RSSProduct Review: Green Knickers’ Boxer Shorts
January 31, 2008
Green Knickers does what it says – sells organic and eco-friendly underwear – predominantly knickers but also boxer shorts.
As a present I received the Eat Organic boxer shorts in a nice green colour. I was going to take some pictures of myself in them, but er it was proving to be a bit tricky so you’ll have to make do with the pictures from the site.
Fairtrade and made from organic cotton (except the label and trim), the boxers have a lovely feel to them and are very comfortable to wear. I’ve got the medium size which proved to be very comfortable, although there are the ones that are a bit tight around the legs which I don’t normally wear but I got used to them and found them very comfortable.
Comparing them to boxer shots I wear that aren’t organic cotton, I wouldn’t say they are better, but they’re as good and a much more ethical and environmentally friendly choice.
Another couple of good points are that the really nice presentation box it comes in is made using recycled materials by a worker’s co-operative in Nepal and also the paper labels enclosed are printed with organic vegetable based inks on recycled paper. And that’s about it, what else can you say about boxer shorts – they work and they’re nice.
You can buy them from Green Knickers themselves, or at Nigel’s Eco Store where they also have ones made from bamboo, women’s knickers and padded cycling boxer shorts too.
Heroes Episode Guide – Season 2 Chapter 5: Fight Or Flight
January 31, 2008
WARNING, PLOT SPOILERS!
Something strange is happening. I’m getting bored with my favourite character, Hiro, hardly even noticed my second favourite character was missing, Claire, and am starting to like a new character. Monica is good fun. Very likeable and has a power which has huge possibilities. Micah is much better too without his mum, although she does make a cameo (I thought she was in hospital for the blood disease the Haitian and Molly had but obviously not), just look at his smile when Monica starts skipping.
One original hero I do like though is Peter. Yes, I’m a bit frustrated he’s not using his powers properly and stuff but things seems to be happening and it seems he’ll be off to Paris soon – that’s where his mum wanted to take Claire isn’t it? The electricity girl is intriguing too – there seems to be no end of people working for the Company – and who’s her dad? Bob?
Speaking of father’s, Matt’s turns out to be a bit slippery. Is he as innocent as he says or is he the bad guy? When Matt and Nathan find the next victim was I the only one wondering why he hadn’t posted that photo to his victim if he really is the killer? When Hiro’s dad was killed it didn’t much look like Matt’s dad.
No Sylar or the twins this episode either and hardly any Mr Bennet. Things seem to be moving along, but as I said for the last episode, I’ve no idea where.
Win With The Super Cars Shout Out Competition
January 30, 2008
What if you could be rewarded by thanking other people who, by driving less polluting cars, are doing a small part to help the environment? Well, with the Super Cars Shout Out Competition from PlanetThoughts.org you can.
This contest allows you to place a simple, colourful flier on high mileage cars that you encounter, showing the vehicle owner that she or he has done something worthy. Optionally you can re-use a copy of the flier on multiple vehicles to avoid paper waste, but then the car owner never knows that he/she was recognized, so we don’t recommend that. Printing fliers on recycled paper with high post-consumer content is recommended.
Of course, we would still prefer it if everyone could all walk, bicycle, car pool and car share, or use mass transit rather than driving individually-owned vehicles. Using more efficient cars simply makes this habit or need less damaging to our environment by reducing global warming gases, and saving fuel as well. Hopefully these cars are part of a transition to a better set of solutions.
The prize for this competition is at least $500 guaranteed. So if you are not in it for the fun and the mission, there is another reason to join in. And to make this fun for the wise car buyers, they will give $50 per month to one randomly selected car owner who contacts them that month and who has a valid photo of their of car uploaded on our site by any other entrant. Note: no individual or their family can win more than one secondary prize (the $50), but such winners are still eligible for the grand prize.
How to enter
1. Download and print one or more of the cool looking fliers (recycled paper obviously prefered and possibly two per page).
2. Find a 40+ mpg US (16.74 kmpl) car from the list.
3. Place the flier under the windshield wiper.
4. Use a digital camera or good cell phone to photograph it (and either take the flier with you to reuse or leave it for the car owner).
5. Upload the image(s) to the PlanetThoughts.org website.
6. Repeat 
There are, of course, some simple rules to stop people rigging the competition, but nothing difficult.
It really is a great actionable idea that can win you some cash, so take a look.
Interview with GM Chairman Rick Wagoner
January 29, 2008
As previously mentioned, as a guest of GM we had excellent access to top level GM executives – and you don’t get any more top level than GM Chairman Rick Wagoner.
A group of online journalists had nearly an hour where we asked questions on several topics from the such as the Coskata announcement, Hummer’s future, gas prices and Tata Motors’ Nano. If you just want to watch the video (courtesy of Matt Kelly’s excellent Next Gear Show Green), then it’s embedded below and is nearly an hour long. I’ve paraphrased and grouped some of the discussion below.
