Need some boxes for moving, shipping, or storage? What ABC calls, “…a special place that will help you save on boxes and on the environment,” Used Cardboard Boxes takes used cardboard boxes and distributes them to buyers. In addition to being eco-friendly, these boxes are cheaper than traditional packing, and  buyers will never have to spend additional cash on the shipping fees to get the boxes to their homes.

Will they be of lesser quality? No. These boxes are considered “used”, but really they are boxes that are guaranteed to work as well as the “new” ones. The majority of their “used” boxes come from large companies who might have made misprints and overruns; many haven’t seen a day inside a delivery truck! Some of the boxes have been used once but are guaranteed to be of a satisfactory quality. Best of all, they are cheap.

How much cheaper are they? Used Cardboard Boxes never charges for shipping, as long as the purchase is within the continental US. (The boxes will arrive within the standard one to two business days.) They try to bring these boxes to you at low prices that easily beat what other companies charge for their new boxes. Same quality, lower prices, more eco-friendly, the choice is obvious. This company has never cut down a tree, and has estimated that by their work they have saved over 15,000 so far.

If you work for a company that has a sizable supply of “cardboard waste,” consider contacting UsedCardboardBoxes.com; they will offer to buy these boxes for more than a recycling company and make your firm one step closer to being as environmentally friendly as it possibly can. This web site was another finalist for the 2009 Green America’s People’s Choice Award, earning its nomination. They serve their mission well, “rescuing” tons of used boxes so that they can be used for another shipment before landing in a dump. Keeping these boxes in the system, rather than sending them through the recycling process, cuts down on general energy use. UsedCardboardBoxes is simply the optimum source for purchasing cardboard boxes.

Hawaii always has been paradise on Earth, with its blue waters and blue skies. But now Hawaii, particularly Honolulu and Kona, has a different color: green. That’s right. Honolulu’s gone green, and they’re getting greener by the minute.

Go green with them as you visit these establishments!

1. Lush USA

If you need bath products or fragrances, visit Lush USA. Lush uses only the freshest organic fruits and vegetables in all their products. Every product is made by hand and uses little to no preservatives and packaging. Their products are all 100 % vegetarian and some are even 70% vegan to give you the most nutritious ingredients you can use for your skin. Their products are never tested on animals nor do they deal with suppliers who perform animal testing. They try not to use packaging for their products as much as possible, but when they need to, they use post-consumer recycled, recyclable and biodegradable materials. Lush USA is available nationwide and globally.

1450 Ala Moana Rd, Unit 1206, Honolulu, HI; Tel. (808)941-7400; 2201 Kalakaua Ave, Unit c120, Honolulu, HI; Tel. (808)923-5874.

2. Earth Tones

If you need Internet or a phone or both, then Earth Tones is the one for you. They are the only communications company to provide long-distance phone, wireless service and Internet access and donate 100% of its profits to environmental organizations.  Earth Tones was founded and currently is maintained by a coalition of non-profit groups. Aside from funding environmental research, they send out Green Alerts to keep their customers aware of the environmental issues and how they can help protect the planet themselves.

http://www.earthtones.com; Tel. (888)327-8486

3. Lotus Cafe

Lotus Cafe is the only Pan-Asian restaurant in Hawaii, serving the best in Thai, Indian and Indonesian cuisine. They use natural, organic and homegrown ingredients to create authentic dishes for their customers. Even their gelato offerings are 95% organic and all vegan. And they’ve switched to using solar panels to power up their restaurant, and they’ll teach you how to do the same for yours!

73-5617 Maiau St. Kailua-Kona, HI; Tel. (808)327-3270

4. Down to Earth

Down to Earth is Hawaii’s only all-vegetarian organic and natural food store. They carry wide choices of natural and organic food products and includes dairy, local organic produce, vitamins and natural supplements, body care products and household items. They don’t carry meat, eggs, fish oils, gelatin capsules and other products that contain animal rennet. More than that, they also participate in community outreach programs that commit to helping people live and maintain a vegetarian lifestyle.

2525 South King St. Honolulu, HI 96826; Tel. (808)947-7678

A long time ago I saw an application on one of my friend’s Facebook profiles that said that “This Page Is Green!” and that she had reduced CO2 by x amount of pounds. I usually do not believe in all of those applications on Facebook, and I think that they are a waste of space, time, money, and only result in clutter on a person’s page, but I thought about and decided that I could support “Going Green.”

