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.

swiffer me this…. You get a call from a Realtor saying they would like to show your home… that’s great, but what do you do when they want to look at it THE SAME DAY and your house is far from clean? Well, if you’re the Green Gear family, you bust out a platoon of easy cleaning products, chief among them…. the Method omop.

What is the omop?  It is a swiffer type floor cleaning tool that picks up dirt, grime, and dust as well washes it to a fancy sheen. The omop has a host of built in environmental talking points. All the packaging is made of bamboo and 100% compostable or recyclable. All of the cleaners are non-toxic and concentrated (using less water to make). The cleaning sheets are recyclable and made sustainably. Also, the microfiber shammy you attach to the omop is reusable, just wash it when it gets dirty.

But does it work? Yes it does. We’ve used it a number of times on both hardwood and laminate flooring and it cleans both of them really well. We couldn’t be happier with the way this product works.

The only drawback we see with the omop is that it is starting to show signs of wear. When you clean flooring, you need to put some elbow grease in it to get the job done right, and at times both my wife and I have experienced the omop bowing. Also, the handle broke off when my wife was using it and the grippy pads that hold on the microfiber cloth are starting to come off.

Here is the video review

RATING: 3 out of 5 Gears for Being made of recycled material, price, and being ready for prime time.

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

Sherman and Nemesis!

What a mouthful! You’d think the people at Simple Solutions could shorten that thing down but I guess some people don’t have the ability to edit themselves. We got a new dog about 1 month ago and as any dog owner can attest, a good stain and oder eliminator is a must.

While perusing the local big box pet store I came upon this product, Simple Solutions Ginger Eucalyptus Fragerance Oil Blend Natural Live Bio-Cultures Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator. It’s an all natural, “eco-sensitive” no animal byproducts, non-toxic” cleaner that comes in handy dandy recyclable packaging. To use, simply cleanup the bulk of the mess with a paper towel, pour the biocultures on your pet’s “organic matter” spot and the cultures do their thing, devouring the “matter” and leaving a fresh fragrance. Just leave it there and continue on with your day.

We like the product, but it was quite a bit more expensive, the savings to the environment other than the packaging is nominal so it’s really just a darn good cleaner. We give it 2 out of 5 gears… check out the video.

RATING: 2 out of 5 Gears for Recycled / able Packaging and Product Quality – Design

GLEAMY!

John over at showerstart.com was kind enough to mail us the new Evolve model showerhead, called the road runner. This is an all-water, 1.59GPM low flow showerhead with 36 individual nozzles. Integrated into the showerhead is their shower start temperature controlled cutoff device they lovingly call the “ladybug.” The Ladybug itself retails at $29.99, the roadrunner, complete with showerstart technology, comes in at a very reasonable $39.99.

My wife and i have been using this for about 2 weeks now and we have to say that we love it. It is the quietest low flow showerhead we’ve tried and it lets out a very gentle soothing set of streams that are soft, but remain strong enough to rinse long hair. But by far, the showerstart is my favorite feature. Basically this automatically shuts off the water while you’re waiting for it to warm up, so when you come back from doing whatever you do, you haven’t wasted any water. Just pull down on the dongle and your warm shower starts right up.

We’re giving this 5 out of 5 gears. It’s a great product that saves energy and has a great price point. See the video review for more indepth analysis.

UPDATE: I still love the Evolve, but I am reducing the rating to reflect our new grading criteria.

RATING: 4 out of 5 Gears for Water Conservation, Value, Product Design / Quality, and Being a No Brainer!

So Sleek! Even without the Chrome!

Today we’re reviewing the Agent 18 Eco Friendly iPhone case. A few weeks ago I gave in to the pressure to purchase an iPhone and once again went out to pay a premium for a fancy apple device. This compelling feeling BTW, I call the “Steve Jobs Tax.” Now, walking around with a 400 phone clanking around in my pocket is a new experience for me so I immediately started looking for a case. Not just any old case, this is Mr. Green Gear we’re talking about. I stumbled upon the Agent 18. This is a 2 piece hard plastic shell. It is made out of recycled material and also sports pretty dandy minimalized packaging.

Overall it’s a good product, but while they advertise that, “it docks” it doesn’t work with the included iphone docking station. so you need to remove the bottom half to dock with it. No big deal for me. Overall we gave it 3 out of 5 gears. Go ahead and view the video review below and post comments.

BTW, i expect a ton of comments about how awesome my video editing was this time! just a heads up.

RATING: 3 out of 5 Gears for Recycled / able Content, Price, and Product Design / Quality