This baby toy from Vulli would be a great gift for that green rug rat in your life, especially if they are teething. Sophie the Giraffe, as she has been known since 1961, is produced manually in France with 100% natural rubber derived from the hevea tree. Our 10-month-old girl definitely found it soothing, and was excited when it would squeak from time to time. You can definitely tell the rubber is natural, as it has a soft, almost moist feel to it. As an added bonus, it came in sustainable packaging. Green-wise, the only problem I see here is that it is imported all the way from France.

If you’re interested, head over to DwellSmart (map) or purchase online.

Note: For the next couple weeks, we will be reviewing products that would make good gifts for the greenie in your life. Our friend Mary Gatch, owner of DwellSmart and local green goddess, provided this product free of charge to our family for review on this website.

My friend Chris dropped off an organic cotton t-shirt from Cool Green Fish, and our son Graham really digs it. It’s super soft, just his size, and he got to break it in while fishing with Grandpa. So if you’re into rockin’ it organically, and like to support local business at the same time, be sure to visit Cool Green Fish and look around.

When I visit places like San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver, and Montreal, I always notice how progressive the airports and hotels seem (I’ve blogged about this here and here). The hotels I stay in always have programs promoting the reuse of towels, recycling bins rooms, and CFLs in all the lights.

That got me thinking about Charleston’s hotels, and what sustainable practices they are using. I decided to call around and ask the major Charleston hotels five simple questions – the results are in the Hotel Scorecard below.

I asked the hotels if they were doing these five simple things…things that cost relatively little money. Sure it would be nice if hotels were using solar energy, collecting rainwater, and composting, but those things are difficult and expensive to implement. I wanted to see if Charleston hotels were doing any of these simple things, because I see other hotels doing them when I travel.

As you can see, the Charleston hotels aren’t doing much at all. I gotta hand it to the Francis Marion Hotel and Embassy Suites for at least using CFLs and encouraging the reuse of towels, but there’s room for improvement across the board. I mean, two of these hotel chains have web pages bragging about their sustainability efforts (see below). I’d like to see the rest of the hotels adopt a couple of these practices, even if it’s just to save money instead of the planet – I’ll take it.

I’d also like to note that the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn refused to participate in my survey, citing corporate regulations on discussing these things (OK?) If you have connections at any of these hotels, please pass along this information and ask that they green up their hotels. Look for this report to come out again in one year with updated scores.

What do you all think about this?  Should hotels green up their practices, or is it our responsibility when we travel to do it ourselves?

Let the Hotels Know What You Think

Help us tell these hotels that Charleston deserves greener digs, and that they should be doing a better job as hosts to thousands of tourists each year. Two of these hotels have sustainability sections on their websites talking about all the amazing things they are doing – we call that greenwashing, and it’s not enough. Let them know what you think:

Embassy Suites: phone | email | website | sustainability
Charleston Marriott: phone | email | website | sustainability
Charleston Place Hotel: phone | email | website
Francis Marion Hotel: phone | email | website
The Mills House: phone | email | website
The Market Pavilion: phone | email | website

Zoe is now two months old, and very busy making wet messes in her diaper. It took about two weeks for the diaper to fit properly. The potty diapers are so easy to flush. Now, the poo-poo’s are an entirely different story. Yes, it can be a very messy ordeal. Yes, sometimes I immediately toss the inserts into a diaper Dekor, which uses biodegradable bags. Yes, the white liners are stained, but rarely a leak outside the liner. Because her poo’s are still so wet, I am looking into using cloth inserts in the gDiaper.

The gross factor rarely bothers me, it’s my baby’s poo, and until foods like the grape enter her diet, I am not gagging. I have never had a problem with the velcro tabs, though there was an improvement added about two years ago. I have only clogged the toilet once, though I believe the culprit was a rogue wipe.

I write this with the hopes it won’t be too gross for anyone (Chad included.) I do try to save the wet inserts for times when the toilet already needs to be flushed. With my three year old going potty every fifteen minutes, it seemed prudent to combine flushes!

I do not mind the extra effort, I wanted to have children and feel a responsibility to lessen their impact. The time it takes to prepare for a day with gDiapers is minimal, certainly a drop in the bucket compared to how much time it takes for the disposables we use to decompose.

Certain occasions do seem to be better suited for disposable diapers: sitters, grandparents and daddy times, along with travel. For these times, we choose Seventh Generation diapers. I also have learned that the while gDiapers are manufactured in China, the inserts are made right here for us in the U.S.

