PURE GREEN 24 - Safe and Effective Green Cleaning Products

       At RUNKA.com we are constantly on the lookout for green products - clothing, pet items, skin care products - you name it!  Environmentally friendly cleaning products are now a large and popular segment of the green marketplace.  As we all know "green washing" - claims of natural, eco friendly or green with little substantive evidence - is a rampant marketing practice.  Labeling something as natural is as much a marketing tool as an informational element of the packaging.  While we are hopeful that this issue is in the process of being addressed by educated consumers and governmental agencies we believe it is our responsibility to look beyond the hype and locate high quality, environmentally safe products for our customers.  We are confident that we have found an excellent cleaner that is safe, free of toxins, highly effective and affordable for our customers. 

     Pure Green 24 is a cleaning agent that is not only effective and but eco friendly as well.  Here is some information from their website that may be helpful:  

The Invisible KillersWith worldwide pandemics looming (Norovirus & Influenza A), and antibiotic resistant superbugs (MRSA & CA-MRSA) on the rise, institutions, companies and individuals are faced with the dilemma of how to protect their employees, families and pets from infectious disease without exposing them to toxic chemicals such as bleach or ammonia.

PureGreen24 completely Kills Staph & MRSA in 2 minutes

Antibacterial • Antiviral • AntifungalPureGreen24 is your only choice for a proven hard surface antimicrobial disinfectant and deodorizer that offers rapid efficacy. PureGreen24 kills the most deadly of superbugs, yet also kills everyday household germs.

The 24 Hour SolutionPureGreen24 is an EPA registered, broad spectrum antimicrobial
disinfectant and deodorizer with unique 24 hour residual effectiveness*.

 

 

 

You are Protected with PureGreen24PureGreen24 has an EPA IV toxicity rating; the lowest rating assigned by the Federal EPA. PureGreen24 is non-flammable, non-corrosive, and odorless without the fumes or skin irritation associated with traditional disinfectants. PureGreen24 is strong enough to kill the most dangerous viruses (Norovirus) and bacteria (MRSA) in a hospital environment, yet EPA registered for use on children’s toys at home.

PureGreen24 Odor ControlEliminate odors and disinfects in one-step. Remove odors without the use of Toxic Chemicals. PureGreen24 works by killing the bacteria that causes the odors, not just covering them up. Use for Pet Odors including urine, gym bags, sports gear and shoes, lockers, carpets, diaper pails, laundry baskets, sewer spills, autos & RV's, and marine use too. PureGreen24 will get rid of the odors without damaging fabrics or carpet.

Why PureGreen24?PureGreen Technology: PureGreen24’s active ingredient, SDC, is comprised of silver ions and citric acid.

 

 

 

PureGreen Manufacturing: The manufacturing process produces zero discharge with no waste or byproducts. PureGreen24 is manufactured from Silver Ions, Citric Acid and Purified Water.
PureGreen24: Contains no alcohol, bleach or other toxic ingredients.

 

 

     Please visit RUNKA.com (www.RUNKA.com) to see the full line of Pure Green 24 - a fantastic product that you can feel confident is safe for you and your family.

DEPRESSION - KPFA radio and La Onda Bajita present the Traditional Healers Forum

     Depression is an issue that affects almost every one of us whether it is personally, a family member or a friend.    Depression can be debilitating, complicated and confusing.  There are many different types of depression, including Seasonal Affective Disorder, Panic Disorder, Postpartum Depression and Childhood Depression.

The Human Brain

      The medical profession addresses depression with a familiar array of medications: Adapin, Cymbalta, Elavil, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft among others.  These are powerful chemicals which have many strong side effects associated with their use.  When the medicine can be as impacting as the disease itself we must ask ourselves if there is a different way to heal.

      On Friday, September 30th, from 8 to 10 pm, KPFA radio and La Onda Bajita will present the Traditional Healers Forum, hosted by David Kukkola and Norma LaBrava, which will address a holistic way to bring healing to the epidemic of depression.  This will be the third in a series of live, on site broadcasts from Living Medicines (www.livingmedicines.com) in Fairfax, Ca.  

