With every new year comes renewed hope for what we’ll get done and what we won’t do–in a word, resolutions. We hope that along with the usual suspects, like getting organized and eating healthier, you’ll add some green endeavors to the list. To help narrow down simple and seriously beneficial steps check out our guide of 6 Simple Green Things to Do in ‘09. You can start small with just one or dive right in and aspire to accomplish several. And you can expect more than just the good feelings that come from getting greener; these tips also have concrete perks (like saving money!) for you.

If you’re looking for a bigger challenge or have already implemented those ideas in your life, consider a different resolution: Park your family’s second vehicle–in storage or the garage–for the year. The emissions from your vehicle and the toll taken by the gas you’d consume won’t be missed and you may even find that you don’t miss the car itself. As long as you have a first vehicle available, you can still accomplish those big grocery runs and carpool kids to the soccer game. Instead what will likely change is one individual’s work commute; a drive every day can be switched to a trip on public transit, which will give you a little extra time to accomplish things (or rest your eyes) on your way to work. When the weather’s warmed up a bit–or the snow melted, at the very least–consider biking or walking to work. Most people who try it for awhile find that the benefits of the exercise are inspiration enough to forgo the vehicle. Click here to read more

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Is there anything Liza Minnelli can’t do? She has three Tony Awards, an Academy Award, an Emmy award, a Grammy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Did we mention she can bike? Minnelli pushed the pedals recently for a great purpose: Powering the famous year display on New Year’s Eve. Instead of using old-fashioned electricity to light the 2-0-0-9 at midnight, Duracell set up the Duracell Power Lodge in Times Square as a place where people can go to pedal up power for the big moment. Six stationary snowmobikes, which truly look like hybrids of snowmobiles and bicycles, are available for riding and all the energy earned from the “ride” is captured and stored in the Duracell Battery Center where it will be ultimately transfered to One Times Square. While it’s not a concept many of us will be able to take back and put to use in our homes, we like that attention is being drawn to the idea of alternative energies, like solar, and awareness of energy consumption is being increased. Click here to read more

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The holidays are drawing to a close and we’re guessing that you’re feeling it. Whether in your back from sleeping on the couch to accommodate visiting relatives, in your stomach from an excess of wintery-looking baked goods or in all-over fatigue thanks to not enough sleep and too many Christmas parties. Instead of bringing on the New Year with a new bottle of Tylenol in hand, we’re suggesting something more natural to soothe your body—and your mind. Buddha Nose Bodhi Balm is a massage balm (just a bit on a few fingers will do) designed to ease muscle pain, release tension in your body, and, maybe most importantly, quiet your mind. It’s crafted from essential oils like Frankinsence and Juniper Berry in a base of USDA-certified organic jojoba oil, USDA-certified organic hemp seed oil and USDA-certified organic beeswax, so there’s no arguing that its earth-friendly factor is much higher than most muscle pain, stress and fatigue fighters. Click here to read more

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Whether you’re celebrating Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or just celebrating a day off from work, we send you our best. All the best for 2009!

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If there’s a prevalent American New Year’s tradition it has to be the ball dropping at Times Square; although many of us will never see it live, more than one billion will find their way to a TV at 11:59 to watch it make the descent that signifies the arrival of the New Year. For those of us with green on the brain, however, it can seem a bit like impact-heavy icing on a consumption cake–as if hundreds of thousands of people traveling by subway, car, train and plane to get to resource-draining Times Square wasn’t enough, here comes that light-laden mechanical wonder. It’s a fabulous sight, but an eco-conscious individual couldn’t help but wonder if the party planners in that famous district were also dropping the ball when it came to the environment. Now, before you accuse us of getting all grinch-of-New Year’s Eve on you, know that we love a good party as much as the next person and that the Times Square Alliance has found a way to please everyone (mostly).

This year, when the ball falls through the sky at midnight, it won’t be the ball you’ve seen since 2000; it’ll be  a new, more energy-efficient ball made with Waterford Crystals and Philips LEDs. Yes, the previous ball had LEDs also but not nearly as many–there are about three times the amount on the new ball and that makes it 10-20% more energy-efficient than the prior model (which was also designed for some energy-effiency). How easy on the earth is it? Well, Philips Lighting says the new ball will consume, in an hour, the amount of energy equivilant to running two traditional home ovens for the same amount of time. And that’s something we’re definitely willing to countdown and cheer for. Click here to read more

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Awhile back we posted a video about the Gossip Girl gang going green and speculated that it might have been spearheaded by longtime eco-focused star Kelly Rutherford. Well, if her recent activities are any indication, this is just the woman who would manage to get a whole television set and cast to reduce their impact on the earth. Rutherford has recently been out and about promoting the new Micro-Mini Twist compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) from Sylvania–the smallest CFL available on the market–she even took some time to trim a CFL-shaped Christmas tree with the bulbs. While we have to wonder a bit about what kind of financial payout Rutherford is gaining for her selling skills, she has always had green goals and this seems to be in line with her mission (even if it’s partially driven by a paycheck).

