HP Deskjet D2545 Printer

Sure, you recycle paper.

Way to go! Good job! (Pat on the back.)

But do you use a recycled printer? Hm? Thought not.

Well, thanks to HP's new D2545 Deskjet model, you can change your ways for the greener.

More than 80% of the total plastic weight on the D2545 comes from recycled plastic, including 100% of the printer's outer casing and trays.

Even better, the ENERGY STAR®-qualified D2545 comes in 100%-recycled product packaging.

Weighing just 6.2 lbs., the compact D2545 still has impressive performance specs: up to 26 pages per minute (ppm) black printing capability, with as much as 20 ppm in color.

One more green benefit to buying an inkjet printer from HP -- the company supports recycling of inkjet cartridges in 42 countries and territories around the world through a free postage-paid return-and-recycling program.

Want more details on all the D2545 product benefits? Download a PDF here.

And remember, even if you do recycle, you're not participating fully in the recycling chain unless you also buy products (like the Deskjet D2545) made from recycled materials.

Where to buy:
Purchase directly through HP's Home & Home Office store or via Walmart.com.

Caroma Sydney Smart Dual Flush Toilet

Australia - known for its shrimp, its beer, its beautiful beaches and its dual flush toilets.

OK, maybe not so famous for the dual flush toilets, but it should be!

Bathroom products manufacturer Caroma has been making dual flush toilets Down Under for 25 years. Put delicately, dual flush toilets use a little bit of water to wash away liquid waste and a more robust flush to cleanse the bowl of solid matter.

A number of Caroma toilets have made in stateside. In fact, Caroma claims to have the most EPA WaterSense approvals (36!) of any brand doing business in North America.

All of these WaterSense Caroma toilets are dual flush, high-efficiency toilets (HETs), meaning they use 20% less water than the currently mandated federal maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf).

But we're most excited about the dual flush Sydney Smart model. Caroma claims that the Sydney Smart offers "the lowest water consumption of any toilet now available in North America."

The little flush button on the Sydney Smart uses just 0.8 gallons of water, while the major flush lever swooshes 1.28 gallons around the bowl. Caroma says that these levels set "a new benchmark for water conservation in North America."

(If you needed any proof that North America needs water conservation, just check out these recent news stories from North Carolina, California, Georgia and even Hawaii.)

Where prior attempts to mandate water saving toilets resulted in reduced flush power, all WaterSense certified toilets are judged not just on water savings, but also on flushing performance. (If you have to flush a toilet multiple times to get rid of waste, you pretty much negate any per-flush water savings.)

Caroma says that the Sydney Smart's large trapway is virtually unblockable (please don't take that as a challenge), so one flush should be all you need.

Caroma estimates that the Sydney Smart can save a household more than between 18,000 and 30,000 gallons of water per year (depending on whether you're replacing a 3.5 gpf toilet or a pre-1980 toilet that may use as much as 5-7 gpf).
Some Green choices require us to make big lifestyle changes. The Sydney Smart gives us a chance to save thousands and thousands of gallons of water per year at the push of a button.

I'm not saying you should rip out your old toilet this minute and put in a Sydney Smart (though if you have an antique water-guzzling toilet, it might make eco-sense), but if you're building a new home or planning a bathroom rehab, the Sydney Smart seems like a very intelligent Green choice.

UPDATE (6/30) - On July 1, Caroma will release its newest high efficiency dual flush toilet, the Sydney Low Profile. Designed for bathrooms where space is at a premium and available in six bowl configurations, this HED uses 1.6 / 0.8 gpf, offering expected annual water savings of up to 18,000 gallons of water per year for a family of four switching from a single flush toilet. Two configurations of the Sydney Low Profile have already received approval from the EPA's WaterSense program. 

Where to buy:

Find distributors around North America through the "Where to Buy" page on Caroma's website. Designed for easy installation, the Sydney Smart has a MSRP of approximately $319.

BioBag

I have a dirty secret. It's literally dirty because it involves my garbage.

For years, I've been using plastic bags to line the trash bins in my kitchen and bathroom.

Plastic bags! I mean, if God were doing the whole 10 plagues thing today, he'd probably find a way to include plastic bags somewhere between hail and locusts.

