Posts Tagged ecogear
OLovesM Eco Bags Made from Yoga-Mat Scraps
OLovesM Eco Bags are made from scraps of yoga-mat material and made-in-the-USA fabric remnants. They are the brainchild of Merle O’Brien, a mom of two who makes her home just down the highway from Aspen, and who sells her bags — from clutches to totes to shoulder bags — at the local Aspen Saturday Market all summer long.
Merle came up with the idea to repurpose yoga-mat scraps during… wait for it… yoga class. Though she didn’t have a background in creating or marketing a brand-new product (nor is she particularly a crafty sewing type, she admits), that didn’t stop her from figuring it out on her own, sourcing the scrap materials and hiring home workers to sew for her.
Merle also walks the talk when it comes to being a steward of Mother Earth. For the past two Outdoor Retailer trade shows, she’s created her booth on the fly, the day before each show, using repurposed wood and other building materials like old doors and windows. Zero waste!
I love OLovesM bags because they’re a) so darn cute and playful, with their different colors and fun fabric patterns and b) they’re versatile and practical: the yoga mat fabric is easily wipeable and it’s durable. The fact that they are made from material that would have ended up in landfills for a bajillion years makes them even more appealing.
I’ve had a small Bernie bag (pictured right) for several years now, and bring it often on trips because it packs flat in a suitcase. I like this style in particular, because it can carry the essentials — wallet, room key, make-up, point-and-shoot camera — in the main zippered compartment. Two side pockets provide more room to slip business cards or pamphlets I often pick up on the go, and the long shoulder strap allows me to sling it across my body for hands-free sightseeing and strolling. This style retails for $42, and comes in several different fabric/mat color combinations. A fan of totes, I also dig the Nancy (pictured below left) which measures 11.5 x 10 x 2 and retails for $46.
If you’re in the Aspen area now through October, say hi to the affable Merle at her colorful booth during the Saturday Market downtown. That’s where you’ll find some great one-of-a-kind items that aren’t on the website; also call Merle to find out if her products are sold at a store near you: 888-693-2622. Otherwise, buy them on the OLovesM.com website.
Oh, and the name of the company? It stands in part for “O” (Merle’s husband) Loves “M” (Merle), but it’s also a play on the “OM” sound intoned during yoga practice.
Posted by Kara in General Gear, Kids and Family on October 1st, 2010
Eco-Friendly Lip Balm & All-Around Healing Balm from Elemental Herbs
While I don’t often base my purchasing decisions around whether or not products are made from organic or recycled materials, I know there are a whole lot of you out there who will pay a little more for environmentally friendly items and who do shop with Mother Nature top of mind.
For you, I present Elemental Herbs, a company founded by Caroline Duell, who has a background in herbal medicine and wilderness education, and who just happened to grow up a stone’s throw from my home in the Colorado mountains. Today she lives and runs her company on an organic farm on the Central Coast of California. There, she and her Elemental Herbs colleagues drive vehicles that run on bio-diesel (produced with waste oil). Elemental Herbs product packaging is always recyclable and recycled when possible, ingredients are organically grown and/or sustainably sourced, and marketing materials are always printed on post consumer recycled paper.
One Elemental Herbs product that I’ve been using in the past couple weeks is the All Good Goop organic healing balm. Key ingredients are organic calendula, comfrey and lavender, all infused in organic olive oil with pure beeswax, lavender essential oil and Vitamin E. If that’s not all wholesome goodness, I don’t know what is!
It’s called “goop,” but the substance is really closer to a solid lip balm texture, which is good, because I think you use less of it (saving money) than if it were more of a liquid consistency. I’ve used the goop as lip balm at night (when I didn’t care about having SPF on my lips), and I’ve used it to soothe a small burn on my finger (from the hotel coffeemaker of all things) and tiny cuts. It’s also great for smoothing rough heels and raw cuticles.
When I chatted with Caroline at the Outdoor Retailer trade show this summer, she noted that some travelers have rubbed the lavender-scented All Good Goop under their nostrils when they are in a stinky situation, say, on public transportation in a third-world country. Indeed, this is an amazing product for backpackers since it does pull double and triple duty. (Caroline says it makes a great diaper rash ointment, as well, though, thankfully I’m well past the diapering stage of motherhood and pleased I haven’t had the chance to test that type of use firsthand.) The All Good Goop retails for $8.50 for a 1-oz jar.
