Despite our best efforts Mosquitoes resist our efforts to do them in. They return every year to bug us and also to transmit serious disease. This will undoubtedly worsen as Global Warming heats up.

Bug Zappers, especially the “eco-friendly” solar powered ones, might seem like a good way to protect your back yard from these pests, the satisfying pop and crackle while meeting their doom seems worth the price alone. But studies have shown they are rarely effective against mosquitoes, of bugs killed maybe 4% tend to be mosquitoes. Mostly, it kills beneficial moths, beetles and other bugs who may actually eat other harmful insects. These bug zappers not only kill off good insects but may contribute to ruining an important food source for songbirds. So, in other words, they are a total rip-off.

So what is the best Green solution to mosquitoes? Mainstream repellents containing DEET diethyl-meta-toluamide tends to be the standard of effective repellent but many people are understandably wary of putting this chemical stew on their skin. One site, Journey to Forever.org,
gives a great recipe for Handmade Organic Mosquito Repellent (HOMeR), that they claim is a very effective means to naturally repel mosquitoes using lemon grass. Another natural repellent that you can buy is oil of lemon-eucalyptus, sold as Repel. Here is a great site, Mosquito.org which has a wealth of info on all things mosquito. Finally, Ecogreentips.com has some good info on some helpful solutions to the mosquito problems for you and your back yard.

Phonophone II from CharlesandMarie.com $500.00

The Phonophone II is not only a wonderfully designed object but also a great device that can transform your iPod’s earplugs into a mini-amplified speaker - without having to plug it in, insert batteries or sit waiting for the sun. All you have to do is hook up your iPod earphones to the adapter, and natural science will do the rest. The horned shape of the ceramic phonophone will capture and emit the music throughout the room (as long as the room is pretty small and no other competing sounds anyway)

We applaud the desire to save electricity but in this case the amount of power it takes to run an amplifier and speaker is extremely low, so the real appeal is its novelty and coolness factor. For me, at $500 there are quite a few items higher up on my coolness generating gadget wish list. But for the person who has everything or for rich iPod fanatics this might be a great addition to their desk. Then you can start looking for a tiny ceramic Jack Russell dog to sit listening next to it.

If you spend all day spelunking in some deep cave and never see daylight this LED headlamp may not be your best choice as you need to recharge the solar cells for at least 2 hour in full sunlight to get 6 hours of full brightness. But for the rest of us it seems like a great source of light that doesn’t require batteries that you can use camping, hiking, or emergencies. It could even work for spelunking but considering how fragile most caves eco-systems are it is probably better from an environmental view to do some urban exploring instead.

For an extra $12.00 You can also get optional charging devices that will allow you to charge you cellphone or iPod.

Everlite Solar Headlamp from Gaiam $59.00

A blender to take camping or use next to the outdoor grill isn’t on my top ten list of things I wish for, however, some people might be thrilled that you can now mix up smoothies with an energy efficient and portable blender. This battery operated blender be recharged anywhere there is an outlet, blenders aren’t real energy hogs so you probably won’t save too much juice but being able to mix up your drinks off-grid is cause to celebrate. The Rechargeable Blender is lightweight but has a large pitcher for your outdoor gatherings (or during your next power outage)

$59.99 at Eco Geek Living

Forever Flashlights $24.99 at ThinkGeek.com

If you can handle shaking this flashlight for about 30 seconds then you can get up to 5 minutes of light. As you shake the flashlight, a magnet runs over a metal coil which then generates electricity. If you need to use it for longer it can be shaken for 10-15 seconds every 2 or 3 minutes. For optimal usage, try persuading someone else to do the shaking for you!

This waterproof flashlight uses no batteries or bulbs. It does use a bright LED visible up to a mile and lasts for thousands of hours. In fact, their website states it doesn’t burn-out like a typical light bulb - it should never need replacement.

