If you truly want to make a difference in the world when it comes to vehicle emissions and lowering your carbon footprint, take a look at the Honda Civic GX. The Honda Civic GX is better than a hybrid, because it doesn’t require a drop of gasoline at all. Instead, the Honda Civic GX runs on natural gas. 

When a vehicle runs on natural gas, it has nearly zero emissions. The American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy even awarded the 2008 Honda Civic GX the distinction of being “America’s Greenest Car.” The Honda Civic GX sells for $25,000 and up when new. In addition, natural gas sells for up to dollars less per gallon than your regular gasoline.  It is the most affordable option when it comes to buying a new car that runs on natural gas.

Although the Honda Civic GX is a great concept, the purchase of this vehicle may not yet be ideal for everyone everywhere. There are only a couple of thousand natural gas stations in the United States (many in California), compared to the hundreds of thousands of gasoline stations across the country. Additionally, the tank only holds about 8 gallons of natural gas at a time, and limits journeys to around 200 miles between stops.

Overall, the Honda Civic GX is a great step toward greening our auto industry. We wait for the day for Honda to come out with a hydrogen-cell vehicle, but until then, the lesser emissions will do. If you live in an area that sells natural gas in numerous locations, or you do not drive hundreds of miles a week, you should consider the Honda Civic GX the next time you are looking to purchase a new car. As for Honda’s overall ability to develop safe and sturdy cars, the reputation is unbeatable for its class. We have been consistent Honda customers over the years and are excited to see them making steps towards a greener future.

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Major company Coca-Cola is trying to be greener by changing the material of their bottles. This new material still uses some petroleum based plastic, but 30% of the material is derived from sugar cane and molasses instead. Dasani (bottled water) will be the first lab rat for this new packaging experience. Depending on how the results are, Coke plans to implement the new bottle for all of its products.

We think that it is great that a company is not only looking to reduce the amount of plastic in their products, but trying to change the actual material as well. We hope that a corporation as large as Coca-Cola will find ways to do even better than this, however. Maybe their competitors will come up with something even better. Maybe Pepsi will come up with the next big change? Until then, we believe that 30% of non-petroleum based plastic is better then nothing, and fully support Coca-Cola’s efforts and hope their tests go well!

Looking forward to the next big plastic packaging changes! Any ideas?

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Next time you need a new phone, you don’t need to go to your wireless carrier’s store and spend a lot of money on a product that is not eco-friendly. Instead, go to Zendoo. Zendoo is an online store that sells used cellphones. Their mission is to reduce, reuse, and then recycle. Zendoo purchases used cell phones and then sells them on their website. With this sort of business, there is less of a demand for brand new cell phones which require virgin materials and lots of energy, perfectly good cell phones get reused, and broken cell phones get recycled in the most proper way to prevent harmful toxins from entering our environment. Zendoo cell phones are even shipped in recycled packaging with eco-friendly soy ink print. For more about Zendoo’s environmental efforts, check out their page called Cell Phones and the Environment.

They offer cellphones from all major service carriers for a fraction of the price (from LG and Nokia to iPhones). Each cell phone has a ranking system that lets you know whether the phone is worth your money or not, and each cell phone is tested by at least three employees to ensure customer satisfaction. The best feature is certainly the fact that you don’t need to sign a contract to purchase these phones. Once you pay, the phone is yours: no strings attached. Zendoo even has a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.

If you simply like to meet new people, like to talk about things green, or want to change the world for the better, we have found a great opportunity for you: Green Drinks. Green Drinks is a program currently in 494 cities worldwide where you can meet up with local green doers just like yourself.

These are fairly informal sessions where once a month people from your area can meet up and discuss eco-friendly activities, government regulation, education, health, and anything else related to things green over a couple of drinks. Last night we met up with the Lowell, MA Green Drinks group at Lowell Beer Works. The group contained bloggers like us, people from the construction industry and auto industry, chemists, and simple green do-ers alike. The discussion last night was mostly geared to health and cleaning products, and it was great to see the opinions of people from so many backgrounds. We look forward to next month’s Green Drinks and we encourage you to join the green discussion in your community!

If you find that Green Drinks does not exist in your city, you can simply start up your own! To learn how to start your own Green Drinks and the code of Green Drinks check out their Start Green Drinks page.

Many eco-friendly clothing and shoe companies have prices well beyond many people’s spending limit, so we are very excited to see that Payless ShoeSource has come out with an eco-friendly brand named zoe&zac. zoe&zac products are made from sustainable materials such as organic cotton and linen, recycled rubber, water-based glues, plastic bottles, and natural hemp. To go beyond just the product, zoe&zac shoes are sold in 100% recycled shoeboxes with soy ink printing. All shoes in this brand are sold for under $30.  We love the styles. You can purchase zoe&zac women or girls shoes at any Payless ShoeSource store or on-line. If you have AAA, you can even get 10% off your regular purchases at Payless ShoeSource!

In addition, for each zoe&zac product or reusable bag sold, Payless ShoeSource will donate $1 to the Nature Conservancy’s Plant A Billion Trees program. Big green thumb up for Payless ShoeSource and their affordable eco-friendly initiatives!

FEED Projects and Whole Foods Market are working together to sell the “Feed 100″ Bag. For each “Feed 100″ bag sold, 100 children in Rwanda will be fed a warm cooked meal at their local school. Each “Feed 100″ bag is sold for $29.99. Whole Foods Market claims that $10 of the sale goes towards the 100 meals through the UN World Food Program, and the remainder goes to the daily functions of FEED Projects and the production of the bags. Whole Foods Market does not make any money off of these sales.