It's not like I was buying the plastic bags - I was just reusing the ones I brought home from the grocery store, the drugstore and other miscellaneous places. I wanted to break the habit and get a reusable tote (like this one we featured a couple of weeks ago from Timberland), but then I didn't know what to use in the trash can at home...

But now I've seen the light. (The CFL light, naturally.) I should have been using BioBags all along.

These 100% biodegradable, 100% compostable bags contain no polyethylene (chemical numero uno in the aforementioned plastic shopping bag).

Where plastic bags can take 100, 500 or even 1000 years to decompose, BioBag says that its bags break decompose in just 10 to 40 days in a municipal composting environment.

There's another big difference. From what I understand (largely from reading Alan Weisman's excellent The World Without Us), plastic bags and other plastic objects often just degrade into tiny pieces of plastic. It's not really clear how long it will take for these microscopic plastic granules to ever 'go away'.

BioBag's ingredient list, on the other hand, includes starch, vegetable oil and other renewable resources. BioBagUSA reports that its bags are certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute and that they meet new California legal standards for biodegradable and compostable plastic.

And just to make you feel even better about BioBagging it, BioBags also claim to be GMO-free and certified for use in organic agriculture. Heck, they say that even the inks and dyes on the bags are soy-based.

Thanks to Katy Layton of PetFinder.com for bringing BioBag to our attention. As Katy pointed out, BioBag makes bags perfect for picking up after your pooch or lining your cat's litter pan.

BioBag makes others specifically for kitchen trash, leaves and lawn trimmings,

Where to buy:
Many online retailers carry BioBag products. BioBags can also be found at many natural food stores nationwide and will soon be available in Petco stores nationwide.

Sunlawn Push Reel Mower

Even though I've lived in urban apartments for nearly half my life, I don't hate suburbia.

In fact, unlike some urban snobs, I have fond memories of my suburban youth.

Sure, I wish there could have been a few more sidewalks and bike paths, but I loved having a grassy backyard for youthful frolicking.

What I didn't love much was the lawn mowing aspect of having a yard - especially when I got to be old enough to do the mowing. The heat, the fumes, the danger from the fast-spinning blade and the hard-to-control self-propelled monster soon had me swearing at the turf.

To be honest, I don't remember worrying much at the time about the pollution our gas-powered lawn mower generated, but now I know that gas-powered lawn mowers are a major source of pollution.

In fact, it's even worse than I thought. In 2006, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) asserted that "the average lawn mower emits as much smog-forming pollution as eight new cars traveling at 55 miles per hour."

UCS went on to give tips on making your gas mower run a bit cleaner and more efficiently or switching to an electric mower, but they noted that "you can eliminate pollution entirely by using old-fashioned manual tools such as push mowers..." (my emphasis)

Eliminate lawn mowing pollution entirely. Now that sounds eco-fantastic! And it's in that spirit that we feature today's Green product - the Sunlawn Push Reel Mower.

There's nothing old-fashioned about this push mower - except perhaps the idea of buying something that's made to last. Sunlawn says that the flame-hardened blade won't need sharpening for 8-10 years and provides a 2-year manufacturer's warranty to back up the overall quality of its products.

You just look at a mower like the LMM40 and think how its efficient design stands out. Sunlawn has stripped down the weight to less than 20 lbs, while still equipping the LMM40's with a five-blade cutting system that mows down a 16-inch swath at an adjustable cutting height of 0.4 to 2.2 inches.

Remember, there's no gasoline to buy, no pollution, not even the extra drag on your energy bill from an electric mower.

With a push mower, you can even mow your lawn at night or at the crack of dawn. No engine means no noise. (Sunlawn describes the Push Reel Mowers as 'whisper-quiet'.)

It all sounds great, but how does it work in practice? Unfortunately, we didn't have an opportunity to test the Sunlawn Push Reel LMM40 mower, but reviews on Amazon.com seem generally quite favorable.

The only way to find out if a push reel mower is right for you might be to give one a try - quietly.

Hey just think, if everyone on your block switched to a push reel mower, you'd finally be able to enjoy those long afternoon naps in the hammock. You lucky dog!