I am sure that there are a lot of other applications out there that are like this one, but the one that I am a member of and who I support on my page is called Greenbook. These days, Facebook has made people’s pages easy to navigate to and the silly applications can be found as “boxes” under certain tabs–thereby hiding the clutter. Well, to be honest, I had forgotten about my Greenbook application until just recently and I saw that I had somehow reduced CO2 by 0.45 pounds and that currently, all Greenbook users have been able to reduce CO2 by 962,897.24 pounds.

How exactly does a program like this work? I am clearly not sitting at my computer and actively using that application, and sitting at my computer would mean that I am wasting energy–thereby producing CO2 gases as I sit on Facebook, finding out what is going on in everyone’s lives. Well, it turns out that installing the Greenbook application generates money through sponsorship, and this money is used to reduce harmful emissions.

What Greenbook does is use the funds generated through sponsorship to purchase a certain amount of CO2 reduction. They then give some of that amount to everyone who has the application, like me, on a daily basis. So, every “Nightly Update”, Greenbook users are given a fraction of the daily amount.

As for who this application’s sponsors are, some of them include TerraPass, The Experience Project, Teecrush, and Gonergy.

Though it is not too much, joining Greenbook does aid in saving the environment, one Facebook at a time.

Most skin care products are loaded with preservatives and are created by companies that discard the importance of using environmentally-friendly ingredients and production methods. Golden Path Alchemy creates products that, unlike their counterparts, are all-natural, handmade, and effective. This company recently was nominated by Green America as one of the top ten green businesses to vote for in its People’s Choice Award competition.

The mission of Gold Path Alchemy is “to create holistic herbal skin care to transform your skin, body, and spirit, revealing your radiant beauty.” The company has an extremely unique approach to the manufacturing of their products, from the beginning of production to their final marketing. They create their products in small batches and buy local, organic materials. The products are sold in glass containers that can be recycled more easily than the typical plastic ones. The company primarily uses 100% recycled paper, and the default receipt method is electronic rather than paper.

Gold Path Alchemy offers general skin care products, facial products, body & spiritual products, and an assortment of other extras including tote bags and sample kits. The skin care line has five categories: Awaken, which is designed to bring out the radiance of skin; Purify, which cleanses oily skin; Refine, which has been formulated to refine skin to improve one’s overall complexion; Renew, which revitalizes dry or aging skin; and Illuminate, which is designed to brighten skin for a more luminous complexion. Specifically for the face, Golden Path Alchemy also offers cleansers, toners, moisturizers, masks, and steams.

The only caveat here is that the shelf life of the products, without being jam-packed with preservatives, is inevitably much shorter than that of a typical department-store product. Yet, most of the products still have a shelf life of several months to a year, which would be sufficient for most products, assuming they are used regularly.

Golden Path Alchemy is based in Los Angeles, California, but shipments can be arranged to all 50 states and even other countries. To lessen its environmental impact a step further, the company commonly ships in recycled boxes, using previously-used materials as often as possible.

In a previously posted article, The Green Guide, Preserve Food Storage was briefly mentioned as the greenest storage product available. The Preserve team is a dedicated group of people who have done more than make 100%  recycled storage products, they have developed ways to recycle #5 plastics, an essential step toward a greener America, which very few companies provide.

The Preserve products are all made from #5 plastic that would otherwise go straight to the dump. The company makes personal care products (razors, toothpicks, and toothbrushes), tableware (plates and cutlery), and other kitchen items (measuring cups, colanders, mixing bowls, and cutting boards). Most importantly, the Preserve team is committed to bringing you these items at top quality, without sacrificing price and durability.

So, now you know about Preserve products, and you can support them by purchasing their products, but that’s not the only way you can help. The Preserve team wants to make sure that their cycle continues, and you can help with this in four ways:

1. If your location doesn’t already recycle #5 plastic, drop off your #5 items in a Gimme 5 container. Unfortunately, these containers are only found in a few select areas. You can check to see if there is a place nearby where you live here.
2. You can return the used Preserve toothbrushes and razors for free through the mail using the steps provided here. These products can be used to create plastic “lumber” for a variety of projects such as benches or decks.
3. If a Gimme 5 location is not nearby, the final option is to mail your #5 plastics directly to the company. However, it is unable to cover the expenses for this transportation, and this will have to come out of your own pockets for products other than those mentioned in #2.
4. What you may not know is that Brita filters and pitcher filters can be recycled also. They can be dropped in a Gimme 5 container or mailed directly.

