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After hiring out its design arm to create chassis for Tesla and Chrysler’s electric vehicles, Lotus has hinted that it may throw its own hat in the EV ring. The Financial Times reported — and Edmunds.com’s Inside Line passed it along — that Lotus CEO Michael Kimberley said there may be an electric Lotus “shortly.”

According to the Edmunds blog post, “shortly” may be as soon as the Geneva auto show in March. The concept EV wouldn’t be fully functional, but it would give potential buyers an idea of what a 300-mile-range EV from the British sports car manufacturer might look like.

Looking at Lotus’s current lineup, I think we can assume it’ll be along similar curvy lines. And the company already has a tradition of model names that start with E (Elise, Elite, Evora, Europa … ), so coming up with a clever EV name should be a snap.

Image provided by Lotus Designs, from its 2009 calendar. As far as Good Green Cars knows, it’s not the EV Lotus is talking about, but, you know, it could be.

Buying used, from a thrift store, antique shop, or flea market is one great way to keep it green. You’re giving old products a new life, avoiding production of new products, and getting some cool unique finds to boot. That said, you do need to be smart about which used products you choose for your home. Buying the wrong used item isn’t green, it’s a waste of time and money.

Used products to avoid:

Avoid impulse buys: Like any purchase, you need to ask some fundamental green purchasing questions before you buy. Make sure you’re getting something you’ll actually use.

Avoid broken stuff: Some broken items are ok. If you’re sure you can fix it (really sure)  go ahead and buy. If something is going to take massive repairs to get it halfway presentable or working, don’t bother.

Avoid multiple projects: A project is not so broken you can’t fix it, say a shelf that needs refinished, but having too many projects on hand pretty much ensures that none of them will get done. One project at a time is smart.

Avoid non-green kitchen supplies and dishes: If it’s not energy efficient or a smart green tableware choice avoid it.

Avoid safety hazards: Old furnishings may have lead based paints - fine if you’ll refinish it, but not ok as is. Same for thrift toys and especially baby furniture. Make sure everything works and won’t harm anyone.

Avoid large textiles: In most cases used textiles aren’t a great green deal. Most won’t be made of eco-friendly materials, most are super hard to properly clean, and with something like an old pillow, it’s almost impossible to sanitize.

Later we’ll look at some good used home product decisions.

Some green living tips are fairly room specific. Other green living tips, once enacted benefit your entire household. Some all-over green home tips include…

1. Use plant-based, natural, organic, and biodegradable soaps, detergents, and cleaners. You can make your own products, or look for these aspects on green cleaner labels.
2. Green clean the air in your home.
3. Make it a goal to use cloth everything - cleaning cloths, napkins, and if you’re up for it, cloth diapers.
4. Go one step further with the above tip and purchase only organic textiles.
5. If all cloth is too big a step, purchase recycled, unbleached paper products.
6. Use LED lighting where you can and install energy saving bulbs in other light fixtures.
7. Reuse items in your home instead of tossing them.
8. Buy sustainable furniture when you can.
9. Scale down and buy and own less stuff; which might even free you up to live in a smaller house.
10. When remodeling, remodel green.
11. Paint your rooms with earth-friendly paints.
12. Turn all the thermostats in the house down a few degrees.

What other green tips can you think of that benefit your entire house?

In the last post, Green Product Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Buy I said I’d gather some resources that can help you answer some of the questions offered. Here you go…

Now keep in mind that some of the questions only you can answer, but in some cases, you find info about a company or product that can help you to make a green purchasing decision.

Does the product have a long shelf life?: To learn more about product reliability and life expectancy, try looking at the following…

• Consumer Reports
• Consumer Search
• Find consumer input For example, Amazon.com, LUSH, Epinions, and other companies and websites offer places where consumers can post opinions, suggestions, and reviews.

Is the company who made it / sells it a good green and ethical company?:

• Household Product Database
• National Green Pages - to find a greener alternative for almost anything.
• 100% Fair Trade companies
• 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies

Can I recycle the item and or packaging?:

• Earth 911
• Where Can I Recycle My…
• How Can I Recycle This?

Could I get it from a local company: Check your local yellow pages or do an online search but use your area as a search perimeter.

