The Solar Tiki Torches Challenge

Looking at the solar patio lighting options on Amazon it looks like there are two contenders for the solar tiki torches challenge. In one corner you have the Moonrays 91206 Solar Powered Tiki Torch Path Light which uses one amber LED and one flickering amber LED to simulate that raging ball of fire that excites and tantalizes our senses - but in a much more subdued way and without the sooty smoke and kerosene smell.

In the other corner is the Paradise Lighting GL23922 Solar Bamboo Look Tiki Torch which uses two flickering LED lights instead of the one fixed and one flickering and has a round top vs a more square top on the Moonrays Solar Tiki torch.

Moonrays Solar Tiki Torches vs Paradise Lighting Tiki Torches

Other than the difference in the lighting style both solar tiki lights are pretty much the same, both run on Rechargable Ni-Cd batteries (included), both stand at 59 inches tall on bamboo tiki torch poles, both have a frosted lens, and both use eco-friendly solar charging panels to power them at night.

Based on the research I've done and the reviews of these solar tiki lights you may want to get different NiCd rechargeable batteries as the one's included don't last very long. Keep in mind that these are NiCd batteries and not the more popular NiMH rechargeable batteries, or new more powerful NiZN rechargeable batteries - I don't know if NiMH or NiZN batteries would work or not - but best to stick with the NiCd unless you really do want that flaming ball of fire atop your new tiki light. Just to be safe.

Check out these solar tiki torches for sale from Amazon and have a flaming ball of fire good time by your pool or patio in no time.

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Paradise Lighting GL23922 Solar Bamboo Look Tiki Torch including Ground Stake, 2 Flicker Amber LED Bulbs, Frosted Lens and Rechargable NiCad Batteries List Price: $26.99 Sale Price: $13.32 You save: $13.67 (51%)   Eligible for free shipping!

Solar Tiki Torch Sale Price: $12.99   Eligible for free shipping!

Solar Tiki Torches: Solar Patio Lighting with Pizazz is a post from: Earth Friendly Goodies

This 15-watt solar charger plugs into your vehicle's 12-volt lighter socket so when you are out in the boonies becoming one with nature you can still have the luxury of bragging to your friends on Facebook that you are on vacation. Intended to work to charge your car, boat or RV battery but many inventive folks are using these Sunforce 15 Watt Solar chargers mounted on their homes or elsewhere for some extra free energy.

These originally list for $129.99 but thanks to the Amazon Lightning Deal you can grab one (or several) for only $70! (Amazon's regular price seems to be $92.72 but with the Lightning Deal it is down to the $70 - if you make the deadline the price will be shown in the cart - good luck!)

Update: This Lightning Deal is gone but the price on solar charging kits are dropping as new technology comes out. This Sunforce 50032 15 Watt Solar Battery Charger is now on sale for $79.95 or you can grab the newer model Sunforce 50033 for even less.

Check out these other Sunforce solar charging kits for sale at Amazon

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Sunforce 50048 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit List Price: $599.99 Sale Price: $279.95 You save: $320.04 (53%)   Eligible for free shipping!

Sunforce 50033 15-Watt Solar Charging Kit Sale Price: $90.63   Eligible for free shipping!

Sunforce 15 Watt Solar Battery Charger on Sale is a post from: Earth Friendly Goodies

The Rodelle headquarters in Fort Collins Colorado it turns out is 100% powered by wind or alternate energy sources. And to sweeten the pot they are very active in local and international efforts to improve social and environmental standards such as emergency relief efforts and working toward sustainable growing practices in Madagascar and Uganda where the vanilla bean growers are.

It is heart warming, on a cold pre-winter day especially, to find companies quietly improving the world we live in with something as simple as the vanilla extract we bake with.

Rodelle makes a wonderful line of gourmet baking ingredients and spices including many types of gourmet vanilla extracts and beans upon which the company was founded. If you are looking for high quality organic vanilla extract, alcohol free vanilla extract, some delicious Madegascar bourbon vanilla beans, or just good old fashioned pure vanilla extract give Rodelle a try - and help spread the warmth this holiday season.

