Last week, I was stranded at a Starbucks for 5 hours because the battery in my Harley decided that would be a good time to die. Couple with that a few days before, the battery in the key fob that activates the security system also dies. Suddenly, an 800 lb machine becomes a hunk of immovable metal.
A few days, and a couple hundred dollars later, Suenos (that's the bike's name) is back on the road, but now I'm left with a dead 12v battery and a dead button battery. I smell the opportunity for a green change! The button battery will be saved until one of Toronto's environment days (the next one is September 12), where I can take it and give it to folks who know what to do with it. The dead 12v went back to the Harley dealership (which is where I also recycle my used oil) for them to recycle. Easy! I tried to find out exactly how batteries get recycled, but haven't come up with any info yet (I find processes like that to be fascinating.)
In my inbox today, I received a message from Douglas Farquhar who is in charge of business development for a e-company called buygreen.com out of Irvine, CA. Their site offers green products for personal and commercial use, as well as offering green tips and links. Do any of you have any experience with this company?
While brushing my teeth this morning, I noticed that eco-friendly toothpaste will be making it's way into my life soon, and I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what you folks are using. This little penguin needs all the help she can get.
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Homemade toothpaste that I use:
Baking soda
many drops of peppermint extract or oil (to taste)
Mix together. It will still kinda keep the powdery baking soda texture, but it'll be yummy and fresh.
Some people add a bit of salt to their toothpaste I have read. I use Tom's of Maine. It is in a aluminum (or some sort of metal-ish) tube and everything else easily available to me is in plastic. The dentist doesn't want my husband using homemade toothpaste and are kinda skeptical of what we use now, we aren't in a very green area so they just aren't aware of alternatives. It works great, teeth are in good condition so I'm not switching back to crest or colgate.
Depending on the strength of your teeth I would be wary of switching to green toothpaste. I have alwyas had problems with cavities and thought I finally had it all solved and started using the Tom's of Maine with fluoride and tarter control and that's when I got a cavity. None for years after getting them all the time when I was younger. Maybe a coincidence but I decided that regular toothpaste was worth it.
You should try Toothsoap. Or just a really nice handmade soap that doesn't have anything you can't pronounce.
I bought a bar of soap that smelled nice a fruity from a local "Green Store". Just wet your toothbrush and rub the soap a few times then brush.
There is lots of information about it on the internet. I like it. Lots of people say you should try to not eat for a few hours afterwords so that your teeth can Re-mineralize.
I like it so far.
Oh and I wanted to say that you can get away with no packaging this way too.
I did at least.
This is about batteries, not toothpaste. If any of your readers are in the Ottawa area, the Ottawa Public Library has started a pilot project where they collect & recycle used batteries. Pretty convenient since most neighbourhoods have a local library.
I've also heard that any place that advertises the sale of batteries is required by law to recycle them . . . not sure about the factual back-up on that one, but it might be worth asking next time you're in The Source.
I think its great that batteries will begin to run through solar energy. I mean its about time that our planet started initiating alternative sources for energy. Ever since I was a youngin', it was all about the four R's//
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Restore
And now thank goodness for the futuristic innovations to improve the worlds environment cycle.
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