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Monthly Archives: January 2010
Hybrid Bikes Go Mainstream in 2010
At the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005, Yamaha introduced their concept of a first generation hybrid bike called the Gen-Ryu which literally means “source of the river” in Japanese. It was virtual eye-candy drawing huge crowds to the Yamaha booths with it’s sleek styling and sexy profile. Back then, Yamaha promised to come up with a hybrid that was readily available in 2010. True to their word, Star Yamaha has filed all their appropriate patents showing development of just such a bike being available.
They are not the only big company to come out with hybrid bikes though with direct competition from Honda. Critics say that the Yamaha bike’s styling leaves something to be desired (I beg to differ!) and that the Honda bike is essentially a scooter. However, the technology innovations that are now being released are beyond astounding.
Hybrids are becoming more and more prevalent in the four wheeled world of automobiles and are finally breaking into the two-wheel segment of the industry. This combination of fuel and electricity will provide riders with fuel savings (great for the environment and the wallet), reduced emissions (which are already greatly reduced from their four wheeled comparables), increased engine performance and ease of maintenance through more computerization.
Beautiful, Stylish, Eco-Friendly, Vegan Shoes with Profits to Charity
Check out these amazing and gorgeous ballet flats made by Do-Ni. They are one of the many colors available in their first collection of shoes called Nobilia ballerinas. They are the result of a collaboration between two vegetarian footwear designers — Nancy Dong (Do) and Carlotta Fiorini (Ni). The word “doni” means gifts in Italian.
The company was inspired by social entreprenur business model, a love of shoes and the planet. By being both the wholesaler and the direct on-line retailer, the huge mark-up by the retailer is avoided. This means two things: 1. lower prices for the consumer and 2. enough profit left to be marketable. The best part is, the retail profits from the direct dona sales are 100% to non-profit organizations! That’s right, 100%!!They also let you choose for their list of associated non-profit organizations where the proceeds from your sale will go.
I also love the fact that they are made without any animal products. What looks like leather on the shoe is actually a super high quality vegan leather substitute from Italy. Traditional leather tanning methods are quite toxic and as eco-enthusiasts and vegetarians, the designers found a substitute that tickets all their boxes.
Even the glue is vegan friendly containing no animal products whatsoever.The glue is also water based to be more environmentally friendly. Speaking of eco-friendly, the insole boards of the shoes are made up of pre-consumer recycled materials. This means that the shoes are using what would otherwise be considered waste or garbage and turning it into a usable, functional (and gorgeous) shoe.
They come in a range of colors — red (ruby), green (grass), amethyst, champagne and black all tiedwith ribbons from France for a casually elegant look. There is even a limited edition of champagne and black shoes available that are jeweled with shiny, hand embroidered medallions on the ribbon. They add some serious bling to the shoe!
I’ve decided that these are definitely my new favorite shoe and on my “must have” list for 2010. Purchasing items like these lends your support to companies that are sustainable, creative, and community minded. Each individual consumer has a responsibility to shop conscientiously because companies will only have practices and products that consumers are willing to buy. By supporting fair trade, eco-friendly companies that ensure social responsibility, you are voting with your wallet for more such businesses to exist.
Terrea Samsonite Eco-Friendly Line
Samsonite Outlab has a line of eco-friendly bags called Terrea. Instead of simply green-washing a typical piece of luggage, Samsonite has really seemed to hit the drawing board on this one and give it their all. The results are nothing short of fantastic and with a name like Samsonite on it, you can be assured that the quality is top-notch.
The line includes all sorts of bags made out of 100% recycled fabrics. But that’s not where the eco-friendliness stops. The bags contain between 86% and 95% recycled materials. They even use recycled foam padding on all of the bag’s back panels, shoulder straps and handles. The wheel housings, buckles and clips on the entire line of bags are also recycled.
Other planet friendly innovations are used too such as cutting the shoulder straps directly out of the back panel of the backpack to use less material and create less waste. Some natural fibers such as coconut fibers are also used in the bags to upgrande their greeness.
These kinds of innovations by a major company show exactly what can be done when corporations try to cut back on excessive waste when creating their products. A stylish, great quality, versatile and surprisingly affordable bag has resulted in this case!
Good Quality Christmas Toys
Christmas has come and gone. It’s become one of the most mass consumer driven holidays of the year seemingly driven more by money and gifts than love and peace.
As a mom of two kids (a toddler and a teen), I’m still trying to find places to put away all of the new toys that the Christmas season has left us with. Even though it’s been less than two weeks, some of our brand spanking new toys have already bit the big one. It’s almost as though you have to mechanical breakdown insurance when you buy toys these days!
