The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently awarded the South Jersey Technology Park (SJTP) at Rowan University its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating for green steps they took.
LEED certification of the SJTP in Glassboro, New Jersey was based on the facility’s numerous environmentally-friendly design and construction features, including:
After having Solar Powered Cell Phone by Samsung, this week’s cool gadget comes from Motorola through The Motorola MOTO W233 Renew as their green steps. If Samsung makes their green steps by producing a solar powered cell phone, Motorola was able to beat them all out by producing a cell phone that is made from recycled plastic, 100% recyclable materials, comes with eco-friendly packaging, RoHS compliant, and comes with a postage-paid envelope so whenever you’re done with them you don’t have to worry about how are you going to recycle its 100% recyclable materials. You know what? YOU CAN SEND THEM BACK TO THE FACTORY TO BE RECYCLED! This is what you call a 100% green cell phone (it’s literally green, though).
This amazing gadget is available online at Amazon starting from $9.99
Happy Green Living!
This silver pouch looks ordinary and commonly seen at the department store you visit. But not after you hear what 1000 Green Steps have to say about this purse. This is HAND-WOVEN, and made of cleaned or recycled plastic fruit juice packs you always poke a straw into!
These kinds of bags and clutches are made under ReBagz Company, where rice sack graphics totes and hand-woven purses are combined into one.
This clutch is available online at $29, and purchase it now to be more eco-friendly and be chic!
Happy Green Living!
If you are building a home, or it’s time to replace the old siding on your house, consider using fiber-cement siding.
Fiber-cement siding has been around for a while, although their benefits just started drawing attention from builders and homeowners.
Fiber-cement siding is composed of cement, sand and wood fiber (often from recycled wood fiber). It comes in a wide range of colors, finish and styles that resemble conventional siding products.
Fiber-cement siding is a great green building material not only because of its composition, but also its durability and longevity. It often outlasts conventional materials for decades.
Fiber-cement siding resists many common hazards, including fire, wind, rain and insects. It won’t rot in humid areas. No termites can undermine it.  And it is virtually fire-proof. Fiber-cement won’t release toxic chemicals like other materials do.
In addition to its durability, fiber-cement holds paint much better than other materials. It doesn’t need to be re-painted for about 25 years! All these contribute to its low-maintenance and low cost in the long run.Â
Because fiber-cement is made of inert materials, even if it eventually ends up in a landfill, it does not endanger the environment.
To learn more, click here.
Gifts
1000 Green Steps think that it’s nice to apply gift exchange in a birthday party. That is even better if every child brings a ‘green’ friend of them (plants, soil, or even animals!) and in the end they will go home with their own new ‘green’ friend.
Garnish
For the party supplies, try IKEA dinnerwares which are recycled plastics. If your child demands characters decorations such as Spiderman or Princesses, try drawing (or tracing) favourite characters or items on kraft paper to make a tablecloth. Even better, let the kids do it at the party. As for balloons, it might be easiest to go cold turkey. That may sound outrageous, but there are plenty of reasons. Fancy mylar balloons are not biodegradable. Even normal latex balloons, which do eventually break down, can cause problems.
Goodies
While kids are thrilled to rip open these sacks of treasure, the pleasure is usually short-lived. There is a reason that these items were inexpensive – they are poorly made, mass-produced, and definitely not sustainable. Use a small cloth bag or a recycled cardboard instead, or if you are on a budget, you can go back to number 1 where goodies bags are no longer needed to be provided by the host.
Happy Green Living (or Partying)!
The Coca Cola Co. has awarded $400,000 to Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to help establish a “think tank” for green packaging as their green steps.
The new Center for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability will be located at the MSU School of Packaging, and researchers there will study ways to measure and reduce the environmental impact of how products are packaged.
1000 green Steps know that almost every woman knows that recycling in their kitchen would be a good idea. The problem is that green steps are not always easy or convenient! Who really wants to lug a bag full of aluminum cans out to the recycling bin (especially during the cold winter months?) No one. Luckily, this aluminum can crusher makes your green steps much less daunting! Simply crush all empty cans and store them until enough have accumulated for a single trip out to the bin.
Happy Green Living!
The holiday season is approaching again. While we all love holidays, it is also a time with huge waste of energy and materials.
Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, one million extra tons of garbage is generated each week in the U.S.
However, with a little green thinking and effort, we might be able to reduce that figure significantly.
1. Christmas tree
Plant a small potted tree and use it for Christmas each year.
Although artificial trees cost un-renewable energy to produce, if you can use it year after year, it shouldn’t be too bad.
If you must have a real cut tree, most cities have a program to recycle it into mulch and compost.
2. Lights
Switch to LED Christmas lights. They are 90% more efficient than traditional ones. They also last longer and emit little heat.
3. Gift wrap
Save wrap from previous years and reuse it.
Use newspaper, old calendars, posters, magzines, or catalogues as gift wrap (better yet, skip the wrapping).
Recycle any wrap that is no longer useful.
4. Other
Recycle greeting cards, gift tags, and especially cardboard or use them for crafts.  Avoid using disposable tableware. Save and reuse holiday decorations.
Hope we all have a greener holiday this year. For more green holiday ideas, click here.
Use Recycled Paper
You have no idea on how much that will help Mother Earth. This will even cost you lower than those plain papers. 1000 Green Steps already use it at home for years and 1000 Green Steps don’t regret it. Don’t forget to take note on BOTH sides of the paper, too.
Use Bike or Walk instead of Car
If you don’t live in a developing country, I’m sure your school has a comfortable pedestrian access. However if you don’t have, try to save up your fuel money by riding a bike. This will save up your money a lot and most importantly your environment.
Don’t use a Plastic Bag!
Who doesn’t know I’m not a Plastic Bag tote bag? Everyone has got to use it. Remind yourself, your family, or even your neighbor to use a tote bag instead of plastic bags which are mostly only going to be used once. You can get in style AND save your earth at the same time.
Very easy. 1000 Green Steps have been doing that for years until now, and now it’s your turn to influence the people around you to give some love for Mother Earth.
Happy Green Living!
To my surprise, last posting on 3 steps to turn your business green had gained many visitors’ attention. That encourages us to write more implemented 3R steps to be done. This time, 1000 Green Steps will show you just how easy to apply that exact same 3R at your very own home. Continue reading 
Reduce
Reduce paper towels usage, and use cloth towels instead. To make things simpler, just avoid using anything disposable. That will just increases your unnecessary waste.
Try to buy everything you need ONLY IF it is packaged with eco-friendly packaging. Example: Choose card board-packaged eggs instead of Styrofoam-packaged eggs.
Reuse
Conduct a small (or big) garage sale for goods you don’t need anymore. This is 1000 Green Steps favorite step since it could make us money and being eco-friendly all at once.
Maybe you can choose old books from your shelf to be donated to your local library and see if they could use them.
If none of those works, I still have a back-up plan. In my upcoming post, I will show you how to make some Do-It-Yourself things you’ll like. Try to do that, and reuse your old stuff.
Recycle
Bundle up all non-organic stuff inside your house and give them to your local recycling center to get it recycled.
Buy goods from shops that allow you to return its bottles whenever you’re done with it. They are the producers, and believe us, they know how to recycle those packaging better than we all do.
Happy Green Living!
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