How toxic is this product?:

• For beauty product safety visit Skin Deep.
• Toxic Product List
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Washington Toxics Coalition

Is it tested on animals?: Visit Caring Consumer to see companies that do and do not test on animals.

If you do a little research before you buy a product, you can make sure that you’re getting the least toxic, and most eco-friendly product for your dollar.

With New Year’s right here upon us, it’s time to make some green goals. If you haven’t gotten your own goals squared away yet, then you may want to consider a nice big green purchasing goal.

Having a green shopping goal is smart, and covers a lot of ground. By flexing your green buying power you can accomplish energy saving, conserve resources, cut down on pollution, support local economy, support green businesses, and lower your footprint.

When shopping for home products, groceries, or anything, you can ask yourself the following questions. If you answer truthfully, you’ll be able to make greener shopping choices the whole year…

1. Do I need it?
2. If it’s a pure want item (i.e. unnecessary for survival) ask yourself, “Why do I want this”
3. Does the product have a long shelf life?
4. Is the company who made it / sells it a good green and ethical company?
5. Is there a more eco-friendly alternative? For example, an organic blanket over conventional cotton.
6. Can I recycle the item and or packaging?
7. Is the item a good value?
8. Could I get it from a local company - rather than buy something that had to be shipped long distances?
9. How toxic is this product?
10. How will owning this product improve my life? AND yes, you’re allowed to say “Add fun” - sometimes that’s enough.
11. Do I already have something at home that would work? I.e if you have a basic griddle pan, you don’t also need a big pancake griddle. If you have three cookie sheets, why would you need six?
12. Is it tested on animals?
13. Will this cost me too much to maintain?
14. Is this product worth my time? I.e if you have to work for money, then your time is money. Is the product worth what that time cost you?
15. Can I borrow one?
16. When I’m done with it what will I do with it - recycle it, donate it, turn it into something new?
17. Do I need it?

First of all you’ll notice that “Do I need it” is the first and last question you should ask yourself. Often, people don’t need the items they buy. We live in a super commercial society, and many purchases reflect that issue rather than reflect actual need.

Secondly, you don’t need to ask yourself all the questions for each and every purchase. I use about five of them regularly. You have to find the questions that work best for you.

Lastly, soon I’ll post some resources that can help you find the answer to many of the questions posted above.

Do you have any green shopping goals?

This morning we looked at what kind of food storage is the best green choice. Now, as promised, I’ve rounded up some green food storage options for you.

To-Go Ware Food Tin

Anchor Hocking Bake n’ Keep Glass Food Storage Containers

Stainless Steel Food Storage Container

Stainless-Steel Third Pan

Japanese Bento Box made of Cedar and Coated with Urushi - not microwave or dishwasher safe, but they are perfectly safe for food storage.

By Susan Seliger

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Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Does this happen to you? Once you start dreaming about exotic places you’d love to escape to – natural wonders of the world where there are no malls or tinsel or shopping lists – you just can’t stop. There are so many things you haven’t done yet in life — like a safari on the Serengeti in Tanzania or swimming with the sea lions in the Galapagos or a trek to the Amazon and Machu Picchu – just puckering up to say Machu Picchu puts me in an adventurous state of mind.

Well, stop dreaming – Natural Habitat Adventures has come to the rescue. This eco-conscious company is offering, not one but FIVE,  big vacations for two – one every year for five years – to the most exciting natural destinations in the world. Beyond those mentioned in my dreams, they’ve also got trips to walk with the penguins in Antarctica and the Falklands as well as a trip to Manitoba to schmooze with the polar bears.

I’ve entered – and so can you – every day up until the deadline, Feb. 28, 2009. Hope to see you there – if not, give the sea lions a smooch for me. Start clicking.

Photo credit: Llama in Macchu Picchuu: from Nurse healthwriter blog

By Susan Seliger

Looking for a way to save money on gifts — who isn’t? Give the best gift of all – and it won’t cost you a penny. Volunteer to help a green charity of your choice. And you can do it right from your home computer.

“Virtual volunteering” is on the rise. And a wide range of groups need your help. You can pitch in with groups devoted to the environment, human rights, disaster relief, animal protection, and more. As a virtual volunteer, you provide skills these organizations need, such as contacting donors or writing letters or grant proposals or other materials they need to publish or post on the Web.