Where to buy:
You can purchase the Sunlawn Push Reel LMM40 mower (MSRP $179) directly through Sunlawn's website or at Amazon.com.

Offline, look for the LMM40 at True Value, Ace Hardware and other lawn and garden retailers.

Update 5/11/09 - There's a nice review of a Sunlawn push reel mower over at Off the Urban Grid.

JCPenney Simply Green Collection

When times are tough, we must all tighten our belts.

Perhaps reconsider the annual summer jaunt to the Riviera. Skip the pedicure when getting a manicure.

But shall we give up our environmental ideals and settle for non-green products? Never!

Relax. There's no need to get so emotional because JCPenney has introduced a complete line of amazingly affordable eco-friendly home and fashion products with its Simply Green collection.

The items in the Simply Green collection adhere to three basic principals:

1. Organic (grown without synethetic pesticides or fertilizers)
2. Renewable (at least 25% of the content from a source like bamboo or soy that regenerates at a rate equal or greater to the rate at which it is harvested)
3. Recycled (containing content left over from the production process or reclaimed after consumer use)

We had a chance to review some of the Simply Green home furnishings products first-hand:

• The 300 threadcount cotton and bamboo rayon blend sheets (on sale for $19.99 to $59.99) may not be quite as breathable as 100% cotton, but they have a sumptuous feel - particularly for the price. They haven't gone through the wash yet, but the build quality seems strong and durable.
  

• The 100% organic cotton woven blanket (on sale for $39.99 to $44.99) has a great summer weight, but we recommend washing it before use to remove any loose fibers. (Using the blanket on the couch before washing, we found that light-colored blanket + dark-colored pants = lots of visible fuzz.)

• The 100% organic cotton towel (on sale for $5.99 to $9.99) is a fantastic green value as far as we're concerned. Dries quickly, has an appealing soft texture and holds its color well (at least through initial washing). What's not to like?

Frankly, at these sale prices, all the green products listed above seem like excellent buys.

Where to buy:
Order online at JCPenney.com or at more than 1,000 JCPenney retail stores nationwide.

Transportation - Segway Personal Transporter i2 / x2

More than six years after inventor Dean Kamen unveiled his revolutionary Personal Transporter (PT) device, the Segway has not displaced cars from the road.

Perhaps it's not too surprising. Riding a Segway requires balance and finesse. It's more like dancing than the somewhat mindless activity of driving.

My sole Segway experience took place on a tour of Naples, Florida. Once I got the hang of it, directing a Segway this way and that simply by leaning your body and twisting a handlebar was pretty darn exhilarating.

In any case, Segway has definitely found niche market success. As mentioned above, tour guides use them to whisk people around cities from New Orleans to Budapest. Security personnel use them to gain height and mobility in parking lots, malls and airports.

If you haven't tried a Segway in the last couple of years, you might want to hop on one of the new i2 and x2 models released in 2006. The whole twist-handlebar-to-turn feature (the one I described above) has been phased out in favor of a more intuitive LeanSteer™ technology. Basically, you move the whole handlebar frame left or right to move in your desired direction.

Since Segways are zero-emission vehicles, they qualify as super green transportation choices. Of course, you still have to recharge the Segway's motors, gyroscopes and computers using electricity. Depending on where your electricity comes from, that could make the Segway a bit less greener transportation option, but you'll certainly create less pollution that a motorist or even a scooter driver. (Calculate your exact pollution savings using the Green Calculator on the Social Segway site...)

Before you run out and buy a Segway, keep in mind that laws on the use of Segways differ by state and even by community.

Still, if you have the money (models start at a smidge over $5000), the Segway could be a great option to reduce your use of cars and gasoline. (And with gas prices at stratospheric levels, you could be making back the money on a gas-free Segway in a hurry!)

Where to buy:
Find your closest Segway dealer from the worldwide network.

Price Pfister Ashfield WaterSense Faucet

From a green standpoint, the ideal faucet is the one that does the job (washes your hands and other objects) while using as little water as possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, we present a top contender for ideal green faucet: the Price Pfister Ashfield WaterSense model.

Water shortages are no laughing matter. In recent months, major U.S. cities like Atlanta have faced the specter of pipes running dry. Worldwide, rising populations are putting ever greater stress on fresh water supplies.

