Let’s face it, generally speaking printing stuff isn’t green. I mean, c’mon! You’re using a moderately large electronics device that was shipped across the globe to print tiny pieces of chopped down trees in your home office. A lot of green bloggers out there could take aim at all printing companies for keeping us from moving to a paperless world (sorry Michael Scott). I’m sure one day we’ll get close but here at Green Gear we understand the importance of incremental movement toward eco-responsibility. That being said, it doesn’t take an un-ethical climatologist to conclude that there is some SERIOUS room for improvement when it comes to making home printing a little greener.
With that in mind Green Gear was pleased as punch to find the new HP LaserJet P2055d small business printer arrive a month ago! We wasted no time moving our Canon all-in-one to make way for this bad boy. Since that time we have started to use this nearly on a daily basis. The P2055D is a 35 page per minute laserjet printer designed for small businesses or home offices. It has a 300-page feeder and various trays for all types of paper and is capable of doing 2-sided duplex printing. The printer takes the HP 05A or 05X toner cartridges.
First, lets discuss our experience with the product. Mrs. Green Gear and I have probably put roughly 500 pages through the machine. Our biggest job was a 140 page cookbook. In terms of printing, the product has a high quality 1200×1200 resolution that prints wonderful black and white photos and crisp text. Our real world testing (using .doc files with text and graphics mixed) exhibited speed less than the 35 pages per minute, at roughly 12-15ppm. As i say in the video, I always take PPM figures with a grain of salt, kind of like EPA mileage figures. The different feeder trays worked fine with envelopes and printing paper.
The printer itself is quite small taking up about the same footprint as my canon inkjet printer. The noise coming from the laserjet was in line with what I’ve experienced with similar printers. If was given the ability to change the printer, I would have boosted the #2 high capacity tray to fit a full package of paper. Other than that I would keep it pretty much as-is.
Now, lets get to the green stuff. First off, HP wants you to KNOW they’re green. The box it comes in is adorned with bright green highlights, the model name on the printer is done in tasteful green font, and there is even a green sticker on the top promoting the printer’s eco features, which are:
Instant On Technology: Which keep the printer in eco mode and quickly prints out your first page in less than 6 seconds!
2-sided printing: duplex printing on both sides to save paper (and cost, and trees)
Energy Star Rating: Just like your washer and dryer!
So, what you really want to know is… is this all a bunch of bull or are they really moving to a greener product. Well, I’m happy to report it’s not a bunch of bull, but it could be better. First, the instant on technology cuts the power usage of the product to 8w during power save mode yet still spits out your first page fast. In all fairness though, we got our first page in 8 seconds, not six. The energy star rating is always something you should look for, some of the products we compared this with didn’t even have the rating. The rating is widely respected and well known, so it’s not like those gimmicky proprietary awards.
HP’s recycling program is one of those things that I’m immediately skeptical of. I discuss this in the video but after reading up on it i was VERY pleased that this seemed like a program where they were moving in the right direction and not just going through the green motions. If you have a printer of any type, or a print cartridge they will provide you with postage, a drop off location, or even a pick up and make certain it is reused. If you’re looking to be green, drop it off and keep it from traveling all by itself. This is wonderful to see and probably makes good business sense for HP anyway. Kudos!
Now, it’s not all glowing, right? I mean, I wouldn’t be doing my job if i didn’t find SOMETHING to complain about. Well, first, I was never able to get the duplex printing to work. I put about an hour longer into the process of figuring it out than I would have normally but even after following the instructions a couple of times it still wasn’t available as an option. I’m sure it does work, it just was not as easy to figure out as it should have been. My other issues are more pie-in-the-sky. The cardboard box and Styrofoam packaging were both recyclable, but not recycled. In the same vein, considering all of the plastic that HP receives in its recycling program, I would have expected a portion of the plastic used in this product to be non-virgin. But alas, it is not. They did do this with one of their models in the past.
So what do we have here? What we have is a quality product, going at a market price, that makes important strides in the movement to green printing. In addition, HP has been working to green itself and its internal operations and we appreciate that. Overall, it would be a good fit for an eco-minded business owner looking to handle some serious print jobs.
RATING: 3 out of 5 Gears for a variable eco-benefit, quality, and value.
