Neogreene Provides Even More Alternatives To Neoprene

We’ve previously talked about Neogreene and it being a green alternative to neoprene. That “Neoprene smell?” is actually off-gassing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Formaldehyde, lead, chlorine and toluene are frequently in there and many people are sensitive to these chemicals, so it’s not uncommon for people using wetsuits to have a skin reaction to the material.

A company called GreenSmart were determined to find a cleaner, greener alternative. They have expanded to lunch bags and wine bottle carriers, taking the stink out of lunch and giving a stylish way to carry and keep wine chilled during the holidays. The water bottle sleeves have now gotten refined in their design and come in a range of colors.

They have three designs of lunch bag, called Sifaka, Margay, and Javan, that expand on the often staid concept of what a lunch bag can look like.

Wine bottles get a non toxic, stylish home as well, with models called Finback (holds one bottle) and Bowhead (two bottles).

As you may have noticed, all the products have animal names. These are endangered species, a reminder that GreenSmart now donates 10% of net profits to the World Wildlife Fund and other environmental organizations.

Neogreene is a result of a long, careful collaboration with GreenSmart’s supplier, and is a vast improvement:

• All water based adhesives
• No Chlorine
• PVC & Lead Free
• No Formaldehyde
• No VOCs
• 25% less petroleum than neoprene
• 25% less energy (compared to producing neoprene)
• Even the green coloring of the Neogreene is a water based dye (neoprene cannot be dyed)

Check them out at GreenSmart

A Real-Life Wall-E

Apparently Italian scientists are developing DustCart, an on-demand robot trash collector. DustCart is part of a project called “DustBot,” a $3.9 million research program that started in 2006 to implement robotics in society in useful ways, such as cleaning the streets. As well as collecting trash “on-demand” the robot is able to gather real time data on the surrounding environment. Equipped with special sensors it monitors air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, ozone, benzene, CO, CO2 and air temperature.

Part of me thinks it’s a great idea, another part thinks it’s not really a solution – we already have people who earn their living cleaning the streets, it’s very expensive and it doesn’t look entirely practical. Mind you, he looks happy in his work.

Read more about DustBot here.

What Is Neoprene and What Is The Alternative?

I never really knew, but I suppose I could have guessed that Neoprene, that black stretchy material that goes into wetsuits, laptop sleeves, water bottle covers is full of toxic nastiness, particularly the solvents used to glue it to other materials. That “Neoprene smell?” is actually off-gassing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Formaldehyde, lead, chloring and toluene are frequently in there and many people are sensitive to these chemicals, so it’s not uncommon for people using wetsuits to have a skin reaction to the material.

A company called GreenSmart were determined to find a cleaner, greener alternative. Neogreene is a result of a long, careful collaboration with GreenSmart’s supplier, and is a vast improvement:

• All water based adhesives
• No Chlorine
• PVC & Lead Free
• No Formaldehyde
• No VOCs
• 25% less petroleum than neoprene
• 25% less energy (compared to producing neoprene)
• Even the green coloring of the Neogreene is a water based dye (neoprene cannot be dyed)

The first products to include Neogreene are laptop sleeves and water bottle totes/holsters. The first thing you notice is something missing: No cardboard packaging framing the sleeves for store display. Just a small fabric loop at top for it to hang in stores, with a paper tag telling you about it, itself recycled and recyclable.

They realize there’s more to go to eliminate all non renewable resources, using all recycled material, and they’re committed to continuing towards that goal. Meanwhile they have a product who makers don’t have to use masks while manufacturing it, and is safer to us, while apparently being at a competitive price to the typical options out there.

Click to find more info on Neogreene and recycled plastic bottle Bottles 2 Bag gear and
Neogreene water bottle totes.

Give Your Kid A Waste Free Lunch Kit

If you’ve ever worried about the amount of trash thrown away by your children every day from their school dinners, then the Kids Konserve reusable lunch kit might be for you.

The kit contains a reusable cotton sack (though not sure if it has your name on like my Terratotes one!), two stainless steel lunch containers, a stainless steel water bottle, a food kozy (apparently an alternative to plastic bags/wrap and foil), cloth napkin and a recycled aluminum name tag.

The kit costs $40 with other accessories available from Kids Konserve. You, of course, don’t have to buy a kit to do this, but this does at least do it all in one place with matching stuff.

Wrap Christmas Presents With No Paper or Tape

If you haven’t yet got around to wrapping your presents, an interesting idea was sent to us, using the Japanese art of Furoshiki to wrap presents in fabric. Helps if you have two presents of the same size to give to get the coolest look.

See more details at Recycle Now.

Sign A Petition Against Excess Packaging

In doing reviews for Life Goggles I receive a lot of things through the post and it even if the product is brilliant it will sometimes be wrapped in a stupid amount of packaging, some of which can’t be recycled. Greenvoicecom is asking you to sign a petition against excess packaging and force companies to be responsible.

As well as the fun little video below, they also provided us with a couple of fun packaging facts:
- The UK produces enough packaging waste in one year to fill Wembley Stadium almost nine times over.
- Each person in the UK spends about £125 on packaging a year.
- Even though the general public are encouraged to recycle, businesses, who contribute about 90% of all waste, are asked to do nothing.

A spokesperson for Greenvoice.com says: “Despite all of our efforts, domestic waste generated has still gone up 20% over the last ten years, so it is time for the business sector to act as well.” You can sign the petition by clicking here.

Are You Still Getting Junk Mail?

Most people I know and speak with have opted out of junk mail (aka direct mail) by using www.mpsonline.org.uk in the UK or http://www.greendimes.com or similar in the US).

However if you’re still getting junk mail, you can return them to sender with a nice new stamp on them – Return to Waster. Available for $11 from here I haven’t used the stamp personally, but apparently demand has been high. You get a nice 4″ x 1″ hand made wooden rubber stamp and a red ink pad.

[Via: Green Upgrader]

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