I do think that gDiapers are the best choice for babies’ bottoms and would love to see more around town. One can order them online, or purchase them at Earth Fare and Dwell Smart. Did I mention she looks super cute in them too?

1. Vinegar is as old as dirt. Not really, but vinegar has been a part of human life for 10,000 years.
2. Hippocrates used apple cider vinegar for its many healing properties.
3. 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of water, and a squeeze of a lemon equals the best household cleaner I use.
4. Vinegar is a great antibacterial agent, with a pH lower than 3 – organisms don’t stand a chance.
5. Vinegar is incredibly versatile.
6. Vinegar is cheap – about $1.25 for two liters.
7. I can purchase vinegar just about anywhere.
8. Vinegar has its own institute and its own book.
9. I love a good fresh salad topped with a balsamic vinaigrette.
10. The volcanic action of vinegar plus baking soda is simply a childhood classic.

Currently, there is an old Seventh Generation spray bottle filled with 1 part vinegar, 1 part water, and a little lemon waiting for use everywhere in this house! Vinegar is one easy answer for ways to make one’s home a little more green.

Some thoughts…

• I averaged 43.8 and 46.8 mpg on the first two tanks. This is pretty good, but there’s room for improvement. If I had more interstate and fewer bridges between work and home, I could edge that up.

• I managed to get a huge load of lumber home from Lowe’s the other day. I’ve also had bags of mulch, pine straw, top soil, and a group of 5 people in it as well.
• I like talking to the other Prius owners as much as the Prius prospects – they’re a chatty crew.
• Cheers to my friend Ben for introducing the term “hybrid rage” to my lexicon. Having SUV’s get all up in my business when I’m rolling steady on battery makes me laugh.
• Sometimes I can’t find it in the parking lot because it is so small. See photo…

And yes, I’m still wondering how all the US auto makers failed to have Toyota’s vision. It just re-enforces that notion that as Americans, the only votes that count are the ones we make with our dollars.

That’s where our newly acquired Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor is coming in handy. I can plug in almost any device, set the cost per kWh (SCE&G is charging me $0.094), and it will estimate the total cost per year/month/week/day (though, I recommend also buying a power strip liberator). Here are the first three things I measured:

• Simple lamp with CFL: $3.29 per year
• Entertainment Center (TV/DVD/Stereo/etc.): $95.51 per year
• Phone & Answering Machine: $4.95

This will give me a good roadmap for other devices in the house that should either be used in moderation, or turned off when not in use, helping us reduce our carbon footprint AND save a few bucks. I’ll be sure to post back here with a full report.

Graham’s little fanny has never looked so cute, and I feel good lessening his imprint. Please check out Palmetto Diaper Works when researching your options. Just don’t forget there are options.

Paper products are great because we can easily close the loop, a green behavior critical to sustainable consumer activity. So while I was out over the weekend, I brought home a couple brands to sample.

Staples is rocking their own private stock of 100% post-consumer recycled printer paper. I picked up a ream of bright white 24lb chlorine-free paper. And even though it’s low-end multi-use paper, my inkjet didn’t even notice. Staples means it when they say “our eco-smartest laser & inkjet paper is brighter for standout texts and colors.” My only beef is that they sell it packaged in non-recyclable plastic. The reams at my office come neatly wrapped in paper, and so should the ones I buy at the store.

Target is shelving Printworks recycled multipurpose paper. Not only is it less bright and thinner, it’s made from only 30% post-consumer recycled materials. Sitting next to the Staples brand, it looks like gray newspaper. I think I’ll let this be the paper the kids use for drawing!

Happy printing!

A portion of the site details Santee Cooper’s corporate efforts to become a more environmentally-focused company. Here you will find info on their ambitious (but vague) plans for using renewable energy sources, environmental education programs, energy recycling, and internal corporate efforts to become more green.

More useful is the Go Green with Santee Cooper section. There you get access to free energy audits, basic green building info, and a smart energy planning guide. The energy planning guide does a good job of explaining why costs and environmental impact go up when we use power at peak times. Here you’ll also read a brief statement on green energy buy-backs. This is important because Santee Cooper is beginning to experiment with net metering, which helps increase residential and commercial solar panel adoption rates. Hello – SCE&G – where are you???

In the end the site is well aimed, but does feel a little too warm and fuzzy (you know, in a Public Relations kind of way). But this is still a great step for Santee Cooper to have taken – one that every energy company should do. Keeping the lights on, while keeping this planet healthy, is becoming more and more challenging each year. If corporations continue to spearhead efforts like this, and consumers continue to purchase with a green mind, then together we can keep moving in the right direction.