Bags Bags and More Bags! I’m beginning to think that the bag is going to replace the stainless water bottle as the international signal of environmentalists.

A few weeks ago we reviewed a reusable grocery bag made by trader joes. Well, almost 30 minutes after that review went live I got an email from Steve at thebetterbag.com offering me a sample and a chance to prove him right and proclaim to the world that he has a better bag.

I didn’t tell him this but I’m a sucker for business owners with guts and cajones! I love it when someone who makes a product can claim, unequivocally that their product is superior. Well, not long after he and I worked out the details I was using his bag and measuring it up to others.

Steve doesn’t say that other bags are bad… his is just better for the sole reason that it is 100% completely recyclable. See, Steve has over 20 years experience recycling plastic. So he knows that most of the other recycled bags have been changed from a pure plastic to an other and that most municipalities can’t recycle them. So when you go to throw away your “not better” bag, it gets put straight into the landfill. Not so with the better bag. Send it back to them and he can promise you that its gets recycled properly.

The better bag is a black plastic weave with cloth handles. It is large, flexable, and strong. I used it and abused it and it kept on ticking. It serves that same purpose as other bags, but it is a true cradle to cradle product. It’s not less bad, its good!

I’ve gotta say… seek out a better bag. I suggest you start at The Better Bag.com

Here is the video review.

RATING: 5 out of 5 Gears for Fixed and Variable environmental benefit, price, product quality / design, and being a great purchase for everyone.

Lord, I hate being sick. It almost never happens. But a few weeks ago I was 100% legit sick. I had a cold… it’s not the worst sickness but man it gets annoying. One of the things I reach for when nursing a cold is a good tissue. I mean, I want the good stuff. 3 ply, aloe, wicking, whatever! I want the good tissues…

But! This cold caught me by surprise and I didn’t have any of the good tissues so I dug out the pocket tissues I purchased from Trader Joe’s a while ago hoping they would suffice. These things were just over $1 for a six pack of tissues. They’re 3-ply, whatever that means and made from 100% recycled paper.

Now, It’s no secret that I’ve had issues with recycled paper products. They’re usually cheap if you get them for a decent price and the good ones are way too expensive. I hoped, for the sake of my nose, that these would be different.

They weren’t.

As I show in the video, they don’t hold up at all. I end up using a ton of them and they scratch my nose more than I would otherwise want. I love being green, but sometimes I want to be pampered… now give me my chicken noodle soup and some fancy aloe tissues (earth be damned)!

RATING: 1 out of 5 Gears for being made of recycled content

The battle against body hair has been raging since man first felt stubble and thought, “this is freakin’ itchy!”  The amount of testing that goes into the razors we use each and every day is staggering.  Think shaving is a simple concept?  Check out Gillete’s R&D Budget!  Still, unless you’re shaving Croc Dundee style (“now thatsa noife!”) you probably haven’t found a razor that is too eco-friendly. 

Well, leave it up to the dudes and dudettes over at Preserve to come up with another resource saving, colorful, ergonomically pleasing product that cuts hair like nobody’s business.  I picked up a razor 4-pack at Generation Green about a week ago for around $7.  They had a three blade one for the same price but I figured why not opt for the 4 pack, after all, then Mrs. Green Gear could use one and I’d have an extra for the gym.  Each razor comes with detachable blades, pivoting heads, and a lubricating strip.  Each colorful handle is made from recycled #5 plastic which can be recycled at your local municipality or sent back to preserve to be made into park benches.  Cool eh?

So, how does it work?  Well, not too bad.  It didn’t give me any of the cuts i normally get from razors that come in packs and the lubricating strip helped.  I’d rate it somewhere between a generic bic and any razor endorced by a pro athelete.  Translation, Good Enough.  Replacement blades can be purchased for around $5.

To me, the price is prohibitive.  The quality of the shave is fine, but it would make a whole lot more sense for a dollar and a half less.  Still, if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind paying more to preserve earth’s natural resources, it’s not a bad choice.  I’ll have to try the triple blade though, this baby face needs some extra care. 

