Easy Way to Save Half a Million Trees a Year

March 29th, 2014 Posted in cleaning, paper, recycle, reusing, save money | 1 Comment » Make sure you like EcoJoes on Facebook to stay updated on green ways to save money and help the environment. Just click the "like" button below. Muchas gracias!


The Natural Resources Defense Council, who knows a thing or two about natural resources, says that if every U.S. household replaced just one roll of paper towels with a roll of 100% recycled paper towels, it would save over half a million trees every year!

Such an easy way to save tons of trees! So next time you’re out and about and feel the need for some paper towels, look for 100% recycled ones.

Better yet, use good ol’ reusable cloth rags to clean up messes, and cut down on all that paper towel waste.

If you want to take it to the Eco Hero level, reuse old t-shirts as cleaning cloths. You’ll be saving money AND helping the environment. Now that’s what I’m talking ’bout.

Super Healthy Banana Oat Cookie Recipe

March 16th, 2014 Posted in food, health | 2 Comments » Make sure you like EcoJoes on Facebook to stay updated on green ways to save money and help the environment. Just click the "like" button below. Muchas gracias!


Sometimes as I’m flexing in the mirror at the gym, desperately bulging my veins out of my “swole” arms and hoping other people are watching admiringly to feed my insecure ego, I fight back tears as a sudden urge for cookies flashes through my mind. How can I get healthy, cheap, eco-friendly, organic cookies?

Lo, late last year I found out about this crazy easy, healthy, quick recipe for banana oat cookies. “Egad”, I thought, “I have to share this recipe with todo el mundo.” And that’s just what I’ll do, without further ado.

Healthy Banana Oat Cookie Recipe

Oats n' bananas
* 1 cup oats (for extra green points, use some local, organic oats)
* 2 bananas

Now, don’t be confused… in this picture, I used a double recipe (4 bananas and 2 cups o’ oats).

This is a great way to use old, ripe bananas, or frozen bananas. If using frozen bananas, make sure to peel the bananas before freezing them!

Update!

Hey, Joe–Re: recipe on EcoJoes: there is NO NEED to peel bananas before freezing!!!! In fact, freezing them in their little “nature-jackets” protects them without one having to use a PLASTIC BAG. Just remove from freezer, microwave about 50 sec., slit them from gullet to “other end,” and squeeze out the contents.

Banana Oat Cookie Embryo
Using my aforementioned bulging muscles, I mushed the bananas and oats together, ’til it looked like this:

Okay, you’re about done! At this point you can mix in any amount of fixin’s; use your imagination! Por ejemplo, you could mix in:
* Peanuts, walnuts, almonds
* Raisins, craisins
* Coconut, chocolate chips, lil’ pieces of bacon

Once you’re satisfied with your mix-ins,
1) Form the mush into balls about the size of golf balls
2) Put them on a greased cookie sheet
3) Pop that bad boy into an oven and cook at 350° F for 12-15 minutes.

That’s it, you’re done! Now you can enjoy some of the easiest to make, healthiest cookies ever, with that distinctive banana tang and oat goodness.

One-Ingredient “Ice Cream”

February 23rd, 2014 Posted in food, health, organic, vegan | 2 Comments » Make sure you like EcoJoes on Facebook to stay updated on green ways to save money and help the environment. Just click the "like" button below. Muchas gracias!


If you’re like most folks in today’s dog-eat-dog, hustle-n-bustle world, you like to take a break every once in a while for some tasty iced cream. But you probably know that standard ice cream, while delicious, is not nutritious.

Also, you have to break the bank to get some store-bought ice cream that traveled hundreds (perchance even thousands!) of miles to get to you. So what’s the eco-savvy, cheap frugal hu-man to do when they get a craving for that frozen goodness?

I’ll tell you what. You just buck up, grab some ripe nanners, and follow this super easy recipe for homemade, organic, vegan, healthy ice creamsorbet!

Through the magic of frozen bananas, you should end up with a delectable dessert resembling this:
Sad bowl of blended frozen bananas

One-Ingredient “Ice Cream”
(AKA World’s Easiest Sorbet) Recipe

1) Chuck 4-5 ripe bananas into the freezer.
2) Once they’re frozen, throw them into a food processor (or good blender) and blend them like your life depended on it.

Makes two manly-sized servings.

That’s it! You’ll be sure to “go ape” for this! *runs off stage as crowd boos*

How to Save Money and Make Your House Greener

February 20th, 2014 Posted in energy conservation, green construction, save money | 3 Comments » Make sure you like EcoJoes on Facebook to stay updated on green ways to save money and help the environment. Just click the "like" button below. Muchas gracias!

