Project571, Organic Collegiate and Alternative Apparel
Project571 offers two types of Organic Apparel, Collegiate and Alternative. All of the products we sell are made form organic cotton, bamboo, or recycled polyester. We start with a super soft comfortable apparel and end up with a vintage look and stylish fit.
P571 is the first and only company to bring organics into the Collegiate Apparel market. We design organic t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and sweatpants for a number of major universities. Educating young people on the effects of global warming is priority number one. P571 allows students, fans and alumni to express their support for the environment as well as their favorite universities by wearing organic collegiate apparel. Project571 is proud to give students and alumni that option.
Our Organic Alternative line is equally unique. We design our alternative line with nature and fashion in mind. This unique hybrid of style and sustainability is what makes our alternative line so unique. All of the alternative clothing is made from high end organics material with a super soft feel and a trendy fit.
Project517 nearing launch of Organic Michigan State Apparel
Project571 will soon launch its new Organic Michigan State Apparel page. These vintage soft t-shirts are made entirely from organically grown cotton and environmentally friendly water based inks. Visit our page at http://www.project571.com/organic_michigan_state_apparel.html today to learn more.
How to Green Your Christmas Tree
Christmas Trees…. real or fake? The highly debated environmentally Christmas topic. the truth, or at least our opinion, might surprise you. A single tree can absorb over one ton of CO2 in its lifetime. Taking into consideration CO2 is responsible for global warming, its heard to justify cutting down a real tree over a fake tree. The truth is… fake trees are worse. Fake christmas trees are made from non renewable plastics and contain a very high of level of toxic PVC and can be a potential source of hazardous lead. According to the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition, the manufacture of PVC creates and disperses dioxins, which include the most toxic man-made chemical known. Released into air or water, dioxins enter the food chain, where they accumulate in fatty tissues of animals and humans, a potential risk for causing cancer, damaging immune functions and impairing children’s development.
The way they are manufactured isn’t much better either. As noted in the Washington Post, “On the concrete floors of Zhang’s Shuitou Company factory, migrant workers, most earning about $100 a month, squat in front of hissing machinery as they melt chips into moildable plastic…”
Solution? The solution is opt for real Christmas tree, but there’s more than one to do it. First of all, many farmer’s markets are tree farms are offering potted pine trees that can be used over the holidays and then planted after Christmas weather permitted. if you live in a cold environment, you can even water they plant until spring and then plant it when the weather begins to warm up. If that’s not an option for you and you have to cut down a real tree, at least consider this… buy a potted pine tree in the spring and plant it somewhere to replace the one you cut down. Plant it somewhere where it can grow in beauty and soak up all the CO2 it wants!
WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR TREE AFTER THE HOLIDAYS
If you cut down a tree, there are more options that just throwing it away. You can chop it up for a firewood to heat your home or chop it into mulch for landscaping or garden. Then at least its not a total waste. Actually, what you could do it use it to much around the new tree your going to plan in the spring to replace the one you cut down in December… remember?
THE FACTS
A single tree can absorb over one ton of CO2 in its lifetime.
Lawn Mowers
Here’s another thing you probably don’t know, gas powered lawn movers are horrible for the environment. A riding lawn mower emits as much CO2 into the atmosphere as an average car does traveling 100 miles. Americans use 800 million gallons of gas each year on gasoline powered lawn equipment. Trading in your gas powered lawn mover for an electric one will not only save you money, but you’ll be doing the environment a great service. The average electric mower costs $5 a year in electricity to operate. Most come in cordless models as well making them easier to use.
THE FACTS
A riding lawn mower emits as much CO2 in the atmosphere as an average car does traveling 100 miles.
Environmental Lawn Care
There is nothing better than a beautiful green lawn in the summer. Landscaping is a great way to improve the environment as well add beauty and value to your home. Although they can be easily avoided, there are two main environmental issues involving lawns:
LEARN TO WATER RESPONSIBLY
Every year Americans use 7 billion gallons of water maintaining their lawns, that’s one third of all residential usage. Grass only needs about one inch of rain a week to grow correctly. Keep an eye on your weekly rainfall, if you get more than an inch of rain a week then you don’t need to water your lawn. If you do need to water, here are two easy tips to help conserve water. Always water your lawn early in the morning or at night so the sun doesn’t speed up evaporation. Leave your grass 3 to 4 inches long because it helps decrease run off and evaporation before you lawn has a chance to absorb the water.
REFRAIN FROM USING CHEMICAL PESTICIDES
Americans spend $38 billion every year in chemical pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides keeping their lawns looking great. This can turn your lawn from a beautiful asset to a toxic battlefield. Not only are the chemical pesticides toxic, they are made from non-renewable fossil fuels which are the leading of global warming. So what should you do? Use Organic pesticides instead. They are just as effective but are made from animal, plant, and mineral sources instead of fossil fuels. Better yet, perform your own soil test and see exactly what your lawn needs. You might find it needs no pesticides at all! A soil test kit is available at any Home Depot or Lowe’s.