Another product I’ve had on my lips this week during the daylight hours is All Good Lips SPF 12. Ingredients here are similar to the All Good Goop, but also includes octinoxate and zinc oxide for protection against the sun’s harmful UV rays. (This makes the lip balm “made with organic ingredients,” unlike the certified organic original Elemental Herbs All Good Lips with no SPF.) Also to note: these SPF lip balms are free of oxybenzone, a chemical that the skin absorbs with potentially toxic lasting effects.
I like that the zinc oxide in the lip balm does not turn my lips white. I’m also partial to the original flavor (i.e. no flavor I taste), but you can also get the SPF version of All Good Lips in Sweet Tangerine and Cool Spearmint. This lip balm goes on smooth and keeps my lips moist. Perfect! Lip balms retail for $3.50.
Sample both of these products, along with Herbal Cool (a muscle pain relief spray) and a 1-oz tube of sunscreen in the large Herbal Healing Kit. All the small items are well under the TSA’s 3-oz requirements, and would make a great gift for an environmentally savvy traveler, as they are packaged in an organic cotton drawstring bag.
Elemental Herbs Camping Organic Healing Set at Backcountry.com
Posted by Kara in Travel Light on September 28th, 2010
Natural Outdoor Products From All Terrain
I had to wait until the heat of summer to try out an array of product samples I got earlier in the year from All Terrain. Most of what they produce is meant to protect you from two menaces: the sun and biting bugs. They do both in an all natural way though, with no DEET in the insect repellent and no wide array of tough-to-pronounce chemicals in the sunscreen.
Some of these products I liked more than others. If the stuff works as well as its chemical counterpart—or close at least—then naturally I’d rather go natural. When there are performance issues, however, using the natural variation is more of a moral or health choice than anything.
Lip Armour Balm – This lip balm was my favorite of the bunch, and a bargain at a list price of $2.59. In this case the product feels (and tastes) better on the lips than the usual petroleum-based alternatives. It’s made of Shea Butter, Vitamin E, hemp seed oil and All Terrain’s proprietary Z-Cote zinc oxide for SPF 25 sun blocking. Great stuff!
Herbal Armour Insect Repellent – My past experience with natural insect repellents has mostly been disappointing, with the results ranging from “not bad if you reapply every half hour” to “bugs thought I was breakfast.” This All Terrain version is the first one I’ve tried that I would consider a fairly good alternative to DEET. The company claims it stays 100% effective for two hours (and 95% for another hour) and while I didn’t scientifically test those claims, the 5-oils repellent didn’t require frequent reapplication to keep the mozzies at bay. Especially if you have kids or sensitive skin, Herbal Armour offers natural protection without a lot of trade-offs. At $7.99 for four ounces or $4.99 for a two-ounce travel size, this is a great value too.
Biodegradable Sunscreen -Unfortunately, it wasn’t a three out of three with the all natural products. “I absolutely hate this sunscreen” was my wife’s reaction after a couple of days using it at the beaches of Puerto Vallarta and I had zebra stripes on my belly after not rubbing it in uniformly enough one day. I tried all three versions (Terra Sport, Aqua Sport, and Kid Sport) and the results were similar. All were tough to apply without a lot of elbow grease, streaky on the skin, and quick to leave white streaky stains on all three of our bathing suits. These problems aren’t unique to this company, but are issues that plague nearly every brand of natural sunscreen. Without all the binding agents and nanotech wonderstuffs you get with the more popular kinds, and with the tendency of any zinc oxide product to be less-than-transparent, natural sunscreens have a tough comparison battle with the chemical alternatives.
Having said all that, I would still use this in sensitive areas like Yucatan cenotes or when snorkeling around protected coral reefs. It’s worth it to put up with a little inconvenience to protect our planet mates. In a swimming pool though? Unless you have sensitive skin, bring on the Banana Boat.
See the full line of All Terrain Natural products and order direct.
All Terrain Herbal Armor Spray Insect Repellent at REI.
Kid’s Herbal Armour at Amazon
Related review:
Beyond Coastal Sun Care Products
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, Kids and Family, Travel Light on August 5th, 2010
Power for Your Gear, Anywhere: KIWI U-Powered Portable Charger
The KIWI U-Powered Solar & USB Portable Charger kind of reminds me of the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared. With this in your bag, you’ll be prepared to recharge just about any kind of portable gear, from smartphones to GPS units.
KIWI U-Powered is a portable, universal charger just released by KIWI Choice, Inc. of Canada. It starts with a battery pack that can be charged four ways—by the sun, plugged in to an AC outlet, in a car, or from a computer’s USB port.
Then, the unit can be used to recharge your travel gear during long flights across the ocean, on camping or hiking trips or any other times when there might not be a power plug nearby.
