The 2011 Green Holiday Gift Guide

Make your holidays this year as green as possible with eco-friendly gifts for everyone on your list. Since there is no one-stop shop for everyone, use this 2011 Green Holiday Gift Guide to get ideas for unique, earth-friendly gifts for the home, school or office. This list of gift options highlights the best in reusable, non-toxic, organic and sustainable products. The 2011 Green Holiday Gift Guide is sure to help you find the right green gifts that will have your family and friends – and Mother Earth – thanking you.

1.  Long lasting products instead of “one-time” products

Steering clear of disposable or one-time use items will help reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfills, and move our society towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Reusable mugs, drinking containers and lunch boxes are good gifts, as long as they are PVC, BPA and lead-free. For the teachers, co-workers, or anyone else on your list who works with dry-erase markers, a useful gift is a set of non-toxic, refillable markers from EcoSmart Products. Adding a few new drops of ink back into a marker, rather than throwing it out, will help all the marker-users on your list to reduce their ecological footprint.   

2.  Natural products rather than ones made of chemicals

Synthethic-based compounds, which are derived from petroleum, make up the majority of our cosmetics and fragrances. Not only are these substances resource-intensive, but they have also been linked to cancer, hormone disruptions, allergic reactions and other harmful effects. For natural perfumes made of essential oils, try Nantucket Natural Oils, Aubrey Organics, Lavender Farms, and Tigerflag Natural Perfumery. And let’s not forget the men! For masculine natural personal care products, try Organic Grooming, Burt’s Bees Natural Grooming, Bulldog, and The Natural Grooming Company.

3.  Services, or non-material gifts

 One of the best ways to reduce our impact during the gift-giving holidays is to give a non-material gift. There are many services that do double duty by making a great gift and helping the environment too. Consider a gift card for car washes – a professional car wash uses far less water than a home car wash. Gift cards or even a season’s pass to Netflicks or itunes will allow your movie or music lover enjoy a diversity of options rather than owning a few select dvds and cds. A host of environmental and humanitarian charities will also be a meaningful gift for those wishing to help make a difference. No gift wrap and ribbons necessary.

4.  Devices that can help save energy

 Most households will most likely increase their collection of devices, gadgets and technology. For the tech-lover, consider the range of solar-powered gadgets that range from solar-paneled laptop bags to rechargers to camcorders. The NovoThink Surge Solar iPhone case even recharges the device while it is stored in its case. Water-powered alarm clocks will help wash away the guilt of energy consumption, while smart meters will help your eco conscious family and friends to keep an eye on the energy being consumed in the home.

5.  Foster a green thumb or love of the outdoors

Encourage the green thumb on your list with indoor plants, a stainless steel composter, or a season’s pass to the local parks. Outdoor outfitters have plenty of choices from camping gear (stoves, tents, water purification systems, and portable showers) to outdoor clothing or even off-beat sports equipment like a set of snowshoes. Embellishments for a garden or patio will also delight those who love the outdoors. Stone statues, a rain barrel, a bird bath, hanging lanterns, chimes, or ceramic outdoor planters make beautiful holiday gifts.

6.  Products made from more sustainable materials

 Bamboo is quickly becoming the sustainable material of choice when it comes to wooden items (think bowls, serving platters and serving utensils) and cotton items (think pjs, bathrobes, blankets and bedding). Gaiam and Blue Lotus offer bamboo and organic cotton items that avoid all the chemicals used in traditional cotton crops. For the kids, it is important to choose toys that are made of safe and more sustainable materials. Avoid PVC (the ‘poison plastic’) by looking for toys made of natural materials like wood, cotton and wool, with non-toxic dyes, paints and finishes. This will give the kids a message that fun does not always have to be made of plastic.