Check out the full video review (ignore the edits, i had to cut it to under 10 minutes!) and photo gallery.
When it comes to green products, I’m a simple man. I can do without all of the hyper-marketed hocus pocus mumbo jumbo. It’s cute and all, but nine times out of ten its main goal is to inflate the eco-bonafides of an otherwise marginal (or horrid) product. Deep down in my green as grass heart, what I really want is a product that 1.) works and 2.) lasts forever. The best green products are the ones that are green by just being what they are, great products that stay that way.
With that in mind, I introduce you to probably the greenest part of my kitchen: Lodge Cast Iron Cookware. At first glance, Cast Iron doesn’t jump out at you as a “green” product. I mean there are no artistic angles to the design and zero bamboo of any sort! Cast Iron Cookware is big, heavy, and made of metal. But, Cast Iron Cookware is as green as any product I’ve ever used reviewed because it LASTS FOREVER!
That point really can’t be overstated, you probably have cast iron somewhere in your family that has been in use since Lincoln gave the gettysburg address. For little more than the cost of standard cookware (in some cases less) you can have a product that will last forever and not only save on the cost of future cookware, but also reduce the demand on our natural resources that that cookware would have created. Heck, you might save your kids future cookware. I have a small skillet in my family that makes the PERFECT cornbread and i’m waiting to get my grubby mits on it.
Most of that can be said for all cookware. But if you’re going out and going to make the decision to buy cast iron, Lodge is the best place to start. Each of their non enamel items are made and shipped from the great state of Tennessee. In addition to that, Lodge has made a serious commitment to the environment.
Each of Lodge’s items are pre-seasoned, meaning that they’re ready to go when you bring them home. Mrs. Green Gear and I cooked all sorts of food that you’ll see in the video. The photos above are from some 100% sustainable pheasant Mr. Green Gear brought home from a weekend hunt!
Not only that, cooking with cast iron is a pleasure. Once it is heated, it cooks through meat, sauces, bread, and veggies with ease. Our favorite is the griddle, it allows me to cook chicken for the week’s lunches without drying them out. One important note is that cast iron should be cleaned with water only, and once patted down should be lubricated/protected with a light spray of pam or oil (not unlike a gun). As you use the cast iron throughout the years it will develop its own character and outlast every other item in the kitchen.
4 out of 5 Gears for Fixed Eco Benefit, Value, Quality, and General Awesomeness
Below are photos and the video review. Ask questions and post comments!
Well, every other electronics review site has unboxings, so why not mine? right? We got a new printer in the other day to test and I figured I’d throw up the unboxing video! Enjoy the Laserjet P2055d Unboxing Video!
In addition to the numerous comments our review of Eco Canteen received, as well as on the youtube video page, I’ve received many emails directly telling me of less than pleasant experiences with the people who sell ecocanteen. People have also voiced concern over what they feel are excessive shipping and handling expenses.
Since I have not had personal experience I will not render a judgement on that aspect of the customer experience, as that would be unfair. I cannot verify the statements in the comments to be fact. Similarly, I cannot repudiate these experiences. But, I can recommend that you take them into consideration in your own way, using them as you would in other similar situations.
On the issue of price, I am at fault for claiming that this product is cheaper to the consumer, it is my understanding now that the total cost (product plus shipping and handling) is roughly 18-20. This represents a price in line with klean kanteen, but more than no name store brands. As it stands today, the ecocanteen is not a “bargain.” When I upgrade to my next series of criteria and rescore all my reviews I will likely reduce ecocanteen one gear (the price one). I do this with all products at the same time but wanted to indicate here sooner as this page sees more hits.
Also, as a general statement to the producer and consumer of this product. This product is a “green” product being sold through the “as seen on TV” or “direct response” ethos. This means that in the “as seen on TV” world rules, expectations, and pricing is different. In that set of rules it is okay to make money off of shipping because that is just what happens.
To the “green” consumer, authenticity, and communicated practices are highly important.The two are not in concert. If ecocanteen wants to have “green cred” they’ll need to accommodate, in some ways, the expectations of this culture… Similarly, green consumers will have to be more attune to buying products in unfamiliar marketplaces (TV).
