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.

So, the pen is mightier than the sword, right? But is a green pen mightier than a normal pen? Who knows. I can’t really tell the difference and maybe that’s the point.

I was looking for a good pen made with recycled materials that I could put refills in and stumbled upon the Pilot BEGREEN G2 Gel Pen. The Pilot G2 Pen has been around for quite a while. Its sort of the go-to of gel pens out there and I remember being very fond of them when I was in school. They are tough and sturdy which is good because if they were soft and gooshy (like a bic) I would end up chewing them up. But no, the G2 is awesome and in all regards puts down a nice pen stroke when it has to.

Pilot has a lot of different BEGREEN Pens but this was the only one that i found at the store. It is made with, get this, 81.5% recycled content. Not 81.3% or even an optimistic 82%, but exactly 81.5% recycled plastic. With a number like this, the chance that they’re trying to blow green smoke in your face is unlikely. This pen was priced at around $5 for a pack of five. This is in line with other pens of its type.

You wouldn’t know that this pen is green or made of recycled content if it didn’t proclaim it loudly on the package. It’s just a normal G2 pen… This is sort of refreshing, so many products out there are full of green marketing but fall short on product quality and performance.

This pen does what it should do and does it without using new material.

The video review is below.

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RATING: 4 out of 5 Gears for Being made of recycled materials, price, quality, and being something 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

I was shopping at Generation Green in Columbus, Ohio the other day and Mrs. Green Gear pointed me to something I’ve been looking for for a while.  A recycled boot tray for indoor or outdoor use made by DII.

I hate coming in from the winter cold and getting dirt and water everywhere.  Even if i Bang my feet against the door jam it always seems like i end up making a mess.  This product pretty much works like a charm.  It has room for 3 pairs of shoes and boots, with little markings where they go.  It also as a nice reservoir for water collection.

There are a couple things I don’t love about this product.  First, it’s made in India, so that means its shipped here.  Now I understand the labor savings and the rationale for outsourcing, but… still… I’d like it if this Seattle company used US Labor.  Anyway, I’d also think this would be a cooler product if it had tire treads on it… Since it’s recycled rubber, this design would make it a bit more unique.

UPDATE: We’ve been using this product through a very wet icy winter and I have lost a bit of faith in it. The “feet” design on it keep water, so then it never channels away, just stays there. Also the treads are just not deep enough. If all that weren’t enough, i’ve been shopping around and this one is 50% more than others. So i’m changing the rating from 3 to 1 gear. Sorry DII.

Here is the video review.

RATING: 1 out of 5 Gears for being made of recycled material.

Trader Joes Recycled Reusable Grocery Bag Review by Green Gear

I know what you’re thinking…

“Here he is, reviewing a reusable grocery bag… BOY is he mailing this one in.  it is so hackney for a reviewer of green products to choose to talk about a reusable grocery bag.  I mean, they’re so simple, easy, and abundant in our newly green society… Its just… its so… It’s just been done!  And he’s not even reviewing one of the cute ones you get at the green store with nice patterns, he’s reviewing a regular one… from… uh… a.. GROCERY STORE!  The $1 ones!”

Yes, I’m reviewing a simple, plain, cheap reusable grocery bag.  No, it doesn’t fold up into another bag the size of a deck of playing cards.  No, it doesn’t have any snappy “green” statement on the side to make other NON greens (“we call them normos”) feel guilty.  and No, it doesn’t have a fancy name.  I’m not even sure what to call it other than, reusable grocery bag.   It was like $1, its simple, it works… and I love it.

Few other green products are as standard as the reusable grocery bag.  Maybe water bottles.  But pretty much every single store out there has them and they’re cheap.  I’ve seen good ones at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Andersons, Wal-Mart, and Trader Joe’s.

This particular one is non insulated and made of recycled PET bottles (water and soda bottles).  I’ve seen reusable bags that aren’t made of recycled material, which is totally fine, but i prefer my products to hit all green marks if they can.  When looking for one, make sure it can hold a fair amount of stuff… One i got from Kroger has straps that go allt he way down the side, i put heavy stuff in that.

Now, the green reason to use these is that they replace plastic or paper grocery bags.. This is no small thing.  We use FAR too many of these, as a matter of fact many cities around the world are now banning thse.  They last in landfills for a very long time.  But to me, the best reasont to use these is that they keep those bags out of your house and don’t clutter your kitchen pantry.  I never realized how many of those bags were stuffed into my pantry until is topped using them.  It’s great to be free of all that stupid plastic.  I feel free to put other things there like a dog food container or a bigger recycling bin.

These things are cheap, useful, sustainable, and basically a no brainer.  Buy one, buy three, buy five… buy enough and answer “neither” to paper or plastic for the rest of your days

Here is the video review.

RATING: 5 out of 5 Gears for Being made of recycled material, replacing a disposable alternative, value, quality, and being something everyone should own.

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.

For small business owners, business cards are often the writs that document first impressions.  They are a small window into the business’ owner and its operations.  A few weeks ago i ran across a set of business cards made of recycled cereal boxes by the US Business Card Company.  I sent an email over to the company asking for samples they may have, possibly from overrun, and one week later a small set of business cards arrived at Green Gear HQ. 

Two things really impressed me about these cards the first time i saw them.  First, What a great idea!  Cereal boxes are made of stiff cardstock and make a perfect medium for business cards.  Second, the price.  If you’re looking to get these bad boys, be prepared to pay.  I was somewhat turned off by the price at first, but after doing some research, I was simply uneducated. 

The US Business Card Company uses century old stamping and rolling techniques to make pretty much any design the prospective client could possibly want.  These are not akin to $25 / 1000 offers you see online or at your print shop.  These are not cookiecutter.  They are a quality product for people who want “quality” to be one of the first things people think of when it comes to their business.

There were a myriad of designs in the sample we received, the most spectacular is front in center in the photo above.  The metal or photopolymer plates also offer a great texture when they’re pressed into the paper.  Again, not something you’ll get at your local print shop. 

I’m more smitten with these cards than I thought I would be.  Cereal boxes work well because they speak to people’s childhood memories of sitting down stuffing sugar-laced corn puffs into their mouths… Or if you’re me, they remind me of the ONE box of sugar cereal i got at christmas each year.  Either way, they will do what you want them to do, Make An Impression. 

If Green Gear EVER gets up and running into a business, I’ll be calling up the US Business Card Company for a set of these. 

Check out the Video Review!

RATING: 3 Out of 5 Gears for Being Made of Recycled Material, Product Value / Price, and Design Innovation and Quality.

75% 65% Greed, 35% Treehugger

So today I was wondering the halls at the office and I noticed that the company I work for, which is very large and will remain nameless has moved to using officemax office depot “green” paper that is made from 35% recycled paper. People might boo hoo this because it’s not 100%, but we use a lot of paper and this is a very nice thing to see from a large corporation. Our company has made some great inroads and committed in many different ways to help the environment. I might go so far to say we’re leaders in corporate environmental responsibility.

So, a very good change. what do you guys think? To little?