Paper or plastic? Or not?

Paper or plastic? In 1999, 14 million trees were cut down to produce 10 billion paper bags for Americans. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil are used in the production of 1 billion plastic bags. In addition, each year, millions of tax dollars are spent disposing of a recycling plastic and paper bags. Instead, bring a stylish fun reusable bag, like the ones you can find on reusablebagsdepot.com. Better yet, some stores like Target, Whole Foods and CVS, give you discounts when you bring your own bag. If we use one reusable bag for a year, we eliminate the need for 1,000 plastic bags. As Heather would say, "Now that's good to know!"

Cool Recycled Plastic Chair!

Check out this great looking lawn chair made from recycled plastic!

Made of post-consumer HDPE (high-density polyethylene), the Cabrio lounge chair by Loll is highly durable and waterproof and diverts about 320 milk containers from ending up in the landfill.

Loll Designs believes green products should be superior to those that are not green and the company is dedicated to "creating long lasting products that are made from recycled materials using sustainable business practices not only for our business to grow, but more importantly, for the planet to keep growing too."

To order or see other designs, go to lolldesigns.com.

Plastiki, the bottled water boat!

Adventure Ecology founder David De Rothschild and his team plan to sail the Plastiki, a boat built entirely of plastic bottles and recycled waste products, from San Francisco to Sydney, Austraiia in August 2009 to raise awareness about the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating landfill twice the size of Texas located between California and Hawaii, and the growing masses of plastic accumulating in our oceans. 

Building boats out of all that waste plastic isn't the solution, but de Rothschild is attempting to spark conversations about rethinking waste. De Rothschild explained that we consume 200 billion liters of bottled water per year, and only one in five bottles is actually recycled. He aims to showcase a solution, and encourage people to rethink waste as a resource.

“This is the hundredth year of plastic,” de Rothschild pointed out.  “Plastic is an amazing material and it is still misunderstood. I’m trying to get people to think about plastic as part of the solution.” 

When finished, the Plastiki will be made of 12,500 2-liter plastic bottles collected by Waste Management, will weigh 9 tons, and will have a crew of six. The Plastiki will have a composting toilet, onboard renewable energy and a garden.  When the voyage is done, the team plans to upcycle the boat.   

In parallel with the sailing of Plastiki, de Rothschild has launched a Smart Art Trash into Treasure competition (www.smartartcompetition.com) to inspire innovative solutions to waste. What’s your idea?

Zappos is one of the most successful online sellers of shoes, but what they really shine in is service. So it is no surprise that they sell more than shoes. Clothing, bags and other accessories are now available.

But my favorite category is the eco-friendly category. There are shoes made from recycled rubber and shipped in recycled packaging, bamboo shirts, organic cotton dresses, recycled plastic backpacks, even "vegetarian" non-leather, animal-friendly shoes. Available, of course, at zappos.com.