Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet and therefore highly sustainable. It is an incredibly versatile plant used for many everyday applications from flooring and wall paneling to paper and fabrics. Some of the processes through which Bamboo is turned from its raw form into usable products can have a negative environmental impact.
Hemp is harvested for its fibers for hemp clothing and seeds for hemp oil. With a relatively short growth cycle of 100-120 days, it is an efficient and economical crop for farmers to grow, however, industrial hemp cannot be commercially grown in the United States because it is erroneously confounded with marijuana. In fact, industrial hemp and marijuana are different breeds of Cannabis sativa. Smoking large amounts of hemp flowers can produce a headache but not a high!
Parabens are a group of chemicals that can be found in shampoos, commercial moisturizers, shaving gels, cleansing gels, personal lubricants, topical/parenteral pharmaceuticals, spray tanning solution, toothpaste and are also used as food additives. Parabens have been a source of controversy as studies have shown they can mimic the hormone estrogen, which is known to play a role in the development of breast cancers and can inhibit development of the male reproductive system.
Recycling is the reprocessing of old materials into new products, with the aims of preventing the waste of potentially useful materials, reducing the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy usage, reducing air (from incineration) and water (from landfilling) pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production.
Organic production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers.
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that treats farms as individual organisms with an emphasis on the interrelationship of the soil, plants and animals as a closed, self-nourishing system.
A rechargeable battery, also known as a storage battery, is a battery that can be restored to full charge by the application of electrical energy. Rechargeable batteries eliminate the need for endless batteries and keep dead conventional batteries out of land fills.