7.  Locally-made or grown products

To support the local economy and give a gift that carries the flavor of the local culture, consider your local artisans. The carbon footprint of a local, handmade item is considerably less than items packaged and shipped from overseas. Take a trip to the local farmer’s market, art district or tourist area to find distinctive local treasures such as tapestry, pottery, soy candles or photographs and prints of the region. Shares for the local farmers’ harvest (Community Supported Agriculture – CSA) will also help your family and friends eating local and organic food throughout the growing season.

8.  Toys that reinforce an eco message and build skills of the future

What better green gift for the school age child than a toy that builds skills towards a more sustainable future? The Green Science Kits (sold in many retailers, such as Indigo/Chapters) are a fun way to teach kids the basics of environmental science. The different kits help kids build a windmill generator, an enviro battery (made from a potato), a water filter and a solar-powered rover. Your budding environmentalist just may become part of the next generation of eco inventors.

Whether the gifts you give this season are reuseable, local, sustainable or help others to become better eco warriors, your choice of a uniquely eco-friendly gift will help those on your list to tread a little lighter on the earth. And that’s a reason for holiday cheer.

The Writing is on the Wall: Blog Series Part III

You may be familiar with the ‘broken window’ theory, which basically holds that an unfixed broken window in a building gives a city block the appearance of decay and disrepair, and thus encourages the gathering of lawless individuals and more acts of damage to property. It was this theory that prompted the famous clearing of graffiti off subways and buildings in New York City in the mid 90′s. Graffiti ‘tags’, which claimed gang territory and gave an ‘off-limits’ message, were painted over, night after night.

Our current blog series has highlighted a different kind of graffiti, a different kind of tagging. So many of our AusPen customers have celebrated an opening, raised awareness of a cause, and just encourgaged creativity by having participants scratch their own names or drawing on their walls.

Today we are looking at how the Teens Turning Green held a Lips Against Lead campaign, encouraging participants to ‘sign on’ with our eco-friendly markers. And we look at how the Hub, an innovative meeting space for entrepreneurs, leaders and thinkers encourages writing on their windows and walls with AusPen markers to spark creativity.

While the graffiti of New York in the 90′s was largely seen as a sign of urban decay, we salute this new wave of writing on the wall that is fun, erasable, and non-toxic!

The Writing is on the Wall, Blog Series Part II

One of the most fun, unique and crazy examples of writing on the walls with AusPen markers is with Travis Nichols and his Monster Doodle Book events.

Travis Nicols, the illustrator of the Monster Doodle book, frames blow-ups from his book and entices attendees to draw on them with dry erase markers. His marker of choice? None other than the non-toxic, refillable AusPen markers!

If you would like to grow your child’s imaginiation, check out the half-finished doodles of monsters and other creatures of the Monster Doodle Book, featuring misshapen bodies, oodles of appendages, and all kinds of gross goodness.

Blog Series: The Writing is on the Wall

This fall, Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology opened its newest resource for innovative materials: dLib, the design library.

And to open their new and creative space, what better activitity than writing on the walls with non-toxic (and refillable) AusPen markers?

 Thanks to the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis for sharing pics of your opening festivities!

For more information on this new resource library, visit their site here.

November 2011 AusPen Giveaway Draw!

November AusPen Giveaway!

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.

November Theme:  Show off your creation with dry-erase markers!

Whether it’s a full colorful whiteboard after a busy lesson, a simple quotation, a child’s drawing, a dry-erase wall ‘mural’, or something altogether different & creative… let us see a picture of something you’ve done with dry-erase markers. Show us your stuff. It will be like peeking into each other’s class/boardroom/home/studio/office.

This month’s AusPen giveaway draw has a twist: post a picture of your dry-erase creation to our Facebook page, and you’ll be entered to win one of 6 AusPen 12-packs and their companion refill inks! We’re giving away a 12-pack/refill ink combo pack for each of the 6 vibrant colors.

Here’s how you can join the fun!

