless steel or non-leaching plastic, removing all exposure to potentially harmful BPA and phthalates present in many plastic bags and bottles.
Savings: $450 over the equivalent amount of saran wrap, baggies, napkins and paper bags. Save an additional $1500 if you substitute the stainless steel bottle for a $.50 bottle of spring water with each use.
Use & Care
Ideal Use: Perfect for children’s school lunches, or just buy the kit and use each separate piece as needed.
Cleaning: The stainless steel containers and sandwich wrap should be washed by hand with a non-abrasive cleaner and air-dried. The cotton bag and napkin can be washed in cold with a mild detergent to remove stains, and line-dried
Avoid: Not Microwave safe. Do not use any products as a cutting surface.
Kit Contents: Recycled Cotton Bag (1), Cloth Napkin (1), 8 oz. Stainless Steel Food Containers (2), 16 oz. Stainless Steel Bottle (1), Plastic Sandwich Wrap (1).
15 Great Reasons to have a Green Home Makeover
Posted by admin on August 26, 2009
15 Great Reasons To Get a Green Home Makeover from Your Local, Certified Green Irene Eco-Consultant
1) Your Green Irene Eco-Consultant(in South Florida), or other areas is supported by the resources of Green Irene LLC, is the LOCAL, knowledgeable green friend you have been waiting for. He or she has the tools and information necessary to move you and your family toward a healthier, greener life. Let them share their knowledge! Get a Green Home Makeover for $99 in about 90 minutes and save thousands!
Energy and Water Savings
2) Save over $3,500 on your electric bill over the life of your first set of energy efficient bulbs by replacing your old light bulbs with energy-saving bulbs of every shape from candelabras to reflectors and even dimmables.
3) Save $8,000 and 300,000 gallons of water over 7 years with a $133 Green Irene 2 bathroom water conservation kit.
4) Save 9% on your electric bill by eliminating Phantom Power loss.
5) Learn dozens of free and low cost ways to save energy, which you can implement immediately such as how to use your oven, dryer and fridge in the most efficient ways.
6) Save 8% of the energy to heat your water and reduce your family’s carbon emissions by 1,000 lbs a year with a few simple changes to your hot water heater.
Indoor Air Quality, Toxic-Free Living and Water Purity
7) Improve your Indoor Air Quality with (no cost) changes in behavior combined with a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) cleaner and more effective furnace and a/c filters.
Create a less toxic indoor environment for your children and pets. Learn to avoid Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and the benefits of non-toxic household cleaners like Green Irene’s vinegar-based line.
9) Understand your household water filtering options from countertop-based 10-stage filtration to chlorine-removing shower filters to whole house reverse osmosis systems and banish bottled water from your home.
Waste Reduction and Recycling
10) Learn how to turn your food and yard waste (which account for 25% of all landfill contents) into nutrient-rich, non-polluting fertilizer for your houseplants and garden.
11) Save $1,000s and keep hundreds of pounds of toxic battery waste from your local landfill and groundwater by giving up one-use batteries forever.
12) Eliminate 1,000s of soda cans and bottles by making your own sparkling water and soda for pennies per quart.
13) Kick the paper towel habit saving both virgin forests and $100s a year.
Family Carbon Footprint Reduction
14) Learn how to source “green power” from non-polluting, renewable resources, often from your current utility.
Ongoing Support on Your Path to a Greener, More Sustainable Life
15) Unlimited support for three months from Green Irene’s member only database of green home solutions and our team of Green experts.
Get a filter
Posted by admin on August 2, 2009
Your body is about 60% water, so drinking lots of clean water is essential for good health, especially in the summer heat. Many people reach for bottled water because they think it’s a healthier alternative to tap. But in fact, bottled water is less regulated than tap water and, in many cases, bottled water is simply filtered tap water. Aquafina and Dasani, two of the best-selling bottled water brands in America, actually fill their bottles with filtered tap water. Why should you pay for someone to bottle tap water, when you could do it for pennies yourself at home?
