Eco-friendly Garbage Bags
I was recently approached by EconoGreen to do a review of their garbage bags. I have to admit that I agreed to do the review with combined feelings of curiosity and trepidation.
You see I have tried ‘green’ garbage bags before and frankly… they sucked. They were thin and tore easily. I love the concept of environmentally-friendly garbage containment, but it needs to function well or nobody will buy it. Would these bags from EconoGreen just be more of the same?
I am very happy to report that these bags do not suck. In fact, if it weren’t for their EcoLogo certification, I would have guessed that there was no way that these bags are environmentally friendly. They are incredibly strong and durable. What is the EcoLogo certification? It is North America’s most respected environmental certification program which provides shoppers with an assurance that the product in question meets stringent environmental standards. Basically, it takes the guesswork out of determining ‘greenwashing’ from legitimate products.
Let me tell you what makes these bags special:
1. They are made from 100% recycled plastic.
2. They are made in North America, reducing transportation emissions and helping our local economies.
3. They can be recycled.
4. They are biodegradable.
5. Their cost is comparable to ‘regular’ plastic bags.
And drumroll please….
6. They are STRONG!
Although our family strives to be earth-conscious, we are also five human beings who do tend to generate trash. I have mentioned my seething jealousy towards my In-Law’s municipal compost program which has reduced their weekly garbage to a mere pittance. Unfortunately, we lack a municipal compost program and our waste is definitely above pittance level. And we require a strong bag to hold it all. Otherwise it would all end up blowing down the street come garbage pick-up day.
I was sent a sample of EconoGreen’s large trash bag, tall kitchen bag, lawn and leaf bag, and a large contractor bag and I would recommend any of these products to anyone. They also have garage and automotive bags, wet/dry vac liner bags and drop cloths. The contractor bag seemed especially hardy. I used mine as part of an ongoing decluttering project!
I’m not exactly sure of the science behind a plastic bag that can biodegrade. It goes against everything I have understood about plastics in general. Here is their explanation:
Our bags and drop cloths contain a unique agent that helps break down the carbon-carbon bonds in the plastic and reduces the strenth of the bag when exposed to oxygen. As the bag continues to degrade into smaller pieces, it becomes a nutrient for microbes which consume the gragments leaving behind water, carbon dioxide and reusable biomass. The process leaves behind no harmful residue or toxins.
This is where I have to trust that EcoLogo certification and be happy that there is a greener alternative to the inevitability of garbage.
I do have a bit of bad news: While these bags are readily available at Home Depots across the USA, Canadians are limited to finding them at Canadian Tires in Quebec only. They are also sold online, but can only be shipped in the US. If you are Canadian, hopefully these bags will become more readily available soon. Keep them in mind if you cross the border for a shopping trip. Stop into a Home Depot and stock up on garbage bags. Hopefully they’ll get into the rest of the Canadian Tires or Home Depots across the whole country soon.
Remember, it is always best to reduce your waste as much as possible by composting, recycling or reducing paper usage in your home. However, just about everyone needs garbage bags and these are a great environmental alternative.
I highly recommend them.
gDiaper Review
A couple of months ago I posted a review about the green shopping site, Green Cricket. This is a great, green shopping alternative for Canadians and I highly recommend it.
Green Cricket sent me some gDiapers to review and I happily said yes because I had seen them in stores and was curious.
First, let me give you a bit of background on my diaper history. I used cloth diapers exclusively with my daughter, Katelin, until she turned one. At that point, I was working again and the poops were a lot bigger and a lot stinkier than I was willing to have anyone other than me deal with. My son, Jack, was in cloth until about 9 months. To be blunt, his poops were monstrous and I was a wimp and just couldn’t cope with cloth.
Then Tom was born. Already a touch overwhelmed at this unexpected blessing in our life, I was quickly blogged down with dirty laundry and a messy house. The cloth diapers didn’t even last a month and were shipped off to my niece and her new little baby boy. I at least wanted them to be used.
Enter gDiapers. These sounded like a miracle to me. Basically, they consist of a cloth outer wrap, a plastic liner and biodegradable inserts. The inserts can either be composted or flushed. The starter pack also comes with a plastic stick that helps with the flushing part. I’ll get to this little detail in a minute.
The diaper wraps are very cute. There are 2 in each starter pack along with 10 inserts. Mine are orange and off-white. They wash very well and still look quite new even after a couple of months of use. Once you purchase the starter kit, the inserts are a bit pricier than regular diapers, but not by much. A pack of 40 inserts costs $24. This is one of those situations where helping to reduce my footprint on the earth is worth the few extra bucks to me. At $36, the starter kit is certainly less expensive than the initial investment of cloth diapers. However, cloth will save you money in the long run.
I have a hard time getting out to my composter in the winter, so I have tended to flush my inserts. This has caused a few problems and made my husband a bit grumpy. I have also noticed a lot of signs in public restrooms lately asking people to please not flush diapers so I am guessing that my potties are not the only ones that are plugged. There is definitely an art to getting the insert to flush properly. Make sure you read the instructions that come with the diapers and use that little plastic stick that I previously mentioned.