I don't recall which grocery store I found my vanilla extract at but it looks like Amazon has a selection of Rodelle Products for sale from time to time. Also below is the current selection of Rodelle products for sale on eBay as well.

This Post Shared on Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday

Rodelle Gourmet Vanilla Extract: Free Warm and Fuzzies is a post from: Earth Friendly Goodies

• 3-Pack LED Torpedo Lights
• Small Base, 30,000 Hour Life
• Uses 1.5 watts (40 watt replacement)
• Package of 3 saves up to $348
• Warm White, Mercury Free

Well eco friends after a fun and exciting holiday (and a move into a new home - I don't recommend doing this during the holiday season - nor when it is extremely cold out - as I type this it is -23 Degrees Fahrenheit, Yowza!) we are back in action. Being the Eco-geek that I am I was very excited to get LED bulbs for Christmas. That is until I used them.

I received several 3-packs of Lights of America 40 watt LED Torpedo Lights and was very excited to put them in the chandelier in the dining room so I tore into the package with glee. I replaced two or three bulbs just to see how they compare and flipped the switch (actually it took me three flips of switches to find the right one - it being a new house and all). The sound of disappointment could be heard to the North Pole - let's just say that the 40 watt equivalent claims were so grossly over stated that I had trouble seeing in the dark to re-read the false claims.

I wish I had taken a photo to show you but I had those back in the package so fast I didn't have time to hunt through all the boxes to find the camera. After reading further reviews online it turns out everyone else is having the same experience with these Lights of America LED bulbs, plus it seems the 30,000 hour life is over stated as well some even burning out after a few days.

The package does say "LED Accent" lights what ever that means - but if they aren't supposed to be used in a chandelier why do they have a picture of a brightly glowing chandelier on the packaging? I wonder what kind of LED lights they used for the photo - I want those kind.

One positive thing I can say about the Lights of America LED bulbs is that they truly are a heat free technology as they claim - if I had tried to remove the standard light bulbs in that chandelier after they were on for a few minutes I would have had crispy red fingers - the Lights of America LED bulbs came out as cool as they went in.

Bottom line unless Lights of America makes a 100 watt equivalent LED don't expect the light output to match your 40 watt standard bulbs. If you were looking for LED night lights these might work otherwise we'll have to wait until round two in the LED game.

An interesting side note, I couldn't find these bulbs on their website so perhaps they have come to the same conclusion, and by the way they don't make a 100 watt equivalent LED either.

If you've found a good brand of LED lights please comment below - I'd love to find some that really work as claimed.

Lights of America LED: Night Light Maybe, Accent Light No is a post from: Earth Friendly Goodies

After all the excitement of gift opening is done what do we do with all that used wrapping paper? Well in the spirit of eco-friendliness and originality I have come up with a few fun ideas for re-using wrapping paper - even better than composting the biodegradable wrapping paper - trust me...

1. Make a huge wrapping paper pile and have everyone jump in it while singing Silent Night, at which point the crotchety neighbor next door calls the police to have you arrested. Good family fun - everyone gets matching black fingerprint fingers.

2. Shred it all up punch holes in your walls and stuff it full - the added insulation will make your home more energy efficient. Plus the process of punching holes in the walls makes for a lively stress reliever perfect for family get togethers.

3. Make three ten foot balls of used wrapping paper and roll it around your back yard until you set the world record for largest snow man. Use the temporary fame and status to educate the world on the merits of reusing gift wrap.

4. Gather all your neighbors and have everyone spread their shiny reflective foil wrapping paper out across all the streets and roof tops - then connect them to The Grid where it will provide enough energy to power everyone's christmas lights for 3 years - not to mention allow Santa to fly his new eco-friendly XL3000 Turbo Electric Sleigh back to the North Pole.

5. Ball up each piece of wrapping paper and have a family gift wrap fight. It doesn't serve an eco-friendly purpose but it sure is fun to pepper uncle Dave with his own gift wrap - a little pay back for giving you socks for Christmas... again.