Green Irene’s 10-stage water filter effectively removes a wide range of water contaminants, improving taste and water quality. Although the EPA monitors tap water closely, it is still possible for contaminants to leach off pipes in your home or office, affecting your water’s taste and purity. Our filter first removes any particles that may be left in the water. In subsequent stages, it removes free chlorine, heavy metals, pesticides, bacteria, and other harmful contaminants. The filter also removes many aesthetic contaminants, leaving you with crisp tasting water. The technology has been proven very effective in lab tests, yet is still very affordable.
By using our water filter, you’ll be getting pure water without creating plastic water bottle waste. The process of making plastic water bottles sold in the United States alone uses approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil. That’s enough to run 100,000 cars for an entire year. Nearly 80% of water bottles are not recycled, resulting in 38 billion water bottles clogging landfills each year. Using a water filter not only makes sense for your wallet and your health, but for the planet’s health as well.
This is a top quality filter that is long lasting and effective. The 10-stage filtration system contains a contaminant-removing filter that lasts three times longer than the common carbon block filter.
The filter also removes nearly every possible contaminant or chemical, so the only thing left in your water is all-natural, good-for-you minerals such as potassium, magnesium, chlorides and fluoride.
The filter sits easily on your counter top and connects directly to your normal tap. One of the great features of this product is that you can flip a switch on the faucet to allow normal water to flow through, so you don’t waste your filter as you do dishes. Then just flip back to the filter for pure drinkable water.
You can get yours for only $125 now here and search 32770
Washing your car at home
Posted by admin on July 26, 2009
If you’re going to wash your car at home, consider using a Car Cleaning Kit. Most know that it’s more environmentally friendly to have your vehicle washed at a commercial car wash where they process the used water; however, many like the convenience of washing their own car at home (as well as ‘bonding’ time with kids).
Now you can do that and not be as damaging as you previously were to the eco system.
Item #: 41440
Car Cleaning Kit
Our Car Cleaning Kit includes everything you need to detail your paint, chrome and upholstery - without all the wasted water!
Washing your car at home saves money, sure, but it’s actually a bad deal for the environment - all that soapy water runs straight into the storm drains and down to nearby lakes and rivers. With Green Irene’s Car Cleaning Kit, though, you can significantly cut down the amount of water you use when washing your car, which is better for the environment and better for your pocketbook.
Our kit incorporates the following products:
▪ 1 Waterless Car Wash (32 oz bottle)
▪ 1 Eco-Friendly Tire Shine (16 oz bottle)
▪ 1 Upholstery Carpet Spot Cleaner (16 oz bottle)
▪ 2 Microfiber Car Wash Towels (2-pack)
How Sustainable Is Your Home Landscaping
Posted by admin on May 21, 2009
Although it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when going green, your approach to how you care for your home landscape has a significant impact on your overall environmental impact. Natural landscapes operate in elegantly complete, closed loop systems. The closer your home landscape replicates these systems, the lower your impact. Unfortunately, many of today’s landscapes are energy intensive, wasteful, and polluted monocultures that fight against nature rather than work with it.
Consider the following statistics for the U.S.:
* There are currently over 40 million acres of turf grass.
* 800 million gallons of gas per year are used to power lawn mowers.
* The pesticide use per acre on home landscapes is 20 times more than used on farms.
* A gas lawn mower running one hour emits the equivalent pollution of eight new cars driving 55 mph for the same amount of time.
* Approximately one-half of residential water use goes to landscaping.
* The average percentage of landfill waste that is yard waste is 20%, and can be much higher during peak seasons.
These numbers add up to a significant negative impact, contributing to the problems of water and air pollution, water shortages, climate change, overflowing landfills, and material shortages. Fortunately a new attitude is emerging. Read on for ideas about how to address these concerns, and make your landscape more sustainable, a place that promotes environmental quality and conserves natural resources.
