Beach Trip: Apps & UV Monitoring Wristbands

iPhone App for EWG’s 2010 Sunscreen Guide

You’ve heard it a million times before, but you really do have to pack the sunscreen. And to help you pick the best sunscreen the Environmental Working Grouping (EWG) just launched a free iPhone application for their 2010 Sunscreen Guide. The guide includes more than 500 beach and sport sunscreens analyzed by EWG. Their app makes it easy to find a safe and effective sunscreen for the beach.

UVSunSense UV Monitoring Wristbands

If you are unsure when to reapply sunscreen, there are nifty little tools out there to help you monitor your exposure to harmful UV rays. The UVSunSense UV Monitoring Wristband is engineered to be used in conjunction with a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher to alert you to potential excessive exposure. Everyone can use a little reminder.

Destination Vacation: Sustainable Accommodations & Eco-Cities

Sustainable Accommodations: Whole Travel

Looking for sustainable accommodations around the world? Whole Travel claims to have compiled the most complete collection of sustainable accommodations available on the Internet. This beta website is pretty cool, helping you greenify your travel plans by directing you to the world’s best green hotels and resorts.

Explore an Eco-City: Time’s Green Design 100 Top Three Eco-Cities

If you are looking to explore an eco-city, visit one of Time’s Green Design 100 top three eco-cities: Tianjin Eco-City, Zira Zero Island, and Gwanggyo Power Center.

Tianjin Eco-City utilizes waste heat from a nearby power plant and emphasizes green modes of transport and water recycling. At Zira Zero Island each mountain is a residential development lined with strategically placed photovoltaics. Photovoltaics, or PVs, are arrays of cells that convert solar radiation into direct current electricity. Wind farms also help power the island. Gwanggyo Power Center builds green space upward instead of using valley-based designs that create smog.

Bike Trip

If you have been considering a road trip this summer consider turning it into a bike trip. You can save gas, save money, embrace nature, reduce your carbon footprint, and get a little exercise in. Plus, some big name brands like REI have a ton of eco-conscious bike gear and clothing. And who knows, this bike trip might motivate you and your friends to continue on the bike path for your commute and errands.

Day at the Spa

If a day at the spa to refresh and rejuvenate is in the cards, check out Organic Spa Magazine’s Top 10 Green Spas and Resorts. From a holistic spa to an organic farm and cooking school, one of their picks is sure to revitalize your spirit in an earth friendly manner.

Here is our uber green, pretty cool if I don’t say so myself, Father’s Day gift buying guide:

For the Outdoorsy Dad

SE 2.0 Portable Water Filtration Bottle ($34.95, BuyGreen), Filtered Water Bottle ($9.95, Bobble)

A water bottle with built in filtration – not only replacing plastic bottles but also ensuring you drink the highest quality water. For the SE 2.0 Portable Water Filtration Bottle (left) each Sovereign Earth water filter produces over 100 gallons of pure water – 99.99% pure, removing contaminants like chlorine, agricultural and industrial pollutants heavy metals, and pharmaceuticals. Bobble (right) has a carbon-based filter that removes organic contaminates from regular municipal tap water and meets or exceeds NSF International Standard 42 for chlorine, taste and odor reduction. This filter you have to change every 2 months or after 40 gallons.

Solar Hybrid Flashlight ($19.95, BuyGreen)

An innovative solar flashlight, the Solar Hybrid Flashlight generates renewable power from sun or room light. An 8-hour charge in sunlight or room light will provide up to 16 hours of continuous light, and it can be charged over and over again. It also holds a single charge for over 3 years and comes fully charged.

Ultimate Hammock ($199, Gaiam), Sling Handmade Hammock ($744, Branch)

A hammock to chillax in. Let’s face it, every Dad deserves a break. The Ultimate Hammock from Gaiam (left) is made from recycled soda bottles. The Sling hammock from Branch, designed by Ting (right), is handmade from 100% unused, reclaimed nylon seat belt webbing.

