Eco Friendly Product Guide

Fire & Light is known for it’s vast array of dinnerware, glassware, and other assorted products geared towards entertaining your guests. Since the start of the company in 1995, Fire and Light has manufactured products with over 91% recycled glass, turning it into raw material.

The glassware made through Fire & Light is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and provides the eco-friendly consumer with a nice piece of mind when entertaining guests. Having unique dinnerware and household accessories is one thing, but serving drinks in an eco-friendly tumbler made of recycled glass is what we like to call entertainment on a clear conscience.

You can buy the glass tumbler set through such retailers as Greenfeet.com, starting at $22.95. You can check out the variety of products available through Fire & Light’s website.

Cell phones, Mp3 players, digital cameras…all of these have become pieces of everyday life that we are now used to. They are convenient, and many of us cannot picture life without them. Good for convenience’s sake, but bad when it comes to using energy.

No need to fear, with these advances in technology comes advances in saving energy. Now there’s the Hymini, a charger that stores energy collected from wall plugs, renewable DC inputs, wind, and sun. As a result, you can use this energy to recharge an array of electronic devices, from your Mp3 player, to PDA, to cell phone…any 5V device.

That’s right, you can now rock out to (insert hipster band name here), while knowing that your battery was charged in a green, eco-friendly manner.

The price of the Hymini ranges, typically $59.99 for a solar powered device, or $49.99 for a hand held device.

Either way or, it’s a great way to do something positive for the environment while enjoying the convenience of modern life.

The bath towel is a necessity, there’s no escaping it. When you get older and your college days consisting of “oh no, i haven’t done laundry, well…i guess I’ll just dry off with this shirt” are over, you find yourself making sure a)the laundry is always done and b)the house is always stocked with towels.

As you gain more awareness of the need for eco-friendly products, you may be pleased to find that you can combine the love of a soft towel with your love of the earth. From Viva Terra, these Hand-loomed Organic Cotton Towels are a perfect balance of comfort and environmentally friendly products.

These towels are made without the following: heavy metal dyes, chlorine bleach, synthetic finishing agents. That’s right, just hand loomed and soft organic cotton in place of any non-natural fabrics or dyes you may find in other towels. As far as pricing is concerned, the Bath towels are $39, the hand towels are $16 and the wash cloths are $7. Go organic. It’s good for you, great for the earth.

When it comes to products such as shower gel, soap, and anything of the like related to grooming or simply just pampering oneself, it’s nice to hear that there are good products out there from all natural ingredients.

The Plum Island Soap Company has a large selection of 100% all natural products from shower gels, to lip balm, to face products…the list can go on and on. For example, the Lemon Lime shower gel is made from the essential oil from both lemons and limes. For $10.75, it’s a wonderful, all natural shower gel.

Other products, like the all natural Peppermint Lip Balm will cost $3.50 a .25 oz. jar, and are a great way to keep those lips from chapping. All natural ingredients and chemical free will be a way to set you apart from your peers.

You can view all of the Plum Island Soap Company products at their online store, or if you are in the area, feel free to stop by their retail store (location and directions are on the main homepage).

All natural products good for you, and good for the environment.

Preserve is just on fire with their eco-friendly products. For the business-savy individual to even the guy/gal who just likes a good close shave now and then, Preserve has manufactured the Triple Razor.

This razor in particular has a handle that is made from recycled plastic, and is (as you would guess) 100% fully recyclable. Blades are easily interchangeable, and the handle itself works with a variety of blades, including Personna Acti-Flex, and Gillette Sensor. Of course, you could always buy the replacement blades straight from Preserve as well…rewarding them for making such an eco-friendly product.

The Razor comes in a 4-pack for $7.25 a piece. Check out the Preserve website for other products offered as well.

The messenger bag has really become a stylish way to carry stuff around. While being a guy and carrying one may subject you to various “murse” comments (combine “man” and “purse” and you get…murse), they still thrive for their functionality and somewhat hipster image.

So, Fleurville has decided to take the messenger bag one step higher, with their Re-Run Messenger Bag. The bag is totally eco-friendly, and each one is made from ten 600 ml plastic water bottles. There are a variety of colors and patterns to choose from, so both male and female can take advantage of the situation.

Not only is the bag environmentally compatable, but it has a variety of features, including external pockets, earbud pass-thru, a fleece lined Mp3 player/sunglass pocket, and it is PVC-free and Teflon-free. All of these features, and a totally green bag for just $75.

So go ahead and check it out. Keep some of those plastic bottles out of a landfill and enjoy the convenience of a great messenger bag while doing so.

Soy protein – not only good for the body, but apparently it can also be used to make T-shirts. This shirt, available through Good Steward Naturals, is made from the following specifications: 55% Organic cotton, 40% soy protein, and 5% Spandex.

A nice bonus to the shirt is that it was made under fair labor standards, and all of these shirts come audited by a full time employee. The fabrics are organically grown in a Chinese Co-op.

Eco-friendly, good for the environment, and created under fair labor standards, this shirt is a steal at $39. It’s definitely a way to show you care, even if you want to be subtle about it. However, going to such great lengths is completely admirable, and having a shirt of this nature should be a must in everyone’s closet.

Millions of Americans suffer from foot pain each year. Each foot in the human body contains 26 bones, 33 joints and 100 tendons, muscles and ligaments. Millions of nerve endings are found in the foot, making it a focus for an entire field of study for doctors and health care practitioners. To make matters worse, most of us wear terrible shoes which contort our feet into strange positions and place unnatural pressure on them. This can lead to foot diseases such as bunions, fallen arches and hammer toes; and it can also develop into agonizing back and hip pain over time.

A lot of people don’t have a choice about being on their feet. Whether they work in retail, landscaping, teaching—any job that requires them to be on their feet for the majority of the day—it is important that they maintain good foot health for the long run (no pun intended).

For people who need some extra pampering, consider the Eco Mule Slipper from the green goods company, Gaiam. This luxurious slipper is not only good for the body and soul, but it’s easy on the environment as well. Made from cozy organic cotton and hemp, your feet will rest easy knowing their new home is pesticide free. The interior foot bed is CFC-free, and it has a skid-resistant, weatherproof sole which means you can wear it outside to grab the newspaper.

The gentle, neutral color of the organic fabric make it suitable for both men and women, but keep in mind that the sizes on this slipper run small. If you know someone who works hard all day, consider treating them to a pair of these comfy slippers as a gift. As they float along through the house with their feet gently encased in eco-friendly cotton and hemp, they’ll thank you for taking care of them—and the planet.  $48 at Gaiam.com.

For the fashion trendy fan of the sneaker, Autonomie Project has a lot of great products. One in particular is the Olive Green Low-top sneaker, which is made from organic cotton canvas and adheres to fair trade standards.

In addition, the rubber sole is produced from trees in the rainforest and is FSC-certified. Therefore, the rubber was tapped directly from the tree and comes from a well managed in said rainforest.

Do your part, and look into more of the projects available through The Autonomie Project. The sneakers are $54, which is a small price to pay considering you get style in return and a totally eco-friendly, green sneaker that you can tell all your friends about.

If you are one of the people who is constantly looking for eco-friendly fashion to coincide with your eco-friendly lifestyle, here is a cool product for you.

We are well aware of hemp being a natural resource, and many environmentally sustainable products made from the material. Over at Greenhome.com, you can find some hemp watchbands that are durable, have double stitched seams, and are grown sans the use of dangerous pesticides.

Switch those watch faces out on some new wristbands, and add a little style to your life. You can do it all in a green manner as well.