Butte College is thinking positive, grid-positive

Congratulations to our AusPen customers, Butte College,  for making history this morning!

The Californian community college has become the first US college to generate more electricity from its solar panels than it consumes! An amazing accomplishment! Already a leader in environmental sustainability (hey, they’d have to be if they’re using AusPen eco-friendly markers!), they are marking an important milestone as the first ‘grid-positive’ college.

Butte College’s solar arrays total 4.538 megawatts and will generate over 6.5 million kilowatt hours per year. The college estimates that it will save between $50 million and $75 million over 15 years, even after accounting for project costs and interest, by eliminating its electricity bill, getting paid for excess electricity production, and avoiding future electricity rate increases. For more information, visit their announcement on the Butte College website.

We wish Butte College continued success!

Choking on chalk?

Have your chalkboards got you down?

While some (like the Waldorf school system) love the creative angle of chalk, most chalk users can’t stand the mess chalk leaves on the board, floor and hands, not to mention the skin and breathing problems that have become a focus of the chalkboard versus whiteboard debate.

During our recent basement renovation project I started getting itchy, rashy skin. It’s not like I could blame it on the labour involved (ok, there was no labour on my part). I narrowed the culprit down to the drywall dust that was  covering everything from the counters to the cat. A quick online search lead me to believe that I was most likely reacting to the gypsum in drywall – the same ingredient in modern-day chalk.

AusPen dry-erase markers are a great alternative to messy and aggravating chalk. The non-toxic ink won’t cause skin or breathing issues, and the recycled and refillable markers cut down on all the waste associated with disposable dry-erase markers.

Stuck with chalkboards? Try Idea Paint. It’s an innovative whiteboard paint that will turn any blackboard into a whiteboard, leaving chalk to the sidewalk artists and gymnasts.

10 Tips to Detox Your Life

Studies have shown that our food, office supplies, beauty products and everyday consumer goods contain significant levels of toxic substances that are finding their way inside our bodies. From houseplants that clean the air to non-toxic school and office supplies to the EWG’s list of Clean 15 produce, these 10 tips will help you detox your life in simple, everyday actions.

The task of eliminating or at least reducing our exposure to toxins can seem like an overwhelming job. The Environmental Working Group determined in 2005 that there are approximately 287 industrial chemicals found in newborn babies. Clearly, something has gone wrong. It seems as though there is new evidence daily that links our food, beauty products and consumer goods to harmful toxins. While much of our exposure to harmful toxins is beyond our control, the majority of our choices can go a long way in guarding us against the toxic effect of accumulating toxins in our bodies. Here are some simple daily actions to help detox your life.   

1.  Shop with The Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists of produce. Not only are some foods cleaner of pesticide residue, but they actually help to detoxify our bodies. Some of these cleansing foods, especially if they are organic, include: broccoli, garlic, spinach, cabbage, sprouts, ginger and turmeric. It is also advisable to limit our foods from high up on the food chain, like meat, fish and dairy. These are foods that have accumulated higher concentrations of toxins through the process of bio magnification.

 2.  Beautify your home with some plants that actually purify your air. These household plants can clear the air of pollutants and toxins, counteract off-gassing, and help balance humidity levels. Boston ferns, reed palms, dracaenas, English ivys, peace lillies and rubber plants will do the trick.

3.  Install a carbon monoxide detector in your home if you heat your home with gas or oil. Your olfactory senses will not pick up a carbon monoxide leak, which can lead to persistent headaches, fatigue or even death.

 4.  Getting rid of mold in the house will help with allergies and breathing problems. Replacing old carpet or furniture that smells mildewy, as well as cleaning with a few drops of tea tree oil, will help get rid of mold. A word of caution to cat owners: tea tree oil, lavender and other essential oils commonly used in cleaning can be harmful to our feline friends.

 5.  Purchase non-toxic school and art supplies for your home. Dry-erase markers, paints, glues, glazes, and sculpting and modelling materials can all have toxic ingredients. Look for non-toxic and low-odor markers and paints, and search for homemade recipes for art and craft supplies like clay, paste, paints, dyes and sidewalk chalk.

 6.  Akin to using non-toxic school supplies, avoid chemical cleaning products in favor of natural cleaning ones. A quick online search will result in homemade recipes that use ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, soap flakes and orange oil. These concoctions can be used to replace commercial all-purpose cleaner, window cleaner, dishwasher detergent, laundry soap and even dryer sheets.

 7.  Choose no-volatile organic compound (VOC) paints for your home. Long after the paint has dried, the paint off-gasses its chemicals, which have been linked to cancer.

 8.  We’ve already learned about never heating plastic in the microwave or dishwasher. Now we have to ditch the non-stick pans. While they were novel when they first came onto the market, the coatings in Teflon and Silverstone have since been classified as carcinogens, as they emit perflourochemicals (PFCs).