Good Green Charities

To find great environmental charities, go to The Charity Navigator web site, a great guide to intelligent giving, and they will provide you with a list of the best charities in all kinds of categories. You can even break it down by location, if you’d rather volunteer the old-fashioned way – in person.

· Click here for a list of the Top 100 four-star-rated environmental charities recommended by the Charity Navigator:

· Sierra Club, devoted to preserving the environment for the next generation:. Their motto says it all: “Explore, enjoy and protect the planet”: http://www.sierraclub.org/

· The Nature Conservancy, which has protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers — and operates more than 100 marine conservation projects globally.: http://www.nature.org/

Good Charities

Here are some others to consider that were listed by Bottom Line newsletters as willing to engage virtual volunteers. If your favorite charity is not among them, contact them and propose helping out virtually – and start a new trend.

· Network for Good, founded by America Online, Cisco Systems and Yahoo (866-650-4636, www.networkforgood.org).

· Points of Light Institute, a Washington, DC-based organization that recently merged with a similar group, the Hands On Network (202-729-8000, www.pointsoflight.org).

· Taproot Foundation, which puts together teams of working people who want to help charitable groups (415-359-1423, www.taprootfoundation.org).

· ServiceLeader.org at the University of Texas at Austin (512-232-7062, www.serviceleader.org).

· VolunteerMatch, my organization, with volunteer opportunities from more than 55,000 nonprofit organizations (415-241-6868, www.volunteermatch.org).

· UN Volunteers, an arm of the United Nations that can be contacted by E-mail at information@unvolunteers.org and by phone in Germany at 49-228-815-2000. Its Web sites are www.onlinevolunteering.org and www.unvolunteers.org.

· Wisconsin and Minnesota-based Nibakure Children’s Village (612-578-6560, www.nibakure.org) recently needed three volunteers to work online two hours a week on fund-raising for an orphanage in Rwanda.

· Family-to-Family (914-478-0756, www.family-to-family.org), an organization that helps feed families in needy communities nationwide.

(Illustration credit: Sierra Club)

By Susan Seliger

They’re oh so cute – those Mini Coops and fuel-efficient, too. They make you want to tie a ribbon on one and drive it right over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house you go for the holidays. Well, maybe you can – for free.

Champignon Minis is giving away one Mini Cooper, valued at over $18,000, just in time for the holidays. It won’t take a miracle — just a click. So see if you can get lucky before the deadline: 12-31-08.

(Photo credit: The Horse’s Mouth )

By Susan Seliger

Do we need more stuff? No. But we all need to eat. And there’s no lovelier gift for friends and family than gathering everybody together – and NOT cooking. Dining out is definitely a splurge, but the beauty of this gift is that the giver gets to enjoy it, too. Naughty, but nice. And if that isn’t the holiday spirit, then you can just put a lump of coal under my Chanukah tree.

So pick an eco-friendly restaurant in your neighborhood, and tell everybody, this is our gift: Friendship, fun, family spirit – and FOOD. There’s no reason not to make it fine food, while you’re at it. So here are the Top 10 Eco-friendly Restaurants that Bon Appéti magazine picked for 2008, where the fish is line–caught, the meat grass–fed, birds are cage–free and the rest is local, sustainable, organic and all-around mouth-watering (and oh yes, healthy).

THE TOP 10 ECO-FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS
1. Primo – Rockland, Maine
2. Firefly Grill – Effingham, Illinois
3. Hook – Washington, D.C.
4. Ubuntu – Napa Valley, California
5. Café Cenizo – Marathon, Texas
6. The Kitchen – Boulder, Colorado
7. La Provence – Lacombe, Louisiana
8. Spoonriver – Minneapolis, Minnesota
9. Blue Velvet – Los Angeles, California
10. Local Burger – Lawrence, Kansas

If none of these are in your neighborhood, go to the Certified Green Restaurant Association and find places that have been certified as green – or are working towards those estimable goals.

For more always delicious food ideas, go to Bon Appetit.

(Photo Credit: Local Burger restaurant)