Green Options

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This is a guest post by Raz Godelnik of Eco-Libris.This article was originally published on Eco-Libris blog on July 16.

Forests need strong allies to win their survival battles. This week it seems they have a new powerful friend that might help. His name is Wal-Mart.

Environmental Leader reports that the world’s largest retailer has become a member of the Global Forest & Trade Network (GTFN), a WWF initiative to eliminate illegal logging and improve the management of valuable and threatened forests. By becoming a member, Wal-Mart pledges to help save endangered forests by using more wood from sustainable and certified sources.

WWF published a press release about the new member of GTFN this Monday, reporting that by joining the organization, Wal-Mart has committed to phasing out illegal and unwanted wood sources from its supply chain and increasing its proportion of wood products originating from credibly certified sources – for Wal-Mart stores and Sam’s Clubs in the United States.

I’ve heard of making fuel from wood before, but rarely does using wood as fuel come up. However, just today I was pointed to this site, hosted by a local radio station, with a real-life example of someone burning wood as a fuel in his truck.

I can’t say for sure how the system works, whether it’s dual fuel or the wood-burning supplies all the fuel the engine needs, but it doesn’t appear to be a hoax and is certainly interesting. Evidently, during WWII, there was some experimenting with alternative fuels (due to shortages caused by the war), and one of the results was the wood burning automobile.

All it takes is a lot of duct tape, some ducting, PVC pipe, 50 gallon drum, a pile of wood and an old furnace to beat today’s high gas prices.

A man identified only as Bob contributed this story to Coast to Coast, saying the owner told him the wood burning oven catches combustible fuels from wood coals which condenses any moisture. The dried fumes are fed to the engine, and it [...]

Based in Birmingham, “Owlbama,” Night Owl Paper Goods is a letterpress stationary company that gives a hoot about the environment.

Their letterpress designs are printed on sustainability harvested yellow birch, creating unique postcards and journals. The wood is sliced thin to produce a large number of cards from a small amount of raw material. Each piece is different due to the variation in the wood grain and very little water and power is used in [...]

Back in high school, while other girls were shopping at the mall, I was waxing curbs and flippin’ ollies. So, it’s no surprise that today I’m drooling over 2ReVert’s recycled skateboard jewelry!

This husband and wife team from Nova Scotia craft amazing earrings, pendants, bracelets, and rings from 100% post consumer decks. That begs the question: Where has your jewelry been?

Who wouldn’t want eco-safe threads and accessories for their babe? It is exciting to see new green companies targeting family needs growing on the Internet.

One such new company is NewBornMom, which features many cute, eco-friendly goods, as well as 100% eco-friendly gift wrap! Plus, they are offering our readers 10% off all purchases until March 31, 2008 (promo code: ecoplay).

NewBornMom was founded by Aliette Fenton-Sharp and Fernanda Pinzon, both new moms. After having difficulty finding elegant, trendy and environmentally safe essentials for their newborn daughters, they founded the store. This online store features goods meticulously selected by Aliette and Fernanda that they would use with their own babies.

The company supports Fair Labor Trade regulations, and every item offered is made in proper working environments. NewBornMom uses only recycled office, shipping and gift-wrap supplies; “we pride-ourselves in being a relatively paper-free company as most of our business is conducted via e-mail”, states Aliette.

So you’re building or remodeling green, and you’re trying to decide what to do about the cabinets.

Scanning the requirements for various green building programs, you seem to have two choices. First, you can try to find cabinets made with Forest Stewardship Council certified wood from companies like Neil Kelly Cabinets. But if the company is not local, the packaging and shipping of these products may cut into their green-ness. Or you could try out agrifiber based cabinets, like Humabuilt Wheatcore Cabinets, which have arisen due to the demand for green cabinets.

Unfortunately, when faced with these choices, many before you have given up on the idea of green cabinets and gone for possibly cheaper, more convenient plain old wood cabinets from their nearby kitchen and bath dealer. If you find yourself in the same boat, chances are there’s a lesser known green option waiting for you there. Many large cabinet manufacturers across the country are certified as members of an extensive green program called KCMA-ESP.

27 year old Joe Harmon and several students from North Carolina State University wanted to see if it was possible to build a performance car out of wood.

It may not be in the showroom soon, but their creation, the Splinter (what else?), with a top speed of 240 mph, should be completed this year.

Source

You can ride it if you like
It’s got a basket
A bell that rings
And I made it out of wood…

(With apologies to Pink Floyd)

Image source: Lee Valley Tools

Via Treehugger

We all knew the Discovery Channel had green interests when it purchased Treehugger.com for $10 million, but now the Discovery Channel Store is featuring “eco-friendly” and “green gifts” toys for the 2007 holiday season. My family recently played with three of these products. Two of these toys (Pyramid Building Blocks and the Tolo Baby Carousel) will be featured in this post; one toy (the Hydrogen Fuel Rocket) deserves its own post, which will occur next week.

Wooden blocks are the best toys for children! Children learn so much from block play. Wooden blocks promote open-ended, creative play, and lay the foundation for geometry and mathematical learning. Although Pyramid Building Blocks may not be as open-ended as a Standard Unit Blocks, they present their own unique challenges that fascinate children and adults alike, as these Pyramid Building Blocks are designed for children ages 5-99. The Pyramid Building Blocks consist of 67 pieces, including 18 different shapes. At first, my six-year-old daughter was completely confused by the pyramid blocks. Yet after a few days, she became an independent, expert pyramid builder, although she insists on the calling the Sphinx a “human lion”. These wooden blocks are made by Haba, a high-quality German toy company. I couldn’t find any information on the forestry practices used in harvesting the wood for the blocks, although the company states, “We do however put a premium on materials that can be manufactured on an ecologically beneficial basis. We use primarily indigenous maple and beech wood and water-based paints for our toys. ” Haba is also socially responsible. Part of their corporate philosophy is

Only a company that is profit-oriented can secure its future. We take the word social seriously! Both in terms of social benefits for our employees and in relation to our mutually successful relationship with our partners.

Any toy that can encourage a child to help with household chores is a good toy in my opinion. Add quality wooden construction, and I am sold! Magic Cabin offers a Child’s Cleaning Set that contains real cleaning tools. The set includes a metal dustpan and broom, string mop, and a broom; all child-sized!

We have had the Child’s Cleaning Set in my preschool classroom for four years now, and it [...]