These diapers need to be changed more frequently than regular disposables. Tom has often soaked through the cloth wrap. However, this can also work in your favour as you begin potty training. I’m waiting for Tom’s ‘Aha Moment’ to dawn any time now. I am really ready to be done with diapers!
Are you thinking of getting gDiapers? Here is my list of Pros and Cons.
Pros:
1. Very cute
2. Much more earth-friendly than regular disposables
3. Easy to use
4. Safe on your baby’s skin (no nasty chemicals)
5. Provide a good alternative if you are simply not able to cope with cloth
6. Less of a start-up cost than cloth
Cons:
1. You will have plugged toilets; I recommend composting whenever possible.
2. Pricier than disposables
3. Not as absorbant as disposables
I think that everyone should evaluate their family life and make a decision based on that. Diapers are not a one-size-fits-all prospect (pardon my pun). My own example gives testament to that. What worked for my first-born did not work for my third.
If you don’t think that you can handle cloth diapers but don’t want to see countless disposables enter the landfill, gDiapers would be a good product for you. They are well made and I would recommend them to anyone.
Have you had any experience, positive or negative, with gDiapers? Leave me a comment and let me know.
Filed under Easy Being Green, Reviews, Shopping | Comments (8)A Wake Up Call
For those of you receiving this post by email, please make sure to click on the blog link so that you are able to view the video. It is worth it! This post was written as part of Steady Mom’s 30-Minute Blog Challenge.
Janelle from Healthy Child/Healthy World has asked the mom community to help spread the word about a new campaign that they just launched centered on a video called “A Wake-Up Story.” They are trying to WAKE UP as many people as they can to the issue of chemicals in everyday products and encourage them to vote with their dollars in the marketplace and vote with their voices to governments.
Please watch this very short video (it is absolutely gorgeous) and then pass it on to as many people as you can. One by one we can make a difference together.
A Wake-Up Story from Healthy Child Healthy World on Vimeo.
Need some ideas for ways to share this very important message? How about…
…your blog
…on Facebook
…on Twitter (”Are you awake? Watch this and you will be. AWakeUpStory.org)
…on YouTube (you can comment on the video and/or share it on your playlist)
…on StumbleUpon (give the website a thumbs up)
…on Digg
…anywhere else you can think of!
Green Cricket
Living in a rural setting, it is always a bit of a struggle to find and have access to all the glorious green products that city dwellers have readily available to them. I also find it a bit counter-productive (and ridiculous) to drive 40 minutes to my nearest ‘metropolis’, emitting greenhouse gases along the way, to buy something that has less of an impact on our environment.
Up until recently, I would just keep a list of what I wanted to buy and then combine my trips into the big city. Unfortunately, I would also sometimes have to compromise and buy items that were less than green here in town. I have also made environmental purchases online. However, most sites are located in the US, and shipping to Canada is often cost-prohibitive.
I am happy to say that I have now discovered a new online Canadian alternative. Green Cricket is a website that features environmentally friendly products. The Toronto-based company offers a wide variety of homecare products and are very up-front about the products they sell and why they have selected them.
Filed under Reviews, Shopping | Comments (2)Green Shopping in Canada
I live in rural southern Ontario. And while I’ve noted that reuseable shopping bags are becoming the norm, it is still very difficult to find many of the products that I took for granted as easily accessible when our family lived in the U.S. We no longer have the option of a Whole Foods supermarket to provide that ‘one-stop shopping’ experience for green products.
Every once in awhile I am asked by friends who know that I try to shop green, where I get what I need. So I’ve decided to bare it all and list out what I buy and where.
Natural Food Stores
Check online to see what you have in your area. You may be surprised. I shop at The Gentle Rain in Stratford and The Currant in Park Hill. Covent Market in London is a great resource and there is a large homeopathic shop in there as well. I tend to buy more specialized products at shops like these such as:
Essential oils
Organic teas
Vitamins
Hair care products
Diva Cup
Luna Pads and Glad Rags
Very specific foods
Shoppers Drug Mart
Organic baby food and snacks
Kiss My Face products
Avalon Organics shampoos and conditioners
Burt’s Bees products
Recycled paper products
Our Local Grocery Store
Borax (I use this in my cleaning spray)
Washing Soda (I use this in my dishwasher detergent)
Vinegar
Organic produce
President’s Choice line of organic foods
Joe Brand organic cotton baby clothes
Reuseable microfibre cloths and mops
Recycled paper products
Canadian Tire
Seventh Generation dish and laundry soaps
Method cleaning products and systems
Recycled paper products
Mark’s Work Warehouse
Organic cotton socks and underwear
Bamboo socks and underwear
Thrift Stores
Anything your little heart desires.
Of course online is also an option. If I can’t find what I’m looking for around here, I use Affordable Mineral Makeup. Their service is fast and their shipping is cheap-even to Canada. I like Greenloop for a fantastic array of eco-friendly clothing and accessories and their shipping is carbon neutral. It is where I bought my great bamboo dress and velvet heels for the Jane Goodall Tribute Dinner that we attended in November.
Happy shopping! Remember- Buy Sustainably!!
I would love to add to this list. Leave me a comment to let me know what you buy, and where.
Filed under Shopping | Comment (1)