For the Book Loving Dad

Shirt from Out of Print ($28, Out of Print)

A well designed shirt to advertise his literary expertise. For each shirt Out of Print sells, one book is donated to a community in need through their partner Books For Africa.

For the Fashionable Dad

Blottoe Bag ($75, Simple)

An eco friendly messenger bag with some style points. The Blottoe Bag is made from hemp and recycled plastic bottles.

Jimi Wallet ($14.95, GreenLoop), English Retreads Wallets ($46, BuyGreen)

A wallet to stash his paper notes. The Jimi Wallet (left & center) is manufactured in the US from 100% recycled materials, and 1% of its sales revenue is invested in the environment. The Bi-Fold Wallet by English Retreads (right) is made from recycled rubber inner tubes.

Anchor Embroidered Classics ($54, TOMS), Men’s Gumshoe ($60, Simple)

A comfy pair of slip-ons. For the TOMS (left), with every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. The Simples (right) are made from organic cotton, recycled car tires, scraps and post-consumer foams.

For the Sporty Dad

Organic Polo ($51.95, Football Fanatics)

An organic polo to support his favorite sports team, and well, to look sporty. Three cheers for organic cotton – all the benefits of cotton without the toxic chemicals. These three are from Football Fanatics. They also have a wide variety of other branding options. I would suggest doing a quick search for “organic polo” on their site.

Separated at Birth Golfers BBQ Set ($25, UncommonGoods)

The stainless steel Golfers BBQ Set covers the sporty grill enthusiasts. Stainless steel is a great alternative to plastics that can leach harmful chemicals into your food.

Dixon Earth Eco-Distance Golf Balls ($19.95, Amazon)

A dozen eco distance golf balls to hit. Unlike other brands who use harsh heavy-metal pollutants like tungsten, cobalt and lead, and contain non-renewable synthetic materials and compounds; the Dixon Earth Eco-Distance Golf Ball is made from a proprietary polymer that maintains the playable properties of the ball, but ensures that it is 100% renewable.

For the First Time Beer Brewing Dad

Premium Gold Beer Kit ($59.95, Cooking.com), Beer Making Mix Refill Set ($39.95, Cooking.com)

The Premium Gold Beer Kit (left) is a microbrew beer kit that combines modern technology with select ingredients to assure reliable results every time you brew. There are no industrial CO2 cartridges needed. The brew keg is made from an Advanced Rez-Tech Poly Vinyl Chloride, an FDA compliant plastic, and the reusable plastic bottles are made from PET plastic, also FDA approved for food and beverage. All beer mixes, including the Beer Making Mix Refill Set (right) sold separately, are made of 100% natural ingredients with no additives or preservatives.

For the Tech Savvy Dad

Fantom Drives G-Force Greendrive ($99, MacMall)

The GreenDrive features the latest advances in power saving technology and ROHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) compliant materials and process. Your geeky dad will commend you on staying up to date on your green technology.

Vers Cases (Starting at $34.95, BuyGreen), Vers 1.5R ($199, BuyGreen)

A wood accessory or sound system made from renewable resources. Vers not only makes a sweet docking station (right) for your iPhone or iPod, they also have you covered, literally, with their wood cases (left).

Viewsonic announced its newest green nettop-slash-mini-PC this week, the VOT125.  The VOT125 is packed with green cred galore, including form factor and powerplant that consume 90% less plastic and energy than traditional desktop PCs and is fully Energy Star and RoHS compliant.

