Tools and appliances that use mechanical hand power to turn a drill, generate electricity, or make ice cream, are great ways to go green. They also are always be available for use even when the power is out or batteries have gone dead.

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When I was a kid, I don’t think anything beat the taste of homemade ice cream. We’d all take turns at the ice cream churn, turning the crank and impatiently waiting until it was done. There’s just something special about those old hand-cranked churns, and the concept is as old as history. No batteries, no electricity, no solar cells…just simple elbow grease and that’s about as green as you can get. While ice cream is a pretty good thing to have, here are some other things that use the power of the hand-crank that you should have around your house. Of course, guys like me love the cool tools, like this hand-powered drill. In the case of natural disasters, flashlights are a must-have and you don’t want to be stumbling in the dark looking for batteries. There are even combination tools that have emergency radios, cell phone chargers and flashlights all in one. So take a tip from your old summertime memories and add a few cranks around the house…. And maybe some chocolate syrup.