 9.  Regular exercise has many benefits, one of which is to help eliminate toxins through the skin in sweat. As well, massage improves circulation and helps stimulate the lymph nodes – the organs that pick up toxins throughout the body.

 10.  Avoid commercial fragrances like plug-in air fresheners, pot pourri, and fabric softeners which are loaded with toxic ingredients that have been linked to hormonal imbalances, mood swings, fatigue, and brain damage. Equally disturbing are the potential effects of perfumes, colognes and other personal care products that contain parabens, phthalates and diethanolamine (DEA). These chemicals are derived from petroleum and can be linked to cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders, hormone disruptions and allergic reactions. For natural perfumes made of essential oils, try Nantucket Natural Oils, Aubrey Organics and Tigerflag Natural Perfumery.

With the mindset that every little effort counts, these 10 simple ways to detox will create a momentum and drive to lighten the pollution load in our bodies, and help us breathe a little easier.

Game on!

Work productivity in the city of Vancouver is sure to come to a grinding halt this afternoon for the final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But for now, at IRMACS Center at SFU, the staff is still hard at work – with their green and blue AusPen markers.

We were happy to receive this photo update from IRMACS who had needed to re-order 2 specific colors for their refillable markers. We see that you’re topped up and ready to keep on going! 

(To our valued customers who are Boston Bruins fans: your orange and black AusPen markers are refillable too. Send us photos of your signs!)

Green Gifts for Teachers: 5 Unique Gifts Under $50

In the digital age, the art of the graceful thank you gift and note is arguably more important than it ever was. The school year is drawing to a close and a thoughtful expression of appreciation often goes a long way in thanking a teacher for a hard-working year. Making an eco-friendly choice for a teacher gift is a nice added touch and resonates well with many teachers who are looking to go green at school and in their personal lives. The following ideas for earth-friendly teacher gifts under $50 are sure to leave more of an impact on the teacher than on the Earth.   

1.  AusPen eco-friendly markers

With budget cuts throughout the educational system, many teachers have to spend their own money on classroom supplies.  If your teacher uses whiteboards in the class, a set of non-toxic, refillable dry-erase markers is a long-lasting and practical gift. Made of recycled materials, AusPen markers are refillable with ink that is derived from vegetable dyes and denatured alcohol, so they won’t cause nasty smells or horrible headaches. The set of 6 markers and their refill inks means your teacher won’t have to throw away any more plastic markers or constantly go looking for fresh ones.

2.  PVC-free lunch and drink containers

Lunch bags and drink containers that are PVC and lead-free will make lunch go down a little easier. Canvas or organic cotton lunch bags are a food-safe alternative, and they have the added bonus of eliminating all the waste associated with plastic baggies and wraps. Greenfeet.com, Ecobags.com and Reusablebags.com all offer re-useable lunch bags, and the Wrap-N-Mat holds your lunch and then opens up to a placemat for a clean eating surface. As for drink bottles, the stainless steel drinking container has effectively replaced plastic bottles, many of which leach bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone-disrupting chemical. While ceramic mugs from a local artisan shop are a good idea and make a unique gift, make sure to ask if the glaze is lead-free.

 3.  Something for the garden or terrace

 A potted plant is a great alternative to fresh cut flowers, as they will last longer and are generally more pesticide-free. Or, if you prefer a gift with an even longer-lasting appeal, your local nursery is sure to have a diversity of embellishments for an outdoor space, such as an ornament, window box, outdoor lantern, stepping stone or wind chimes. Helping your teacher enjoy the outdoors is a befitting way of thanking him or her for all the time spent indoors.

 4.  A collection of tree-free paper products

Presumably teachers enjoy the tactile and creative experience of writing or drawing. Currently, 90% of the world’s paper is manufactured from wood pulp, but there are so many new tree-free paper products on the market. Why not give your teacher a few new paper products to try out. A notebook made of crushed stone paper is not only heavier, but it also provides a smoother writing surface that is different to the touch and absorbs ink differently. Your teacher may have fun experimenting with the variety of new products available in stationery stores including paper made from coffee, banana leaf, lemon, tobacco, elephant dung (!), hemp, flax, cereal, straw, and corn.

 5.  A gift card or donation

A gift card can offer someone a gift that is less material and more experiential. A gift card to a restaurant or the movie theatre, or to experience something locally such as an exhibit or spa treatment are great alternatives to adding more stuff into your teacher’s life. Depending on the interests of your teacher, a charitable donation is also a thoughtful way of thanking him or her, in the spirit of paying it forward. If your teacher focuses on children, donating to a children’s charity such as a hospital, Make-A-Wish Foundation or Big Brothers Big Sisters is fitting. Otherwise, there are plenty of organizations such as charitywater.org, Plan USA/Canada, and UNICEF that provide much needed help to children in developing nations.

