th comments
Kylie Wrath said: "Whether or not leather is a product or by-product is irrelevant: there are tons of people who buy it regardless. I think the fact that this company..." [read]

thespyofcharles said: "hmm... perhaps i shall reconsider my excessive gift packaging gag i was planning... or maybe do it out of old boxes that would otherwise simply hav..." [read]

Louise White said: "I have a 2002 Prius with 143,000 miles on it. Recently I started checking on my trade in value for a new Prius. Every sales person told me that I..." [read]

Lori said: "Regardless of whether or not this "soup" exists, the fact is that we need to all be aware and responsible for how we treat this planet. We have to..." [read]

Max P said: "Lunar soil (regolith) contains Helium-3, a non-radioactive isotope of Helium which is very rare on Earth. The significance of He-3 is that it can b..." [read]

Truespeak said: "Wind power works. Anyone who says it isn't perfect is correct, but no power generation is perfect, and we still use them all. I'm in the US,..." [read]

8 Ways To Green Your Mother This Mother's Day

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 05. 9.08
Take Action

Green-Heart-For-Mom.jpg
Image courtesy procsilas at flickr

There are now oodles of guides to buying green gifts for your mom on Mother's Day. Here's our take on this year's fabulous finds. And while the organic flowers-organic chocolate-organic spa basket thing is all well and good, what if your dearest wish is not to just buy green for mom but find ways to get her to be green, or greener? Every mom is different - and some of your moms may be your personal inspiration - but if you want to offer your mom a service rather than just give her a gift, we've collected some TreeHugger ideas for off-beat ways to show your love and support mom on her green path.

1. Start slow, slow, slow. Value shifting is not a short-term process, so don't expect your mom to come around over night. And try not to bombard her with negative eco-facts. Instead, if your mom is a real newbie (or really resistant to your former efforts) choose just a single area to focus you service on - something dear to your mom's heart like her garden, the kitchen, or the bathroom. Danish researchers have found that adopting one environmental behavior usually leads people to adopt another, especially if opportunities are around for further "greening." So basically, if you can find the one green thing that truly resonates with your mom, chances are she'll be started on the road to further greenness. Need inspiration for which area to start with - check our Green Guides.

Read more: 8 Ways To Green Your Mother This Mother's Day

Eco-tip: Antimony-free Clothing

by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04. 9.08
Take Action

Antimony-free-clothing.jpg

Often when we post about a company crafting something from recycled PET (polyester) someone will let lose a rant about antimony. And they aren’t, as some might assume, opposing the dollars and cents economy. Rather, they are concerned about a naturally occurring, brittle, silver-white metal that can be used as a catalyst in the polymerisation of polyester resin.

Lauded Cradle-to-Cradle ecodesigner and toxins campaigner William McDonough. has been on Antimony’s case for years. His company MBDC says of the stuff: “Along with being a carcinogen, antimony is toxic to the heart, lungs, liver and skin. Long-term inhalation of antimony trioxide, a by-product of polymer production, can cause chronic bronchitis and emphysema.”

Read more: Eco-tip: Antimony-free Clothing

Take a Dive In a Virtual Dumpster

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.31.08
Take Action

virtual-dumpster-vdumpsters.jpg

TreeHugger knows there's an art and a science to dumpster diving, and, even though one person's garbage can often be someone else's treasure, the idea of rooting through the trash isn't everyone's (free) cup of tea, even when there are things like million dollar paintings lurking beneath aging banana peels and chicken bones.

Enter Virtual Dumpsters, a Freecycle-esque online stuff swap that employs the vast power of the internet to help find new homes for old stuff, all for free.

Read more: Take a Dive In a Virtual Dumpster

Realtime Air Quality Mashup By AIRNow

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 01.24.08
Take Action

air_quality_mashup_map_airnow.gov.jpg

Except for the area roughly circumscribing Olympia and Tacoma in the US State of Washington - depicted as small orange blob in the US Pacific Northwest (top left of the graphic) - air quality in the USA looks pretty good this week. AIRNow, source of this graphic information, also offers free access to graphic air quality reports by region, state, or locality (see Olympia/Tacoma detailed example below).

