If ever there was a trend we welcomed with open arms, it’s eco-friendliness and boy, is it taking the world and companies by storm.

And not even 3M is left out in the cold with the announcement of a new product, Scotch Magic Eco-Friendly Tape.  Made from more than 75% renewable or recycled materials, this new tape is just what you’ve been wanting to switch to.

The boxed refill roll, including packaging, is made from more than 65 percent renewable or recycled materials. Because of its great adhesive strength, photo-safe formulation and performance, Scotch Magic Tape has been a fixture in homes, schools and offices for 50 years. Scotch Magic Eco-Friendly Tape offers these same great properties, now in an even more environmentally-friendly version.

Sprint has just unveiled their newest Android handset and this one is a real keeper!

Say hello to your new BFF, the eco-friendly Samsung Replenish.  Powered by none other than Android 2.2, this eco-friendly handset features a portrait-QWERTY design with 2.8-inch touch screen, 2-megapixel camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and support for microSD cards.

The Replenish is the fourth Sprint handset to bear the eco-friendly title. Other details that make this one environmentally sound: it uses fewer sensitive materials, it has an energy-efficient charger, and its packaging is fully recyclable. What’s more, for $29 you can attach a unique back cover with solar panels that will charge the battery.

Sprint is not only going green with this handset, but the company is saving its customers a little green in the process. The carrier is lowering the monthly data plan by $10, meaning it should pay for itself after only five months. The Replenish goes on sale May 8 in Onyx Black and Arctic Blue options and will carry a very attractive price tag of $49.99. A third color, Raspberry Pink, will be available in June.

This coming Sunday, April 17, Target has a special gift for you in mind, a reusable bag.

To mark the kick off of Earth Week 2011, Target stores are giving away 1 million reusable bags from 100% recyclable Tyvek material at their stores nationwide.  Be sure to get to your local Target early, or you might get left in the tote cold.

Salutes to Target for this great initiative!

Good news from the Coca Cola company, they’ve added sugar to their Dasani water and Odwalla juice brands, but not where you think!

The company has done a great thing by making their Dasani water and Odwalla juice bottles more eco-friendly by making them from plant-based materials, which is mostly sugar cane.

Now all Dasani bottles and Odwalla single-serving bottles will be available exclusively in PlantBottle packaging which is great news for all us juice and water lovers out there.  Now if we can only convince ourselves to cut this silly bottled water business!

While it seems like a most  unlikely source, Jersey Shore’s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino has apparently launched an eco-friendly reusable garment bag.

Teaming up with The Green Garmento, The Situation has created a reusable garment bag, dubbed the GTL, named for Sorrentino’s infamous “gym, tan, laundry” mantra.

The reusable bag can be purchased for a mere $12 and even features carbon-balanced shipping if you purchase the bag online.

Late last year San Francisco banned toys in McDonald’s Happy Meals that contain excessively large levels of fat, sodium, sugar and all kinds of other bad stuff and now it looks like New York City might go the same route.  There’s gonna be more unhappy kids in NYC….

This week NYC Councilman Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. introduced a bill that calls for banning Happy Meal toys unless the meal becomes much much healthier.

The councilman believes that if McDonald’s would make Happy Meals a healthier choice for parents on the go, we’d all benefit.  And we couldn’t agree more, Comrie, well, maybe if you made the toys themselves eco-friendly too….

While it will be several years before NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg’s waterfront makeover is completely revealed, over the course of the next few years, expect to see many of the in-progress projects completed and revealed, such as the East River Waterfront Promenade.

The first section of the highly-anticipated East River Waterfront Promenade will surprisingly be unveiled in just a matter of weeks.  Originally slated to open last December, the promenade will be open to the public this May.

Situated between Maiden Lane and Wall Street, the new esplanade is the first part of the $150 million East River Waterfront redevelopment which will run from the Battery Maritime Building to Pier 35, just north of the Manhattan Bridge. Designed by SHoP Architects, the 2-mile stretch will be transformed into a landscaped walking and biking path, one of the many greenways included in Vision 2020.

How wonderful for NYC, and what a project for a mayor to put his name behind, can’t wait for the completion of this impressive pursuit!

Scientists at NASA are making headlines with some new research involving a more eco-friendly jet fuel, chicken fat to be exact.

The Hampton, Virginia team from from NASA’s Langley Research Center headed to California-based NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in order to better study the newest jet fuel idea on a NASA DC-8, which normally runs on Jet Propellant 8, a kerosene-like mix of hydrocarbons.

The fuel is made using chicken fat and is being tested as part of the Alternative Aviation Fuel Experiment II

“It’s made out of chicken fat, actually,” said Langley’s Bruce Anderson.  “The Air Force bought many thousands of gallons of this to burn in some of their jets and provided about 8,000 gallons (30,283 liters) to NASA for this experiment.”

Well, we can’t wait to see if the jets can make fried chicken as well….  Good luck team, here’s to hoping for a cleaner jet fuel.

Wow, talk about a big problem that may soon be over for good. Tokyo-based company Globeride Inc. is in the works to create a specialized fishing line that dissolves in water.

The strong filament is a huge leap in fishing technological innovation and we can’t wait to this fishing line in full effect.  Made of a special plastic that would dissolve in water in an average of five years, no longer will our waters have to abide with the long-lasting fishing line malice.

“The time it takes depends on water temperature and other conditions, but it usually dissolves completely in five years,” said Tokuo Ichikawa, a developer on the project.

The impetus for developing an environment-friendly fishing line came five years ago when Ichikawa, 53, and his colleagues took part in recovering discarded fishing line and sinkers underwater at Lake Kawaguchi in Yamanashi Prefecture. A small truck full of garbage, including fishing gear, is collected at the lake every day.

“Garbage you find on the ground should be removed out of common decency, but garbage left underwater should be taken away by companies,” Ichikawa said.

]]> http://www.greenlifestyle.com/eco-friendly-fishing-line-dissolves-in-water/feed/ 0 http://www.greenlifestyle.com/mr-peanut-shows-off-brand-new-biodiesel-wheels/ http://www.greenlifestyle.com/mr-peanut-shows-off-brand-new-biodiesel-wheels/#comments Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:46:55 +0000 Allison http://www.greenlifestyle.com/?p=1400

Wow, it looks like Mr. Peanut is packing a brand new bag!  Planter’s Mr. Peanut is now riding in eco-friendly style with an all new green machine.

The nutty company plans to unveil the new Nutmobile in LA tonight at the 8th Annual Global Green Pre Oscar Party.   Mr. Peanut’s new ride features biodiesel technology alongside solar panels, LED interior lighting, recycled parts, reclaimed wood flooring and a wind turbine based on a 2011 Isuzu NPR box truck.

After being “seen” in LA, Mr. Peanut will take his new wheels to New Orleans as his second stop on the “Naturally Remarkable” tour. In New Orleans, Planter’s will be building peanut-shaped recreational spaces on abandoned urban lots.

“I’m a peanut, naturally, so sustainability is important to me. When you live in the soil for extended periods of time, you realize that it’s important to make sure where you come from – the earth – stays clean and green.” – Mr. Peanut, Planter’s Spokesperson