BuyBackWorld gives good prices for electronic gadgets

We all have them – unused, outdated electronic gadgets crammed into drawers, closets and garages. It’s an “out of sight, out of mind” story with an “I’ll get to it sometime” mindset. 

An online marketplace called BuyBackWorld is a great fit for all those once-loved “toys”. This site will help you score you some added cash, clear out those chock-full places and help the environment, all at the same time. 

Comfy green sofas – made of grass?

Everyone deserves a bit of whimsy and today’s no exception.

For those who’ve longed to lie in the grass and enjoy a sunny afternoon, now there are green grass sofas scattered around a number of parks in England that make lounging a unique, eco-friendly kind of experience.

Leave it to England’s National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty (aka the National Trust) to create these fascinating “Open Air Living Rooms” for Brits to enjoy. You could grow your own, but between the hay bales and the hours of wiring everything together, you may decide it’s a bit too much.

Still, it would be a unique conversation piece – and a cool way to relax – in your backyard or on a private beach.

ChicoBag’s Produce Collection – a great alternative to clear plastic supermarket bags

Single use plastic bags are a growing environmental threat

Over one billion single-use plastic bags get handed out every day in the U.S.  Costing retailers an average of $4 billion annually, these bags are made from petroleum and toxic chemicals that create pollution and greenhouse gases. Hundreds of thousands of sea and land-based creatures mistake them for food and often end up dying an agonizing death. With a large majority of these bags ending up in landfills, these bags pose a serious environmental problem.

The good news is while some communities are beginning to ban the use of these bags, Americans are slowly shifting to using reusable bags instead. One of the leading makers of reusable bags is ChicoBag.

A Rechargable Battery that makes that "bunny" jealous

Remember the last time you went to get a battery you’d stored, only to find it didn’t work? The bunny that “keeps going and going” may have met its match. Sanyo’s Eneloop Rechargable battery changes what we think we know about rechargeables.  

Deleware governor signs progressive animal protection bill

Deleware's new Animal Companion Protection law is the most progressive in the country

On July 23rd, the Governor of Delaware signed the most sweeping, progressive companion animal protection legislation in the United States. Modeled on the No Kill Advocacy Center’s Companion Animal Protection Act, the bill was spearheaded by the non-profit No Kill shelter Faithful Friends, in Wilmington, Delaware, and involved groups like Stray Haven Animal Sanctuary.

The Delaware Companion Animal Protection Act mandates collaboration between shelters and rescue groups. Under the new law, a shelter cannot kill an animal if a rescue group is willing to save that animal’s life. It also makes convenience killing illegal—shelters can no longer kill an animal when there are available cages or the animals can share a cage or kennel with another one.

Senate fails to take on climate change legislation

Party lines seem more important to US Senators than climate change

In what can only be seen as a major failure on the part of our country’s top politicians to put the welfare of their constituents ahead of their own interests, the U.S. Senate has allowed a majority of its members to block that august body from taking up a comprehensive  clean energy and climate change bill.

Cosmetics may soon be safer

Most consumers don't know what chemicals are in their cosmetics

Lisa Archer, national coordinator for The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, personal care products contain more than 12,500 chemicals but most consumers don’t know which ones are safe.

That may be about to change.

Three Congressional Representatives – Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin – have introduced a bill to reform the current outdated law n the use of ingredients in personal care products including cosmetics.

Pollution found to lower IQ in children

Living near a busy road or in a heavily urban area may have a direct link to lower IQ scores and other health issues in developing newborns.

A study by the Harvard School of Public Health in 2007 first linked smog and falling IQ scores in children. Researchers applied two intelligence tests to 2002 Boston area children, at ages 8 and 11. They found that children living and attending schools that experienced high levels of traffic pollution scored an average 3.7 points lower than children in less polluted area.

New vaginal gel helps protect women from AIDS

Researchers announced yesterday that a new gel produced by Gilead Sciences has provided protection to women in South Africa from the AIDS virus, preventing them from being infected.

In what is likely the biggest breakthrough in almost 30 years of AIDS research, scientists at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna revealed that the gel, made from the company’s drug tenofovir, when used regularly by South African women, cut the risk of HIV infection by 50 percent after one year’s use and 39 percent after 2 1/2 years, compared to a gel that was essentially a placebo.

Beat It! Insect Repellent stops insects naturally

Summer brings out all sorts of creepy, crawly, and/or pesky flying insects. 

In the past, we’d reach for a heavy duty insect repellent for protection. Remember those TV ads with the guy inside a glass cased-room filled with mosquitoes? 

These days, there a number of natural insect repellents on the market. Some work better than others but most have an incredibly strong scent that can knock you back f you’re the least bit sensitive to smell. 

I recently found a natural insect repellent that not only works well, but its scent won’t announce itself from a distance.