The Micro-Mini, thanks to its small stature, may fit in some light fixtures that otherwise couldn’t house CFLs, but the important thing for saving on your energy bill and shrinking some of your carbon footprint is to switch to CFLs, period. If the Micro-Mini is the one you want, go for it; if you like another brand, go for that. It’s a small step Rutherford suggests as a great way to get started with a greener lifestyle. Aim to switch all the light bulbs in your house to energy-efficient models and then see where it goes from there. If you’re anything like her, you may find yourself eating organic, using only non-toxic products and driving a Prius in no time. Click here to read more

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Yesterday we discussed the chemical concern around toys and the newly introduced Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to show a glimpse of the current toy industry. Today we fill you in on how to get great toys without filling up on LEAD.

We’ve all heard about lead in toys–it’s hard to miss that information when massive recalls are taking place and buyers are being urged to throw away suspicious toys. That doesn’t mean, however, that we all know what to do about it. Sure you can toss out all the toys you’ve acquired and lay down a ban on play things that will prove rather unpopular come birthday time, but there are less extreme steps you can take that will let your little one have toys and still keep your lives lead-free.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), when fully active sometime around September 2009, will help keep lead and phthalates from getting into stores and you can periodically check their website to see what’s taking place, what toys have been recalled and sign up for their e-mail alerts for future recalls. Go through the toys you already own and check for painted surfaces and plastic components (especially small ones that may be swallowed) which may contain lead. If your child has been playing with a toy that is now recalled you may want to check with your doctor to see if lead testing would be a good idea; this is especially wise if your child tends to suck or teeth on toys.

As you approach buying new toys, look for ones with as many natural components as possible. You can use the Toy Rankings at HealthyToys.org (a great site for all things toy-safety related) to browse toys or check a specific toy for safety. One of the easiest ways to assure yourself of a non-toxic toy is to buy from a brand that has always focused on natural, chemical-free products.

Plan Toys makes toys using rubberwood from the rubber tree and completely child-friendly non-toxic paints and sealants so they’re healthy for not only your youngster but also the environment. Safety is such a high concern for Plan Toys that they recently recalled their toy Penguin because of a single incident where the Penguin head fell off–even though there were no injuries. The toys also undergo both EN71 testing and ASTM testing before being released. Click here to read more

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With millions of Americans shopping for toys, we thought this would be a good time to shed some light on the concerns consumers have about LEAD–and other chemicals–in children’s toys. In Part 1 we overview some of the recent events that have resulted in elevated worry over toys and what’s being done to counter the problem, and in Part 2 we outline how you, as a buyer, can use new tools to keep chemicals away from your kids.

In late 2007, following the recall of millions of toys due to high levels of lead, tests found that 35 percent of children’s toys–the vast majority not yet recalled–contained lead in levels higher than that of the federal recall standard for lead paint. With the more than 21 million toys that had been recalled by Mattel, tests done by Mattel itself had found lead in levels up to 200 times the accepted limit.

The recall and the findings set off a veritable snow ball-effect, suddenly lead was being pointed out in a variety of children’s (and adult’s) products–some recalled and some not. Consumers, especially concerned parents, began to question what was really in the toys they gave their children and all-natural wooden toys with naturally-made sealants and paints received a sudden spike in popularity.

In addition to fears about the harmful affects of such large amounts of lead and phthalates on developing bodies, attention began to focus on other potentially dangerous chemicals such as cadmium, chlorine, arsenic, bromine and mercury–things you picture being used in labs but rarely consider laying down in your baby’s crib. Because of the on-everything-and-in-everything nature of child play and the delicate developmental state of young ones, the risks of chemicals in toys is often considered to be much higher than the risk of those chemicals in products used by adults (though we hesitate to believe anyone’s keen on arsenic in their goods).

Thanks to the action of parents and plenty of media focus, however, the government has taken the matter very seriously and in August of this year Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). So what’s the long-named law really about? The CPSIA does a few things: First, it increases the budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and, in turn, enables them to impose new testing and documentation requirements for manufacturers. Next, it sets new lower acceptable levels for several substances, including lead. Finally, it lays out new requirements for manufacturers of a wider range of goods and both increases fines and specifies jail time for certain violations. In short, the CPSIA turns a spotlight on toy manufacturers and gets tough on toys. Click here to read more

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A new application in solar technology might soon allow you to accessorize in style and become a walking power plant for your personal gadgets. These new solar sunglasses use “cheap organic dye nano technology providing cheap but high energy efficiency.” With that they can easily plug-in to an iPod, PSP or other portable devices to give you a power boost on the go. Click here to read more

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