Eco-Friendly Candles & Kegs

Sometimes going green is dirty. Dirty Franks, that is. This local hot dog joint, along with its sister restaurants, offers up some eco-friendly fair.



Curious why tapping the keg is eco-friendly? According to the Dirty Frank's menu:

Dirty Frank’s encourages drinking draught! One keg lasts 30 years & is re-used 360 times, eliminating over 43 thousand bottles from our landfills!

Though they offer bottled and canned beers & recycle the packaging, draught is best in terms of reducing waste. And to top it off, they offer Ohio-made beers from places like the Columbus Brewing Company.



And what pairs well with kegs? Candles, of course! Dirty Franks has partnered with the sawed-off-wine-bottle candles from Candle with a Cause to create ambiance. Not only does Candle with a Cause use eco-friendly packaging, they also donate 25% from the sale of every candle to a featured cause. A company after my own heart, they are currently supporting Pets without Parents.

(Interested in other eco-friendly businesses in Columbus, Ohio? Check out Jeni's Ice Cream, Glad Annie's Old World Baklava, Surly Girl, Jury Room and Tip Top.)

Green Fail

Going green is definitely a game of trial and error. Here are three green "fails" that I've encountered on my journey.

Hemp Shower Curtain

Green Possibility: I bought a hemp shower curtain a couple of years ago as an alternative to plastic shower liners. Hemp is supposedly naturally resistant to mold and mildew, so this sounded like the perfect option!



Green Fail: After less than a year, the shower curtain became permanently stained and looked horrible. To be fair, the following things are true: The company, Greenfeet suggested that I wash it weekly. I did not. Greenfeet also suggested that I use a product called Moldzyme to help eliminate any mold/meldew buildup. I had some success with this product and still use it, but it didn't eliminate the stains on the curtain. Lastly, I often forget to turn the fan on in my bathroom and I don't run my air conditioning in the summertime, so my mold-free demands were probably too much to ask of any well-meaning shower curtain.

Green Promise: Though this endeavor failed, I did sew some cute crafty things from the parts of the shower curtain that weren't stained. In the aftermath, I have also tried to make my plastic shower liners last as long as possible, even going so far as to wash them on delicate with cold water once or twice in the washing machine before pitching them.

Henna Hair Dye

Green Possibility: Henna hair dye has no additives, chemicals, or pesticides, unlike typical hair dyes.



Green Fail: I tried using Rainbow Henna's blond dye to cover up my dirty brown roots with no luck. I saw absolutely no difference in my hair after numerous treatments. To be fair, I like my hair blond blond, and not dirty blond, which is probably against nature to begin with. Also, my friend's mom uses to red henna dye and you can definitely see the difference!

Green Promise: I wait as long as possible between trips to the salon. And I use eco-friendly shampoo, bar soap, toothpaste and shaving gel to make up for all of the chemicals I send down the drain in my vain attempts to remain blond.

Hand-Crank Paper Shredder

Green Possibility: The ability to shred paper without using electricity? Sure, why not? The hand-crank paper shredder seemed to offer up limitless shredding possibilities!



Green Fail: I used this less than a handful of times, careful not to add too much to the shredder at one time, but the blades simply went dull. After a while, all of the paper that I fed through it simply remained in one piece.

Green Promise: I've gone back to adding hand-torn pieces of paper to my composter or my recycling bin. Not quite as secure, but most of my documents aren't that confidential.