What is your favorite green product?

100% wind power from the electric utility. This avoids more fossil-derived CO2 emission than does driving a Prius.

 

My favorite green product is my green Zap Xebra electric car. The color has been described as "Garden-Pest Green," a very accurate description. As to "why is it green," it's green because when I visited the EV dealer to buy it, it was the only one available. And besides, I didn't want a red one or a white one (the only other colors available in the 2006 model year). At the time I'd have preferred blue, or grass-green, but the garden-pest green has grown on me (figuratively speaking) and I quite like it now.

 

I'm with you on both the LED bulbs and that particular brand.

The 40-watt equiv. has replaced a number of my main lights now. I especially like their natural (2700K) color. In some cases, that isn't bright enough though and the higher spectrum can be a bit harsh. So, I'm impatiently waiting a 60-watt version (higher lumens) for the type "A" shape.

I've got the bigger globe type in my garage. They worked out nice there. I was surprised how bright a flood LED could get with just 15w. Haven't tried the little halogen track-light replacements yet. But I'm thinking that will be nice too.
.

 

I like the way (NOT!) that they promote lower-light-output CFLs as "equivalent" to higher-light-output incandescent bulbs. Whenever you see a CFL with a label that say's it's the "equivalent" to or a "replacement" for, say, a 60-watt incandescent bulb, check the lumens!

If you want to settle for less light, that's a valid and admirable choice for the environment. But I don't like them telling me that a 1,000-lumen bulb is the "equivalent" of a 1,750-lumen bulb.

That said, CFLs are an excellent green product. Just label and advertise them honestly, is all I ask.

 

Actually, I don't care for them. They aren't as efficient as LED and they contain mercury. Some are slow to illuminate too.

My favorite green lighting conversion is taking a 3-bulb stand and putting LED floods in each socket. To my surprise, the light they emit is quite pleasant. And when you can get 2,310 lumens from just 45 watts of electricity, you gotta like that.
.

 

Beer on St. Paddys Day!

 

+1

 

Very large, diverse wildland ecosystems that produce loud silence, clean air, clean water and wilderness.

 

I love those! But are they a "product"?

 

They're a 'product' of us wisely leaving well enough alone.

 

e85 is still (much) more environmentally friendly than C16/Q16 (leaded) race gas that he would have to use to extract power from a high-pressure turbocharged engine (e.g. 4G63T).

Just because they contain mercury doesn't automatically make them bad - at least with these bulbs, you are able to recapture the mercury through bulb recycling (as opposed to simply emitting it into the atmosphere).

My favorite "green" product (even though I don't think of them as green)? My bicycles. I use 0 (ZERO) fossil fuels (and no electricity either) most days of the week since I have these and don't need to drive.

 

They do have low mercury cfl's now ... down to only 1 milligram of mercury ... compared to the typical 4-5 milligrams.
Earthmate Low Mercury CFL Bulbs

Yep, the cfl is not perfect ... but with LED's having VERY narrow beams, and with LED's being virtually impossible to find 'em in a dimmable version (without breaking the bank) they're not quite as versatile ... but they're getting there.

 

But there's no need to recycle LED lights. Look close at the packages. CFL have 4 to 5 year life expectencies. The LED is expected 46 years. Big difference, eh?
.

Check recently? I was surprised how far they've come. There's absolutely no beam from some anymore. And I didn't mind $18 for something that may never (in my lifetime) need to be replaced.
.

 

gosh, I have several favorite green products. I'll keep it to 3...

1. The Toyota Prius.

2. Drain water heat recovery heat exchanger:
http://www.gfxtechnology.com/Home.html

3. Most efficient ceiling fan, "blowing away" the competition by a factor of three (when comparing CFM per watt). The only thing keeping it from being PERFECT is the fact that it does not use LEDs.
Midway Eco - CF955ORB - Emerson Fans

 

When you recycle the CFLs you can reclaim more than the mercury. Some of my turn-on-and-leave-on-all-night CFLs have lasted over 5 years (but that's because I'm using them in an optimized case). I'll believe the LED hype/claims when serious numbers of actual people move to LED.

 

Say John, would you name the best (in your opinion) commercially-available LED lights right now, and a link to a source for them?

Thanks.

 

I'm not John.
But, there are tons of LED lights are available in Japan now.
The major manufacturers are Panasonic, Toshiba and Sharp.
There are wide variation of selections, white(6000k) or tungsten color(2800k), wattage, size, dimmer capability and others.
best selling ranking (Japanese)

Anyway, I just replaced old CRT display of my desktop PC with LCD (22,000yen), and JP government gave me 10,000 ECO-point incentive.
I could get following 20,000yen value of green products from the ECO-point.
- four of 6.9W LED lights
- one of 6W LED lights
- Sanyo eneloop NiMH AAA batteries(4) and charger
- Sanyo eneloop NiMH AAA batteries(4)

So, I got total 42,000yen value of green products by 22,000yen expense.

Ken@Japan

 

Actually, lawns don't seqester CO2, but trees do, and trees also provide shade and cool your house (lawns don't). Lawns are more green than highways and parking lots, but that is about it. And if you fertilizer and herbicide your lawn and then water it, you wash all that stuff into the nearby brook, making your lawn worse than a parking lot. American's facination with lawns is one of our most non-sustainable habits.

Sorry.

 

no need to apologize, to each his own. i love my lawn and it's still my favorite green product. i make a lot of concessions for the environment, but i draw the line at lawns and cfl's!

 

I use to love the zen of cutting my lawn. We have a backyard that used to have 5000 square feet of marathon brand fescue. But over time, it got to be a drag. Huge watering bills, not enough trash can space to work on the yard and trim trees too. Now the backyard is no longer green, there is no more grass back there. Many of my trees have been cut down and two of them were killed by bark beetles. Besides all of the trimming fees every year, they damage plumbing, crack sidewalks and also caused cracks in my brick work patio. So now we have cacti and succulents in different areas of the backyard. eventually the backyard will be converted to its natural chaparral desert landscape that was here before the Europeans landed. My front yard is all desert landscape with cacti and succulents. My front yard is my favorite green thing / product. It takes me about 12 to 20 gallons a month to water the whole front yard with a watering pail by hand. Sprinklers have all been torn out. No looking back, and no more gas for lawnmowers and string trimmers. The only gas I keep around here is for my emergency generator. I guess my favorite green product is our 2005 Gen II Prius....oh what a feeling!!!!!