How to Grow a Sustainable Deep Green Lawn
One of the simple pleasures of summer is walking barefoot through a thick green lawn. But the typical residential lawn uses significant amounts of fuel, water, fertilizer, and pesticides, leaving a sizable environmental footprint to allow for that summer walk. Yet, there are many options to make your home lawn much more sustainable.
1. The first option to consider is to simply have less lawn. Adding or expanding planting beds, garden space, or patio areas all allow you to reduce the size of your lawn area and its many inputs.
2. Use a lower maintenance turf grass. They need lower inputs of water, nutrients, and mowing to keep them looking good.
3. Whenever possible, use organic fertilizers and pest controls. Growing demand for organics is being noticed, and the supply options are dramatically expanding.
4. Mow high. This shades the crown of the grass plant and the soil, retaining moisture, keeping the soil cooler, and reducing germination of weed seeds.
5. When mowing and cleaning up, consider scrapping your polluting, noisy gas-powered mower and blower and instead use a quiet, person-powered reel mower, rake, and broom. They all work just as well and give you exercise as well.
6. Leave the grass clippings on the lawn. As long as the grass doesn’t reach the jungle stage, leaving the clippings on will have no negative effect. In fact, as the clippings break down they contribute necessary nutrients that help keep your grass green and healthy.
7. If you water, water properly. Deep, infrequent watering is the most efficient, promoting deeper-rooted, more resilient grass. Water early in the morning when wind and evaporation losses are at their lowest. Also, if you have a sprinkler system make sure it is working properly, with no leaks, and spray patterns only on the lawn, not the street or sidewalk. And use a rain sensor, which will tell your system not to water if you’ve just had a nice rain.
By taking these steps, the simple pleasures of a home lawn can be enjoyed guilt-free.
If you’re in the South Florida area and want more details please let me know since that’s one of the Green Irene Eco-Consultant services I offer as part of a $99 Green Home Makeover.
Landscaping Guide
Free Green Irene Guide to Sustainable Landscaping
If you are interested in receiving a Green Irene Guide to Sustainable Landscaping via email, simply email me with your name, email address, subject (Free Guide)
Do it for your children
Posted by admin on May 18, 2009
Learn from your kids and teens.
They’re being brought up in a time where they know the importance of recycling, being environmentally friendly.
We as adults should want to give them a cleaner, healthier planet to live on.
Our kids are asking for it…are you listening? are you recycling? are you making even one change?
Your children come home from school and ask to please please can they recycle.
You think it’s too much work or too much of a hassle.
STOP with that line of thought.
Recycling isn’t time consuming nor a hassle and it gives you the chance to show your children that you care about what they want, you care about the environment and you can spend time doing something productive and life changing with your children.
So, if you don’t feel the desire to recycle or be greener on your own…listen to what your kids want and do it for the children.
If you don’t know what or how to recycle, visit Earth911.com for information
You can also hire an eco consultant to come to your home or office and show you how to set up a recycling system for your needs.
Install aerators on faucets
Posted by admin on May 4, 2009
Install aerators on your water faucets.
Faucets account for 15.7% of all indoor water use.
That means the average family of 4 uses about 44 gallons of water per day from their faucets.
Up to 60% of this water consumption could be reduced with the use of low-flow aerators.
1.5 GPM Aerator for your Kitchen sink to reduce water use with pause valve. Dual Thread to fit male or female faucets.
Your Price: $10.00
Powerful 1.5 GPM flow. Great for washing dishes. Saves 30% more water and energy over standard 2.2 GPM aerator. Pause action reduces flow to a trickle while keeping temperatures consistent. Control from soft spray to solid stream. 10 year guarantee. Member of the EPA Water-Smart family of products. Saves $82/yr if water is heated with electricity and $59/yr (5 year Lifetime savings of $295 for energy alone) if heated with gas vs standard 2.2 gpm faucet aerator.
