Monday 11 June 2012

Led Lighting



A Led (Light Emitting Diode) is a diode semiconductor that emits light. Led Lighting may have an important role in the energetic efficiency in our homes. Changing our regular lamps to Led lamps we can save up to 85% or more of the energy consumed and so we can reduce our light bill. 

The advantages of Led Lighting are an important decrease in our energetic consumption, saving money, a major lifetime (up to 50.000 hours operating) and it’s more environmentally friendly due to the fact that compact fluorescents lamps (CFL) have mercury inside, a heavy metal highly contaminating if it is exposed to the environment. 

So there are many advantages when it comes to using Led Lighting and the only inconvenience is that Led technology is still not advanced enough and so the price of good ones may be high. Despite that considering its low consumption it works out more economical in the long run.  

There is a huge variety of commercial options that enable us to change any kind of light lamp or CFL for an equivalent in Led technology. For example, a halogen light lamp of 50 W has an equivalent of 7 W in Led which implies a decrease of 86% in the final energetic consumption. That is reflected in saving 16 € per year for each lamp! (calculated within 6 hours working at 18 c€/kWh). So imagine you have 10 halogen lamps of 50 W each and you change them for a Led lamp of 7 W you will be saving 160 € a year approximately. A Led light that costs 50€ per unit is amortized in 3 years!! If you have linear halogen lamps you can save 94% of the energy and 55 € per year for each light bulb. 

Without doubt if you are thinking of reducing your energy consumption at home Led Lighting is a fantastic solution and a great way to save energy and money!

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Menstrual Cup


A menstrual cup, also known as vaginal cup or simply silicon cup is an ecological alternative to regular feminine hygienic methods like tampons and pads. It is easy to use, consists of a silicon cup or latex that is introduced inside the vagina during the period days. Unlike tampons and pads the menstrual cup doesn’t absorb the fluid, instead it collects it inside in order to dispose of it later. 

Those cups are reusable and so that makes them environmentally friendly and enable us to avoid more than 11.000 tampons in a woman’s life. It also has an impact on our pocket due to the fact that its high price is amortized rapidly because of its durability. Another advantage is its conformability as you can wear it all night long and the inert properties of silicon provides a decrease in possible infections.

There also are some inconveniences as it’s difficult to find opinions about it because it’s a brand new product. You need to boil it in order to sterilize, it can be uncomfortable to use depending on where you are and like tampons at the beginning it is not easy to use.
 
This product is commercialized under different brands and some of them are: Moon cup, Femmecup, Lunette, Fleurcup, MeLuna... their price is between 15-30 € depending on the brand. So here is a greener alternative that you may consider!

Thursday 24 May 2012

Eggs Label


Each of the digits from the code that you can see printed on an egg have a special meaning telling us in which country they have been produced and how the hens have been treated. That information can be identified next:

The first digit tells us what method has been used to raise the hens. A 3 is given for those which were raised in cages and where hens have very little space to move in. This results in better controls and more productivity (controlling illumination to increase production) but that results in a decrease in the welfare of the animals and reduces their life expectancy. 
 
Number 2 is given to eggs the hens of which were raised on the floor but in high density of individuals so mobility is reduced and illumination is controlled to increase production.

One (1) is for the hen classified as “free range”, those which are raised in big spaces on the floor but they have the right to be outside for short periods of time which makes that method more natural and ethical than the others.

Number 0 is given for ecological or organic produced eggs so hens live in a real free range method in low density and fed with grain form organic production and must accomplish strict rules in the whole farm.

After the first number we find two letters that indicates the country of origin (UK for United Kingdom). The other numbers tell us the different regions of origin and the last ones mean the code of the farm industry that produces the eggs. Now we can see that the label on the eggs tells us a lot of information and that makes us a more conscious consumer so we can choose in a more ethical way. So if you need eggs remember buying those which have a number 1 or 0 and you will be contributing to creating a better world for us and animals that live to feed us.

Monday 14 May 2012

Sanex Zero%



My first post in the English version is a bath gel that respects your skin the environment and at the same time your pocket! The mild biodegradable formulation of Sanex Zero% contains a reduced number of ingredients and 0% parabens, 0% colourants, 0% phthalates and 0% phenoxyethanol. Apart from a reduced number of chemical ingredients its “EcoPack” saves 79% of plastic compared with two bottles of 600 ml. It has been officially approved by The European Eco Label (www.ecolabel.com) for being better for the environment as it has a minimal impact on the aquatic ecosystems, fulfil strict biodegradability requirements and limits packaging waste.

Ingredients:

AQUA , SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE , GLYCERIN , COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE , SODIUM CHLORIDE , COCO-GLUCOSIDE , PARFUM , SODIUM LACTATE , LACTIC ACID , SODIUM BENZOATE.

The only insecure ingredient for its “toxicity” is “sodium laureth sulfate”, which is the responsible for making foam, that can occasionally cause irritations, but the majority of bath gels, shampoos and soaps contain this ingredient.

For more information about this product: www.sanex.com