      Joining David and Norma will be Bruce Elijah, Francis Weller, Teya Valentina and Rob Allbee with music from Marshal McKitrick.  At the end of the show they will take calls from the listening audience.  Please join the Forum for an insightful discussion about an important and sensitive topic.  Special thanks to Miguel Molina and his crew from La Onda Bajita for all of their hard work and effort to make this evening possible.  At RUNKA.com (www.runka.com) we are proud to be one of the sponsors of this event.

            

Elephant Dung - yes, we said Elephant Poop!

What does Elephant dung/poop/feces/crapola (choose your own word) have to do with a green products blog and website?  Excellent question, especially since it has lots to do with an eco friendly website.  Here's the story and it's a good one:

Mr. Ellie Pooh LLC is an eco-friendly Fair Trade company making exotic gifts and paper made partially out of elephant poo! Elephants in Sri Lanka are being killed at an alarming rate. Humans are encroaching on elephant habitats and cutting down trees. When elephants come looking for food, they are shot and killed. Our mission is to is to reduce some of the Human/Elephant conflict that is ongoing. We plan to open handmade paper facilities in rural areas, train local villagers to make paper and hire artisans to embellish our goods. We believe that this newly created industry can directly contribute to the local economy. Our hopes are that such an initiative will self educate the villagers into living, working and respecting the elephant. Have them look at the elephants more as an asset instead of as a threat. According to “The State of the Paper Industry (2007)” a report by the Environmental Paper Network, 50% of the world's forests have been cleared or burned, and 80% of what's left has been seriously degraded. If the United States cut office paper use by just 10% it would prevent the emission of 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases -- the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road. Compared to using virgin wood, paper made with 100% recycled content uses 44% less energy, produces 38% less greenhouse gas emissions, 41% less particulate emissions, 50% less wastewater, 49% less solid waste and -- of course -- 100% less wood. Mr. Ellie Pooh’s paper products are 100% recycled. They are made up of 50% fiber from elephant dung and 50% post consumer paper. There are no toxic chemicals used in our paper making process. Natural vegetative binding agents, along with water-soluble salt dyes for coloring are used. Mr. Ellie Pooh’s papers are handmade, acid free and as organic as it gets. Since an elephant’s diet is all vegetarian, the waste produced is basically raw cellulose. Thoroughly cleaned and processed, the cellulose is converted into a uniquely beautiful textured product, marketed as “Ellie Pooh Paper”. This acid free, linen-like papyrus-type paper can be formed into art and construction projects, notebooks, cards and assorted gift items where the only limitation is ones imagination. These products have proved extremely popular among many in the local population and among foreign tourists. Although this paper may not completely resolve the ongoing human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka, its use for the benefit of the farmers who suffer from elephant depredations will certainly go some way in raising the tolerance of the farmers towards the elephant. If the elephant is used as an economic asset that contributes meaningfully to the welfare of the people, then the people themselves will not want to see it disappear from their area. In the final analysis, all of our conservation efforts will be futile if we do not have the support of the local communities. “Ellie Pooh Paper” can play an important role in the conservation of its provider.
Is that an awesome story or what!  How could we not carry Ellie Pooh products on RUNKA.com?  We had to - for our buddies the elephants, the people in Sri Lanka that benefit from these products and to make these great, unique items available to our customers. Note Pads Greeting Cards Mini Scrapbook/Photo Albums I know.  You're thinking these products can't be made from Elephant dung - but they are!  And they really do look and feel fantastic and people love them as gifts because they are so unique.  Go to www.RUNKA.com and see the whole line of Mr. Ellie Pooh's products.  By the way they look even better in person.

Float like a butterfly...sting like - BEESWAX!!!

Beeswax - we know it's good for us.  It comes from our buddies the bees who work awfully hard to produce just a tiny amount for us.  At Honey House Naturals, a favorite of RUNKA.com, they use beeswax along with several other natural ingredients to make their products. 


