If you’ve been staying up late at night, contemplating making the switch from plastic bags to reusable cloth bags, but you don’t yet have a tote bag, well then you are in luck. For I present to you, three two different ways to get a free reusable tote bag.

1. Free Eco-Friendly Bag – for businesses/retailers only. They put your logo on the reusable cloth bag, so you can sell them to customers, or give them away to promote your green business.
2. Free Klean Kampsite Bag – heavy duty, reusable bags with Velcro seals and ties to keep them closed. Great for camping / RVing (to coin a word). Did not work in Firefox for me.

So now you have no excuse to not be using them reusable cloth bags. Go out and get some free ones, and, as Michael Jackson said, “Heal the world, make it a better place”.

Warning: Turn down your sound before clicking the link (unless you like naturey sounds)

There’s a company named Ecover that seems to be all about not using artificial fragrances or chemicals in its products. They only use plant-based fragrances, and they try to keep their cleaning products as “green” as possible.

Anyhoo, if you want a free sample of some Ecover Washing Up liquid (I’m guessing that means soap), then move your mouse arrow until it is hovering over this link, and then mash the mouse button with all your might. You’ll be rewarded with a flashy page with nifty sounds; ignore it, and click on the “free sample” link in the bottom right-hand corner.

I’m awaiting my free sample of Ecover soap; a green product, plus, since it’s free, it saves you some money.

Credit card offers are no fun. A bunch of paper gets wasted, lots o’ gas is burned to deliver the credit card offers, and then they just fill up your mail box.

Well I say “No mas”. Here is how to stop getting credit card offers:

Go to Opt Out Pre-Screen and fill out the short form, or call 1-888-5-OPTOUT.

I was worried it was a scam, but it turns out that even the good ol’ government recommends this site.  So I went ahead and filled out the form (I left my SSN blank, just in case), and am now several months away from being free of credit card offers.  Hallelujah.

P.S.  You can also opt out of getting phone books here.

BBC has an interesting article today about people’s impact on the world’s oceans. Give it a looksie.

One thing I wish they’d done differently is to say exactly what criteria they used for their ratings. Anyhoo, scientists figure this map will be useful for determining what areas of the ocean most desperately need help. These scientists are now in consideration for the prestigious Eco Hero award.

Update: This is on the front page of Hugg, so por favor vote for it!

Have you ever ridden a bike? Have you experienced the unmitigated exuberance that rushes through your body as you accelerate to the max whilst riding a bike down a hill? ‘Cause I know I have. Bikes truly are t-riffic (especially this energy generating green bike).

But now, thanks to Calfee Design, they are even greater. This guy makes bamboo bikes, which look awesome AND are strong as heck. Plus, since they’re made from bamboo instead of carbon fiber, they have a lower carbon footprint than normal bikes.

I hear you ask, “Hold up. Will the bamboo break?”. I am proud to answer, “NO”. Instead of using fragile fresh bamboo, Calfee uses special heat-treated bamboo, which makes for a stronger bike frame and dampens vibrations.

But to get one of these green bikes made from bamboo, you gots to pay a lot of green. The cheapest bamboo bike frame Calfee sells is about $1,700, so start saving your money if you’re planning on getting one of these mamma jammas.

This is on the front page of Care2.com, por favor go and vote for it!
Lil’ story; there’s a coffee place near here called Cup A Joe, which has some good coffee and a really nice atmosphere that reminds me of good ol’ Asheville. I’ve been there many-a-time, since they have two locations around NC State.

Anyhoo, last week, mi jefe wondered aloud why Cup A Joe uses styrofoam cups instead of paper. I was like dang, I don’t know. So I wrote them an email asking if they’d considered using paper cups, and asking how they could use styrofoam cups when they knew it made Captain Planet weep green tears. I got a quick reply which showed that they had indeed thought of “green” issues when making their business decisions:

Paper Cups Cause More Trash than Styrofoam Cups

It turns out that when Cup A Joe used paper cups, “almost 100% of [their] customers demand[ed] the added cardboard sleeve”, which the styrofoam cups do not require.

Also as well additionally, it turns out styrofoam is an excellent material for recycling. Here’s what Cup A Joe had to say: “We recycle a large percentage of the cups. Many customers return their used cups for that purpose. It is a small expense for us, but worth it.”

Paper Cups Don’t Biodegrade

Well, they do eventually (as does anything, eventually), but it takes much more time than I’d thought for a paper cup to biodegrade. The gubmint says, “Modern landfills are designed to inhibit degradation so that toxic wastes do not seep into the surrounding soil and groundwater. The paper cup will still be a paper cup 20 years from now.”

Paper Cups Use More Raw Materials and Energy Than Styrofoam (And Cost More)

This was a surprise to me.

“A study by Canadian scientist Martin Hocking shows that making a paper cup uses as much petroleum or natural gas as a polystyrene cup. Plus, the paper cup uses wood pulp. The Canadian study said, ‘The paper cup consumes 12 times as much steam, 36 times as much electricity, and twice as much cooling water as the plastic cup.’ And because the paper cup uses more raw materials and energy, it also costs 2.5 times more than the plastic cup.”

Reusable Cups Are The Way To Go

Final thoughts from Cup A Joe:

“Finally, we have always tried to provide an atmosphere and a level of service that sort of induces folks to sit down and enjoy their coffee in our shops. My guess is that we do more ‘eat-in’ business than all of the Starbucks in Raleigh put together. This sort of business means our people have to hustle to keep up with washing dishes, but also that neither paper, nor cardboard, not styro is needed to consume the coffee. Anyway, hope this helps. And thanks for asking. Frankly, we are surprised that more people don’t ask.”

There you have it. A good eco-friendly reason to (if you must use disposable cups) use styrofoam cups instead of paper cups. It sounded crazy to me at first, but after reading about it, I realized it was crazy like a fox.

Hey, if you get your power from Tennessee Valley Authority, you can get a free energy conservation kit sent to you with mess that helps save energy AND lower your electric bill. You can also get a free energy audit report that’ll show you where your house is using most of its energy, and how you can lower that.

The energy conservation kit includes two compact fluorescent light bulbs, outlet and light switch gaskets, filter whistle, two faucet aerators, hot water temperature gauge, home thermometer, and “How to Save” brochure.

To get all this free energy conservation mess and whatnot, click on this here LINK.