Having passed through many restrooms lately, we wondered what is more eco in the bathroom. This site does some does analysis to determine which is more green in the bathroom, paper towels or a warm air hand drier.

“Carried out by Environmental Resources Management (ERM), an independent research organisation, the streamlined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study concludes that the use of hand driers results in a smaller environmental footprint than the use of paper towels, based on a number of assumptions such as the use of two paper towels per dry and the use of a hand drier for an average of 30 seconds per dry. The study suggests that, with regards to environmental performance, paper towels should not be chosen in preference to the hand air drier modeled within the research.”

They did not really take into account the costs involved taking trash away. To be even more eco, just shake the water off your hands and then dry them on your pants.

Paper Towel or Cloth Rag?

Is it better to use 100% recycled paper towels or a washable cloth rag? Cloth rages are more eco friendly and green especially when you wash them with your regular laundry.  100% recycled content paper towels are much better than regular paper towels.

Ziploc storage bags are very handy. They help extend the shelf life of many foods.  Kids bringing brown bag lunches generate an average of 67 pounds of waste per school year. Washing and reusing the bags should be exercised as much as possible. Recycling the bags is slightly tricky although Terracycle can help.

“Ziploc® Brand Bags are made from Polyethylene Plastic Resin #4. It is recyclable in the few communities that accept Polyethylene Plastic Resin #4. The outer box is made from recycled paperboard (minimum 35% post-consumer content) and is recyclable.”

The key is to wash the inside of the bag and cut off the zipper before recycling. You can recycle these Ziploc bags where you recycle plastic bags.

And even more eco-alternative: Ziploc Evolve ultra-light bags are made with 25 percent less plastic* and manufactured using wind power.

Wrapping sandwiches in reusable containers, bento boxes, cloth napkins, or compostable wax paper and string are more eco friendly alternatives.

Sensor plug is a motion sensor connected to an output plug that can be used with lights or other appliances. This device will turn on the light that is plugged into it when it detects motion.  This can also be used as a security device.

HiSAVER is a new intelligent power strip surge protector that reduces power and Standby power use of computers and television systems by using a motion sensor to shutdown electronics when people are not present.  You can configure the time delay.  Prolong the life of electronics, save on your power bill.

Position the motion sensor on your wall then hook the strip up to your TV system and it can power down your TV and/or components when no one is watching, turn off even your lights.

Use this power strip on your computer and it can turn off your monitor, printer, etc when you are gone.

The strip can turn the power back on when it detects people in the room.

DKO International is marketing the product in the US. Projected cost is $99.

Credit: Crystal.com

We were looking for some eco friendly – natural deodorant without questionable ingredients and did some research. The first place we looked was non profit Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Database. The ones rated with 0-2 were the best bet. You want to avoid artificial ingredients, harsh chemicals, aluminum based chemicals. Natural herbal extracts and mineral salts are healthier ingredients.

We then went to our local markets to see which brands they carried. We ended up picking products from Crystal. You can also buy their products from amazon.

Crystal also taught us:

“Deodorants work by masking, suppressing or preventing body odor. Deodorants do not tend to reduce the amount of perspiration the body produces. Antiperspirants, on the other hand, use chemicals to inhibit the activity of sweat glands so less moisture is produced. While deodorants are considered to be a cosmetic product because they only control odor, antiperspirants are actually drugs because they affect the physiology of the body. In fact, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controls the active ingredients used in antiperspirants because of their drug classification.”