Tag Archives: Green home
‘Awesome uses’ for junk mail
When I get junk mail, I usually throw it in the paper recycling container in my laundry room. This week I stumbled upon a Yahoo! article called “9 awesome uses for junk mail.”
Three that I thought were interesting:
– Shred the paper and use it to ship or store fragile items. Beats buying that crinkled, cutesy stuff.
– Convert return envelopes into funnels by cutting a small section of one corner (spout) and a larger section from the opposite end (mouth). In crediting JunkMailGems.com, the author suggests using them for salt and pepper shaker refills.
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Tagged Green home, Recycling
Local Foods Work Continues, Even During Winter
I admit that the dead of winter is not exactly the high season for local foods. After all, fields are frozen under a blanket of snow and some farms do manage to grow veggies in hoop houses. But beyond that, you might think that local foods work would slow down to a trickle during these cold months.
However, that is not at all the case. The Local Foods Work Group at the University of Illinois Extension–Winnebago County has been hard at work all winter, wrapping up last year’s doings, and planning for a full slate of events for 2011….
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Tagged Eat locally, farming, Garden, Green events, Green home, Local Foods, Local foods events, Schools
A lot of energy
ComEd says its customers are expected to save more than $155 million in annual energy costs because of the company’s Smart Ideas programs.
According to a news release, ComEd launched Smart Ideas in 2008 to save people money and help the environment; since then it has saved enough energy to power almost 75,000 homes for one year (more than 616,000 MWh: 163,717 in the first year and 453,000 in the second year).
ComEd expects to expand its offerings, which currently include appliance recycling, CFL light bulb sales and water-related upgrades.
Relevant now: You can get an extra $10 for turning …
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Tagged Green business, Green home
Green cleaning company branches out to Menards
Quick update: Last week, Machesney Park-based My4Evergreen rolled out a 15-product eco-friendly cleaning line at all 255 Menards stores in the United States.
The products are sold under a private label called Resolution. The 50-ounce high-efficiency laundry soap sells for $2.98 and the 32-ounce cleaner for $2.49, for example. CEO John Jacobson said via e-mail that those prices are well below competitors like Seventh Generation or Method.
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Tagged Green business, Green home
It’s yellow, it’s a sponge, it’s …
Remember My 4Evergreen, the Machesney Park-based company that sold its green cleaner on QVC in May? It debuted another product on the shopping channel this morning: a pack of 15 4Everclean reuseable sponge cloths meant to replace your disclothes, sponges and paper towels in the kitchen and bathroom.
I knew this was coming but didn’t know when. You can watch the demo at the “debuted” link above. I’ll have to check back with CEO John Jacobson. He sent me the art below.
They are dishwasher safe and sell for $18.36 from QVC (5 yellow, 5 pink, 5 blue). The pitchman …
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Tagged Green home
