One of my eco heroes, do gooder Ed Begley, Jr. knows that not all toilets are created equal.

It was just announced that Begley’s hitched his wagon to Oshaway, Ontario-based Sancor Industries to help promote both the Envirolet® and Santerra Green composting toilet systems as economical and environment-friendly alternatives to traditional sanitation systems.

“Sancor’s composting toilets are the best I’ve seen on the market today,” said Begley. “I firmly believe in both the products and feel that composting toilets are a tangible way to help reduce your impact on the environment by transforming waste into usable compost.” (more…)

Before settling into our new digs, it was important to my psyche and soul to perform a smudging ceremony.

Sage Spirit’s White Sage was the instrument of choice.  I did a clean sweep of the apartment in five stages.  If you try it — don’t get carried away, your exuberance may set off the smoke alarm.

A delicious combo of herbs: sage, cedar sweetgrass, lavender and copal all wrapped in cotton string — the smudge wand is considered a sacred herb and used for centuries by Native Americans in the smudging ceremony for cleansing and sending out prayers.

After the purifying ritual, intended to eliminate any possible negative energy that may be swirling around the space, and welcome fresh positive vibes – my mind and my space seemed different – lighter, brighter.  I felt more aware, things seemed clearer — I was reminded of the desert, Santa Fe, a special place filled with wonderful energy and blessings.

find @ internatural.com.

Just came across this cool, eco friendly tile option for greening your home, office or art studio.

Love the texture and reflective quality of these modern, sleek-looking recycled aluminum tiles to spiff-up kitchens, bathrooms, offices, art studios, or wherever you like. 

Ecofriendlyflooring.com stocks these recycled aluminum tiles, in addition to bamboo, cork, stone, linoleum and recycled glass tiles. A great way to green that building or home improvement project.

With things starting to heat up on the weather front (I’m in Florida and it’s hot already) it’s time to take a crack at reducing our summer electric bill.  What follows are some simple green tips that can save you some serious cash this summer.

• Raise that air conditioning a degree or two – and even more significantly if you’re going out for an extended period of time.  Better yet get a programmable thermostat and take control of your indoor climate, room by room.
• During the day, lower those window shades.  You’d be surprised how much radiant heat is generated by the sun.
• As with any time of year unplug, or turn off the power-strips for those sleeping computers, TVs and stereo equipment that are sucking energy up as they sit idle in standby mode.
• Line-dry those clothes.  If you don’t have indoor or outdoor space for a line, simply use hangers to hang up your duds on your shower pole.  Your whitey tidies will smell springtime fresh, last longer, and you’ll save a big chunk on your monthly electric bill.
• Speaking of your electric bill – check what time your off-peak billing cycle begins each day.  By running dishwashers and washers + dryers during off-peak hours you’ll not only be saving your utility company some heavy lifting but you’ll dramatically reduce your bill.

Related:  more green living tips previously on altCon
green tips category

The sun keeps rising on solar-powered audio devices and this one’s on sale.

We haven’t tested the Soulra iPod music player, but it looks like it would be a fun green gadget to have around the pool or at the beach.  Some product details:

• Full-range 8-watt RMS speaker draws power from a built-in solar panel.
• water resistant exterior
• 7 hours of continuous iPod or iPhone play per charge
• includes rechargeable lithium-ion battery & remote
• Built for iPod, and works with iPhone

find it marked down from $199 to $152.63 @ amazon.com
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Ah, the rich, beautiful rewards of reclaimed timber – these impressive looking benches were carved from salvaged, or fallen, logs of old growth cedar.  The folks at Urban Green and their online Landscape Architect Store feature these slab benches along with a wide array of other landscaping materials and products.

The Vancouver-based landscaping design firm makes visually stunning use of found (permitted harvesting) timber and drift wood.

Want to expand your home, add an in-yard office or small cabin, but light on cash? Add usable, stylish space to your home with one of these small footprint sustainable structures from San Francisco’s Modern Cabana.  These tiny buildings feature:  optimized framing, FSC-certified lumber and siding, bamboo flooring, recycled denim insulation and a waste-reducing manufacturing process.

Most of these prefabricated base units are single room, without bathroom. You can customize the larger models to include a bathroom as well as room dividers.  Those with building experience and a few friends can probably put up one of these in a few days.

It’s recommended that you mount the structure on cement piers.  And the roof, as shipped, is not suitable for supporting heavy snow loads.  Sizes range from 10′ x 12′ to 12′ x 25′ and basic kits prices range from $500 for a dog house, to $31,000 for the largest model (you customize doors, windows, etc. and accessorize from there).  Installation and shipping are extra.

It may not be sexy, but this simple little toilet accessory may save a lot of water.  The standard toilet tank flapper can form a leaky seal, or simply lower too slowly to stop water flowing into your toilet bowl.  One estimate has leaky flappers wasting an estimated 11 million gallons of water a minute in the USA.

The weighted Greenflush valve closes much faster than the traditional flapper. The Greenflush, which is said to install in 30 seconds, is estimated to reduce a typical 2 or 3 gallon flush to 1 gallon.  It also works with newer low-flow toilets.

It sells for $19.95 – but hey if it works it will pay for itself very quickly.

Give your furnace – and your electric bill – a break this winter.  Here area handful of smart, easy ways to keep this winter green and your thermostat at bay. Long lost Uncle Sam can even lend a hand with some cash incentives for you.

• Insulate – Proper insulation alone can save a household up to 20 percent on energy bills, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).  While there are many insulation options, try choosing a recycled material such as cellulose or natural fiber UltraTouch – which is made from post-industrial recycled denim.
• Plant trees – Planting trees on the north side of your home provides natural insulation against winter’s northern winds.  Try to avoid planting trees on the south side, which can block half of the sun’s rays from reaching your home.  If you can’t, be sure to cut back shrubs that may block windows and hinder the sun’s rays from penetrating in on sunny days.

• Seal window cracks – Say goodbye to those icy drafts by sealing those cracks under your doors, windows, and vents.  Weather stripping comes in a number of varieties to accommodate types of friction and temperature, but is generally quite inexpensive.  If you’re stuck with single pane windows, make use of heavy curtains to help trap heat from escaping. (more…)