Eco Friendly Product Guide

This product is pretty cool (pun intended!), and for those of you who are remodeling your home, it’s a perfect way to cut down on energy costs. From the green minds over at Current Energy comes the Solar Attic Fan. This device provides natural attic ventilation. Instead of using electricity, it’s powered by a solar panel…cutting down on your energy bill.

In fact, since it’s powered by solar energy, there are zero operating costs involved.

It’s a nice, energy efficient way to cool the attic area down, and in the long run can save you quite a bit of money. It comes with a 25 year warranty, which is also nice and reassuring. Do your part, and make your home a little more green and eco-friendly by saving some energy, and save some money as well.

There are two models, a 10 Watt fan ($500), and a 20 Watt fan ($600) and is available from Current Energy.

I like them, don’t you? I like especially that you can buy just one light and get all these colors. It changes dreamily from one color to the next all on its own.

The blurb describes these lights as “an ever-changing rainbow”. I’ll say.

If you feel like “adding a special accent to your nighttime garden, yard or walkway” then this is the product for you.

Solar Star Lights have the following features:

• Color shifts gradually from red to green to blue
• They are sold individually
• Each light includes one stake and three decorative finials (starburst, lily and hummingbird)
• 29″ stake, finial approx. 3″, overall height 32″
• Made of acrylic, plastic and steel
• Light runs from dusk to dawn with full charge
• You can place multiples in a cluster for dramatic effect
• On/off switch
• Solar panel and battery pack built into stake

Order now from Gardeners.com for $24.95 for one, $20.50 each for 2 or more, $18.00 for 4 or more.

Call these what you will — hanging patio lights or solar lanterns or eco-friendly Chinese lanterns or paper tree lanterns or Shoji Japanese party lights — they are beautiful no matter what name you choose.

The manufacturers are not so far wrong when they implore you to “hang these Japanese-inspired solar lanterns from a trellis or tree and enjoy their moonlike radiance”.

It works like this: yellow LED lights (the best type when it comes to solar power) are encased in paper-like weatherproof nylon. The light automatically switches on at night after being powered by the sun all day. The set includes an AAA rechargeable battery and a metal hanger. The shade folds flat for storage.

These beautiful imports are available from Real Goods individually ($29.00 each) or in sets ($79.00 for 3).

Of all the crazy “eco-friendly” products available now, these cute little solar lights are certainly among the least offensive.

It is a bit hard to see just what those little lampshades are made of (I am afraid they are constructed of some unnamed recycled garbage) and yet these lights have a certain whimsical charm about them. Each of your five lights has a differently shaped lampshade – hummingbird, dolphin, star, dragonfly and butterfly. The one featured here is the hummingbird, I think.

You should consider buying a set of these if you want to introduce your children to sustainable energy (these lights are solar-powered and turn on automatically when the light levels drop) and want them to think you are in touch with your inner child. The nice part is that the lights are so small they will fit even in a container garden. Each Solar Animal Light is only 33 in. high.

You can say that again

The blurb says “You will surprise your friends when they suddenly light up in your flowerbed”. There is no cause for concern: it is not your friends who will light up in your flowerbed but the little solar power animal lights themselves.

Buy a Five Pack of Solar Animal Lights from RecycleWorks for £37.10

Just what the world was short of — until now –a tote bag with a built-in solar panel so your phone, iPod and camera “stay totally charged while you are on the beach”.

As the manufacturers say with a breathtaking lack of self-consciousness: “We have built the world’s first heavy-duty solar beach tote that incorporates our high-tech flexible solar panel. With the Juice Bag Beach Tote, your phone is good to go, and your camera is always ready for that one great shot — no matter how far you are from a power outlet.”

Obviously, you’re a deeply environmentally aware person, which makes you intelligent and sensitive, not to mention clued-up and sensible. I therefore ask you to consider whether a Reware price tag of $249.99 for this piece of insane vanity can be justified in any way.