THE FACTS
Every year Americans use 7 billion gallons of water maintaining their lawns, that’s one third of all residential usage.
Investing in Green
There’s been a term on Wall Street for years, “SRI”. It means “socially responsible investing” and involves investing in companies that focus on sustainability and environmental issues. Recently in the wake of the Green movement, these stocks have begun to come into their own. There are also mutual funds termed “green funds”, that focus on companies with alternative energies and related technologies. A few of them are Winslow Green Growth (symbol: WGGFX) and The New Alternatives Fund (symbol: NALFX).
Green conscious companies are the way of the future, and large investing companies such as Goldman Sachs have already set aside $1.5 billion to privately invest in green companies. With rising fuel and energy costs those companies that change according to meet those new demands will be the ones that survive.
THE FACTS
Green minded SRI mutual funds have already reached $2.3 trillion invested.
Hybrid Cars
A Hybrid car runs on gas AND an electric battery. They work together so the car gets very high fuel economy. The battery powers the car at slower speeds, and the gas engine powers the car at higher speeds or in times of acceleration. The Honda Civic Hybrid gets 45 mpg city and the Toyota Prius Hybrid gets 48 mpg city! Are they more expensive? At the moment yes but… the government offers tax credits at the state and national levels for people who buy hybrid cars. Those tax credits along with the savings on fuel recoup those high costs in less than two years.
Nothing contributes more to global warming that CO2 emissions from our vehicles. Americans love their cars, and today they are bigger and faster than they’ve ever been. According to the Federal Highway Administration, there are 241 million cars and trucks on the road in the United States, 53% of which are trucks, vans, SUVs, or minivans. The United States accounts for 30% of the world’s automobiles and require 8.2 million barrels of oil a day to operate them. That’s 11% of the world’s daily oil consumption. All that fuel we burn fills the air with 1,300 million tons of CO2 each year.
The impact this has on our planet is immeasurable. According to the United Nations Human Development Report released in November 2007, the automobile sector accounts for 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere. Greenhouse Gas emissions are what cause global warming and put our planet, our futures, and the live’s of our children in great danger. The average fuel economy in the United States is 20.2 miles per gallon, compared to 35 mpg in Europe. The reason why is we love our trucks and SUVs, which only average 18 miles per gallon. Compare that to a Honda Civic at 36 mpg or a Toyota Matrix at 33 mpg, its easy to see why we burn so much fuel. Not to mention you can save a lot of money if your car has high fuel economy. Let’s say you drive 20,000 miles a year. At $4 a gallon, if your SUV gets 18 mpg compared to a 35 mpg car you’ll spend $2,159 more on fuel every year by driving an SUV. Another option is to purchase a Hybrid, which use both electric power and fuel.
Solution? The solution is to change what you drive and how you drive.
GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR!!!
An SUV? How is that possible? Well it is… The Chevy Tahoe Hybrid won Green Car of the Year for 2008. America’s first full-size hybrid SUV is available in two or four wheel drive and provides the power of an SUV while delivering the efficiency you never imagined. Its hybrid propulsion system is designed to operate in three ways: electric power, engine power, or any combination of electric and engine power. The Tahoe Hybrid offers up to 50% better city fuel economy over the non-hybrid Tahoe.
SOLAR YOUR ROOF
Have you ever heard of solar roof panels? Not many people have. Solar roof panels put the sun to work for your commute. Solar Electric Vehicles manufactures solar panel systems that can be installed on the roof of any hybrid car. These solar panels gather sunlight and convert it into electricity, the panel lets a hybrid run for up to 20 miles per day in pure electric mode, netting a purported 29 percent increase in fuel economy.
PLUG IT IN
Don’t want to wait for car companies to sell you the next generation of hybrids? While General Motors and Toyota talk about plug-in hybrid cars, conversion kits are already here. By adding a beefed-up battery pack and some extra computing power, a Prius or Escape Hybrid can be plugged into a home socket. Fully charged, they will run on electric power alone for up to 40 miles — more than enough for the average commute. These kits aren’t cheap, though. Massachusetts-based Hymotion is taking orders now for its kit, which starts at $10,000.
THE FACTS
A Hybrid car runs on gas and an electric battery. They work together so the car gets better fuel economy. The battery powers the car at slower speeds, and the gas engine powers the car at higher speeds or in times of acceleration. The Honda Civic Hybrid gets 45 mpg city and the Toyota Prius Hybrid gets 48 mpg city!