1. Go to AusPen Eco-Friendly Marker Facebook page and Like the page
2. Upload your photo to the wall. You can include a caption or explanation of what your photo is all about
3. Invite your friends to see!
4. We’ll announce the 6 winners of the draw on December 15, 2011. 

Some finer points:

• Your photo does not have to be of something written with AusPen markers – any dry-erase marker will suffice (Hey! Your entry might win you the chance to get your first AusPen non-toxic, refillable markers.)
• Your entry does not have to be your own dry-erase creation, as long as you have permission to use the photo.
• Please ensure that you have permission to share the content of your photo, including the permission of any people in the photo.

There are two ways to automatically enter this draw: 1. Visit our Facebook page and upload a photo or 2. Email us (info@ecosmartworld.com) a photo that we can upload to our Facebook page, 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.

Halloween Candies and Costumes

Happy Halloween from all of us here at EcoSmart Products!

My son says he can’t wait to get some ‘Toxic Waste’ candies in his loot tonight. In case you’re not familiar with this candy, it is the self-proclamed only sour candy strong enough to be officially proclaimed HAZARDOUS and it comes in a container shaped like an overflowing drum of Toxic Waste. Is this irony? Tongue-in-cheek? Or just a new wave of brutally honest advertising?

While on the topic of irony and toxic waste,  did anyone else catch the Toxies, a spoof awards show in June that awards harmful chemicals (actors dressed up to represent their toxin) with awards? Toluene, Xylene, BPA, Mercury… they were all there.

I thought that would be a fun Halloween costume for my 3 boys. My pitch was a little weak, so they went a different route, opting for normal costumes… and toxic waste candies!

Easy Tips to Green Your Halloween

Halloween should be scary for the right reasons. But the waste generated by this celebration is altogether a different cause for fright. The store-bought costumes, individually wrapped treats, toxic glow sticks and spider web sprays, and disposable decorations made of plastic and vinyl, to name a few Halloween staples, make this holiday a landfill’s nightmare!  Here are a few easy tips to green your Halloween so you can reduce waste, protect your child’s health with non-toxic products, and leave a less spooky ecological footprint.

1.  Make a costume and win big for creativity and uniqueness

Many store-bought costumes are made with heavily-processed materials and plastics, and are often only worn for one night. Vinyl (a.k.a.the poison plastic) is often incorporated into store bought costumes. Instead, try brainstorming for ways to create a costume from homemade materials. This will also allow for a more creative character and costume such as a vampire jack-in-the-box, a ‘random’ character, or a tooth fairy ghost. The imagination can run wild with scissors, fabric and a cardboard box!

2.  Choose candies that are healthier and/or wrapped in recyclable or biodegradeable packaging

There’s little doubt that the Halloween garbage pile of wrappers, chip bags and plastics has not evolved much through the decades, despite our growing green conscience. To reduce your part in this year’s Halloween waste pile, try finding treats, such as Smarties, that are packaged in cardboard or other recyclable materials. Or, if you would prefer to skip the treats altogether, why not offer your trick-or-treaters a treasure? Stickers, international coins, gemstones, sea shells, hockey cards, tattoos, colored dice, or other small items may prove to be a novelty, and solve the packaging problem.

If you are a traditionalist and still want to offer candies, there are several healthier choices on the market (not including the aptly named, Toxic Waste candies!). Look for candies that are organic or that are sweetened with fruit juice and have no preservatives, such as fruit strips and rolls, organic crispy rice bars, other healthy snack bars, honey sticks or sesame snaps.

3.  Use non-toxic products for make-up and hairsprays

To avoid the heavy metals or other harmful ingredients that can be found in Halloween make-up, try making your own face paints and hair dyes. Kool Aid crystals will do a nice job of temporarily streaking hair bright colors, no toxic spray needed!

As for face paints and fake blood, check caelusgreenroom.com for their easy recipe suggestions. A bit of cornstarch, food coloring, corn syrup and liquid dish soap is all you will need to transform your little ones into a princess or pirate.

