become more eco-friendly

Well, in the process of upgrading my DVD players to Blu-Ray players. I discovered that a lot of power was being wasted by my electronics. So, when I was in Staples the other day, I saw a solution, which was a power strip that cuts off the power to your appliances when the main appliance (in this case the tv) is not in use. Good by power loss and hello savings. So, after a few minutes, I quickly installed the strip had everything powered up and tested. Yet, another easy savings measure to do.

Well, my compost was doing very well with reducing the amount of waste we were creating and was providing good soil. However, I managed to get it too wet and so when I put the compost outside it froze. So, last week, I bought a new wider container, drilled the necessary air holes, but not on the top this time. I believe too much rain water got into the container in the Fall when it rained a lot. I also noticed the food scrapes seem to provide the worms with enough moisture. So, I’m starting again and hopefully things will go much better.

Well, one of the benefits I have discovered from my kindle is that I can read the paper electronically at a much cheaper price then the old print paper. Now, I am not completely giving it up totally since I will still be getting the weekend paper in paper format to get the coupons, which I would gladly do electronic if more of the stores locally would go back to accepting.

Anyway, after 30+ years of reading the paper in paper format, I am now reducing the amount of paper needed for getting my news by going to only 2 days instead of the full 7. The other days I will read the paper on my kindle. Plus this way, I figure the newspaper saves on the delivery truck gas and other costs, which they have apparently shared with me since a 3 month subcription in paper was about $65 and electronically is only $15. What a savings and reason to go green!

Well, I won a Kindle in a raffle at work and at first didn’t think much of it since I didn’t like the size of it. Now that I have bought a lighted case. The Kindle feels more like a leather bound book. So far I have downloaded two books and am looking to do more reading as I save paper and money in the process. So, I am quickly becoming a fan.

Well, I switched from cotton socks to bamboo dress socks since I got a fantastic deal from gold toe when I went to replace a ton of my dress socks. So, since they had the eco friendly socks, I figured it was a GREAT time to try them. I have now worn them many of times and I really can’t tell much of a difference except they aren’t as thick. It doesn’t mean they will wear out faster, just that they may not provide as much cushioning as you are previously used to wearing. After a few times, I have grown accustomed to wearing them and now not only look good, but am being eco-friendly in my attire as well.

All,

Baltimore County began single stream recycling today, 2/1/2010. This is awesome since now they take items up to #7, however, MANY stores (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) do not have recycling containers to put your stuff in available. Since I drive through Howard County to and from work and they have been doing single stream recycling for over a year, containers are available there. I picked up 3 recycle containers for $11 a piece at Home Depot. So, if you are in Baltimore County and need to get containers for your recycling, you may want to check out stores in surrounding counties like I did. I recommend Howard since they have them in stock and are fairly nearby.

Last week our phones kept having the number 1 stick since in MD you have to dial the area code for all calls and apparently the number one was a popular number. Anyway, I saw a sale at Staples for an energy efficient digital recorder and 4 headsets. Within minutes I had everything up and running and using 40% less power than the old system. Plus since this system uses radio waves instead of phone wire I was able to put phones in locations that were not previously available.

I have started to use ecofont to use less ink when printing draft letters/documents. The FREE font set uses less ink by essentially leaving small holes in printed letters. The font, based on sans serif Verdana, promises to save about 15% on ink used. Download it at ecofont.nl. It’s available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

Ok, I went through the bookshelves where we have been storing old magazines and recycled 7 grocery bags worth of magazines that were more than a year old. Now the shelves have enough space to store our current books and magazines once again and the clutter is gone.

Well, I finally made the switch from using those plastic store bags to our canvas bags. I prefer the canvas bags since they are more sturdy, easy to grab and I don’t have to waste time shelping them back to the store to recycle. So, hello canvas bags, plus if you are getting a few things, its easier to carry than a plastic basket.