What makes this bag great is two things. First, you get to help stop the hunger of children all over Rwanda, which was hit by genocide in the 1990s and is still recovering, and secondly you get to use a reusable bag made out of 100% organic cotton that folds up into a convenient pouch for easy transport. Make a statement with these bags: be environmentally friendly and help support the children of Rwanda so that they may receive a healthy meal, a greater education, and a more sustainable future.

For Whole Foods Market stores in your area, check out their store locations in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. You can also purchase the “Feed 100″ bags at the FEED Projects on-line store.

Want a system that can even make your e-mails greener? GreenyMail.com is just that: a system that encourages e-mails to be more eco-friendly. How is this done? GreenyMail.com plants a tree for every 100 e-mails sent collectively from members and every 1000 e-mails sent collectively from non-members. Along with their tree planting initiative, GreenyMail.com includes a banner on the top of every e-mail to show that it is eco-friendly to all the recipients.

GreenyMail.com originated in Australia as an effort to save energy and paper. The developers realized how many e-mails people were printing and realized the great waste of paper that was occurring. Their efforts to help solve this problem include encouraging recipients to keep their e-mails on their computer, not in their printer, and to replace printed e-mails by planting new trees. GreenyMail.com supports the following programs: Trees for the Future and Carbon Neutral.  

Becoming a GreenyMail user is easy. You keep your own e-mail address, and you can use the application on both Microsoft Outlook and your typical web browsers. Start by going to their Get Started page. Joining is free. You can either simply just join and have 1 tree planted per 1000 collective e-mails, or become a member and purchase a GreenKey (sold in 1, 3, or 6 month increments). GreenKeys allow a certain number of trees to be planted from the start, and give you more options when it comes to the banner and sponsor link on your outgoing and incoming e-mails.  If you are a member, 1 tree will also be planted for every 100 collective e-mails sent by members.

We like GreenyMail, because it is not only a great way to develop forests and save paper, but it is also a great way for an individual or company to show the efforts they are making to be more eco-friendly. With GreenyMail you can share what you are doing with all of your e-mail recipients, and even spread word of the cause so others may join too! Green thumb up to GreenyMail!

Buying local is ideally the way to go as you are able to avoid long travel distances and you get to support your local economy. However, sometimes we just can’t buy local and have to have a product shipped, or need to ship out a product of our own. Shipping, although not so bad if items are shipped in bulk on a truck carrying hundreds or thousands of shipments, always leaves some sort of carbon footprint.

One website allows you to offset the carbon due to each and every shipment you make, for just pennies a package: GreenShipping.com. This option is great for individuals and businesses. For individuals, for each purchase you make that requires shipping, or for any package you ship to others, you can enter the tracking number (UPS, FedEx, and USPS) to see the amount of CO2 is released during this shipment, and how much it will cost to offset. For instance, we ordered our eco-friendly wedding invitations from a company in Seattle, Washington, USA (Wedding Paper Divas). Once we received the shipment, we entered the tracking number and found that our shipment started in Seattle, made stops in Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, before making it to our home. With the destinations, mode of transport, and weight of the package, GreenShipping.com calculated that our package released 8.12 lbs of CO2. To offset this package, the cost is only 11 cents. Thus, our package will have a net-zero impact, and our offset will go to the development of renewable energy. 

For businesses, using GreenShipping.com will allow your company to help the environment, and you can develop a new edge to help improve your sales! Your customers can see that their shipments are being offset to help fund renewable energy, and they can even track them through GreenShipping.com. What a great way for customers to see what actions their favorite green companies are taking.

Sign-up is free and only requires your name and e-mail. To offset your shipments, you must select the My Account option on the top right corner of the screen and then click Add Funds. Once you use your credit card information to add funds, you will be well on your way to offsetting any and all shipments you make.

We give GreenShipping.com a green thumb up for developing an initiative for all businesses and people alike to make greener choices in their daily activities, for pennies at a time.

The time is coming for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs to be in season, so we thought we would give you a glimpse into what they are and how they work. We think CSAs are a wonderful concept, as they not only benefit local farmers, but can be quite rewarding to the consumers as well.

A Community Supported Agriculture program is one in which the consumer can purchase a certain number of shares or a membership  to access  local farmers’ crops for the season. For instance many CSA programs work so that you pay for a membership in the beginning of the season, and you will be delivered “a box” of fresh local vegetables every week. For the farmers this is great, because they get customers up front, an up front income to help support the rest of the season, and a better relationship with their surrounding community.

For the customers, this program is ideal because they will consistently receive local and super-fresh produce every week. You won’t be able to get everything this fresh at your supermarket. CSA’s allow for consumers to have a better knowledge of the food they are eating, and they even open up doors of opportunity to try new vegetables or fruits! For instance, many farmers come from all over the world and even plant their own native fruits and vegetables along with the typical local variety in your own community. Consumers can support their local communities by joining a CSA program.

To find a local CSA in your area visit LocalHarvest.org and enter your zip code or state. A very popular program in our area (Lowell, Massachusetts) is the World PEAS CSA which supports local farmers in the Lowell area. Tufts University’s New Entry program helped establish World PEAS CSA to help immigrant and refugee farmers to sell their products for a better income and to establish a solid foundation for their future. Education and training programs are offered by New Entry to help these farmers improve their companies and their skills.

Do you participate in a CSA program? Tell us what you think about it!

We found some great DIY crafts for kids to make their favorite Mom’s this Mother’s Day at National Geographic Kids! Find instructions on how to make bookmarks out of uses file folders, tissue paper flowers out of used tissue paper, an herb garden hit for an at-home garden, or a reusable tote bag with their very own design!

Check out these great eco-friendly crafts and many more offered by National Geographic Kids. Kids can make a gift for their mothers and learn to be environmentally friendly! For other Mother’s Day ideas such as healthy organic breakfast-in-bed recipes, or fun games and activities, check out the main page for National Geographic Kids and start learning today.