If I was looking for a healthier place to live, especially if I had asthma or other respiratory problems, this would be my starting information point. AIRNow is far more useful for that purpose than those top "greenest cities" stories that come out in a handful of magazines each spring. Also good for lobbying for better pollution controls or learning where green designs are most needed.

Not a bad place from which to copy/paste a map to send to your Senator or Representative on Capital Hill. "Dear Senator/Representative, just wanting to let you know how much I appreciate your vote in support of/or against upgraded CAFE/diesel emission standards. Have a look how our air quality is back home today!"

Read more: Realtime Air Quality Mashup By AIRNow

Letting the Holidays Go to Your Waste

by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 12.23.07
Take Action

garbage%20day%20project.jpgWe were perusing through back issues of the Use Less Stuff bi-monthly newsletter and found their guide: "Don't Let the Holidays Go to Your Waste." Although it's from their Nov-Dec 1996 (Vol. 3:6) issue, it's still a good read with some interesting, basic tips that we could all put into good use during this festive season to reduce our impacts on our precious Mother Earth. The website was created by William Rathje and Robert Lilienfield, the people who formalized the term garbology.

Here are a few examples to wet your whistle before you check it out yourself:

Holiday cards bought in one year would fill a football field 10 stories high! If each of us sent out one fewer card, that huge mound would be reduced by a full story, saving over 50,000 cubic yards of paper.

Local postmasters tell us that up to 20% of all mail is incorrectly addressed or otherwise undeliverable. Save time, money and resources by updating and paring down your list.

Having a party? Turn down the heat before guests arrive. Their extra body heat will help warm the room.

Reuse packaging cartons and shippings materials. Old newspaper makes for excellent packing, too. Shred some at work and bring it home, if you can.

Check out our 2007 Treehugger Green Gift Guide for more tips. We´ll bring you more on the Use Less Stuff life cycle assessment reports this week. Image Copyright Virginia A. Spiegel. See the image at: The Garbage Day Project

So Just How Many Sprouts are Equivalent to a Million Leprechauns? Ed Byrne on Recycling at Christmas

by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12.18.07
Take Action

You know it’s getting close to the holidays when enviro blogs start coming out with awesome gift guides, and you get inundated with hints and tips on how to recycle your cards. Here’s a fun guide from comedian Ed Byrne, courtesy of UK-based Recycle Now, on cutting the mountains of holiday waste. ::Recycle Now::via YouTube::

Bleed With Pride: Make-It-Yourself Menstrual Pads

by Kimberley D. Mok, Nomad on 11.19.07
Take Action

pad_reuse.jpg

Yep, take it from a former disposable-pad user – just like throwing those gory end products in the trash, periods were something to “get over” – the cramps, the fatigue, the plastic-bleached-pad rash. Oh, bloody tribulations. Not to mention that despite the health-risks and environmental impacts associated with disposable menstrual products, many of us still find psychologically difficult (“is it clean?”) or have an impression that it will be inconvenient to switch to reusable alternatives.

Not anymore. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of selecting a costly reusable alternative and have a bit of a crafter in you, then maybe it’s time to join the hand-made revolution and re-assert your creativity (and to redefine “rag”) by picking out some funky, colourful, pretty fabrics and to make your very own menstrual pads tailored for you (while remembering that not so long along, reusable rags were once commonly used by women). Have a sew-in with some girlfriends or surprise someone with a pretty and useful hand-made gift.

You can find some patterns here, here and here (with tips on fasteners and fabric choices) – and a site here which has links to even more.

Read more: Bleed With Pride: Make-It-Yourself Menstrual Pads

TreeHugger's 2007 Gift Guide

by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 11.16.07
Take Action
TH%20GG%20banner.jpg

Ring the bells! Pop the (organic) champagne! TreeHugger’s 2007 Gift Guide is here!

We've made this guide the most comprehensive yet, with 180+ gift ideas in three shades of green, making it a perfect reference while shopping for everyone on your gift list. In addition, we'll be adding organizations to support and useful tips for making your holidays more efficient.

Go to Part II here and Part III here.

For more great ideas, don’t forget to visit our past guides from 2006 and 2005.

Read more: TreeHugger's 2007 Gift Guide
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.

TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!

th ads
th top picks
th ads