When you’re buying toys for kids, the quality of the toy itself is worth paying for. Simple, long lasting toys will last through generations of kids. While the foreign made, shipped around the world, chemical laden plastic toy may indeed be “cheaper”, the cost that it is exacting on our planet is definitely not worth it in the long run! One of the most played with toys at our house is a set of wooden blocks that was handed down to my daughter from her grandfather.
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Tagged Christmas, eco-friendly christmas toys, quality christmas toys
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End of Season Sale for a Great Cause
‘Tis the season to get great deals on Christmas ornaments for next year! Check out the great selection over at Global Girlfriend where they have ornaments on sale from several countries made by women artisans. The ball ornaments are created with glass beads by women working at a trade co-operative in India. This trade co-op helps women to gain valuable skills, be paid a fair, living wage, have a safe working environment and even a retirement plan! The site contains a huge range of items made by women in fair trade work environments. The beaded ornament comes in four colors as shown and is currently on sale for $4.95 from it’s regular price of $6. Even better, with every purchase of each of these ornaments, Global Girlfriend will fund 1.0 percent of a microgrant for a woman in a rural community in Africa to launch a small business, through Camfed.
The middle ornament is an angel made from women in Kenya to represent peace and happiness during the holiday season. The angel is dressed in traditional Kenyan clothing and is completely adorable, imho. She’d make a great addition to any Christmas tree, regardless of culture, country or ethnicity. Global Girlfriend asks you to purchase these products “to help build a better future for girlfriends around the globe”. Great idea and company name! The angels are on sale right now for $3.50 from it’s regular price of $4.95.
The embroidered ornaments on the right hand side are made by women in India. The dragonfly ornament is currently out of stock but the cat ornament with sequins is still available. These ornaments are made at a women’s fair trade co-operative called Tara Projects which can be read up on in detail on the Global Girlfriend site. It even has short bios of two of the artisans fighting their way out of poverty with strength, perserverance, dignity, skill and hard work. It’s a pretty amazing read that really makes you consider how blessed we are. These ornaments are now $1 off — down to $5.95 instead of $6.95. The’d be a great addition to next years decorations as well as lending a hand up to women crafters in India.
Use The Words of Others To Inspire Your Green-ness
I’ve definitely been lacking motivation lately to write. Sometimes when you’re looking for inspiration, you have to look outside of yourself, stop and listen to the words of others around you.
I love this weird quote picture I found on Flickr from user Marksdk. The quotes are completely unnecessary, the wall and switch are filthy and the note thanks the reader for complying. Weird and funny not exactly inspiring though…
While searching (desperately) for inspiration, I came across this great list of eco-friendly quotes on Eco-Bites that is definitely worth checking out. There are some really great ones included from a huge variety of people, personalities and time frames. Here are some of my favorite that I’m hoping will kick-start my creativity and writing mojo again:
“We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap.” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
“Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he’s been given. But up to now he hasn’t been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life’s become extinct, the climate’s ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day.” Anton Chekhov Uncle Vanya 1897
“The struggle to save the global environment is in one way much more difficult than the struggle to vanquish Hitler, for this time the war is with ourselves. We are the enemy, just as we have only ourselves as allies.” Al Gore
“If civilization has risen from the Stone Age, it can rise again from the Wastepaper Age.” Jacques Barzun The House of Intellect, 1959
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” John Muir
There are dozens and dozens of more examples to be read on the site. Some are funny — George Bush saying his huntin’ & fishin’ will somehow save the earth and some are profound — such as Edward Young’s quote “Man maketh a death that nature never made”. I’ll be bookmarking this site to go back to for future episodes of intense writer’s block or a creative spark to send me off on another wild tangent.
Juice Box Purse You’d Actually Use…
This clutch style purse from Urth Bags is beautiful, fashionable, eco-friendly and usable! There are a done of upcycled drinking box or juice box purses on the market from a variety of companies. They’re cute and colorful but the truth is, I probably wouldn’t carry one on a regular basis. They’re a little too pop-art wearing your green heart on your sleeve style for anything at all fancy.
This purse could be your evening purse on a regular basis with a shiny exterior that would easily match with anything. This one is definitely an upstyle upcycled purse.
Instead of using the colorful exterior packaging to weave a purse, this Monica style of purse uses the inner insulation lining of the juice boxes to provide a sleek and shiny look. The chain is detachable to provide an alternative look to the purse. Best of all…it’s on sale!! Hmm, I’m not sure I can afford not to buy this bag right now–lol!