Thanks for visiting Green Gear and go check out my other reviews… they’re good!
Once in a while, borrowing from regional peculiarities of grammar and syntax throws especially apt light on a situation. For instance, what Americans call a “program,” the English call a “scheme.” America’s cash-for-clunkers scheme is a dazzling success, right? Americans are falling over themselves to partake, as it seems; so much so that its (initial?) billion-with-a-B bucks got snapped up within days. Whether the apparent boon to the automakers turns out to be significant and substantial in the long run remains to be seen; I have my doubts, but either way this scheme reeks of myopia, hypocrisy, greed and snobbery.
Whatever its putative and real goals, and whether or not it achieves them, C4C is the biggest, gaudiest emblem we’ve yet devised for the extent to which our society prizes disposability and thrives on waste.
While many praise the rash of marginally higher MPG vehicles purchased through the program, it seems to this green blogger that the program does little more than pad the pockets of automobile companies. All the while, embracing the waste culture that drove us straight into the environmental wreck we’re desperately trying to AAA our asses out of now.
Free water, my friends, is a gardener’s dream. Plants don’t care that you’re too cheap to give them sparkling clean drinking water. God bless the rain barrel. Since installing (well, having my dad install) my new rain barrel, I have used the hose a total of ZERO times to water my meager garden. I feel like I’ve discovered a secret.
Now, I will say that I have no idea how much I spent watering the garden last year, so I don’t have a great base for cost-comparison purposes. But I imagine that this rain barrel will last many growing seasons if it’s properly wintered. At just under $60, I would guess that it pays for itself in just a year or two. Gardeners with hard data, jump in here any time…
Time to get down to the nitty gritty. The functioning of a rain barrel.
This variety is a base model. It’s equipped with a spigot at the bottom, an overflow hose and an opening at the top for the water to enter through. The opening is covered in a very fine steel mesh. The downspout, purchased separately, sits on top of this mesh and spews the water into the barrel from your gutters. The mesh is key to keeping mosquitos from breeding in this stagnant water.
My first day of rain barrel bliss saw it fill up in under an hour during a downpour. I have mine feeding from my garage’s gutter system, and only one side of the garage. That’s probably less than 200 square feet of roof on which the water fell. I could have easily filled up a dozen barrels during that downpour if I’d had them hooked up to all four of my downspouts.
The water from my 30-gallon barrel lasts through 3 thorough soakings of approximately 5- square feet of garden, watering about every day and a half.
Little Square Farm, the maker of my rain barrel, repurchases food-grade barrels being disposed of by local restaurants. A win-win-win in my book!
TapGuard is an in-bottle filtration system that retrofits to Nalgene and CamelBak bottles (classic lid only) and promises to filter out unsavory tastes and harmful chemicals and bacteria. It’s a one-piece silicone housing that envelopes a replaceable carbon pouch. As you drink, the water flows through the carbon pouch and into your parched mouth.
(break. minimonster is chewing on a box… end break.)
I tested this product for a while, about 3 weeks. It was a love-hate relationship. My first go resulted in a split carbon pouch, while I was conditioning it in my faucet flow. It never made it into the TapGuard. Now, the makers found the same issue and have repaired and replaced this “old model” carbon pouch. So you shouldn’t have the same issue.
I switched to the next carbon pouch and was more gentle (two are included with each TapGuard), installed it into the TapGuard, installed the TapGuard (almost losing it) in the CamelBak, and filled ‘er up. I took a drink. I spilled water ALL OVER my shirt. Luckily I was at home…
Take two, I realized that I was drinking out of the wrong side. I took a drink from the correct side and…the water tasted a little less chorine-y.
I was extremely bummed that the straw lid for the CamelBak couldn’t be used with this product. I also was a little turned off when each first drink I took, after the bottle sat a while, was slightly warm. This is probably due to the water that sits in the carbon pouch after you’re done drinking. Yuck.
All-in-all, an ok product that I think could use a little improvement to reach a more varied audience.
Oh, also, the production of this product is carbon-negative. They have some specifics on their product packaging and their website.