There are little water-saving tricks that can help conserve this most precious resource. Ever since Mrs. Symington's high school biology class, I've learned to turn off the water while I'm brushing my teeth, for instance. And I'm in awe of those who somehow manage to take 3 minute showers. (Personally I'm a 15-20 minute shower guy...)

Anyway, Price Pfister is making it easy for us to take a giant step toward water conservation. The beautiful trough design of the Ashfield faucet limits the faucet to a maximum of 1.5 gallons per minute (gpm) of water flow versus the 2.2 gpm industy standard. Despite cutting water volume by 30%, the faucet still promises not to compromise "the user's water experience."

Think the Ashfield trough would be out of place in your sleek modern home? Stay tuned for another Price Pfister faucet with the same water-saving advantages, but modern-inspired lines coming later this summer.

Meanwhile, if you want to save water without switching faucets, Price Pfister has Eco-Pfriendly™ aerators that can be added to existing faucets - saving up to 2,200 gallons of water per year by Price Pfister's calculations.

Note that the Ashfield faucet has EPA WaterSense certification.

Where to buy:
You can find the Price Pfister Ashfield WaterSense faucet nationwide at major home improvement retailers including Home Depot, Lowes and Menards.

Eco-Friendly Selection at The Company Store

I have this crazy idea that eco-friendly products should be attractive, well-made and affordable.

Fortunately, it looks like The Company Store had the same idea.

You don't stay in business 90+ years unless you know a thing or two about what customers want. Turns out that The Company Store's customers want loads of great new eco-friendly items including organic cotton bedding, fun pillows made from recycled plastic bottles and handsome rugs made from jute (a rain-fed crop that Wikipedia says needs little fertilizer or pesticides).

Of course, as readers of 1GreenProduct know, we're kind of wild about bamboo these days. So we had to try The Company Store's affordable 70% bamboo / 30% cotton towels ($6-38). Color us impressed. The bamboo loops not only suck up water, they're pleasantly nubbly texture makes you feel like you're drying yourself with a teddy bear.

We also checked out the 96% bamboo knit loungewear. Our verdict? This super-soft and breathable body-hugging fabric is so comfortable that you may not want to get out bed and get dressed. Both styles - chemise plus robe (sold separately, $29/$59) or knit tee and long pants (sold together, $49) - offer an appealing balance of femininity and functionality.

Style + function together? Now that's the kind of company we love to keep.

Where to buy:
Online at The Company Store website.

Undergear Soy and Bamboo Collections

Honestly, I never really thought of bamboo or soy as being particularly sexy.

When I thought of bamboo, I thought of pandas. Cute, yes. Sexy, er...

And as for soy, the first words that came to mind were 'tofu' and 'edamame'. Both quite tasty and healthy, but not exactly foods that get my pulse racing.

But several recent underwear collections available through Undergear.com show that both soy and bamboo can be very sexy indeed.

Both the bamboo-cotton blend in the Bamboo Report Collection and the 95% soy fiber content of the Tactics Soy Collection feel great next to the skin. Both collections provide a soft, stretchy and supportive fit. (If you like to wear undershirts outdoors as t-shirts, note that the Tactics Soy tee shirt is very body-hugging - suitable for only the most confident guys!)

So which collection is greener?

• Bamboo is generally considered a star plant in the green world. Some sources (Undergear included) call it 'the fastest regenerating plant on Earth'. Whether or not that's the case, it certainly does grow incredibly quickly - at certain times, bamboo shoots can grow 12 inches or more in a single day. An incredibly hardy plant, some people describe it almost as a weed since it often thrives without pesticides or much fertilizer and can be harvested without needing to be replanted. There are environmental concerns about the chemicals used to process bamboo into clothing fibers -- but apparently these solvents can be reused in order to minimize environmental damage.

• Soy fabric has been compared to cashmere for its luxurious feel and softness, with the advantageous difference that you can throw soy clothing into the washing machine. Some sites describe soy fiber as being a byproduct of soybean oil production. It's exciting to think that clothing this comfy can actually come from materials that would otherwise go to waste. According to the Salts Organic blog, soy clothing also has natural antibacterial and UV radiation protection and moisture absorption (highly desirably in close-fitting underwear) properties.