They’ve got a huge range of planet friendly purses that are definitely worth taking a look at. Even if you’re just window shopping like me. Enjoy!
Why I Haven’t Been Writing…
Photo Courtesy of Flickr User .Human After All
I haven’t written anything, anywhere for over a month now. I seem to be suffering (hopefully in the past tense!) a bad case of writer’s block. I seem to lack any and all motivation, creativity, focus, serenity, claritity and concentration. I do know the reason why though… My family was overjoyed when I told them of the positive pregnancy test result at the end of November. I quietly told my in-laws during my mother-in-law’s and Aunt’s (they are twins) big birthday bash, ensuring that my youngest (aged 3 1/2) did not overhear our conversation.
Everyone was overjoyed with the news of course. Our fertility background is complicated, to say the least. My husband and I have been married for just over 5 years with me bringing a 10 year old to the marriage. We conceived our first child shortly after the marriage and I gave birth in April of 2006 to a healthy, happy 11 1/2 pound baby girl. She was healthy and happy but I unfortunately, suffered from severe post partum depression for approximately a year and a half. When my depression seemed to be somewhat behind me, we conceived again. My depression seemed to hit me from the first moment of the pregnancy.
When I was nearing the halfway point of the pregnancy, we went on a baby-moon (a holiday before the birth of a new baby). I started to feel much better while we were away and looked forward to the ultrasound I would have on the day after our holiday ended. We had hoped to find out whether it was a boy or a girl but instead found that our precious babe had no heartbeat at all. I unfortunately discovered that postpartum depression can be just as profound, perhaps even worse after the loss of a baby. I felt like there was no real reason to hold it together after our tiny son’s death.
My depression turned to thoughts of suicide that resulted in my hospitalization for a couple of weeks on the psych ward. It was beyond awful to be separated from both my dead son and my two living children during these weeks. My medications were adjusted and I was in a somewhat safe environment though. Some of the other patients did really make me wonder about my security though. In time, I was released and began writing on the internet as a way of regaining my sanity and providing my days with some purpose. After a year, I returned to work outside of the home on a part time basis. This was the hardest thing I had ever gone through in my life. Losing a child is indescribably painful to put it in the mildest terms.
When the child who has died is unborn, the world around you doesn’t understand your loss at all. My son Kye had no funeral, no memorial, no birth certificate, no death certificate, no picture taken, no kisses given and was never held or seen by us. To many of our family members, he never existed at all. However, after waiting for 20 weeks for him, building up expectations, hopes and dreams for him, he was very painfully real to my husband and I. The things that people say to parents of lost babies are terrible. These things happen for a reason. What reason is there for dead babies?? Would you say the same thing if my mother died? It was God’s will. I don’t believe in God. If he exists, he has a lot to answer for. You can have another. Oh, so if one of your children died would it be okay for me to say the same thing? It wasn’t a real baby. Was it fake?? I could go on. The only thing that you can really say to someone in this situation is how sorry you are and be there to listen.
Anyways, after our son’s death, I contemplated never trying to conceive again for obvious reasons. However, with a huge age range between our two living kids (aged 15 and 3), I felt like they’d both be only children if we never tried again. This brings us back to the end of November with my positive test results and a happy family. Within a week of finding out, I began to bleed. I feared the worst but was bolstered by my husband’s optimism that sometimes this happens during normal, healthy pregnancies. The doctor tried to be optimistic as well when we got to see him. I was sent for several tests but knew long before they did that I was no longer pregnant.
A loss of a pregnancy at 6 weeks is still a loss of a baby. I was surprised and devastated at how low I have sunk during the 4 weeks since my second loss. Unfortunately, miscarrying on December 2 more than ruined the holidays for my husband and I. We tried to suck it up and plaster smiles on for our two children here with us but it was difficult and completely impossible at times. To make matters worse, I have a friend who surprised me by telling me she was pregnant with the same due date that I had. Now, she remains pregnant and I remain here with empty arms and an empty belly. I’ve begun to distance myself from her as it has become increasingly difficult to see her and hear what her life is bringing her at the moment. I am overjoyed for her but full of grief at the same time. Now, I have not only lost two babes but also a dear friend that stood voraciously by my side after my first loss.
I will try to begin writing again readers but please know that I’m still here, still trying to keep it together, live an environmentally responsible life with my family and still hope to hear from all of my readers about their experiences living green and raising families. Happy New Year everyone! Here’s hoping for a better year in 2010.