Mrs. Green Gear and I enjoy Relaxing… This is an understatement. We do daily things to make our days less cluttered and more enjoyable such as turning off the TV after 8pm, taking the time to sit down and eat together, etc…. but sometimes that isn’t enough. Over the course of a year the residual balance of modern stress builds and the only way you can wipe the slate clean is by participating in extended relaxation, otherwise known as a vacation.
One of our favorite ways to do this is to drive about an hour outside of Columbus, Ohio to the Hocking Hills region and spend a few nights at a cabin away from Cable News, Cell phones, Cars, and well… people. It’s a “staycation” we look forward to with a lot of anticipation. This year we looked around the thousands of websites for cabins in Hocking Hills and found the Good Earth Cabins located outside Hocking in Vinton County (an area I had visited in my youth for deer hunting). Good Earth Cabins adds a little eco-friendliness to the standard cabin fare by using recycled materials (where possible), installing new energy efficient appliances, and cleaning the place with “green” cleaners.
Cabins in hocking hills vary in terms of quality, but every one of them includes the essentials: TV w/ DVD Player, Cookware, Modern Kitchen, Fire pit, Grill, and Hot-tub. So, from this list of amenities you might assume that people visiting here are only interested in eating food, watching movies, lighting things on fire, and having sex…. and you’d be 100% correct. Sure, there are all kinds of amazing things to do in beautiful hocking hills like play with hummingbirds, kayak, and go on a ropes course, but I’d estimate from the “guest book notes” that 99.9% of the people visiting are only interested in the food, sex, and serenity…. and if they’ve been married for more than 10 years, usually just the serenity.
Quality of these places vary, as I’ve mentioned. Sometimes they’re old and sometimes you feel like the first person staying there. Sometimes you’re literally 10 miles from anyone and other times there is a trailer full of neighbors 50 yards from your front porch. We’ve stayed at maybe 5 different cabins and this one is probably the best mix of all things. It’s new, with great modern (and green) appliances but has a lived in feel. It has a combination of open areas and woods so you can stroll around. It has a huge porch with views of the hills and hollers. It also happens to be the biggest we’ve stayed in and by far the highest quality.
We stayed at their cabin called “lazy dog” which I’m assuming is inspired by the fact that it is 100% pet friendly. This is important for the Mrs. and I because we have two dogs and putting them up at the kennel would have easily tacked on an additional 200 bucks for our 3 night stay. The lazy dog has room for six people, three bedrooms, 3 baths, and cost $150-175 during the week and $225-$250 on the weekends. We put in three nights, starting on a Sunday so we paid both rates. This place is on par with others in the area in terms of price for the weekend but a VAST savings over others during the week… and that is before you figure that this place was the best and biggest we’d been to.
The property included 11 acres with a nice field and pond… We let the dogs roam at will and other than a few ticks, they were about as happy as I’ve ever seen them. While we were there, we only left to make a beer run, other than that we grilled out every night, I finished three books, and caught some fish in the pond (one nice bass!). Every night we would watch one of their DVDs and then retire outside to sit near the campfire and chill out. We had a great time and plan on returning.
Okay… but what about the GREEN! how is this place “green.” The “green” cred for the Good Earth Cabins is an odd bird. Most of the green initiatives they have are ones that you or I would make in our house, and not the crazy ones… I mean the ones most people should do like, efficient appliances, recycled products, green cleaners, etc…. The funny thing is, this provides absolutely ZERO benefit to the consumer other than a warm fuzzy feeling. Still, when you consider that they do these things and others places don’t, this is an incrementally better option for the environment, even if you don’t directly benefit from it. The one thing I was aghast at was that they didn’t use CFLs or other low power light and didn’t have low flow showerheads…. Since it’s in the country they may not be able to do the showerheads because of water pressure, also there was no recycling because it’s in the hills, so bring your own back and put it in your own bin.
Video Below
RATING: 3 out of 5 Gears for Fixed Eco Benefit, Price / Value, and Quality.
Moons ago, I tuned my television to CNN to watch “Planet in Peril: Battle Lines.” Despite Anderson Cooper’s Jack Bauer-esque reporting and Soledad O’Brian’s sassy temperament I found myself quickly annoyed with the unending cry me a riverthesis that planet earth is under a direct threat. In a world with nearly unlimited problems I lament the fact that so much time, money, and concern are being wasted on a very old rock, floating weightlessly in an unfathomably large universe and not, instead, on this rocks inhabitants.