4.  Use natural decorations

Dollar store decorations literally litter the neighborhoods of North America on Halloween night. For a more natural exterior décor, consider decorating with nature. Haystacks, dried corn arrangements, cornstalks, scarecrows, and of course jack-o-lanterns make an enticing Halloween outdoor décor. For a spooky interior, try a black light, black gauze or cheesecloth webbing, and some downloaded Halloween tracks. A cackle or two wouldn’t hurt either.

5.  Stay safe without the glow sticks

The need to be seen on the streets after dusk has given rise to wasteful disposable glow sticks. This year, opt for reflector tape that can be re-used again and again, and hand-cranked or solar-powered flashlights.

A few conscious choices to use non-toxic and less wasteful products this Halloween can really help celebrate the things that go bump in the night without adding more to this already high impact holiday.

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EcoSmart Products is the North American distributor of AusPen non-toxic, refillable markers: eliminating toxins, reducing waste and saving money associated with dry-erase markers. http://www.ecosmartworld.com

Mabel’s Labels for Refillable Markers

Labels are not always a good thing, as anyone typecast as a nerd, jock, or dizzy blonde might tell you.

But Mabel’s Labels, the company that has found its niche market in kids who loose stuff, has made nifty labels for everything from clothes to lunchboxes to pencils and erasers. I even read on my twitter account yesterday that a good samaritan had returned a lost BlackBerry to its owner thanks to its Mabel’s Label!  Clearly, it’s not just kids who loose things (please, please tell me that the BlackBerry did not belong to a kid…)

At EcoSmart Products, we are excited to join forces with Mabel’s Labels and propose a solution for everyone who has purchased refillable markers and would like to label them as such. This could be a great solution for conference spaces or classrooms in which the markers may be used by those who are unfamiliar with them. We have found the Classic Skinny Mini Labels to be both durable and cute! 

Here we have shown our AusPen markers labelled, ‘I’m Refillable!’ and ‘Don’t throw me out!’ You could easily label them with:

• A conference room or classroom number
• Your name
• Instructions such as, ‘Inks in Staff Room’ or ‘Refill at Reception”
• A message that reinforces your choice in AusPen markers, like: “I’m Green!” or “I’m Non-Toxic” or “I Save Waste!”

To order a set of labels for your markers, visit Mabel’s Labels and check out the Classic Skinny-Minis ($18.50 for 80 labels). So, go ahead and label away!

Drawing Forth Inspiration on World Teacher Day

The word, ‘educate’ comes from the verb educe, which means “to draw forth from within.”

Who can’t remember at least one teacher that drew out their best? The act of inspiring, then, is not so  much about putting ideas or information into someone, so much as it is about helping that person draw forth from within. This is the stuff of motivation, passion, determination, insight and orientation.

For me, it was Mrs MacIntosh, grade 11 & 12 English. She used to stutter when explaining Shakespeare or Chaucer, not because she had a speech impediment, but because she was so excited by the prose, that it tripped up her speech. She also encouraged us to consider reading a novel or piece of literature more than once. “If someone offered you a piece of chocolate, would you say, ‘No, I’ve tasted that before?’”

To Mrs MacIntosh and all other dedicated teachers, especially our AusPen customers: Happy World Teacher Day, and thank you for drawing forth the best in us. 

Join our Facebook discussion: What did a teacher say or do that inspired you?

Words Worth Wordles

If you love words as much as I do (and I know you do because, well, you’re on a website for refillable markers!) you’ll love the ability for Wordle to whip up your favorite words into a ‘word cloud’. Check out the amazing Wordle as a tool for your school or office. Word clouds could be used as a presentation title page, a poetry assignment, a mission statement… I could make these all day. I really haven’t, but I could.

Here is our EcoSmart Products Wordle of the day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have any of your own Wordles or would like to make an AusPen Wordle to share with us? Pass it along; we’d love to see it: info@ecosmartworld.com

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