Rapanui Clothing is putting the "cool" in Ethi-cool

An ethical fashion brand has unveiled a new range of clothing. The small Isle of Wight (island off England's southern coast where I visited recently) brand have been trading officially for two years, concentrating on sustainable textiles and buying.

Rapanui was set up by brothers Rob and Mart Drake-Knight in early 2008. It has quickly grown into an award-winning brand, earning recognition at the Sustainable Business Awards for their commitment to using organic, natural fabrics, wind-powered factories, and Fairwear Foundation audited supply chains.

Their cool new designs are geared to captivate the younger generations, who are perhaps less aware than others of where their clothes come from.
They are completely open an honest about the entire process of their clothes, how they are made and what impact each piece has on the environment, yet at the same time, they provide garments that perhaps you wouldn’t expect from a company whose main concern is about reducing the environmental impact of the fashion industry.

Check them out at Rapanui Clothing

Iowa wind farm impressive up close

I got a pleasant surprise driving up to a family vacation. We drove through Charles City, Iowa, and ran smack into a huge wind farm.

Mid-American Energy built a total of 50 huge turbines, which produce about 75,000 KW of electricity. The wind farm was constructed in early 2008.

We also saw an even larger windfarm on I-35, near the Minnesota/Iowa border. I think it is called "Top of Iowa" (there are maybe three different "sites" within the same area). Started almost 10 years ago (built in 2001), it contains a total of 147 turbines.

I couldn't believe that it's been that long in service. Wind farms were the last thing on my mind in 2001, so hats off to those who got this farm up and running back then.

It's pretty awesome to see so many of them at once. Some of my family described it as "alien" or "spaceship" looking. If you have the opportunity to visit a wind farm, it's worth it. Just to see the landscape lined with rotating turbines, and to see how large they are. It's also cool to know that Iowa is one of the leaders in wind power in the US, and that each turbine is helping meet our energy needs, without pollution.

For more information, visit this List of Iowa Wind Farms

Where do your plastic milk jugs end up?

I had never heard of Polywood until I came across their website. Polywood is a wood replacement material that is constructed from recycled milk jugs and plastic containers into recycled plastic lumber. It gives you the same look and feel of regular wood, but without cutting down a tree, and without sending the plastic and jugs to the landfill.

Many wood products are also treated with harmful chemicals, so this is avoided. As a benefit, the material is high-quality and maintenance-free, which is better than what most wood products can offer. It also can not leak or contaminate the soil.

There are many uses for the polywood material, since it is almost identical to natural wood. These include: decking, railings, picnic tables, benches, patio furniture and playground equipment.

The products are easy to assemble, as you can see from this video.

At first, I thought the price was a little high for these chairs, as you would expect with any recycled product, but it's actually not that much more than a chair made from virgin wood. When you compare the length of time that you will have the chair, compared to a model made from virgin wood, you'll be saving lots of money in the long run. We need to be looking at long term decisions when we buy products (quality, not quantity), and this is a perfect example of the type of quality products we need to be buying.

Visit their website for more information about Polywood products.

'King Corn' opened my eyes to high fructose corn syrup

"King Corn" is an independent film based in Iowa. It follows two east coast college students, who figure out that they have family roots in the same small Iowa town. They spend a summer growing one acre of corn, to better understand the impact and the inner workings.

What they learn is pretty shocking, regarding the government subsidies that are provided to farmers. Most farmers make very little money, since the cost of a bushel of corn is kept so low. The subsidies allow the farmer to make just enough money to survive. You would think this would be a good thing, but it drives them to produce the wrong kind of corn, not the edible kind.

They also explore where a typical acre of corn goes (not as corn-on-the-cob, as you might think), along with the environmental impact of that corn. You would think that corn has to be good for us, and growing more would be a good thing, but this film clearly shows how bad things have gotten. The amount that goes to overfeed cows for meat is also shocking!

However, the biggest shocker for me was the amount of corn going to create high fructose corn syrup. This product has basically no nutritional value, and has replaced sugar in almost every food we eat nowadays. It drives our obesity problem, and since it is so inexpensive (government funded), it is now less expensive to buy food that is bad for you (cupcakes, soda, chips, etc) than buying healthy fruits and vegetables!