My frustration with the green community and it’s central mission, to “save the earth”, has been building for some time. I’m not sure when the purpose of being green shifted from preserving resources for further generations to treating the earth as a person, or dare I say deity, that we should make daily sacrifices for, but it seriously needs to stop for the sake of the green movement. We lose our ability to sell the notion of sustainability when we submit the earth as the sole benefactor. I cringe whenever I hear or read someone selling “green” products or activities by saying “we need to save the earth!” because the concept of saving (as in rescuing) our planet is so asinine it redefines absurdity.
Message to my fellow “greenies”: The Earth Does Not Need Saving
I sense that part of this compulsion to rescue the earth, from certain disaster no doubt, comes from a lack of perspective. The earth is 4.5 billion years old. The average human lives maybe seventy years… longer if they have a dog. Nothing that humans come into contact with on a daily basis is older or more resilient than the planet earth. Many years ago it was pummelled by an asteroid off the coast of Mexico, even that didn’t spell an end for our perilous planet. It survived and we came later. If we were to continue our non green ways and continue to use earth’s resources without regard for future generations, what would happen to planet earth? Would it cease to be the 3rd planet in the solar system? Would the activity at it’s core stop? From the earth’s point of view would anything notable happen to it that could compare to its violent past? No, No, and No. (For more info on this, check out the “life after people” shows on the history / discovery channels… our earth recovers from us in a mere 250 years!)
But, if our ways aren’t a threat to earth what are they a threat to? What will happen if we continue to use resources the way we do now? Imagining this scenario reveals the true reason to use earth’s resources wisely… to preserve and protect humans. Our unwise use of earth’s riches are not and never will be a threat to our planet, but they will assuredly, be a threat to our children and their children, and so on and so forth. If we continue to take and use more than we need, there will be less for future generations. This, coupled with increasing population, will cause famine, disease, drought, fire, and all sorts of human suffering.
The Planet is not in Peril, We are. This is the message that members of the green community should adopt and use to promote sustainability. People rightly have more compassion for other people than they do for the earth and if we make people the reason to recycle or waste less water, we will be much more successful. But if we continue to prioritize the earth before people, we will fail.
So lets all come together and redefine our mission and our cause.
greengear.info and its publications, graphics, opinions, charm, wit, character, and practices are the sole property of Green Gear LLC. No guarantee, offer, hint of wisdom, word of advice, opinion, assurance, or recommendation is expressed or implied.
Eco Canteen Nightmare: Lessons in Client Expectations
by mrgreengear on 5 August, 2009
In addition to the numerous comments our review of Eco Canteen received, as well as on the youtube video page, I’ve received many emails directly telling me of less than pleasant experiences with the people who sell ecocanteen. People have also voiced concern over what they feel are excessive shipping and handling expenses.
Since I have not had personal experience I will not render a judgement on that aspect of the customer experience, as that would be unfair. I cannot verify the statements in the comments to be fact. Similarly, I cannot repudiate these experiences. But, I can recommend that you take them into consideration in your own way, using them as you would in other similar situations.
On the issue of price, I am at fault for claiming that this product is cheaper to the consumer, it is my understanding now that the total cost (product plus shipping and handling) is roughly 18-20. This represents a price in line with klean kanteen, but more than no name store brands. As it stands today, the ecocanteen is not a “bargain.” When I upgrade to my next series of criteria and rescore all my reviews I will likely reduce ecocanteen one gear (the price one). I do this with all products at the same time but wanted to indicate here sooner as this page sees more hits.
Also, as a general statement to the producer and consumer of this product. This product is a “green” product being sold through the “as seen on TV” or “direct response” ethos. This means that in the “as seen on TV” world rules, expectations, and pricing is different. In that set of rules it is okay to make money off of shipping because that is just what happens.
To the “green” consumer, authenticity, and communicated practices are highly important.The two are not in concert. If ecocanteen wants to have “green cred” they’ll need to accommodate, in some ways, the expectations of this culture… Similarly, green consumers will have to be more attune to buying products in unfamiliar marketplaces (TV).
Thanks for visiting Green Gear and go check out my other reviews… they’re good!
{ 5 comments }