Every Man Jack is a line of naturally-derived grooming products made just for the guys.

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At RICOH booth, we saw the demonstration of a new erasable advance paper. Printed document on this advance paper can be erased by ironing and be ready for another round of printing.

I had an opportunity to take the English guided tour at Eco-Products 2008. The Eco-Products exhibition is one of the largest green fairs in Japan, showing all kinds of green products and services to the public. The event draws a large number of visitors. It’s possibly the world’s largest event of its kind. The tenth Eco-Products 2008 exhibition was successful enough to attract 173,917 visitors this year according to the event organizer.

Visitors came from all over the world to see the latest of Japanese green activities. To accommodate such foreign visitors, guided tours in English, Chinese and Korean, were offered for free by volunteer staff from Japan for Sustainability (JFS) and EcoNetworks (ENW). The English guided tours were offered twice during the three-day event, but you needed to register for the tour beforehand at JFS’s website.

Our tour was guided by Frank H. Ling Ph.D. from USA, who works as a researcher for the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan. Our group had five visitors including me plus a lead guide, Mr. Ling, with a few more staff for additional assistance.

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Panasonic is fast becoming a brand name not just for electronics but also for green building products.

Eco-Products 2008 recently held in Tokyo, showcased a series of award-winning green products and services. The E Floor, developed by Panasonic Electric Works, was given the Chairperson’s Award. The Eco Product Awards is presented by four organizations including the Global Environmental Forum, a non-profit organization under the jurisdiction of Japan’s Ministry of Environment.

The E-floor is an extremely durable product made from a 100% recycled hard chip board. According to Panasonic, using this material can be equated to saving forest areas that are 135 times the size of the Tokyo Dome, on an annual basis. Panasonic began selling the E Floor product line over a  year ago with a monthly sales target of 170 million yen.

I believe more companies will bring a wide range of their green technologies into their products and services across group companies in coming years.

Related Posts:

• Eco Timber Offers Comprehensive Online Green Flooring Guide
• Natural Building 101: How To Make an Earthen or Adobe Floor
• Eco-Products 2008, One of Japan’s Biggest Environmental Fairs to Open This Week

Related Link:

• Panasonic E Floor (in Japanese)

Panasonic E Floor with Award at Eco-Products 2008

Panasonic E Floor at Eco-Products 2008

Image Credits: Panasonic/Tetsuya Yokoyama

Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE and Mercedes-Benz Smart on road.

Several green vehicles were on hand at the event for visitors to take on approximately 10 minute rides. The cars you could pick from were: the Toyota FCHV-adv (fuel cell), the Nissan Clean Diesel X-TRAIL 20GT, the Subaru Plug-in Stella Concept (EV), the Audi Cabriolet A4 S-line 3.0 TDI (Diesel), the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE, the Mitsubishi i MiEV (EV), the Mercedes-Benz Smart, and the Velotaxi.

I chose the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE because I thought sitting in that type of car must be a very rare opportunity. I also wanted an up close real-world experience with a car that uses a rotary engine and can switch back and forth between gasoline and hydrogen fuel.

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At the Eco-Products 2008 fair, I saw reusable bags everywhere. Many of the exhibits gave away bags to visitors, and almost everyone walking around was carrying one or two of them.

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More details of some of the intresting products on display are to come later, but meantime here are some pictures from the event:

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Solio is a hybrid charger that can accept power from either the wall socket or the Sun and is powerful enough to charge all your handheld electronics. One hour of sun will give you enough charge to listen to your iPod for about an hour or provide up to 25 minutes of additional talk time on your phone. Solio comes in Silver, White, Black, and Pink. Some interesting facts;

- One hour of sunlight will provide about one hour of play time on your iPod

- Solio can store energy for up to one year

- A fully charged Solio will completely charge an average cell phone at least twice

- 60 minutes of sunlight will provide approx. 25 minutes of talk time and 10 hours of standby time.

Are you a consumer products company looking for a new product that redefines and reinvigorates its product category, and is eco-friendly? Today could be your lucky day. Brandimage, one of the largest international design agencies in the world, has just the product for you. Jim Warner, Managing Director of Industrial Design, and his team recently launched the 360 Paper Water Bottle, an innovative, eco-friendly solution that needs a brand home.

Each day, Americans throw out 60 million plastic bottles. Only 14% actually get recycled-meaning 86% (or over 51 million) become garbage or litter. This fact drove Brandimage to develop the first totally recyclable paper container made from 100% renewable resources. According to Brandimage the new Paper water Bottle is “Versatile in its range of consumer applications and made from food-safe and fully recyclable materials, and decreases energy consumed through the product life cycle without sacrificing functionality. It is paper packaging that stands up to all liquid categories.”

According to Brandimage the “360 Paper Water Bottle utilizes pressed sustainable material with encapsulated micro-thin PLA film barrier to challenge ‘the norm’ of the category around the world.”

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Wal-Mart’s drive toward going green may have been met by green activists with skepticism, but it’s hard to argue that they are focusing on efforts to make sustainability a key part of their business. Wal-Mart’s suppliers have been given the ultimatum: “Help us on our mission to go green and skip the greenwashing”.

Rand Waddoups, senior director of corporate strategy and sustainable development, on Thursday (August 7, 2008) told more than 250 suppliers that Wal-Mart had devised a clearer strategy on its sustainability marketing.

The plan focuses on four concepts that Wal-Mart wants to promote - waste improvement and recycling, natural resources, energy and social or community impact.

“We need to fill the pipeline with products,” Waddoups said. “Not only do we need more innovative products, but we need to be able to tell a story around that product.”

As any sales or marketing executive who has sold to Wal-Mart, as I have, can tell you, the only answer to that request is, “yes, sir (or madam).

Wal-Mart sent out emails to all buyers last week giving them an Aug. 18 deadline to submit “green” products that meet the criteria. Products selected will get a major promotion during Wal-Mart’s 2009 “Earth Month” marketing campaign.

Reading between the lines, this of course means, more than just developing a great green promotional story. Required is a compelling back story to support the green attributes and shield the manufacturer and Wal-Mart by extension from green washing.

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If you are a coupon user or thrifty shopper as I am, you’ll like a new site for eco shoppers – Ecobunga.com. Unlike my husband who will buy anything on sale, I’m picky.

I shop at the Farmer’s Market for organic produce…15 minutes before closing. I select any product I want to buy online and then Google “ x product coupon”. I check for overstocks on organic and natural products at Big Lots.

I’m the original Eco deal shopper. Maybe you are too!

Business partners, Jennifer Hastings and Karen Schiff were inspired to create Ecobunga! when they learned that the 2007 GfK Roper Green Gauge Study cited cost as the top reason shoppers were reluctant to go green.

So they thought they’d help. The result is Ecobunga.

Ecobunga! is a comprehensive directory of giveaways and deals on green products and services, including sweepstakes, contests, coupons, rebates, sales and free shipping. We link shoppers to great bargains and prizes while helping companies get the word out about their eco-friendly products and services.

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New filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2007 topped 300,00 beating the previous record of 289000 in 2000, driven in part by new marks for eco-friendly products. The word GREEN was the most popular vehicle for communicating environmental friendliness. Applications more than doubled in 2007, increasing from 1100 to over 2400.

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