Hopefully we can help the Preserve team bring our power to recycle to its fullest potential.

Northeastern University recently has been boasting and raving about its new resident hall complex, International Village. A soon-to-be home to 1200 students, International Village is Northeastern’s newest source of pride. It will contain a dining hall (complete with a sushi bar), a cardiovascular gym, artwork from students, screens displaying Northeastern University students who are working and studying from all over the world, gender neutral housing on a few specific floors, and best of all, it is green certified.

Also known as having a LEED certification, International Village is one of many buildings in the world that has been certified. LEED is a third-party certification program. It is also the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, operation, and construction of green buildings. You may be asking yourself, why be green certified?

Well, for starters, green buildings have lower operating costs and increase asset value. It may cost more to set up your building to be green, but it is worth it in the end. For instance, you can even qualify for tax rebates with your building! Green buildings reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills, conserve energy and water, are healthier and safer, reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and more.

If you are building a new building, it may be worth your time to look for ways to make your building green certified. You also can turn existing buildings into LEED certified ones, but that may take a little bit more effort. There are many criteria that your building has to satisfy to qualify for this certification. There are different rules for the different types of buildings.

There are certification processes for homes, commercial interiors, new construction, schools, healthcare offices, retail offices, neighborhood development, and more. If you are looking into what criteria goes with your desired building plans, check out this site for the ranking system.

I think it is safe to say that the development of green buildings is going to continue to increase. Will you be one to join the crowd?

I recently wrote an article about recycling your cell phone. I had mentioned that there were places that you could drop off your phone in person and that there are websites that will help you recycle your electronics.

One of these sites is www.YouRenew.com. YouRenew is a great place that will allow you to sell or recycle your electronics in a few easy steps. It also does not take long to complete the process; so with a little bit of time and some unwanted electronics, you could be making the world a better place and making money!

YouRenew was founded in a dorm office when two men, Bob and Rich, realized that they were losing value on their old electronics. They recognized that the rapid progression of technology often resulted in spending hundreds of dollars on items of technology that were soon outdated. From personal experience, I know that I bought the first generation iPod Touch a month before the second generation came out, and I had no idea that it was going to come out! Had I known that I would have paid less money for a better and newer iPod.

When people continue to buy the latest and the greatest, the older item often gets discarded or thrown into a corner–essentially a waste of X amount of dollars. A main cause of this is because there is no easy way to recycle electronics.  Bob and Rich realized this and took action–forming YouRenew.

YouRenew receives thousands of items every month. They are able to resell 70% of these items, and the rest are recycled.

In a recent interview, the Director of Marketing and PR, Alysa Perry, provided us with more insight about YouRenew.com.  Alysa stated, “We are committed to educating people on the importance of electronics recycling. E-waste is the fastest growing stream of trash in the United States and we’ve made it our mission to stop that.”

When you go to retire a piece of electronic equipment, first try to see if there is a place for you to recycle, resell, or reuse it!

A common practice that I have been seeing is cell phone recycling. While ten years ago cell phones were not something that most of the population had, we now see that even ten year olds are walking around with cell phones!

Some of these ten year olds are walking around with their parents’ old phones, but there are others who receive brand new phones. Parents could save a lot of money by reusing their phones. Not only this, but throwing away the phone could mean that you are throwing away a phone that potentially could be used by someone else who cannot afford to buy a phone.

Every year Americans discard over 100 million cell phones. That is over 50,000 tons of waste, and the amount of recycled phones is extremely low.  Cell phones are made up of dangerous materials, such as arsenic, zinc and lead. When thrown into landfills, these materials can seep into the groundwater or be incinerated and therefore end up in the air that we breathe. Recycling cell phones will help to preserve the environment.

Many cell phone companies offer contract deals–meaning that, for instance, after two years you can buy a new phone for a certain deal. Getting a new phone every two years is not entirely necessary. Some people end up putting away perfectly good phones! Think about how many people in America are on these 2-year contract plans, and now think about how many phones that is!