"Natural, Nurturing, Unique" - This has been the motto of Honey House Naturals® since our beginnings in 1994 and remains our core focus today. As a 100% woman-owned company, we embrace the purest values of skin care: integrity, purity, reverence and health.

As stewards of the environment, Honey House Naturals is committed to the conservation of natural resources and respect for our planet. Our products are made with wholesome ingredients either found in or derived from nature. Honey House Naturals uses only the very highest quality ingredients – no cheap fillers, always petroleum free and never tested on animals. Out of respect for our planet, we strive to employ reusable and recyclable materials in the packaging of our products.


Here are a few "beeswax facts" that you might not know:


It is estimated that bees fly 150,000 miles, roughly six times around the earth, to yield one pound of beeswax.

Honey bees use the beeswax to build honeycomb cells in which their young are raised and honey and pollen are stored.

Beeswax is known to lock in moisture, foster cells, and protect skin from damaging environmental factors. It also is a naturally nourishing moisturizer and its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-allergenic, and germicidal antioxidant properties make it beneficial for wound healing.

The Mayo Clinic recommends lip balm made from beeswax for chapped lip care and prevention.


The people at Honey House Naturals know about the benefits of beeswax and use it as one of their primary ingredients for their excellent products.

Lotion Marvelous and healing, our lotions come in a variety of sizes and fragrances to meet every need. These lotions are loaded with shea butter, nature’s powerful moisturizer, as well as other exotic butters. Our new Bee Bar® Cream with Shea, Aloe and Royal Jelly is so thick and concentrated, that just a little smidge is enough to last you all day! The remarkable Belly Bar®, containing five butters, has been specially formulated to relieve even the itchiest skin.

Lip Butter Rich in anti-oxidants, Pomegranate Seed Oil, Shea Butter, and other exotic oils, our Lip Butter® will drench dry, cracked lips in soothing moisture. Soothe, Moisturize and Protect.

Candles

100% natural beeswax with its own natural honey fragrance, our beeswax candles burn bright and clean. Sold in a set of three, each tea light will last up to four hours. Enjoy the warm ambiance and sweet aroma of these appealing tea lights as they naturally purify the air.

Room Mist

New! We are pleased to introduce a natural room mist that is powerfully effective in removing unpleasant odors from the air. The lovely fragrances linger long enough to remove the odor and then they are gone, leaving your surroundings as fresh as before!

Honey House Naturals products also contain shea butter (anti-oxidants and essential fatty acids), honey (anti-bacterial and anti-aging), royal jelly (an abundance of vitamins and minerals), cocoa butter (high in vitamin E which aids in skin repair and high in anti-oxidants), pomegranate seed oil (promotes re-growth of skin cells), kukui nut oil (helps to heal burns, acne, scars, rashes and chronic skin conditions) and jojoba oil (good for sensitive skin).  

Let's see - 100% women owned, all natural, healthy ingredients, eco friendly packaging and great products that are good for you.  We love it at RUNKA.com and we think you will too!  Take a look at the full Honey House Naturals product line at www.RUNKA.com.

HOW DO YOU RECYCLE A BICYCLE?

Who doesn't love their bike?  They bring back child hood memories, help us to stay in shape, get us outside and are a great, eco friendly method of transportation.  But if they are wrecked or worn out what can you do with the old parts to make them useful?  One great approach comes from RUNKA.com's friends at Resource Recovery:





Resource Revival Recycles Bicycle Parts into Art

We create fun, functional products from recycled bicycle parts. Every year, bike shops all over the United States send us tons of tons of greasy used bicycle parts. Then our team of artists tinkers with them until new products are born. We call this Rebicycling!

Passionate About Rebicycling Since 1991

 

The idea for Resource Revival came to Graham Bergh in 1991 when he got a flat tire biking to his recycling job in Portland, Oregon. Today Graham is still actively involved in new product development and customer service, as is Jim Hassert, artist and philosopher, who joined Resource Revival in 2002. All of our products are unique and original designs, and they are all made in Oregon, not mass produced.