Here is the Video Review

RATING: 1 out of 5 for being made of recycled material.
Update: This product had its quality gear removed after further use

Mrs. Green Gear and I spoil our dogs.  General Sherman and General Patton get something new everytime we come within a stones throw of a pet store.  It’s a sickness, I admit, but It’s always a pleasure to see them freak out over a new toy.

The toys are divided with each dog getting his own, and when you look at them you get a sense of their personalities.  Sherman, has fewer toys, and they are of the rubber / tough variety.  He’s a chewer.  Pattons toys are decidedly more aristocratic.  He has all the nice AKC plush toys that look like wild game.  He has a pheasant, squirrel, rabbit, and now a nice whitetail doe.

And that’s what we’re reviewing today.  This puppy caught my eye at the store and i figured i would give it a go on Green Gear since its stuffing is made from recycled polyester.  That’s good news, right?  I mean, I wish they would have recycled the whole thing… touting the toy as “green” because the stuffing and packaging are recycled borders on greenwashing.  But, I shouldn’t call them out too much because they are using less and that is admirable.

So far, Patton likes it.  So i’m willing to give it the thumbs up.  Here is the video review.

RATING: 2 out of 5 Gears for being made of recycled content and of high quality.

A couple of days ago I picked up a new toothbrush (RIP old toofbrush!), at Generation Green in Columbus, made by Radius.  it’s called the Source toothbrush and is made mostly of recycled wood and paper pulp.

The head of the toothbrush is partially recycled is disposable when finished.  You can keep on buying heads (for $7 / 3) once they wear out.  I have to say that i think this product is kind of hokey.  I mean, a green toothbrush?  But I will say that the product is well designed and made.  It’s solves a problem i didn’t know existed, being both right and left handed.  The brush is very wide, this is far and away the best feature of it.

The product itself came with two heads and cost just under $6.  At this price, I’m not willing to say that it’s a good buy for the money.  I appreciate the fact that its recycled, but other than that, it doesn’t give me something that I’m not getting from quality brushes.

But, for now, I will brush away with this and keep you updated on how it holds up.

Check out the video review below.

RATING: 2 out of 5 Gears for being made of recycled material and well-designed.

Drink it up!   A new brand of Vodka has hit the shelf and in addition to being distilled and filter more times than is meaningful it is boasting “green” cred, and giving eco-friendly vodka lovers the world around a reason to raise their glasses.

Mrs. Green Gear and I found this vodka on new years eve and couldn’t help but be skeptical.  I mean, the green pandering on this product is so blatant that it immediately made me want to hate this product.  360 Vodka seems to be something made up just to lure liberal libation lovers (l3’s as they’re known) passing the shelves on their way to a tapas party.  But, despite my intentions to really give this product a hard time, it has reason to boast green.

The bottle is 85% recycled, all labels are 100% recycled, the bottle cap can be sent in and recycled via a prepaid envelope attached (with hemp no less) to every bottle.  The distillery uses machines that require 200% less energy to operate.  The company promotes sustainability at the workplace.

Better yet, it was only 18 dollars!  3 dollars less than Abolut.  So it’s well priced.

Is this product shamefully pandering to a green loving audience?  Yes!  Is this product also operating sustainably?  Yes!  Best of both worlds, saving green and making green!

Check out the video review.

RATING: 3 out of 5 Gears for using recycled materials, price, and quality / design.

Wind me up Baby!

Today we’re reviewing a gift i received for Christmas, a Wind-Up LED Flashlight by MegaBrite.  The concept is simple, instead of using batteries, you charge it up via a crank on the side and then use it at your will.  Each flashlight has 3 LED bulbs in in and two settings, one which uses one LED, the other uses all three.

I’ve seen these on amazon.com for 8.99 for one, which to me seems a bit steep.  But if you compare it to similar high end flashlights i guess its in the ballpark.  My pack came with two so i’ve got one under my bed in my “emergency kit,”  and another in my Mrs. Green Gear’s Car.  Can’t be too careful!