The VOT125 is built around Intel’s newest ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) processors, and is geared toward the business market, where energy savings across a fleet of PCs can really add-up, and with a $499 MSRP the system’s energy savings turn the tiny beauty in an ROI-positive spend for companies sporting lots of older desktops.  The VOT125 also boasts a 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, Windows 7 and 1080p video output.Home users worry not, Viewsonic will likely soon follow the VOT125 with consumer-focused models to improve the performance and eco-credentials of their existing VOT132 Mini Home PC and other home nettops.  Though existing models already offer a healthy list of green features including lower power, less plastic and RoHS compliance – though more in the 45% less range from traditional PCs than the super-green VOT125.  Get Engadget’s full review of the VOT132 -  http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/24/viewsonic-vot132-nettop-review/

Still don’t know what a nettop is?  Here’s the skinny:

PC manufacturers have begun to develop slim and light computers designed as either secondary home computers (think the kids’ rooms) or to boost the integrated capabilities of the convergent living room – meaning, you plug it into your TV, next to the BluRay and Wii for a fully webified living room experience.   The name of the game for all nettops is cheap and small but with enough horsepower to thrill with multimedia.  So they sport enough processor speed and memory to crush Hulu, YouTube and any other website you can think of.  Most also offer 1080p video output, so your iTunes movie rentals will look sweet, and you’ll be able to join the cool group of folks griping that NetFlix still doesn’t offer their streaming in HD.

When paired with newer generation LED display – like ViewSonic’s 22-Inch LED Monitor – nettops become a very cool upgrade to the wired home.

Via Engadget

Still looking for that big, stocking-busting present for that movie lover, gamer or regular guy in your life?  Here’s a sure-fire winner: Samsung’s 46-Inch 7000-Series LED TV, aka the UN46B7000.

With this beauty, Samsung has spun a real winner.  The UN36B700 has all the high-end specs you’d want in a premium flat screen tele, including 1080p resolution, 120Hz motion refresh, and super-deep blacks to go along with naturally vibrant colors.  As evidence of this brilliance, Samsung has won a host of accolades for the UN36B700, including Wired Magazine’s TV of 2009 distinction, and the highest rating among LED TVs on CNET.  So it’s got the good part down for sure.

And did I mention that this 46 in screen is a mere 1.2 inches deep.  There was a time when a 3-inch deep television was a marvel – I believe that time was way back in 2008 – but with new LED TVs hitting the market, ultra-thinness is the name of the game.

So the UN36B700 has goodness to spare, and plenty of green cred too.  Unlike most LCD and Plasma TVS, most new LED TVs, including the UN36B700, are mercury free.  Samsung’s LED line also consumes about 40% less energy than comparably sized LCD TVS – keeping in mind that LCDs used a ton less that traditional tube TVs do.  So you’ll be way ahead in the green game too with this upgrade.

Check out more on the Samsung UN36B700 in the IzzitGreen Products Listings – and then go splurge on the UN36B700 as a gift.  Even if you’re the recipient – there’s nothing wrong with self-gifting the good and green…

Any musician knows just how wasteful a hobby it can be when it comes to guitar strings – they can break in a session, they can break in a week, or if you’re lucky, you might get through a month or two if you play regularly and like to experiment with your riffs. Guitar strings from electric or acoustic guitars don’t last forever, and while the average person might discard them without a second thought, there are millions of people out there that would like to get their hands on used guitar strings once plucked by artists like Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan or Avril Lavigne.

Wear Your Music creates bracelets from the guitar strings of famous musicians so that they can be reused, recycled and relished by their fans. Each guitar string is secured with a clasp in silver or gold, and music fans can also choose from adding a diamond into the mix or having the bracelet engraved. The guitar string bracelets created by Wear Your Music ensure that one of the most wasteful materials in music is repurposed into something that is fashionable, appreciated by music fans, and it also creates items that really tell a story.

Did I mention that a percentage of the sales from each of the recycled guitar string bracelets also goes to a charity advocated by the rockin’ musicians themselves? Sure, it lets you do something nice for the environment and for another great cause – but with certain musician’s guitar strings turned bracelets for sale, they are the gift that will keep teeny boppers screaming “Oh my god, this was touched by Nick Jonas!” (figuratively speaking of course, since the Jonas Brothers have yet to participate in this program).

Via: The Chic Ecologist

Greeting cards are a nice gesture for your loved ones on birthdays, holidays, and any other occasion where you want to let them know they’re being though about. But let’s face it, even for those that hoard their greeting cards for their memories, eventually they’ll only be discarded, and with their toxic dyes, they are anything but environmentally friendly when being recycled or sitting in a landfill.