The KIWI U-Powered is really well-designed. It fits perfectly in my hand and weighs less than four-and-a-half ounces.
It can be charged from a 110- or 220-volt AC outlet, making it perfect for international travel.
The KIWI U-Powered storage battery can also be charged by the sun. It unfolds into the shape of a fan blade. The design cleverly allows the use of three photo voltaic solar panels when charging with green power.
The compatibility list is long for this portable charger. Included with the kit are a cable and 11 tips that will charge iPhones and iPods; phones from Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Palm, Motorola and Sony; Bluetooth headsets; GPS units; digital cameras; e-readers; and portable game consoles.
The lithium polymer storage battery stores 2,000 mAh, which should recharge several small devices. Charging the battery from a USB port, AC current or a car outlet takes three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hours.
Solar charging takes much longer, of course. In my tests, the battery picked up more than 25 percent of a full charge sitting five hours in the hot Texas sun. That’s consistent with the company’s claim that a full solar charge should take about 17 hours.
The unit is designed to last for 1,000 power cycles, which means it should be keeping your gear running for years.
My colleague, Tim, reviewed another solar charger earlier, but it lacked the variety of tips included with the KIWI.
A couple of other features on the U-Powered charger are also noteworthy. There are magnets on the back of the storage battery, allowing it to be attached to a car or other metal object while charging the solar panels. I wouldn’t recommend putting it on a moving car, though, unless you want to pick up the pieces from the road. There’s also a handy LED flashlight on the end of the storage battery.
I was pleasantly surprised by the price—$49.99. My guess would have been more than twice that much. It’s available now on the company’s website and will also be rolled out at retailers and other online stores.
If there’s another device on the market that does all this for the same price, I haven’t found it. The KIWI U-Powered Solar & USB Portable Charger brings power wherever you need it, even miles away from the nearest plug.
Posted by JohnG in Adventure Gear, Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on June 8th, 2010
Black Rhino Eco-Friendly Laptop-Holding Backpack from Ecogear
When I travel by plane, I like to carry my laptop in a Checkpoint Friendly carry-on, so I don’t have to remove my computer from my bag when I make my way through security. I’ve just heard too many stories about stolen and broken laptops to ever want to put my irreplacable hard drive in a grey bin on a conveyor belt. But for road trips and toting my laptop to work at the local coffeeshop, I’ve got a new favorite: the Black Rhino, eco-friendly backpack from Ecogear.
Before I launch into the nifty features, here’s why the bag is considered “eco-friendly”: It’s made with materials that are free from the chemical coating PVC, or Polyvinyl Chloride. According to Ecogear, PVC contains chlorine, and when burned (say in dumps after it’s thrown away), it emits toxic hydrochloric gas, which turns into hydrochloric acid on contact with moisture. When buried, the toxic chemicals from PVC can leach into the ground.
Instead of using materials coated with PVC, Ecogear’s Ecotech line of bags are made with nylon EcoWeave, which uses a PVC alternative called EPO. This coating is toxin-free, PVC-free and chlorine-free, and when it’s burned it produces H20 and CO2 gases.
Eco-friendliness aside, I dig this backpack because it’s so comfortable to carry. The shoulder straps are wide and nicely padded; one has a small zippered pouch to keep valuables close.
Regarding pockets and pouches, there are no less than 20 of them! Besides the two side zippered pouches, there’s a small, slim front pocket, as well as a second-biggest front pocket with organizer pouches inside, for pens, business cards a cell phone and more.
The third-biggest pocket is great for storing papers and smaller items in the (still more!) mesh zippered pocket and pouch. The grand-daddy main compartment features the padded laptop sleeve with a removable padded laptop carrier (I typically just slide my laptop in the sleeve — I like how it stays put with a Velcro strap.) Even in this main compartment there are (still more!) pockets and pouches — both zippered and open. Seriously, this bag can hold an incredible amount of stuff — and if you can remember where you put all your items, it will keep you organized, too.
The Black Rhino is functional and rugged — I’m not going to win any style awards carrying this bag around town. Actually, it’s more masculine than feminine — my husband has borrowed it a couple times. The black color and simple, sleek design suit me, but if you’re a woman looking for something more girlier, this isn’t for you. Later this year, Ecogear will release colorful options from the Recycle Series, made from recycled PET bottles.
Purchase the Black Rhino on the Ecogear website for $59.99.
Get the Black Rhino backpack from eBags
Posted by Kara in Business Gear, General Gear on September 18th, 2009
