Top 5 biodegradable gadgets for those who love earth

Top 5 biodegradable gadgets for those who love earth

Top Green Tips for becoming more Green and Environmentally Friendly

Here are my top green tips - These have come off the top of my head, but I will add more when I think of them and then I will update this post.

Did you know that car parts and old electrical items can be recycled and used to make things like pens and pencils? I was given a few recycled pencils and a pen and when I read the information on the side, they were made from recycled car parts.

Selling off unwanted and used electricals - You can easily sell your unwanted and used electricals to people who need and want them, or you can give them away. Some people use the parts of these machines for spares or to build things. This will save landfill, which is where most of these items go once they are no longer in use. If not in this country, then they go to developing countries where they pollute the land for innocent people.

Buy re-usable or rechargeable batteries - If you buy re-usable batteries, you can use these for a number of years without throwing them away. This will not only save you money, but it helps to preserve the environment as single use batteries contain mercury which is not only poisonous but also toxic. There are many places that now provide battery recycling such as your local library and various retail outlets.

Recycle your old and unwanted clothing, shoes and accessories - You can give these to a reputable charity. Old clothes and accessories can easily be used to make new material such as quilts and blankets and can be re-used by others. If your shoes are in good condition, you can give these away as well. Also, someone, somewhere could make good use and appreciate this clothing. Instead of throwing these items away, give them to people who need them.

Use natural products - Natural occurring products are good for the environment as they require minimum manufacturing, energy, chemicals etc. These also have the added bonus of being biodegradable, decomposing and wearing away once left out in the open environment for a considerable length of time.

Use biodegradable products - These will waste away and disintegrate easily and naturally and will not litter the environment and pollute the sea.

Use a water butt - You can use one of these to collect water. The water can be used to water your flowers, as well as house and garden plants, these have an added bonus as plants like rain water. If you look at your house plants which are watered with tap water, you can see a white film and build-up around these plants. This is caused by the calcium and other minerals in tap water. The plants hate this. I used to have this on my plant, so I started using filtered water on the house plant and I sometimes leave the plants outside when it rains, this will help to wash away the calcium.


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The Co-operative Fairtrade Cotton Carrier Bag For Life

I popped into the Co-operative supermarket yesterday to pick up a few bits and pieces and at the till I spotted a nice Fairtrade cloth carrier bag, it looks quite cute and neat so I thought I would grab one. It's a nice cream and black colour, it also holds a nice basket of shopping quite comfortably too. You can fold it into your bag or pocket, and you can also wash it. The best part is that it only costs 99p.....What a bargain!

My shopping

On their website, the Co-op have this to say about the bag....

"Fairtrade Bags for Life, made from unbleached, biodegradable cotton, which is hand washable to prolong life. We expect this will eventually replace the 3.5 million plastic Bags for Life we currently sell each year.

As well as being less harmful to the environment, the Fairtrade cotton bags guarantee a fair price and a better deal for disadvantaged Indian cotton growers.

The production of the bag has created 300 new jobs in India, and for every one sold a donation is made to children's charity The Wings of Hope."

One blogger added this comment:

I saw the thread and wanted to let you know about our campaign for reusable bags.

Buying one of our Re-usable Bags at Tesco, CO-OP Fairtrade, Debenhams or Boots does not only help the environment, but provides a profession and livelihood to thousands of workers.

As the UK’s leading producer of Fairtrade and Organic reusable bags, a lot of work has been created at our own textile factory in Pondicherry, South India.
In fact, we now directly employs over 1000 local workers and provides them with on-the-job training to become stitching and printing professionals.
This indirectly helps support around 5000 family members.

For more information on our ground breaking work see our website www.supreme-creations.co.uk

We were pioneers in introducing organic cotton bags and now are manufacturing Fairtrade certified cotton bags.
Our factory is Fairtrade accredited, ethically audited and Carbon neutral.

It has been independently audited for:-

Freedom of association and collective bargaining with employees having the right to join a union
Employment is freely chosen
A safe and hygienic working environment
All employees over 18years of age
Living wages paid
48 hour working maximum week
No discrimination

To encourage the use of reusable bags we have recently launched an online webshop and hope to introduce more new products. Your ideas welcome!



Related External Link

The Fairtrade Foundation UK

Supreme Creations - Bag for Life Producers

Planet Earth's new nemesis

Why is using biodegradable materials useful for the environment?

First of all, before this question can be answered, the meaning of biodegradable first has to be established...

What does biodegradable mean?

Biodegradable is the term used for anything that can be broken down or decomposed when exposed to the environment eg wind, rain, bacteria in soil, when exposed for lengthy periods of time.

You have probably seen some plastic bags in recent years, which say that they are biodegradable. Well, this simply means that they can be broken down or will disintegrate naturally when exposed to the environment.

So, why are biodegradable materials useful for the environment?

Simply put, they do not clutter landfills and cause a build-up of harmful toxic materials. They can be broken down as if they were not there in the first place.

I found the following YouTube videos on some available biodegradable materials quite interesting...

Zelfo - 100% biodegradable material made from hemp

ecoXpac - Biodegradable wine holder packaging to protect wine bottles

Biodegradable plastic: How does it work?

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Go green - Become more Environmentally Friendly

One of my passions has always been green issues and finally I have created this blog to write about ways that we can all go green. One of my pet hates is going shopping and seeing customers taking all the shopping bags that end up in the bin afterwards, an unnecessary waste, it's funny but at Lidl's, where people have to pay for the bags, you notice that they bring their own bags....LOL

Re-use - Take your own shopping bags when you're going shopping or get the stronger re-usable cloth shopping bags, organic shopping bags or hard wearing bags available from Tesco, Harrods etc or look out for the 'Bag for life', an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic carrier bags. If you are going to use plastic bags, look for biodegradable bags that will eventually decompose when exposed to the environment.

Go Green - Energy and Water Action Sheet

Put all recyclable materials you don't use into recycle bags, boxes or take them to a recycling bank.

Give away or exchange your used furniture if you no longer need it and have bought a replacement.

Save energy - Turn off electrical items and appliances not in use and don't leave them on standby.

Conserve - Don't waste water, electricity or food.

Leave your car at home - If you are travelling a short distance, try cycling, walking or getting a bus instead.

Recycle your old printer cartridges, clothes, shoes, bags, paper and all items that can be recycled.

Unplug appliances and mobile phone chargers if not in use, this will also help you to save on your energy bills.

Use energy saving light bulbs, these will use less energy and will also save you money in electric bills. Apparently, some people are allergic to these energy saving lightbulbs and they contain some harmful chemicals, so I have been reading, so these would have to be disposed of and recycled carefully after they have been used.

At work, turn off your computer and printers when you're leaving, also don't forget to turn off the lights.


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