Hey you. You trying to save some money, AND reduce your impact on the good ol’ planet Earth? Well here are some easy ways to do both, by making your home more efficiency and environmentally friendly.

Some notable tidbits from this nifty infographic:

  • Up to 40% (almost half!) of our drinking water literally goes down the toilet.
  • Low-flow showerheads can use less than half what a normal, wasteful, Earth-hurting showerhead uses
  • Installing good insulation can cut your heating/cooling costs by 30%!! Hot dang.
  • Putting aerators on all your water faucets can cut your water use by up to HALF!

I’ll let you peruse the rest of it at your leisure; chiggity check the helpful picture below:

Eco-friendly house graphic

Image provided by none other than EcoSmartFire dot com.

10-minute Litter Cleanup Challenge Winner!

February 9th, 2014 Posted in cleaning, contest, eco hero | No Comments » Make sure you like EcoJoes on Facebook to stay updated on green ways to save money and help the environment. Just click the "like" button below. Muchas gracias!

Welp, ’twas a close race, ’twas indeed, but the first ever 10-minute Litter Cleanup Challenge is over, and it’s time to name the winner.

* takes several minutes struggling to open envelope to reveal winner *

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages… the winner is none other than the illustrious Peg Downes of Asheville, North Carolina, who sent in this picture of her accomplishment:

Litter picked up by Peg

A hearty congratulations and “kudos” to Peg, who has shown how you can take a tiny sliver of time and make a big difference in your community! I hereby anoint her as an O-fficial Eco Hero.

Her mYsTeRy PrIzE for winning the litter cleanup challenge is a Kitchen Crop Sprouter, which will allow her to grow her own organic, ultra-local, vegan food right in her kitchen! Huzzah! Take a gander at it with your eye-balls!

Kitchen Crop sprouter

Thanks for all the contest participants, and stay tuned for more challenges of various and diverse types. This is EcoJoe, signing out!

10 Minute Litter Cleanup Challenge

February 2nd, 2014 Posted in cleaning, contest | 2 Comments » Make sure you like EcoJoes on Facebook to stay updated on green ways to save money and help the environment. Just click the "like" button below. Muchas gracias!

Do you have what it takes to participate in the 10 Minute Litter Cleanup Challenge? Can you clean up more litter than me, Mr. Eco-freaking-Joe? Will you become an O-fficial Eco Hero? Well bring it on!!

Imagine what would happen if every EcoJoes reader stood up right now and took just 10 minutes to clean up some litter outside their house.

Hey, you’re an EcoJoes reader right now, yeah? How about you scurry outside, pick up some trash, and come back in ten minutes? I’ll go outside, too.

Can you clean up more litter than me? You got ten minutes; go!

* Ten minutes later *

Okay, I’m back! Here’s what I found in just ten minutes in the woods outside mi casa:

Litter from the woods

Bam, most of that’s getting recycled, and some’s getting thrown in the trash. How much did you clean up?

Do You Want to Win?

You have until Sunday, February 9th to send in your picture of what you cleaned up. One contestant will be chosen to receive a special mYsTeRy prize! So hurry up, send your picture (and a sentence or two about what you did) to ecojoe@ecojoes.com!

Dr. Drip Coffee – On-the-go Coffee

January 26th, 2014 Posted in food | 3 Comments » Make sure you like EcoJoes on Facebook to stay updated on green ways to save money and help the environment. Just click the "like" button below. Muchas gracias!


You may or may not know this, but I require a cup o’ joe every few hours or so. But sometimes you want some coffee rotch here, rotch now; and I ain’t talking none of that instant coffee. Bam, Dr. Drip Coffee to the rescue.

Dr. Drip is an on-the-go drip coffee system. It comes in little, single serve foil packets (not that eco-friendly), and inside are little single-cup coffee filters that you unfold. Here be a camera photo-graph to visually ‘splain what I’m talking about; please ignore the very Chinese communist mug:

Dr. Drip coffee

This little, recyclable coffee filter sits on top of your coffee mug. Then you pour some boiling water through it. Voila, instant drip coffee!

The coffee itself is surprisingly tasty. And like all coffee grounds, you can simply compost the used coffee grounds, adding the nitrogen that plants crave.

While the foil-wrapped single-serve packets are not environmentally friendly, the fact that the rest of it can be recycled or composted helps boost its green score. So if you have a chance to taste this coffee, I suggest you give it a shot.