Green Olympian with a Heart of Gold

US snowboarder and Olympic champion Hannah Teter is one cool dudette. She donates all her winnings to support the Kenyan village of Kirindon. The Vermont native founded Hannah's Gold, selling maple syrup to provide safe drinking water, support sustainable farming and build schools in the village, among other initiatives. Ben and Jerry's named a flavor after her, Maple Blondie, with a portion of sales going to the charity. The athlete has raised funds for Darfur and is a spokesperson for Boarding for Breast Cancer.

Since the Haitian earthquake, she's donated prize money to the relief effort. During these Vancouver Olympic Games, Hannah has been selling underwear for Doctors without Borders. Ms. Teter has also been sleeping under an AMP energy quilt to be auctioned off at the end of the Winter Games. In addition, AMP will donate $20,100 to her charity. The 2006 gold and 2010 silver Olympic medalist helped design the quilt, which has bamboo buttons and is made from all organic material.

Ms. Teter is a vegetarian and plans to go off-grid and move into her parents' yurt when she returns home. Kudos to this young lady! She is a champ, on and off the halfpipe.

(photo from Yahoo! Sports)

Child's Play

The American International Toy Fair just concluded this past week. Here are some eco-friendly and socially conscious toys.

• Drip Drops are stuffed toys that teach kids about colors. Manufactured by TCKL, they have partnered with the Grossman Burn Center and the Circle of Care Foundation to help children burn survivors.
• Karito Kids are dolls that represent other cultures. 3% of each purchase is donated to Plan USA, a global kids' charity. The games on the interactive website also allows players to rack up "World Change" points that gets converted to real currency that also goes to Plan USA.
• Xeko is a collectible trading card game that features the world's endangered animals. Materials, ink and packaging are made from recycled or recyclable materials. 4% of Game net sales are donated to Conservation International. They also offer Xeko Pals, plush toys made from organic and soy materials.
• Sprig Toys are made from sprigwood, a bio-composite of recycled plastic and bits of reclaimed wood. The products are paint-free and battery-free.
• My Natural Toys by Hosung are 100% all natural cotton stuffed toys made from non-toxic materials.
• Imagiplay wooden toys are made from non-toxic, plantation-grown rubberwood from Indonesia.

It's all fun and games, and NOBODY gets hurt!

Tolkien would Approve

I happily stumbled upon this article about a low-impact hobbit house in Wales! It was built by Simon Dale and his father-in-law. Read here to see how they built it.

A cabin for your cat

Check out this adorable cardboard cabin for cats! Loyal Luxe is the company responsible for this nifty little house that has both your cat and the environment in mind. It's made out of 100% recycled cardboard and is shipped flat, so this needs a bit of assembling. If your cat likes to gnaw and claw a lot, the cabin is strong enough to take whatever your kitty can throw at it. Just don't use it outdoors or put water bowls in it; it can get damaged from that. But otherwise, this looks like a nice, functional home.

The Curious Case of the Disappearing Bag

I love Sun Chips, and kudos to them for coming up with a compostable bag.

explore the world

Ever wanted to see other people take on the world's problems and start working towards good solutions? explore gives you a peek at pictures and video clips of these people in action. Just take a look at the video below for a quick sample.

Boy, I hate Sony Ericsson

But you all know it's the kind of "I hate you" that's said with a little giggle and a playful slap on the arm. So what did Sony Ericsson do this time? Oh, they just came up with a splendid new GreenHeart phone called Aspen. MobileBurn reports that the new model boast the following features:

The 117mm x 60mm x 12.45mm (4.6in x 2.3in x 0.49in) Aspen is available in two colors: iconic black and white silver. It sports a 2.4-inch touch screen 320 x 240 resolution display, a 3.5mm headphone jack, aGPS, and WiFi connectivity. The Aspen also comes equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera.

In short, the qualities I look for in a phone. Aargh. It's a lovely piece of work and it's a good thing that green phones are really getting in shape, looks- and features-wise. Now mobile phone manufacturers have no excuse for making crappy-looking phones with shoddy features.

Introducing the EcoGreen F3EG

Cez has recently been in need of a portable hard drive for her photography business, so this might be something that she'll find interesting. Samsung has unveiled the EcoGreen F3EG, an upgrade from last year's EcoGreen F2EG. So what's so green about this 2TB beauty? For one thing, it doesn't use any brominated flame retardants or halogen compounds and for another, it consumes 40 percent less power in idle mode and 10 percent less in read/write mode. The HDD will be for sale soon with a price tag of $179.99.

Eco-urinals?

One of the more...interesting innovations launched by the Metro Manila Development Authority in the Philippines is the urinal, with several of those scattered in unexpected locations all over the city in an attempt to address the...needs of men who just can't hold it in any longer. But now, the urinals are not just for men. The MMDA has also begun constructing these for women, with three of them opened just recently. Apparently, the green thing about this urinals is not just their color, but also their waterless toilets and translucent roofs that make good use of sunlight. Probably worth checking out, eh?

Emma Watson debuts People Tree line

The lovely Emma Watson, who we're pleased to see isn't going down the typical destructive Hollywood road, has been a busy bee, making a name for herself as an actress, a fashion icon, a model, and is also currently a student at Brown University. She has also begun trying her hand at becoming a designer, and her efforts haven't been in vain. She recently teamed up with People Tree, a fair trade fashion company offering organic clothing. Check out her clothing line right here.

Sun Life Philippines HQ to go green for Gold

I was about and about yesterday and spent sometime in Bonifacio Global City, where a lot of buildings are being constructed, and I spotted a sign proudly proclaiming that Sun Life Financial is setting up house there--and that their future building is shooting for LEED Gold certification! The building is set to rise in 2011, and it'll be interesting to find out what is being done to meet LEED requirements.

The ECOsack

I could've just bought any old reusable bag out there, but the ECOsack called to me yesterday and I responded happily. The bag is made of organic canvas and comes in three different styles: a tote, a body bag, and a foldable bag that tucks neatly into a little pouch, which also serves as the main bag's pocket when it's unfolded. I purchased my ECOsack at Sesou in a nearby mall, along with Messy Bessy's dishwashing liquid. If you can't tell, I'm positively thrilled about the presence of more green products here in Manila.

Kudos, Sunday Inquirer Magazine

I rarely get a chance to read an actual, physical newspaper these days, but I was able to flip through Inquirer's Sunday issue, which comes with a weekly magazine. I was pleased to find out that they print it with mineral-based inks on recycled paper. Great job!

Green Valentine's day ideas, anyone?

Instead of dishing out tips on having a green Valentine's day, we want to know how you spend Valentine's in an eco-friendly manner. E-mail us at greenunlimited101(at)gmail.com and share your stories and suggestions!