I was recently introduced to GreenSmart because I have recently been getting more and more into being Green and wanted to try out their products.  I’ve been purchasing Green shirts, trying to recycle more, and use products that are Eco Friendly. But as you can imagine, it can be very difficult to find certain items that are truly green.

I was very interested in the fact that the laptop sleeves that others are buying are very toxic and very unhealthy for our planet.  I have been given the opportunity to review a neogreen Laptop Sleeve from GreenSmart.  I received a Laptop sleeve to fit my 15″ Macbook within a couple days of contacting Paul at GreenSmith Consulting and I was immediately impressed.  I have been looking for months now for a Laptop sleeve for my Macbook and although I’m very much into the retro look for many things, the plain black/green Laptop sleeve that I got is perfect ended up being better than what I was originally wanting, just for the fact that it was Green.

As you can see, they are your basic Laptop sleeve, but without all the toxins and orders.  You will also notice when  you purchase a laptop sleeve (I’m sure their other green products are the same) is that you don’t have all the crap included.  There is no cardboard and papers wrapping and shoved inside the product.  The only thing attached to the laptop sleeve that I received was a string with two tags, all of which are made from recycled materials.

How well does the laptop sleeve work?  Well, we took a quick trip down south this past weekend and I got to use my new laptop sleeve for the first time and I can honestly say that my computer was safe.  There is enough neogreene in this laptop sleeve than neoprene in regular laptop sleeves and they make carrying your laptop pretty darn easy.

Information from Paul regarding Neoprene

Did you know that Neoprene, which encases much of the gear we use to carry our electronics, water bottles, and lunch bags is quite toxic, and recently won Allergen of the Year? Check the article on that, here: http://bit.ly/132xOK

Fret not though, there is non toxic, thoughtfully and interestingly designed alternative, out now, that I think many people will find this useful and new, as Neoprene’s not yet big on the radar as something to steer clear of.  You can help it be so.

I don’t know about you, but until recently, I had no idea that Neoprene, that black stretchy material that goes into wetsuits, laptop sleeves, knee braces, etc is full of toxic nastiness,  particularly the solvents used to glue it to other materials. That “Neoprene smell?” offgassing VOCs. Formaldehyde, lead, and toluene are frequently in there. Chlorine as well. Many people are sensitive to these chemicals, and it’s not uncommon for people using wetsuits to have a skin reaction to the material.

The people at GreenSmart http://www.greensmart.biz were determined to find a cleaner, greener alternative. Yes, Patagonia created a neoprene alternative that was based on limestone rather than petroleum. But that’s largely replacing one bad for another, and it still requires chemical solvents to bond to other material.

Neogreene is a result of a long, careful collaboration with GreenSmart’s supplier, and is a vast improvement:

All water based adhesives
No Chlorine
PVC & Lead Free
No Formaldehyde
No VOCs (which means no neoprene stink!)
25% less petroleum than neoprene
25% less energy (compared to producing neoprene
Even the green coloring of the Neogreene is a water based dye (neoprene cannot be dyed)

The first products to include Neogreene are laptop sleeves http://greensmart.biz/sleeve-neogreene.html and water bottle totes/holsters http://greensmart.biz/bottletotes.html , with three great lunchboxes and wine bottle totes coming later this year. The first thing you notice is something missing: No cardboard packaging   framing the sleeves for store display. Just a small fabric loop at top for it to hang in stores, with a paper tag telling you about it, itself recycled and recyclable.

On the outside of the actual products are something else unique: a column of stylized words, describing what is and isn’t inside: No Chlorine. Free of Poisons. People Sensitive. Water-Based. 2x Insulation. It somehow manages to be both bold and subtle at the same time, done in black ink to blend with the material it’s on.

They realize there’s more to go to eliminate all non renewable resources, using all recycled material, and they’re committed to continuing towards that goal. Meanwhile they have a product who makers don’t have to use masks while manufacturing it, and is safer to us, while being at a competitive price to the typical options out there.

This laptop sleeve comes in seven sizes for notebooks, Macbooks, and regular PC laptops and range in price from $25 to $40 depending on the size of your laptop.

I would like to thank Trisha at MomDot for introducing me to Paul at GreenSmith Consulting.  Without Trisha’s help, I may not have found out about GreenSmart or their products.