6 Smart Buys to Help Save the Planet

By Kara G. Morrison
The Detroit News
Published April 19, 2007

Sunday is Earth Day, and with that in mind, we went out looking for six great buys that are almost a no-brainer for building a better planet:

1 Compact fluorescent lightbulbs. This may be one of the easiest ways we can save the planet. Replacing just one regular bulb in your home with a compact fluorescent one would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Sure, they cost a tad more, but they last up to six times longer. Manufacturers are making them look like regular bulbs, not just the squiggly designs. Four compact fluorescent 60-watt bulbs are $11.69 at Costco.

2 Water clock. Target.com and ThinkGeek.com sell an amazing little digital clock that runs on water. No batteries, no cords. Just fill up the four chambers on the back and set the digital display. $15.99 at Target.com.

3 Hand-crank flashlight. Brookstone sells the Readylight hand-crank flashlight radio. Crank for 30 seconds for up to 60 minutes of power. This handheld flashlight has five powerful LED lights, an AM/FM radio with telescoping antenna and a built-in (quite loud) siren with a flashing red light for emergencies. It's $50 at Brookstone stores or Brookstone.com.

4 Solar charger. Why don't we all have one of these? SolarStyle, a Baltimore-based company, makes a pocket-size solar charger that uses the sun (or any available light) to charge your cell phone, Blackberry, digital camera, GameBoy and even your iPod. The SolarStyle SC002 model comes with seven connectors (for phones and gadgets) for $55.99 at SolarStyle.com.

5 Cleaning products. Green cleaning products such as Seventh Generation (from Burlington, Vt.) and Mrs. Meyer's have a following. Seventh Generation (sold at Whole Foods) says if every U.S. household replaced one box of regular tissue with its 100 percent recycled box, we could save 283,000 trees, about 1,000 garbage trucks of landfill space and 102 million gallons of water. Seventh Generation two-ply facial tissue is $1.99 at Whole Foods.

6 Trees. Planting a tree offsets carbon emissions and acts as insulation for your home. Join the non-profit Arbor Day Foundation, and you'll instantly get 10 free flowering trees, oak trees or Colorado Blue Spruce trees. A six-month membership at ArborDay.org is only $10, including the trees. Members can buy additional trees at steep discounts.

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune