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Easy Change, Huge Impact: Part 2

PRODUCT NAME No Frills Toilet Tissues PRICE HK$ 17.90 for 10 rolls PRODUCT RATING Very little compromise when compared to conventional toilet paper. GREEN RATING Deep Green. Made from 100% Recycled Paper and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified AVAILABLE AT Wellcome In our previous article about environmentally friendly toilet paper, we reviewed Green Soft, which did not perform as well as conventional toilet paper and is available only in a few … Continue reading Easy Change, Huge Impact: Part 2

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Up-cycled Coconut Shell Wok Brush

PRICE HK$ 20-28 PRODUCT RATING Very Good. The stiffer bristles of the coconut brush are better at removing grease from a wok than conventional nylon bristles. Its raw, natural feel is quite zen. GREEN RATING Deep Green. Up-cycling. 100% bio-degradable. AVAILABLE AT Mai Po Po in Fan Ling and in Sheung Wan. Just Green in Central, Wanchai and Lamma Island also has something similar. We … Continue reading Up-cycled Coconut Shell Wok Brush

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Analysis, Food, Shopping

Are Those Veggies Safe to Eat?

At the supermarket, I usually see an abundance of fresh, flawless vegetables. The vegetables are uniform in size and shape, and completely untouched by insect marks of any kind. As a organic farmer though, I can attest to the voracious appetite of nature. I have seen lettuce leaves pecked clean by birds, cabbages and corn devoured by insect larvae, cucumber and tomato plants infected by disease, and many crops damaged by slugs, snails and beetles.

In conventional farming, the solution is to apply vast quantities of pesticides. Pesticides are substances that prevent or destroy insects, weeds, and diseases that affect crops. This is chemical warfare against nature. In fact, many modern pesticides are chemically similar to chemical warfare agents developed during WWI and WWII.

For example, organophosphates are the basis of many insecticides, herbicides (that are approved for agricultural use) and nerve gases. According to wikipedia “They are of concern to both scientists and regulators because they work by irreversibly blocking an enzyme that’s critical to nerve function in both bugs and people. Even at relatively low levels, organophosphates may be most hazardous to the brain development of fetuses and young children. They can be absorbed through the lungs or skin or by eating them on food”.

The “safety” of approved pesticides is also commonly compromised by misuse. Farmers may apply more than the recommended amount or they may apply it too close to harvest time. Imagine you are the farmer, and your crop will be harvested in the next two weeks. Months of hard work are about to pay off! But then you see those pesky insects leaving their bite marks on your crop. Do you spray the insecticide, even though the instructions  say “do not spray within 14 days of harvest” or do you simply refrain from spraying and accept that you will earn significantly less or sustain a loss from your now insect damaged crop? Continue reading “Are Those Veggies Safe to Eat?”

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Personal Care, Shopping

The Truth: Bar Soap vs. Liquid Body Wash

I remember as a child, my whole family used the same bar of soap. Gradually though the bar of soap seemed to disappear and was replaced by liquid hand and body wash. Using bar soap had come to be considered to be unhygienic and a source of bacteria. The strange thing is even though we shared soap, we seldom got sick and had no diseases. … Continue reading The Truth: Bar Soap vs. Liquid Body Wash

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Easy Change, Huge Impact

PRODUCT NAME Green Soft Toilet Paper

PRICE HK$ 22 for 10 rolls

PRODUCT RATING  Quite soft, but thin and flimsy. For those willing to make a little sacrifice for the good of the environment.

GREEN RATING Deep Green. 100% recycled. Non-chlorine bleached.

AVAILABLE AT GroundWorks (a social enterprise located in Wanchai), Herbal Bliss, and Club O

The two key concerns expressed by consumers about buying toilet paper made from recycled paper are that it may not be hygienic and it’s simply not as nice as using virgin pulp. To allay the first concern, you can simply check the official PRC government test results online (unfortunately, it’s in Chinese only). In short, the manufacturer of the Green Soft brand we’re reviewing here (and have been using for the past two years) has passed the government hygiene tests.

The second issue is that it is not as nice as conventional toilet paper. In this case, that happens to be true. The first thing you notice when you unpack it is that the roll is held closed by a piece of Scotch tape. Then you’ll notice the color, which is greyish rather than snow white. That’s because it is not bleached with chlorine. Conventional toilet paper is whitened with chlorine bleach, which can release toxins in the air and water when combined with other chemicals.

It’s soft to the touch but somewhat thin and flimsy. So it rips easily rather than tearing cleanly on the dotted line. Occasionally, the roll of paper has slipped off the tube which can be quite annoying. So there are quite a number of issues with this product but I think most would agree that they could be overlooked if the product performs well in its main task. So how well does it work? In the unforgettable words of a friend who recently started using Green Soft, “my a_ _ can’t tell the difference”.

So if you’re willing to put up with the annoyances, you really can make a difference and save some trees. Continue reading “Easy Change, Huge Impact”

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Personal Care, Shopping

Replaceable Head Toothbrush

PRICE HK$60 for 1 handle with 3 heads

PRODUCT RATING Performs well. Go green without compromising your dental health.

GREEN RATING Deep Green

AVAILABLE AT Herbal Bliss

The constant advertising and the blue strip on bristles have ingrained in us how important it is to change our toothbrushes regularly. But why do we have to throw away a whole toothbrush when it’s only the bristles that are worn out? Why can’t the head be replaced just like a razor? It always seemed kind of wasteful to me to throw away a perfectly good handle each time I needed to replace the worn bristles.

So you can imagine my delight in finding a toothbrush with a replaceable head. As a consumer, the Fuch’s EkoTec Replaceable Head toothbrush seemed to check all the right boxes for me: it’s high quality (made in Germany), performs well and is reasonably priced. As an environmentalist, it really struck a note, with its convenient to use replaceable head and recycled paper packaging. The replaceable head system not only reduces landfill waste but also reduces shipping volume.

The toothbrush looked great on paper, but how would it actually perform? Continue reading “Replaceable Head Toothbrush”

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