Finally, the art of saying thank you is never quite complete without a sincere thank you note to express your gratitude. If the teacher is your child’s teacher, this is an essential teachable moment to help the child learn the importance of showing appreciation to others. If it’s the thought that counts in giving a gift, your teacher will certainly appreciate the eco-values you are supporting and the extra measure of thoughtfulness of a hand-written note or drawing.  

National Get Outdoors Day

Do we really need a designated day to remind us to enjoy the outdoors? This past weekend’s National Get Outdoors Day may sound silly to some, but it’s a good reminder to others. For me, I am reminded of the term Nature Deficit Disorder, coined by Richard Louv . Playing at the playground, riding bikes and playing soccer or baseball are all good, but different from spending unstructured time exploring nature.

We announced to our 3 sons that today they are going – on their own – into the forest behind our house. They are to stay together and not go farther than the clearing.

‘What for?” asks our youngest.

“Can we bring the sound machine?” asks another. (This lovely gadget makes different sounds like a laugh track, the sound of applause and yes, the sound of a gun.) 

“How about the slinky – it doesn’t make noise,” asks the third

With no slinky, no sound machines and no parents, the boys went tentatively and bravely into the forest. I made a mental note of the time and when I would go get them if they weren’t back. This is new to all of us.

Upon their return, they explained how they looked for spots to hide a treasure and make an orienteering map for their friends to find the spot. I felt a little triumphant, unless of course, the treasure turns out to be a sound machine or slinky.

Here’s the link to the National Get Outdoors Day site, with the theme song for kids (good for any old day).

http://www.nationalgetoutdoorsday.org/

Summertime Learning

It’s that time of year. If school is not already out for the summer, it might as well be. It’s also that time of year when educators and parents question how to keep up children’s learning during the summer vacation.

Wouldn’t it be great if summertime fun – playing outdoors and having more unstructured time – actually enhanced children’s capacity and motivation to learn? What if catching frogs was the prerequisite for a natural curiosity in biology? What if spending a night camping helped kids develop a desire to care for the environment? And what if, during that night outdoors, kids could actually see the constellations that they have to memorize in the grade 6 curriculum?

Research* says that boys in particular are not reading for fun as much anymore. The obvious is to blame time spent on video games. We’re ok, I tell myself, my 3 boys have got Magic Tree House, Harry Potter and Percy Jackson covered. But then I read on… the time spent on video games is not impacting the amount of time that boys read for fun.

Video games have displaced another major activity, but that activity isn’t reading; it’s playing outdoors.

Ahhh.

Right. So this summer, it’s not a question of balancing screen and off-screen time. It’s a question of balancing screen and outdoor discovery time. It’ll be my way of ensuring that the boys stay motivated to learn in school and justifying why I’m not doing one more activity book!

* ‘Research says…’: I’m reading and loving the book, Boys Adrift – the 5 factors driving the growning epidemic of unmotivated boys and underachieving young men by Dr Leonar Sax. (Just so you don’t feel left out, girls: your crises are covered in Girls on the Edge by the same author.)

Canucks fans out of ink

There are all sorts of reasons to use up large amounts of ink for your AusPen refillable whiteboard markers.

But at IRMACS Centre, a state-of-the-art facility at Simon Fraser University, they are running low on green and blue ink - the colors of the Vancouver Canucks.

To show their support for their local hockey team, the staff at IRMACS Centre wheel their mobile whiteboard into the reception area and get to work with their AusPen whiteboard markers.

What better reason to use up dry-erase ink? Hey, the Canucks deserve it – it’s been 17 years since they have made it to the Stanley Cup finals. And just to show support of this team spirit, EcoSmart Products has sent IRMACS new blue and green refill ink bottles, on the house, so they can keep cheering the Canucks on.

They may need it after last night’s defeat.

For more information on IRMACS Centre visit: http://www.irmacs.sfu.ca/

June AusPen Giveaway Draw!

AusPen Giveaways

Where it pays to go green

 Welcome to EcoSmart’s giveaway program where your “Green” stories can get you great free eco-friendly products.  Each month we choose a theme, welcome your input, and have an AusPen draw, ranging each month from AusPen starter kits, to marker packs to accessories.

 June Theme:  Grads and Dads

 June is a great month for most of us – but especially grads and dads!

Know anyone graduating this season? How about any special fathers to be celebrated in June? Share any of your plans for green gifts this month – for grads, dads or anyone else, including yourself, who deserves a gift. Of course we think that a set of non-toxic, refillable, recycled/recyclable AusPen markers would make a great green gift.  

There are two ways to automatically enter this draw: 1. Leave a comment below or 2. Email us (info@ecosmartworld.com) and you will be automatically entered into a draw for AusPen giveaways!

 

Please note some portion of your submission may be used by EcoSmart Products in promotional material.