Chris J.'s Profile
"An increasingly concerned and conscientious consumer"
Member since October, 2007
User stats
19 reviews
10 useful ratings
13 listings added
2 friends
Location
Longmont, CO
Last great book or movie
Once
My blog or website
My Dream Product
Sustainable products that cost less than conventional ones.
How we'll get around in 20 years...
I hope for a future filled with public (bus, train, monorail) and human-powered (bike, walking) transportation
Offline, find me...
Hanging out with my kids
My heroes
Buddha, Tom Robbins
My non-green guilty pleasure
Take-out food
After shave: impressive
I've been using Earth Science's Aloe/Herbal After Shave Soother for a few months now, and I'm impressed with how well it works. It's a "splash", so it has a consistency more like water than gel or lotion. I don't usually use a splash, and I'm not a fan of that aspect of this product, but it works so well I don't mind. Despite its thin consistency, it moisturizes very well. My skin is pretty sensitive so I'm used to thinking I need something heavy-duty after shaving. This stuff goes on light but doesn't irritate and avoids any razor burn. It has a pleasant scent that is not overpowering.
Earth Science products claim to be not tested on animals, have no animal ingredients, and be paraben free. However, it appears they use some synthetic ingredients, and there's no indication that the natural ingredients are organic. I was impressed with how disclosing their website is with regard to their claims and ingredients.
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T'eo deodorant: worth a try
This product was my first attempt at moving away from antiperspirants toward more natural deodorants. Overall, it has been a very positive experience.
After pointing out in other reviews and comments that Lush uses synthetic perfumes in some of their products, I was surprised and happy to see that T'eo doesn't use a synthetic perfume. In fact, the only two ingredients that aren't naturally derived are baking soda and BlueWax. (Side note: Lush's website clearly lists all product ingredients and color-codes synthetic vs natural). The wax is actually used on the bottom of the deodorant so you can hold it -- you don't apply it to your skin.
T'eo looks sort of like a bar of soap, but it's basically a scented solid piece of baking soda with the aforementioned wax on the bottom so you can hold it without getting baking soda all over your hands. It's easy to apply, and I found it works effectively. It will wear off, depending on how much you sweat, but on an average day I found it lasted most of the day.
Over time, my skin got irritated by it, so I found I needed to be gentle when applying because it is rather abrasive. I also can't use it more than a few days in a row because it gets too irritating. The smell is nice and not overpowering.
A single T'eo costs over $8, but I've had mine since January and there is still quite a bit left, so I think it works out to be a fair deal.
One more bonus -- the only packaging was a little plastic bag!
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Namaste Chocolate Cake Mix: kids like it!
A funny story about this cake mix -- my son's 1st grade class has a few kids with food allergies, including one of his best friends. For my son's birthday, my wife decided to make allergen-free cupcakes to take to class. She used the Namaste Chocolate Cake mix, Earth Balance Natural Buttery Sticks, Ener-G Egg Replacer, and Cherrybrook Kitchen Chocolate Frosting. She put them in the oven, and I took them out out after the recommended cook time, but they were just too gooey, so I put them back in. They ended up being in about twice as long as recommended, and they all had craters in the middle (egg substitute doesn't work so well). By then, they were still a little gooey in the (cratered) middle, and crispy on the edges. I frosted them anyway, but then suggested to my wife that we not even take them in because none of the kids would actually eat them.
When my wife went to pick up my son the next day, his allergic best friend stopped my mom and told her they were the best cupcakes he had ever had! He has since hounded his mom to get the recipe from us. My son said that only a couple of his classmates didn't eat theirs -- everyone else ate them! I was surprised, but I'm not gonna argue with a group of 1st graders!
When I tried one, they were actually pretty good. They were a bit gummy, but my son said he liked them that way.
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Where does it go when you throw it away?
It has been a couple of years since I read this book, but I wanted to review it here because I think it's a great resource. It was one of the things that helped me think a lot more about my effect on the planet and how to live (at least a little) more sustainably.
Garbage Land is basically one New Yorker's quest to: a) find out more about what (and how much) she puts in her trash and recycling, b) where all that trash and recycling goes when it gets picked up by the trash/recycling truck. There are other themes as well, but these are the main ones.
My favorite aspect of the book is that the author is easy to relate to. She doesn't come across as a zealot urging you to stop all waste production of any kind, Instead, she comes across as a realistic American and mother who is affected by what she learns about trash. For example, although she learns the value of composting some of her household's waste, she is honest about the issues with being successful at it, especially in New York City.
The book is also quite educational. I learned a lot about garbage dumps and their inherent issues (they typically don't biodegrade, they produce gasses as they age, they can leach all sorts of nasty things into the ground and water supplies), recycling, fertilizer, and sewage. Fun stuff!
I highly recommend this book!
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Concerned about the implications of polycarbonate containers
I found out about this company because of reviews on sustainlane. I'll state up front that I have yet to purchase a lunch box from Lunchopolis. I was interested in getting one, but I'm concerned about their use of polycarbonate plastic. The Lunchopolis website defends their use of polycarbonate: "polycarbonate has been extensively tested over the last 50 years and its use in food-contact applications continues to be recognized as safe by the u.s. food and drug administration, the european commission scientific committee on food, " etc etc. It then refers readers to the website plasticsinfo.org, which is run by the American Chemistry Council.
