Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Bottles
I used to use a plastic nalgene water bottle on a daily basis at work. It would always leave a horrible taste in water after I would wash it. I did some research on it and realized that nalgene bottles can be extremely dangerous, so I stopped using it immediately. I was using a mug at work for a while, but I would walk half way across my building just to get a small mug of water. After searching some online, I found a stainless steel water bottle made by Klean Kanteen.
About Klean Kanteen
Klean Kanteen is an independent company that first developed their stainless steel water bottle in 2004. They started because they were extremely alarmed at the growing amount of plastic bottles found in landfills and oceans across our country. They decided to use stainless steel because it last for an extremely long time, is much more durable and doesn’t have an odor. Stainless steel is also much safer than Aluminum as it does not require to be lined in order drink from.
This company went above and beyond and are using 100% recyclable stainless steel. In order to prevent having to line the bottle, the steel used in their water bottles is high grade food processing quality. This makes it extremely safe as well as easy to clean.
Not Made in America?
I searched long an hard all over the internet to find a safe and eco friendly water bottle and was unable to find one that is made in America. I by no means find anything wrong with products made outside of our country, but I always like to check before buying. I found a good explanation on their site as to why they produce their water bottles in China:
The Klean Kanteen is made “responsibly” in China because one of our founding principles was to produce an economically priced high quality stainless steel bottle as an alternative to plastic and lined metal containers therefore promoting healthy living with respect for the environment.
It seems like the biggest problem they were facing that it was tough to produce these bottles close to home with out having a much higher cost. It is refreshing to see that they continually are visiting their manufacturing facilities to ensure that their quality standards are meet.
My Experience
I purchased the plain 27 ounce stainless steel bottle because it seemed like the best size for me. After owning it for just over 2 weeks now, I have to say I am extremely happy with this water bottle. I read the many positive reviews, but never thought I would be this satisfied with their product. The water has no awful taste like other bottles I use nor does it smell funky. I as even able to put it into the dishwasher with no problems. It’s also really light weight and could probably be used when running or riding a bike. Even though the water bottle looks like a thermos, it doesn’t have any insulation and extremely hot beverages should not be put into it.
If you are like me and fed up with plastic bottles that give your beverages a weird taste and are hard to clean, check out these stainless steel water bottles. They have several sizes ranging from 12 - 40 ounces as well as a variety of colors shown in the above picture. I am getting my fiance the pink one after telling her how much I love this water bottle.
New Type of Green Home: Fab Tree Hab
Ever dreamed of living in a tree house, but as you got older realized that they are only for kids? Now there is prototype of a tree house that could revolutionize the home building process. This new green home is called the Fab Tree Hab and was created by three architects of out MIT, Mitchell Joachim, Lara Greden and Javier Arbona.
Photo from Mitchell Joachim of Terreform.
History of Green Home
The idea behind the Fab Tree Hab derived from the fact that building designs currently being used failed to fall in the category of truly being sustainable. Even though many architects try to design buildings that are considered green, they are still unnatural to the environment. The idea behind this new type of home is to allow your home to coexist with nature. The walls and exterior of the house allow for people and animals to derive nutrients from it and every piece of the home is completely natural.
The Design
The basic design is based off of a principal called pleaching:
Pleaching is a method of weaving together tree branches to form living archways, lattices, or screens.
The Fab Tree Hab would be produced by first starting a flexible tree at it’s youth, like the ficus. Since the ficus hardens as it gets older, it could be formed into a structure and then would get hard. This is how the basic framework of the home would begin. As the tree gets older it would grow into a tree structure as in the picture above. Along the way, soil and plants would be embedded into the weaved structure to provide for animals and provide insulation.
The interior of the home would be comprised of a clay and straw mixture to provide further structure and insulation to the green home. The windows are made of a soy based plastic and the entire house is heated and cooled naturally. These homes have a completely different look on the outside, but are almost identical inside to existing homes.
One really cool concept of this house is the water cycle throughout the house. Water used in the house is collected from rain water on the roof. The water then cycles throughout the house depending on what you are using the water for. For example, the water from your sink would be the first place for the water to go, then it would circulate for use in the toilet. After the water has completely been used by the homeowner, it drains to get filtered and enters a pond. It will then either evaporate into the atmosphere or soak into the soil.
See the video below of Mitchell Joachim going further in depth about the design of the tree home:
A longer version of this video is available at Scribe Media.