Check out the video review.

RATING: 3 out of 5 Gears for Saving Batteries, Product Quality, and “Value”

I really like aerators!  Who Doesn’t?  They cost very little.  They Save Water and Money AT THE SAME TIME!!!!

Enough aerator love!  Today I am reviewing  the Neoperl Bubble-Stream Dual Flow Kitchen Aerator.  This is a chrome finish aerator that allows the user to choose a .5GPM spray stream or 2.2GPM flow with the click of a switch. Why is this a good thing?  Why not just have a .5GPM (or lower) stream all the time?  Well, in the kichen more than any other room, people often require a specific amount of water for a given task.. filling a water bottle or getting 2 cups of water for baking, for instance.  While a .5GPM aerator solves this task, it often takes a VERY LONG TIME, and passes the level of practicality and functionality that most people ask.

That’s one reason why this is a great product, it offers BOTH, with a default for the lower flow.  All you need to do is to pull down on the black bottom and it will give you a higher flow rate, when you’re done and pressure is releaved, it resets to .5GPM.  No fuss, no muss.  Just saving water the easy way.

Another thing I really like about this product is the fact that it’s stylish.  Most Dual flow aerators i’ve seen are ugly and look like some sort of metalic growth.. This does not, while it does protrude, it doesn’t do it too much to offend.  If you have a stainless sink, this is a perfect fit.  It’s easy to install too.

What else?  Well, the best news is that this wonderful product only costs $5 at popular stores, i got this one at home depot.

I honestly thing this product is for everyone looking to conserve water, save money on energy bills… or BOTH!

Check out the video review, complete with comic relief.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Gears for Price, Water Savings, Product Detail and Quality, and Being Ready for Primetime!

Today we’re going to be reviewing a more festive green product.  StayBright 100 LED White Christmas Lights by General Electric.  Last Year Mrs. Green Gear and I picked up a 9 ft. Strand of Multicolored LED Christmas lights (which are still going strong) for $20.  But this year, the strand is 33ft long and only 14.99 (at costco).

These look like traditional xmas lights and are graded for indoor and outdoor use.  Each light has a frosted texture to it that adds to the festivity.  Because these are made by GE you can tell that they are a quality product.  They even have a constant on feature where if you break one of the lights, the rest stay on.

The only downside we see here is that even with the energy (see green) savings of the product you are still going to spend more than you would on traditional christmas lights, so we don’t see this product moving from niche to mass adoption any time soon.  But they are some pretty nice lights for people looking to use less energy.  (quick fact, LEDs also require far less energy to manufactuer than traditional lights).  Happy Holidays!

Rating: 3 out of 5 Gears for Reduced Energy to Manufacture, Reduced Energy Consumption, and Product Quality

Yee Haww!!!  This here is a Method Home Cleaning Products Overview Roundup!

I have been using a few Method Products around the house for about a year and I am very impressed.  They’ve been on my radar recentally becuase their line of products has been expanding dramatically.  What used to just be a few products is now a gaggle of them.

Mehod’s products work well, smell good (but not overpowering), are not tested on animals, recycleable, made naturally (when available), and come in wonderfully designed packaging.  I really can’t say enough about them, most of their products would score above a 3 rating on green gear with the only knocks against them being price (just above usually purchased alternative) and mass appeal.  Some places you go you can find their stuff on sale for less than the usual stuff.  They are situated in the boutique section of the market and usually are a little lower than meyer, green works, etc…

if you go to www.methodhome.com you will see that they have a very rich sustainability policy and it shows in their packaging and product offerings.

One thing that struck me about so many of their items is that they don’t seem to use too many chemicals.  As a matter of fact, on all of their soaps, it says “if ingested, drink glass of water to dilute.”  How awesome is that.  These are products that anyone would feel comfortable sitting on their countertop as they are attractive looking and not too bulky.

Green Gear will review a few of these (like the Omop) in greater detail but here is a 12 product video overview of Method’s product offerings.

You can find most Method products at Giant Eagle, Target, and Lowes.