Unless they signify a major milestone, I typically don’t keep my greeting cards; but I would if they served more of a purpose than a pretty graphic and a sentimental message. Living, a company that specializes in developing future friendly products has a line of green greeting cards, including the Grow-a-Note Thank You Cards in Lavender which will stick around after you’ve shed your tears over the thoughtfulness of a friend, because they can actually be planted directly into the ground to turn into a beautiful plant or flower. The green greeting cards are made from lavender wildflower ink and have soy-based ink used for the graphics and messages; but what makes them something extra special is the fact that they have seeds embedded throughout the paper.

Each greeting card comes with planting instructions on the back; but essentially all you need to do is plant your greeting card and a flower or plant will eventually sprout from it. The card itself ultimately dissolves into the soil so there is no fuss on that end. I know I said that this is a type of greeting card that might last a little bit longer than the traditional kind that weeks after receipt find their way to my recycling bin; but let’s be honest about it. Despite my best efforts, any plant that finds its way into my home has a short-lived stay; but that doesn’t mean I’d like to give this product a try to stretch my green thumb.

You’ve probably already heard that bamboo is one of the fastest growing resources on the planet, so it’s become of the most popular materials used to manufacture, well…everything. The latest eco-friendly item produced from bamboo to enter our radar? The Bamboo Guitar!

You may think that music is just about music, but hey, the environment and societal consciousness has been such a hot topic for song writers today, you must be thinking twice about how you can lessen your environmental impact as a musician, haven’t you, you hypocrite? Well, next time you go onstage to plead your case about the environmental degradation in the world, play what you preach by strumming away on a musical instrument that is eco-friendly and sustainable.

The Bambusa Electric Guitar by First Act is eco-friendly, and it will stand up to your high musical standard. The body and neck of the electric guitar are both constructed of bamboo, which is hard enough to produce a superior sound, and it looks pretty rockin’ too. This is one guitar that will definitely be inspiring some sweet environmentally conscious tunes!

Apparently it doesn’t take much to make up a set of speakers, beyond cardboard made from recycled as the encasing, the audio component and an AC adapter. And really, it’s their simplicity that makes these Eco-Speakers by Eco Nation so cool.

The Eco-Speaker kit comes with everything you need to design and assemble your own green speakers that are compatible with most audio and electronic devices. The recycled cardboard speakers come folded down for portability, which can be unfolded for function. But the best part of the DIY aspect is the option to customize them to suit your décor or personality using the colored pencils provided. The only real downside I can see is if you outgrow your former artistic tastes, these sustainable speakers might just be around longer than you want them to be. Choose wisely when decorating your speakers, and like driving, drunk drawing isn’t recommended, because you might just come to regret your design choices in the morning.

These unique, customizable eco-speakers have been so popular that they’ve sold out from one of their retailers, Fashionation, on a variety of occasions. However, they are also available from many Urban Outfitters retail stores if you just can’t wait to get your hands on a pair of the DIY, eco-friendly audio devices.

Via: Dornop

The skill and experience gained through Long’s many years of writing and photographing for vegetarian and vegan cooking magazines are on full display throughout this great cookbook.  Not only does she gain access to 25 of the world’s great chefs, but her photographs and the book’s layout are exquisite.

Each chef was asked to provide a complete four course vegan menu.  The results are as varied as they are tempting – from comfort foody Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie to the delicate Chilled Apple Consommé with Celery Root Remoulade.

For sure, these aren’t your basic ‘toss it in the wok’ vegan recipes, so you’ll need some basic skills to execute the recipes, but for overall inspiration you can’t do any better.  And if you’re not a budding Todd English, you can always plant Great Chefs Cook Vegan on your coffee table as an idea book for your friends and relatives, or just buy a copy as a gift – so maybe you’ll be the one getting invited to the sweet vegan dinner party.