Frankly, both bamboo and soy based clothes seem like good green options. Which underwear you choose may come down to preference based on style or color. Personally, I loved the Report Bamboo Trunk - incredibly soft, supportive, comfortable and came through the washing and drying in our building's industrial-strength laundry room with flying colors. Then again, the Tactics Soy Trunk feels great too with a flattering fit and nice details like gently curving seams on the sides.

Soy or bamboo? The green choice is yours.

Where to buy:
Online at Undergear.com for $11.99 to $24 each. The Tactics Soy brief is currently on sale (in limited sizes) for just $6.97.

GreenPan Cookware

I have to say I'd be pretty offended if someone told me that I was a pot calling the kettle black (i.e. a hypocrite).

But if someone wanted to call me a GreenPan™, well I'd be mighty flattered.

Maybe because GreenPan Cookware stays cool under pressure thanks to its patented ceramic-based Thermolon™ non-stick coating.

Most non-stick pans are coated with a coated with a compound known as PTFE. But PTFE-coated nonstick pans have several drawbacks. First, the nonstick coating tends to melt and give off harmful fumes around 500 degrees Fahrenheit. There are numerous reports on the Internet about the fumes killing birds, but even in people the PTFE fumes may have at least temporarily harmful effects.

Second, the manufacture of PTFE involves another chemical compound abbreviated as PFOA. The Environmental Protection Agency has begun working with manufacturers to phase out the use of PFOA based on the fact that the chemical seems to persist in the environment - not to mention the bloodsteam of the general population.

GreenPan says that Thermolon contains no PTFE and that the process of making Thermolon requires no PFOA and produces less CO2 than the process of making PTFE.

Now I do have to admit that I have cooked with PTFE-coated nonstick pans for years. I love the fact that I can fry something and not leave half my meal stuck to the pan.

But I've also worried about the coating on the pans. In particular, I noticed that in cleaning the nonstick pans, I'd inevitably leave scratches. I feared that bits of nonstick coating might end up in my food (though presumably at least they wouldn't stick to my intestinal tract if I did swallow anything).

Anyway, I had just thrown away an old, scratched-up nonstick pan when I got the chance to test the GreenPan frying pan. So far, I have to say that it has exceeded all my expectations. If you thought nonstick pans were slippery, you'll be blown away by the low friction quotient inside the GreenPan.

I used to add a dollop of olive oil to my old nonstick pans for good measure, but I'd still suffer a bit of stickiness, especially say if a bit of fried egg splashed onto the un-oiled side of the pan during the egg-breaking process.

With GreenPan, I skipped the olive oil and still slid my fried egg out as easy as pie.

Other fun attributes of the GreenPan include the fact that the pan is oven and stovetop safe up to 850 degrees Fahrenheit.

GreenPan claims to be more scratch and abrasion resistant than the old PTFE-coated nonstick pans. It's still early in the game, but I'm inclined to believe this claim is true based on the look and feel of the Thermolon coating. Plus since nothing sticks to the pan, I don't even use the rough side of my sponge - making scratches highly unlikely if not impossible.

So far, the GreenPan's claims of even heat conductivity also seem to hold water, not to mention fried eggs.

I'm slightly more leery of two other GreenPan advanced performance claims. The 'heat-resistant' stainless steel handle gets a bit warm to the touch for my tastes, but then I'm used to cooking with handles coated in plastic or silicone. If GreenPan had gone that route, it would have probably invalidated the whole 850-degrees heat resistance benefit.

GreenPan also touts the pan as lightweight. Again, I feel like some of the PTFE-coated nonstick pans I've used in the past are a bit lighter, but the heft of the GreenPan doesn't bother me. In fact, it makes the pan feel solid and meant to last.

GreenPan says its pan is dishwasher safe, but since not much food sticks to the pan, I'm perfectly happy to give it a quick rinse and soft sponge bath in the sink.

Though I only tried one frying pan, GreenPan does make several different varieties of frying pans and sauce pans. You can find GreenPan products online at HSN and at other fine retailers starting this summer.