BoGo Solar Flashlight $25.00 - (gets you one for yourself and one for donation) bogolight.com

The New York Times this morning has a good article about a company, bogolight.com that makes a solar flashlight. That isn’t very newsworthy in itself, but the interesting thing is that the acronym for their name “Bogo” means “Buy one, Give one”. What they are doing is for each solar powered flashlight you buy at $25.00 they give another one to various charities working in developing countries. This is very helpful in remote areas, refugee camps and similar place where there tends to be little light available after the sun sets. These flashlights can help children to study and read, help make women a little safer, and reduce the need for using kerosene or other fires for lighting. Regular flashlights in the developing world often tend to be crappier, don’t last long and require expensive batteries which also don’t last long.

Their website states the solar panel on the BoGo lasts up to 20 years, charges in 8 hours, and provides 4-5 hours of illumination. The solar panel provides power to 3 standard NiCad or NiMH AA rechargeable batteries. It also uses the super bright Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) - 6 super bright LEDs provide enough light to read at night. (from the bogo website)

Solar Mosquito Guard $10.00 from Gaiam.com

Global warming will probably mean lots more nasty pests on the go. Smearing your body with chemicals isn’t my idea of much fun. We know solar power can slow down climate change but now it can also help with keeping mosquitoes away.

If what Gaiam says is accurate, that this mosquito guard actually works, then 10 bucks seems like a very good deal. According to their website this pocket-sized device emit a barely audible, high-frequency wave that repels some mosquito species. Includes keychain and belt clip. Battery fully recharges in three hours of sunlight. Hopefully you won’t live in the one area that has a bountiful representation of the one species of mosquito that actually loves the sound!

They also say that 10% of proceeds helps send inner-city kids to Earth Day for Kids 2007 at the nonprofit Solar Living Institute.

Eureka Solar Intent Family Camping Tent 11 x 11 $229.95 with free shipping from elitedeals.com

During the day, the Eureka! solar-powered LED unit attaches to any guyout loop on the fly to charge. 8-hour charge provides 8 hours of light. At night the solar powered LED unit suspends from the ceiling to illuminate the tent interior. A toggle switch turns the light on/off.
Sleeps 5 to 6. Unclear what the tent is made out of but from what I have read it is often advisable to keep nylon out of direct sun for too long as the UV rays will degrade the material significantly.

A solar powered tent sounds like a good idea but seems perhaps more of a green gimmicky marketing idea than meeting a real need. There are several solar powered lanterns that could offer the same basic functionality. Here is an article from Treehugger about another model of solar tent.

Brunton SolarRolls

The Brunton SolarRoll is an earth friendly solution for people needing a powerful but lightweight power supply when hiking, camping or boating. No heavy batteries to lug around or to wind up in landfills. The waterproof SolarRoll has been used by sea kayaker’s as their power source for photographic equipment on long voyages in extreme environments. Other uses have been to power satellite phones, and in mountain climbing expeditions. Can also be used to recharge batteries, recharging digital and video cameras, charging laptops, charging cell phones and many other electric needs.

Comes in three sizes the SolarRoll 14 $339.95 (the largest) 12″x57″ open weighs 17 oz. with a maximum output of 14 watts, SolarRoll 9 $239.95 10.6 oz with 9 watts, and the SolarRoll 4.5 $149.95 at 6.4 oz. and max output of only 4.5 watts (enough to recharge a pda and cell phones)
greatoutdoorsdepot.com sells them for the above prices (prices are much higher on the Brunton website)

Dynamo 15 LED Lantern, Alarm & Phone Charger

From “no battery led light.com” $49.95

Climate scientists predict that as global warming worsens there will be an increased chance of hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe weather. Combine that with unpredictable power grids, peak oil and the increasing prevalence of wacko’s with cars (who are likely to ram into power line poles) and you have a real disaster in the waiting.

The Dynamo Wind Up lantern comes to the rescue just in time to provide light, charge your phone, and sound the alarm. Just wind it up for one minute for 5-8 minutes of light. Wind it up for 5 minutes and get 15-20 minutes of light and 5 minutes of time for talking on your cellphone. Better still, get your partner or teenager to do the winding and save yourself the carpal-tunnel syndrome!   nobatteryledlights has many other models and types to choose from - some much cheaper and others with less wind-up needed. Check out the possibilities here.