Looking Ahead
Even though the the principals behind this new green home are nothing new, it is difficult to actually produce these houses in a short period of time. Also, As Mitchell Joachim describes at the end of the above video, most areas have regulations that would not allow for a tree house like this to currently be built. The sheet size of the tree would be much larger than allowed. Another big problem would be getting the masses to buy green homes like these because of the way in which they are built.
This idea just gets me really excited. To think that a home can work with the earth and still be a livable home. Who knows of these green homes will ever be more than just a prototype. My hope is that builders begin to incorporate some of the principals that make this house sustainable into new buildings.
Sustainable Bamboo Kitchen and Dinnerware
Later last week, I went to a local vineyard along with my fiancee and some friends. Every week the vineyard has local farms musicians and food demonstrations.
A seafood restaurant was serving samples of oysters. I was excited to see that when I went to grab a plate and fork, that they were all made of bamboo. On the back of the plate was the name of the company, Bambu.
Bambu has a range of bamboo made products including plates, utensils, cutting boards and even cutlery. All of their products are made from bamboo organic, meaning that is sustainably harvested and free of fertilizers or pesticides. They even use environmentally friendly packaging. The cardboard used is made from recyclable fibers and soy-based ink is used for the printing.
The biggest problem with Bambu products is the price. I wanted to get an idea of how much some of their products cost and I was able to find that each plate costs about $.80 per plate and under a dollar for a set of utensils. That is pretty steep considering that they are disposable products. I asked the chef about the plates and he said that he got a pretty good discount when buying in large quantities. If you are serious about getting rid of plastic disposable products, these are the way to go.
This Week in News: July 24th
Government
Al Gore told reporters earlier in the week that he will better serve the environment as private citizen. He rejected the idea of running along with Barrack Obama even if he were to wins the presidency. This is a smart move by Al Gore because it allows him to accomplish more without lobbyists and special interest groups holding him back. It’s great to see that he can continue to spread his environmentalist views to the general populous.
Photo by Roo Reynolds.
Hydrogen Technology
The National Research Council believes that hydrogen technology can be widely available within 15 to 20 years. This makes logical sense because the technology is currently expensive and will take some time to setup the infrastructure for it. In the meantime, technologies like hybrid and electric will have to take the place of our current all gas cars if we want to start reducing carbon emissions. The federal government is going to have to provide some assistance, around $55 billion in total, if we want this plan to come into fruition.
Eco-Friendly
The National Bank in New Zealand has just opened an environmentally sustainable bank in Blockhouse Bay. This build is completely constructed of materials that are renewable and contains rank collecting bins, solar panels and even compost bins. This is incredible news. This bank is really make huge strides in being a one of a kind. Not just banks, but other companies need to take notice to this bank and model future buildings after this one. This bank was able to save substantial amounts of money on both their energy bills and their water bills because of the solar panels, the use of recycled water and strategies so it can maintain its internal temperature. I would love to one day have a house that is modeled off of this type of building.
Save and Go Green: Local Produce
I go to a local farmers’ market every weekend because I love fresh produce. The taste of the food I buy is unmatched by any grocery store that I go to. I have even heard Alton Brown from the Food Network say on his show that large strawberry farmers only produce for looks not taste. Even though taste is a huge factory, it is not the point of this article. The article will be geared towards answering the following two questions: does buying locally promote green lifestyle and most importantly, will it save me money over buying produce from the grocery store?
I had heard various segments on the radio about how our travels far to get here, but I never realized just how far. Apparently, our food travels an average of 1,500 miles between the farm where it was grown and your refrigerator. Much of the food we buy in the grocery store that usually could be bought locally is still shipped in from other parts of the country. Why not just buy from local farmers to get fresher produce that will taste better? I can only guess that cost must be the major factor into their decision. The amount of pollution that is occurring from the food’s transportation seems extremely wasteful. Also, many major farmer don’t use sustainable or organic methods of farming.
A huge plus I find when buying local produce is that you can actually talk to the farmer that grew the food you are buying. You can just ask them the types of farming methods they use and if pesticides are used.
You can save also save a bundle when buying local produce. One food that I love to eat is tomatoes. They are ridiculously expensive at the grocery store, usually $2-$4 a pound. Thats way too much to spend on tomatoes may or may not taste like crap. The tomatoes I buy at my local market are about $2.50 for about 5. That’s a huge savings over the grocery store and they taste better. In general, many things you can buy locally will be at a fraction of the cost of comparable products at the grocery store.