Here's what I find interesting -- there are lots of reviews on sustainlane for people switching from Nalgene bottles to Sigg bottles or Klean Kanteens. It appears this is because they are trying to avoid using polycarbonate plastic containers. If the concerns about polycarbonate plastics leaching bisphenol A are at all true, why would I ever put my children's daily lunches in the same plastic?
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Eco sponges?
Twist is a company, started in Boulder Colorado, that makes natural, biodegradable sponges and "new twists" on sponge design. The European Sponge Cloth is a cross between a paper towel and a sponge. It is large and thin like a paper towel, but it's made of sponge-like material so it's absorbent and reusable.
I bought a pack of the European sponge cloths, and I like them. I've definitely saved more than a few paper towels by using a sponge cloth instead of paper. I'm a little concerned about using them for a long time, though, because sponges are notorious for harboring bacteria over time.
Twist's products are biodegradable, and the packaging is earth friendly and recyclable. The cardboard packaging can also be made into a bird feeder! I'm not sure how relevant biodegradability is if your sponges end up in a landfill as most trash does, but the company appears to be committed to environmental responsibility on many fronts.
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Great stuff
I had used Tom's of Maine shaving cream for over a year before I bought a shaving brush, mug, and shaving soap (from Herban Cowboy). I used the soap for a while, which seemed to work okay but didn't lather much. I just switched back to using Tom's, and now use it with the shaving brush. It works great! I didn't realize how much better it worked until I switched back. It feels a lot more emollient on my skin, and the razor glides a lot more easily across my face. Using a brush really makes a differences with this product, too. It lathers like it's made for a brush.
The cream comes in a tube just like Tom's toothpaste. I noticed they recently started putting a band at the top of the tube to indicate it's shaving cream, which hopefully keeps people from brushing their teeth with it! It has a nice mint scent and a cooling sensation on the skin. Of course, the ingredients are all natural, too.
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Great eco-friendly bag
I got this bag as a Christmas gift and I've been very happy with it. It's made mostly of wax canvas instead of nylon. The canvas feels very durable and offers some water repellency. The bottom is made of recycled rubber, the interior has a recycled PET Liner, and the closing clip on the top flap is made of recycled aluminum. Overall the bag feels quite sturdy and I expect it will last a long time.
There's a medium sized front compartment for things like cell phone, keys, etc. There's one main compartment with a flat slip pocket so you can separate items a little bit. The slip pocket is good for keeping papers nice. Inside the main compartment is another small zippered compartment, as well as a padded pocket that works well for an mp3 player. The top flap has yet another small zippered compartment, and if that weren't enough, there's an open pocket on the back of the bag. The product description calls it a "magazine pocket".
There's only one thing I don't like about it, which is that it doesn't sit flat on the ground when you put it down. It leans (and usually falls) forward, onto the front pouch which in my case has breakable items like cell phone and PDA. It would be nice if the bottom was made to sit flat on the ground. Other than that, I love it.
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More good than bad
NOTE: Original review was in January, revised in April.
I found out about Lush late last year, and I've been trying to decide what I think about them as a company.
I live close to an actual Lush store (Boulder, CO), although all of their products are also available online. Here's what their website says about their ingredients -- "LUSH's handmade cosmetics are made with fresh, organic fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils, and safe synthetics."
First, let's talk about organic. Lush doesn't splatter the "organic" buzzword around as much as I would expect. They promote their products based for other reasons besides the fact that they use organic ingredients, which I appreciate.
Next, finest essential oils. That sounds good, but don't be misled as I was into thinking that the fragrances in their products are based on essential oils. Most are synthetic.
Last, safe synthetics. That's a tougher one. It turns out many of their ingredients are synthetic, such as parabens. I asked one of the local salespeople about parabens, and he gave a detailed response about his perspective on the history and concerns about parabens. Lush only uses parabens in their cosmetic products (i.e. not soaps and other solids) so that they can have an 18 month shelf life, and they only use as little as possible. They haven't found any alternatives that work as well. His opinion was that the current research doesn't prove that they are a health risk. I felt good about his response, although their use of parabens doesn't fit the "precautionary principle" for chemicals/synthethics. Lush also uses other synthetic ingredients (see fragrances above).
Also, Lush is strongly opposed to testing on animals, as their website attests.
One of the most appealing things to me is how little packaging they use for most of their products. The less plastic packaging, the better! In summary, while Lush may not be using only natural ingredients, they are doing several things right.
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Gentle, smells good, works well
We have been using this product with our two children (ages 3 and 6) for over a year now, and it works great. It has a nice citrusy scent (I think it smells like grapefruit) and it doesn't overly strip my kids' hair of moisture. It just leaves it nice and clean.
This shampoo/body wash is sulfate-free and made of mostly organic ingredients.
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User Comments:
Cris B. says:
I love Namaste products, and have written a review on their bodacious brownies. My friend tells me that the Cherrybrook Frosting is great! I think I'll bake us Namaste cupcakes for Mother's Day and bring the "little girl... more »