Green Purse Alerts
In This Issue
Sign Up
Quick Links
BoGo solar flashlight
Still scrambling for a Father's Day gift? Or maybe you're just in the market for earth-saving gizmos that will save you some money, too? Bruce Hathaway, an editor at Smithsonian magazine and eco-gadget guru, compiled the following reviews, based on his family's experience with several energy-saving home technologies.

Bogo (Buy One Give One) Solar Flashlight This well-made orange (or pink) light (shown pictured) throws a nice even beam over a wide area, making it better than most flashlights as a reading light or a task light. And if you buy one for $25 plus s/h (shipping & handling), the SunNight Solar company will donate the same flashlight to someone in need. You even get to choose from a long list of charitable organizations and countries. A new improved solar flashlight called the Super Bogo is now also available, for $30. (NOTE Add shipping & handling to all prices quoted).

Freeplay Summit Handcrank/Solar-powered Radio Listening to a radio through a stereo system uses about 60 watts an hour, which is quite a bit. This little radio has terrific FM reception and excellent sound quality. And you'll get some great upper-body exercise crank-charging it, especially if you hold it above your head while you crank. (It takes about 45 minutes to achieve a full charge). This radio also sports a small solar panel on top so you can charge it in the kitchen window. Freeplay sells several radios; in my experience, the Summit offers the best reception and sound. Batteryjunction sells it for $64.75 .

G SI Vortex Hand-crank Blender Agent 007 would no doubt agree that a martini--or a magarita--made in an off-grid, hand-crank blender tastes a lot better than one made in an on-grid electric blender. The GSI Vortex Blender does the job, and again you'll be getting some good upper- body exercise turning the crank. It is noisy, though not much noisier than many electric blenders. $79.95 at r ei.com, or $59.95 ar RVToyOutlet.

Caframo 797 battery-powered Compact Desk Fan This ultra quiet, variable- speed fan runs on four D cell batteries. $28.50 at Wholesale Tool . br>
Hollywood Moon Spot This is the niftiest little table spot lamp I've ever seen, and incredibly its LED bulb uses only 1.2 watts. That's just another indication that LEDs, even more so than compact fluorescents, are the energy-saving lightbulbs of the future. Unfortunately, the Moon Spot costs $96. You can see it and other nice lights at coastportland.co m.

View more pictures, an electricity-generating exercise bike, solar-powered "firefly" lights, more flashlights and a solar-powered lantern here.

And don't forget, all these purchases count towards the $1,000 you're shifting if you're part of the One in a Million campaign.
solar charger
The off-grid way to use desktop fans is with rechargeable batteries, charged in a solar charger. My favorite solar charger is the Universal Solar Battery Charger, which charges four D cells at once; it is waterproof and has a convenient carrying handle. You can see it at
sund ancesolar.com. Several other models of D-cell solar chargers are available, some with light meters and charts telling how long it will take to charge your batteries. You can buy one for $16.98 plus s/h at batteryspace.com or Google "solar battery chargers."

For rechargable batteries, try batteryjunction.c om The more Tenergy D-cell 10,000 mAh Ni-MH rechargablesyou buy, the better the price.

meter
Kill-A-Watt Power Use Monitor You've likely heard of vampire power loss, the electricity that computers, appliances, TVs and stereo receivers waste, even when you've turned them "off" with the remote. This little device will tell you how much that vampire is costing you as well as the planet. In our case, two TVs and a stereo receiver were draining away a total of about 75 watts a day, every day. We staked that vampire dead by putting the TVs and receiver on power-strips which we can manually turn off without losing station presets or the time on the clock. You'll also see how much electricity you're saving by not using that plug-in blender or fan. You can buy a Kill-A-Watt meter online for as little as $17.99 plus shipping & handling.


By the way, if you want to pass this information along to a friend, just click on the Forward button right below my signature.

Talk to you again soon,

Diane's Photo
Diane MacEachern
Big Green Purse

Email Marketing by