Here are a few of the great ideas and products that Resource Revival has come up with:

 

Hybrid Wall Clock

Made from a recycled bicycle sprocket and recycled computer hard drive.

 

Bike Chain Bowl

Our gorgeous bowls are made from the most unlikely medium, recycled bike chain. With a great weight and classic shape they are perfect on an entry table for your keys etc. at the end of the day.

 

Double Sprocket Mirror

  This beautiful mirror is made from a pre-consumer recycled bicycle chainring pair and adds a flair of eco-coolness to any room.

 

Bicycle Chain Frame 5x7

  Made from recycled bicycle chain with an easel back/stand.

 

Bottle Opener - Orange

  Flexible recycled bike chain handle and colorful anodized aluminum head.


Resource Revival has solved the problem of what to do with old bike parts when they are unusable for their original purpose.  They have given them a new life as funtional and beautiful products - recycling at it's best.  Look for all of Resource Revival's items on RUNKA.com

CHICO BAGS - A GREAT IDEA!

    DID YOU KNOW?

• "Solid materials, typically waste, that has found its way to the marine environment is called marine debris. It is known to be the cause of injuries and deaths of numerous marine animals and birds, either because they become entangled in it or they mistake it for prey and eat it."²
• At least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish. The scale of contamination of the marine environment by plastic debris is vast. It is found floating in all the world's oceans, everywhere from polar region to the equator."² 
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has mistakenly been referred to as the largest landfill in the world, a floating island, and a trash vortex. According to the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is most accurately represented as a "plastic soup" where the plastic is distributed throughout the water column.⁹ 
• Of more than ten million pieces of garbage picked up on ocean beaches in 2009 during International Coastal Cleanup Day, 1,126,774 were plastic bags. Plastic bag debris was second only to cigarette butts/filters (21%) in number and accounted for full 11% of ALL marine debris picked up. 

    Re-useable bags aren't big news anymore; we all know the downside of single use bags.  But CHICO BAGS makes re-useable - and recyclable bags - in ways that are big news.  Here is some background on the company from their website:

In early 2004, Andy Keller, now ChicoBag™ president, took a trip to his local landfill after spending the day landscaping his backyard. He was horrified by what he saw. Single-use bags were visually the dominant article at the landfill that day, blanketing the landscape in a thin mix of white and beige plastic. On his way home he began to notice plastic bags everywhere, caught in trees and on fence posts, half drowned in gutter puddles and blowing in the streets like urban tumbleweeds. That day Andy vowed to stop using single-use bags. Inspired, Andy dropped a few bucks on a second hand sewing machine and began sewing what would ultimately become the first ChicoBag™ brand reusable bag.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the Bag Monster

Our mission at ChicoBag™ is really quite simple - we want to provide best-of-class products and services that result in the significant reduction of single-use bag use. We believe we can best achieve our goal by delivering a wide array of reusable bags that deliver solutions to every lifestyle. Our commitment to the environment is what motivates us to come to work every day and drives us to provide a trusted brand and a portfolio of quality products aimed at helping humanity solve the environmental challenges ahead.

In order to truly provide quality products we know we must consider every stage of our product lifecycle. ChicoBag™ believes in implementing programs designed to reduce waste through-out our entire supply chain. From manufacturing to office administration, our waste reduction goals lessen our impact on the planet. We also provide our customers with the resources necessary to become involved in the reusable bag movement. Our goal is to not only provide best in class products but to also be a hub of information regarding re-useable bags.

Like the Bag Monster says - 1 Year, 1 Shopper, 500 Bags.  Don't do the math - it will give you a headache.  Go to RUNKA.com and take a look at the full selection of CHICO BAGS.  And at RUNKA we love the fact that they use their old, worn out bags to make rugs and encourage their workers to bike to work!

The Bag Monster and Kyle Massey

Each one of us has to do something about all of those deprerssing facts at the top of this blog.  Our thanks to CHICO BAGS for giving us an environmentally safe, attractive and economical way to be better citizens of our planet.