Once again, hurricane season has everyone in the Gulf Coast on alert. As I write this posting, there are two active storms threatening our country – Hanna is taking a tour up the east coast and Ike is poking its way towards the gulf.Tropical storms in our area start out as tropical waves from the western African coast. Africa blows these deadly kisses across the Atlantic to the Caribbean Sea and North America.

There’s nothing scarier than being in the “cone of uncertainty” as the hurricane approaches our communities.Being prepared is critical and something we should all do.”

Recently I discovered a product that can literally be a life saver – the Dynamo Multifunction Flashlight.Light never burns out or needs batteries. Cranking the handle for 60 seconds produces 30 seconds of light. But there’s more – along with the LED flashlight, the unit has a FM scan radio (for listening to the weather or news), an emergency siren (to attract emergency attention), and a cell phone charger! Because there are so many different types of cell phones, you’ll need to get an adaptor that works with your phone.

Over a million people lost power from Hurricane Gustav when it hit Louisiana a week ago – many are still waiting for it to be restored. This is precisely why this flashlight is so important. You can add your logo to the base of the flashlight. Show your employees and customers how much you care about their well being for less than $20.

Everywhere you look these days, we’re being bombarded by words like:  green, eco or earth friendly, enviroconscious.  Is going green hype or here to stay?  Green is the new low-fat and this blogger thinks it’s here to stay

So what does green actually mean other than the obvious? Okay yes, it’s a color or to be more precise, it’s an additive primary color. My 4 year old would tell me it’s a mixture of yellow and blue. Green is closely related to the Old English verb growan or “to grow”. Back in the 80’s it was popular to call money “green”. Green topics are on the covers of most magazines and newspapers around the country, yet everyone struggles with the definition.

The definition that I found and like the most is in Infoworld analyst Ted Sampson’s blog:

A green product or service is one that delivers comparable or superior performance, utility, or other benefits to an alternative one while utilizing fewer resources, containing fewer toxic materials, and/or boasting a longer lifecycle.

To that end, I would like to introduce two green promotional products that I really like:

It’s an LED “never needs a battery” flashlight and it’s a cell phone recharger. Simply wind it up for about a minute and the light lasts for roughly 30 minutes. It easily fits in a glove compartment, purse or on your wrist – it’s readily accessible in an emergency. Awesome safety award, employee recognition gift or trade show giveaway – add the logo (1-color) and you’re still under $10.

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