Q: Why get into the fuel business with the Coskata ethanol announcement?
A: We’re big believers in ethanol. It’s a broad based partnership that is not about profit making, it’s about bringing forward a fundamental change in refueling infrastructure which GM believes is necessary. Demand for oil is growing by 2.5m barrels a year. Low fuel prices and increased miles driven has massively increased oil use despite cars being 2 times more efficient than 40 years ago. The government pass legislation to reduce oil use but give massive subsidies to the oil industry. Need to get subsidies and incentives to the ethanol industry so consumers can use it more. China has less polluting vehicles, not because of better technology but of stronger vehicle emissions regulations.
Q: With current car payments at the limit of people’s affordability, what is the impact of the new environmental measures?
A: The two-mode hybrid is currently very expensive, but not sure how low we can get the “cost penalty” compared to the combustion engine. Fuel cells have the long-term potential to be low cost. GM are working hard on keeping resale value of vehicles high (less fleet sales) and not over-financing customers.
Q: The Chevy Volt is not even being produced but is being advertised. Toyota want to release a competitor – so what are your thoughts on that?
A: Chevy Volt is on the fastest pace possible. It will be a public risk, but it’s the right risk for this time, and the Toyota announcement makes me think GM are on the right track. All battery power is not the primary focus as our experience with the EV-1 showed that range was very important.
Alternative fuel options are an “inevitable and critical opportunity for the auto industry”. GM want to have the global standard of most sophisticated hybrid which they think they have with the two-mode, although it is expensive at the moment. Watch the full interview below.
How To Buy Green Energy
January 29, 2008
Money Supermarket, a popular price comparison website now allows you to compare green gas and electricity in the UK. They have just developed a section about saving energy, going green, and widened their comparison service to include greener suppliers of gas and electricity. They also have a ‘green energy guide‘, as well as plenty energy-saving tips.
For those of you in the US, Green Options have some more specific US tips for green energy where around 600 utility companies in 36 states offer their customers the option of green power.
For more information on green energy see our Big Green Energy Guide.
Comments Problem Fixed
January 28, 2008
Hi all.
Just a quick note to say that the problem with leaving comments has been corrected, we had to introduce some further measures to stop the huge amount of spam we were receiving. All is good now so please take a look and let us know if you have something to say on:
100 Ways To Save The Planet – The Next Generation #3
Swap clothes online with Swango.com
Thanks to everyone who let me know
100 Ways To Save The Planet – The Next Generation #3
January 28, 2008
Yep, praise be, here are some more ways to save the planet. You can find part 1 of this ‘next generation’ here, part 2 here or get the original 100 Ways eBook for free here.
121. If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down. Nuff said.
122. Our friend Vanessa over at Green as a Thistle (she’s number 101) has lots of ideas for saving the planet, so I’m stealing some of them. Back in April (remember those joyful days when you’d only been going six weeks Vanessa?) she changed to an eco-friendly dental floss, while I’m not sure how bad floss is itself, it certainly comes in terrible packaging so time for a change.
123. Drink local. Not just at the pub nearest you house, but drinks from your own country. You can get local beers in many pubs and some even brew their own – microbrewies as they’re known. While some of the ingredients may still need to be imported, often they use locally grown products and you might just find that taste sensation you’re been looking for.
124. Grow your own medicine. Well not the stuff to reduce your blood pressure, but plants like Aloe are easy to grow and are lovely and soothing. There are others too but err keep it legal.
125. Read magazines online. I’ve cancelled my film magazine that gets delivered and am going online instead. Saves the printing and delivery and only uses up the energy to power my PC.
126. Help save the gorillas. We’ve talked about recycling mobile/cell phones before, but at www.eco-cell.org they promote reusing phones as a way of saving the gorilla’s habitat:
Cell phones also include coltan, a mineral extracted in the deep forests of Congo in central Africa, home to the world’s endangered lowland gorillas.
Fuelled by the worldwide cell phone boom, Congo’s out-of-control coltan mining business has in recent years led to a dramatic reduction of animal habitat and the rampant slaughter of great apes for the illegal bush-meat trade.
And if they can’t reuse the phone, they will recycle it with a “no landfill” policy.
127. Don’t get take aways. Think about it – the energy for it to be delivered and the cartons, cutlery, napkins etc you’re left with. Not very environmentally-friendly, so save it as a treat once in a while.
128. Ditch the gym. I have a love/hate relationship with the gym and have decided that it’s not very green so have cancelled it. I play football and badminton and all my runs will be outside from now on (hat and gloves required wear for much of the year in the UK). At least I can do press-ups at home, I’m sure I’ll be doing that every night without fail.
129. Don’t use taxis or limousines. Public transport, walking, bikes and rollerskates are the way forward. Well maybe not the rollerskates.
130. They were mentioned back at number 105, but Real Simple have another (yes, another) 20 ways to reuse plastic bags (and paper as well). This time it’s things like stuffing pet beds with them and covering your car mirrors with them in the winter.