6. Incinerate it making sure to collect the toxic fumes and ash in large insulated balloons that will float up into the atmosphere where the heat and pressure will cause an unexpected chemical reaction which releases oxygen and absorbs enough of the carbon emissions in the world to end global warming. (Hey it's my blog I can make stuff up if I want)

6 1/2. Sort all the paper into piles - Re-use, Recycle and Compost. Yes it is boring and that's what everyone else tells you to do but at least you aren't getting arrested, punching holes in your walls, getting frostbite while setting a world record, illegally paving city streets, getting an eye poked out with flying gift wrap, or playing with toxic fumes and ash.

If you have more fun ideas for what to do with your used wrapping paper leave a comment below. Have fun this holiday season and have a blast with your gift wrap!

6 1/2 Things to Do With Used Wrapping Paper is a post from: Earth Friendly Goodies

It's always fun finding new photos for Earth Friendly Photo Friday especially when you find a new artist when you aren't even looking. This gem of an artist was a delightful surprise while I was looking for featured photos for yesterday's post on ending rural hunger.

This month's photo comes all the way from the Northern Utrecht region of the Netherlands. The Dutch, world famous for their tulips and windmills have been utilizing wind energy way before alternative energy was the craze it is today. This beautiful misty morning photo is stunningly vivid as is all of Jeroen van Daal's work. If you love Dutch windmill photos or fantastic landscape photography in general swing by his site and immerse yourself in some very earth friendly photos.

If you'd like to share a windmill picture or other earth friendly photo leave a comment below, till next time have a fairly fun earth friendly photo friday.

Earth Friendly Photo Friday: Morning Mill in Oud Zuilen is a post from: Earth Friendly Goodies

If you and your family are Monopoly junkies you'll get a kick out of this monopoly game variation. I was perusing eBay's World of Good and came across this earth-friendly find - Earthopoly. Just like the rest of the Opoly family of games Earthopoly is a board game in which you collect properties. But in an earth friendly twist you increase your property values by collecting Carbon Credits and trading them in for Clean Air - how eco-cool is that? If you are bad, Instead of getting sent to jail you get sent to the dump - yowza! And if you hit the big time in clean energy you can advance to "Go Green" and collect mucho Carbon Credits. This sounds like an amazingly fun game - it has my green blood a pumping.

From the reviews I have read this is a winner for kids and parents. The kids enjoy learning about the environment and the whole family gets to learn about nature, carbon tax, wind power, and pristine environments.

Not only is Earthopoly a game about the earth it is entirely eco-friendly itself.

* The ink is vegetable oil-based ink.
* The monopoly game pieces are either made by nature or completely recyclable.
* Game box made from 100 percent recycled Chip board.
* All the paper is recyclable and is made with 10 percent recycled pulp that comes from a mill that purchases pulp that is monitored by a responsible third party forest management group.
* Green Power was purchased for the electricity used to manufacture the paper for the box (renewable energy in the form of wind, hydro, and biogas).

Earthopoly An Earth Friendly Monopoly Game is a post from: Earth Friendly Goodies

When I fist saw this video for the KipGrill I was thinking "wow solar or wind powered grilling!" Not quite, but still super cool. Here's the deal, the KipGrill uses the ascending hot air from the coals to drive the rotisserie, therefore no electricity, batteries or other power sources are needed making this one wicked earth friendly outdoor rotisserie grill. Well almost.

You still have the environmental impact of the charcoal briquets but there are some eco-friendly charcoal options (again mostly eco-friendly). Check out The Naked Wiz's Lump Charcoal Database for a rather extensive selection of all natural and sustainable charcoal briquets. If you love charcoal or wood grilling you'll go nuts over this selection of goodies to try.

Have a happy Memorial day and happy grilling from Earth Friendly Goodies!

KipGrill: Earth Friendly Rotisserie Grilling is a post from: Earth Friendly Goodies