Eco Friendly Product Guide

Current Energy uses the slogan “leading the quest for smart energy solutions.” In keeping with their name, the company also has an online store chock full of eco-friendly products, ranging from recycled goods, to energy saving devices, to even just fun educational devices for the kids.

The Mini Hydro Greenhouse is a table top hydroponic mini greenhouse for the kids that grows vegetables, herbs, or anything of the like without soil.

This greenhouse really works, and is only $25. It’s a fun gift for the youngsters, and is a great way to get them started on a green lifestyle for when they grow up.

This Christmas, don’t just give something “green,” you can give something that grows green. Giving a gift that grows is like giving all year round.

Window gardening is fun and easy. It can appeal to any age, and can help relieve stress and tension. For adults, herbs can be grown with ease and used in recipes. For kids, responsibility can be taught as they learn to care after an herb garden and then have the benefits of fresh herbs when all is said and done. This windowsill kitchen herb garden is the perfect gardening gift because it perfectly embodies all of these issues. The kit comes with a 13 inch galvanized steel tray (it fits perfectly on any windowsill), seeds (Parsley, Chives, Sweet Basil), and potting soil. This means that the only things that need to be added from home are sunlight and water.

Care is easy, as watering is really the only responsibility. If placed in a windowsill, the herbs will get sufficient sunlight. It’s also a great gift idea for the urban gardener, or someone who lives in a small apartment or a loft downtown. When searching for gifts this holiday season, this kitchen windowsill herb garden will be sure to hit a home run with anyone who receives it.

In addition, it only costs $9.99 and has everything one needs to grow fresh herbs.

I like this watering can although it is as ugly as beached cat entrails.

I like it because it was invented on the back of human folly, i.e. the love that manufacturers have for making tin cans adorned with all manner of logo, graphic and blurb. It also makes no claims to be lessening the effects of global warming, reducing the carbon footprint and saving polar bears.

As the marketers at VivaTerra put it, “This news may come as a shock, but not every can comes out of the sheet metal factory bearing a perfectly legible logo on its sides.

“The numerous rejects used to be destroyed, but our designer prevailed on a few factories to give her their colorful misprint remnants, and she transformed them into our super functional watering cans. They move with liquid grace from patio to interior to become decorative flower containers. No two are exactly alike.”

I do not agree that there is anything graceful about these cans, liquid or otherwise, but it is a nice idea. It beats a lot of things. Like eating food out of a tin can, for instance.

Order one now for $48 from VivaTerra. P.S. What a great gift for someone with a sense of the absurd.

Talk about green tea! The kids can now brew up a pot of tea while doing something positive for the environment. This Green Tea Set (17 pieces) is brought to you by Green Toys Inc., made in the USA!

The blurb says that this tea set is made from “advanced environmentally friendly materials helping to reduce fossil fuel use and CO2 omissions”.

Green Toys Inc. does not stop at tea sets. They also supply an Indoor Gardening Kit, a Sand Play Set, and a Cookware and Dining Set.

You can click through from the Green Toys Inc. website to buy at a physical store near you (search by zip code) or online through major stores such as Clean Air Gardening.

In case you were thinking of having a herb plant growing in a paper bag, the eco-conscious folk at Branch have arranged just that for you. A Herb in a Paper Bag.

No black plastic bag, no molded plastic holder. Just a paper bag with the dang plant growing right in it.

Plus you get to choose from Basil, Lavender, Parsley, Chives, Oregano and Feathery Dill.

These gorgeous little window-sill delights come from Potting Shed Creations, Troy, Idaho. Each bag comprises a plastic-lined Kraft-paper bag, soil, herb seeds, and each bag also includes a few styrofoam packing peanuts for drainage.

Now I do not want to be regarded as a naysayer or a wet blanket but what are plastic linings and styrofoam peanuts doing in an eco-friendly product?

I do not want to alienate or needlessly offend the good people of Troy, Idaho so I will refrain from harsh criticism at this point, but these good folks should pay attention to this matter when next there is a slow period in Troy, which I assume is most of the time.

Each Garden In A Bag is 6″ wide x 7″ tall x 3″ deep — fine for sill or desk.

Order from Branch for $9.00 each.