While some stores have cell phone drop-off spots, recycling cell phones has not become a common practice. There are even websites that will allow you to sell or donate your old cell phones. One website is GRC Wireless Recycling. They will buy used cell phones from businesses, individuals, and municipal recyclers if you sell them at least 10 phones. You also can simply donate phones, or they will support you in organizing a cell phone fundraiser through a nonprofit organization, a school, or a community group.

So, next time you go to discard your old cell phone, try finding a place to recycle it! Either someone could use it and appreciate it, or someone will discard it in a safe manner!

What is better than helping care for our planet?  Helping care for our planet and providing shoes to needy children around the world.  The founders of GreenSoul Shoes plan to accomplish both of these goals.  Formed as a venture by Alastair Onglingswan, Iris Chau, and Stephen Chen, their mission is to provide one pair of shoes for every pair of 100% recycled shoes they sell, with a final goal of donating 1 million pairs of shoes.

The shoes will be made by artisans around the world.  Currently, they are working with artisans in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Peru.  Shoeless children in these communities will be the recipients of the donated shoes.  Using artisans from these countries has an additional benefit.  As it is noted on their website, “(W)e provide local employment opportunities and empower them to lift themselves from the claws of poverty.”

Speaking with Alastair, I learned that they already have received 200 orders and pre-orders for these sandals.  These shoes are due to arrive in New York and be distributed from there.

Distributing shoes to needy children requires contact with UNICEF and solving certain issues. “They have consulted with us on a number of different things including: how to ascertain the number of villagers that we will be distributing sandals to; determining the right local partner to help us do a shoe distribution; and how to make sure that the kids actually wear the shoes rather than selling them,” Alastair noted.  “Our first shoe drop will likely be in Manila, Philippines, with an organization called the Philippine Christian Foundation.”

To order a pair of Alpha sandals (their original model), simply visit shop.greensoulshoes.org.  Shoes are available in men’s, women’s, and (some) children’s sizes for $45.  Remember, when you purchase a pair for yourself, a second pair is donated to a needy child.  So, not only do you help others, but you get something for yourself also.

Are you trying to live a green lifestyle? This series explores different cities and their efforts to go green. So, it doesn’t matter if you just moved there or simply are going for a vacation. This series explores the green establishments you can visit in the city.

Food

1. Pizza Fusion

Pizza Fusion promises to deliver pizzas that use earth-conscious, environmentally-friendly ingredients and boxes. They deliver pizza using hybrid vehicles and provide their employees with eco-friendly apparel for their uniforms. And they encourage their customers to bring in their pizza boxes for recycling by giving discounts. They use fresh and organic materials in their pizzas to support the environment and organic agriculture. They even offer organic classes for kids to teach them about the significance of organic living. What are you waiting for? Save the Earth. Call Pizza Fusion now!

3827 5th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92103; Tel. (619)278-0057

2. Lean and Green

Located inside an office complex, Lean and Green may be hard to find. But once you find it, prepare to be dazzled by its varied selection of vegan, organic and gluten-free items. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, consisting of sandwiches, salads, wraps, smoothies and organic juices. All the flatware and dinnerware they use are recycled and biodegradable. Best to order online and avoid long lines.

7825 Fay Ave, Suite 180, La Jolla, CA 92037; Tel. (858)459-5326

Hotels

Hotel Solamar

Be sure to stay at Hotel Solamar and join their Earthcare Program. This program was designed to practice sustainable ways to protect the environment. Toiletries are made from natural materials. They’ve installed a comprehensive recycling program, including providing recycle bins in each rooms for the guests’ convenience. Eco-friendly cleaning supplies and methods are practiced by the employees of the hotel. Save Mother Earth, stay at Hotel Solamar.

435 6th Ave, San Diego, CA 92101; Tel.(619)819-9500

Shopping

Migrate Home

Migrate Home features environmentally-sustainable furniture perfect for the nature lovers’ homes, as well as eco-friendly clothing. They also support local talent by using their works to decorate their walls.

937 South Coast Hwy 101, Suite C103, Encinitas, CA 92024; Tel. (760)632-8284

Next stop: Seattle, Washington