They also recently released a supplemental short film called "Big River", which explores the impact of farming (pesticides and runoff) on the water streams, which all eventually flow down into the mouth of the Mississippi River (the "dead zone").

This movie was exactly what I needed to see, in order to finally convince me to cut back even more on eating meat, and now I'm severly reducing my consumption of products with high fructose corn syrup!

'No Impact Man' sets the bar really high!

I'd like to think that I do pretty good at being "green", but after watching "No Impact Man", I feel like I've got a long way to go.

The movie is about an author who wants to write about something more meaningful. He decides to try an experiment, with his "somewhat willing" family, to see how little impact on the environment they can have. They start out pretty agressive, and build upon it in stages over the course of a year. The final six months, they go without electricity completely.

They generate zero trash, which is truly amazing! Everything they eat is from the Farmer's Market, or bought in bulk, to prevent having any packaging/trash. They don't use any toilet paper (still confused about how they did that...) and only take public transportation.

There are two sides to this movie. First, the effort took a toll on the couple, and they were ridiculed at times. On the other hand, it made them realize what was really important in life, and break themselves from things they thought they needed. Overall, I think they grew closer going through the experience.

Think you're up for the challenge? Download (don't print) the "How to Guide" to see what you are signing up for. The next scheduled event is April 18th.

Get rid of your used CDs and DVDs for cash!

I can't remember the last time I bought a physical CD. Who does anymore? Not only is it more convenient to buy electronically online, but it's a benefit to the environment to do so (packaging materials and transportation fuel).

After moving recently, I realized that we have a lot of CDs and DVDs. They take up a lot of space, and I wanted to really de-clutter and simplify my life. I went through all my CDs and figured out which ones I like, and which ones I didn't. The ones I liked, I uploaded to my computer for my iPhone to download. Now I have a bunch of CDs (both like and dislike) that take up space, and I'll probably never play again.

We tried to sell many of them at our garage sale before moving, but we still had a lot left over. There aren't many local stores that buy back most of the CDs (more selective on titles).



While searching online, I found a company called SecondSpin.com that pays you cash for your used CDs and DVDs. All you do is type in the UPC code of each CD, and it gives you the price it will pay you. I averaged about $1 per CD (range is about $0.05 to $3.00) and mailed a large box to their facility for processing. Count how many CDs you have, then do the math...

Not only do you get to get rid of things you don't want, you make some money in the process, and your item gets reused by someone who wants it!

Give it a try at their website SecondSpin.com.

Update 2/4/10 - I received my check today for $170 (I sent 133 CDs to them). They rejected some of my CDs for water damage, but overall I think it was worth the money and effort.

Food, Inc. Movie Review

This movie did not play in my area, so I was glad to get it on DVD this week.

The movie explored the business behind the food we eat, and how the veil over how our food is processed is slowly (and luckily) being uncovered.

My biggest concern going into the movie was that it would be a shock movie, that would show you grotesque video of animals being killed inhumanely, and try and scare you into not eating meat again. They did a good job of showing some of the realities of the industry, without making you sick or grossed out. It is an ugly business, and most people don't want to know where their food comes from. However, unless we understand that companies are not looking out for your best interest, we will always be in the dark. The movie clearly explains that we need to start to question where your food is coming from, and start putting your money into food that is healthy and grown correctly, even if it costs more.

There were two main things I learned:

1) Wal-Mart started to carry organic food products because their customers asked for it. If enough people ask for these products, you can change ANY company, even one as large as Wal-Mart.

2) The government subsidies (gives money to) farmers to grow corn. That makes corn much cheaper than other food, which is why potato chips (for example) are so much cheaper than vegetables. So when you look at prices, you will always be choosing a food that is probably worse for you than what you should be eating. As you can see, this has serious consequences (obesity, diabetes, etc). I was shocked at the amount of food made from corn. It is also why corn is used to feed cattle (instead of grass, which is what they should be eating). You can add antibiotic, chemicals and other garbage into the feed, which is easier to do than with grass. Corn-fed cattle can be raised in smaller areas, since they don't need to roam, which means more profit for the meat industry. It's amazing what you find when you "follow the money"!

I highly recommend you watch this movie, if you haven't seen it yet!