On the flip side, the grocery store is a little more convenient as you can buy produce whenever you want. Farmers’ markets and local farmers can sometimes be a far drive away or only be open certain days of the week. This can lead to buying produce too far in advance and it can go bad before you get a chance to eat it. Also, grocery stores carry a much wider range of produce that you would normally find at a local produce stand.
My rule of thumb when it comes to buying produce is to buy them locally while it is in season and get any reminding produce they don’t carry (like bananas) at the grocery store. Also, don’t buy too much produce just because it looks fresh. I have done this in the past and I regret it every time.
You can check out my article on Farmers’ Markets to find farmers in your area selling local produce.
This Week in News: July 17th
Government
The Australian government released a Green Paper earlier this week in order to introduce the idea of a Emissions Trading Schema or ETS as a way to reduce green house gases. The official white paper that will contain more details about the plan will come towards the end of the year. The idea behind the ETS is to allow businesses to trade permits among themselves to determine how much they are allowed to pollute. There are mixed reactions to this news as it does target to reduce emissions, but overall prices are slated to rise.
Environment
In order to attempt to suspend a federal mandate the use of bio-fuels, Environmental groups have sent a letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Environmental groups are fighting against bio-fuels, such as ethanol, because they are not sustainable and bad for the environment.
They say environmental problems stemming from the mandate include soil degradation, water pollution, and biodiversity loss, and immense greenhouse gas emissions due to changes in land use.
Using fuels like ethanol are just not a long-term solution for our over-dependency on oil. Our country needs to start moving towards using sustainable sources of energy like solar and wind and invest more in hydrogen technology.
Photo by john hanson.
I always knew that the coral reefs were endangered along with some of the creatures that live in them, but I never knew how bad the problem is. Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) published an article stating that one-third of the more than 700 species of reef-building corals are threatened with extinction. This is such a sad number. There are a number of culprits including overfishing, the rise in water temperatures, bleaching of the coral and buildup of CO2. If we can greatly reduce the amount of CO2 build-up in the water and treat the coral as an endangered species, we can save much of the coral reef that is at high risk to dying.
Eco-Friendly Ways to Buy Clothing
This past weekend, I went to a Consignment shop in nearby neighborhood with my fiance. I used to always hate going into places with used clothing when I was a child because it was not the “hip” thing to do. She has always loved to go into Consignment shops to find cool fabrics to make things with.
This really got me thinking about the the environmental impacts that clothes could be have. So, I decided to do a little research on the topic of clothing as it relates to the environment. I found an interesting article from Organic Consumers that talks about the effects of being wasteful when it comes to buying clothing:
Like most things you buy today, clothes are intended to phase out of fashion. As we attempt to keep up with fashion trends we end up accumulating more and more in our closets. Spurring on new buying, clothing prices have dropped 25%, and the volume of clothing we purchase has increased 75% between 1992 and 2002.
The worst part about all the clothes bought is not necessarily how the clothes are made, but the clothes hangers. Wire hangers cannot be recycled because the quality and quantity of metal contained in each hanger make it not worth recycling. Even if they decide to use wooden hangers, they are usually treated with dangerous chemicals.
Its pretty scary of all of the negative aspects associated with buying new clothing from retailers. After giving it some thought, I determined a few ways that we as the consumer can make a difference.
- Buying used clothing
- Buying Sustainable Clothing
- Choose quality over quantity
As with most people, I don’t see myself buying used clothing very often especially when it comes to business clothing. But, buying used clothing can be a huge savings benefit. There were clothes a little as a $1 while I was at the Consignment shop. I was really shocked at how many designer brands and new looking clothes they had. It is definitely worth considering before making your next trip to the mall to buy new clothing.
Another alternative is to buy eco-friendly clothes. A local new station in Minnesota wrote an article about Eco-Friendly Clothing
as an alternative when buying clothing. Birch Clothing is a small company that sells items produced from sustainable and recycle materials. They also use fair labor standards and produce their clothes in America. I have purchased from a similar company to Birch Clothing called American Apparel in the past and have been pleased with the quality and comfort of their clothes. Stores like these have slightly higher prices than traditional clothing stores, but are worth considering if you want to go green when buying clothes.
My favorite choice of the three is to just buy higher quality clothes in lower quantities. It’s that simple. I have been following this philosophy for years now. You can spend much less on clothing because you will be buying far less clothes and they will last you much longer. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to buy the designer brands and spend huge amounts of money to get good quality. There are many high quality clothing brands that are moderately priced. The biggest thing is to stay away from buying clothes that are trendy as you will probably not wear them very long. If you buy clothes that fits well and has a simple design, you can’t go wrong.
