Green Options

Another post inspired by a HARO request.  This time it was an ask for low or no-cost tools used by small businesses.  I did a quick search for the word “free” in my book and realized there are dozens.  Here are my 19 favorites:

1. Free energy-efficiency information, resources, and technical advice—ENERGY STAR for Small Business provides free information, resources, and technical advice on hundreds of cost-savings practices. Includes a downloadable copy of the free ENERGY STAR for Small Business Guide, “Putting Energy into Profits” and information about ENERGY STAR–labeled products.
2. Free recycling and conservation signs—You can customize, download, and print free recycling and conservation signs at recyclereminders.com.
3. Free control of your IT—If you run a network, software from companies like LocalCooling.com allows the settings on computers to be controlled centrally so you can automatically turn those babies off when no one is using them.
4. Free Green IT for Dummies—HP sponsors a free, downloadable, condensed, limited edition of the Green IT for Dummies guide.
5. Free recycling bins—The Coca-Cola/NRC Recycling Bin Grant Program provides recycling bins to selected grant recipients for the collection of beverage container recyclables in public settings.
6. Free rideshare widget for websites— at GooseNetworks.com.

I’m all about a bargain. With a large family, we really focus on getting the longest life possible out of items and sourcing new to us items whenever possible.

So, I’ve become a HUGE fan of:

Freecycle. Seriously, folks. You sign up, get email updates with freebies being given away in your area and you offer up the extras in your closets. I gave away a sewing machine that was in need of TLC and an old wooden play structure. I’ve found clothes for the kids and baby equipment. The only money involved is the cost of driving to pick the items up. Awesome.

Craigslist. While this isn’t a great place to find freebies (though they do have a free section), it is a wonderful resource for new to you furniture, auto needs, tools, and kids items. I’ve sold bags of clothes for $20 a pop and purchased a couch for $150. Yay.

Que the voice of Boris Karloff…

It was quarter past dawn…
All the Whos, still a-bed,
All the Whos, still a-snooze
When he packed up his sled,
Packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The wrappings!
The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings!

When the Grinch stole Christmas, he not only stole the presents, he stole all the things that accompany Christmas that end up as waste. He  stole the ribbons, the wrappings, the tags, the tinsel, the trimmings, the trappings plus the Christmas trees and the food for the feast.

And what was the Grinch going to do with all that stuff he really didn’t want?

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,
He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!

Pretty much the same thing most of us have done in the past with all our Christmas leftovers, right? We dumped them. Not off the side of Mt. Crumpit, but in the trash.

This year, when we’ve got things leftover from Christmas, let’s be responsible with their disposal.

On Tuesday, I wrote about the dip in demand for recyclable materials. Recyclables are piling up in warehouses, and as long as the economy continues to head in the direction it’s heading, demand probably won’t increase. It’s a problem. What’s the solution?

I’m not sure what the solution is in the grand scheme of things, but I know that I can contribute to a small part of the solution. I can step up the reduce and reuse part of reduce, reuse, recycle. If I produce less recyclables, and you produce less recyclables, it will help. It might not solve the entire problem, but it will help.

Here’s what I plan to do:

Please forgive my rudeness. If I heard my children speak to someone that way, there’d be some serious lecturing going on. But you’ll understand when I relay the conversation I heard between two young moms the other day at a restaurant.

Mom #1 “My garage was so jam packed with boxes of things. I didn’t even know what was in half of them. I finally go so tired of it all I just took them all out to the curb.”

Mom #2 “Isn’t it such a great feeling when the trash men just make it all disappear?”

Mom#1 “Yes, ‘poof’ and it’s all gone.”

To which I wanted to scream over to their table “Your trash just doesn’t disappear, stupid!” But I didn’t because I was raised better than that. And my son was with me. And I’m fairly gutless in situations like that. But I was screaming it in my head.

What an absolute waste. What still perfectly useful items were in those boxes that the trash men hauled away to be burried in a landfill. There’s no way of knowing, but I do know this one thing. There were many ways she could have easily found new homes for the still useful things in those boxes.

As I see it, when you’ve got something that is still useful but you aren’t using it anymore, there are three responsible ways to get rid of it. None of them involve putting it out at the curb for the fairy trash men to waive their wands and make it disappear.

My husband and I are quite pleased with our brand-new king size mattress.  It’s firm, yet comfy, and because we also indulged in some new down pillows, we are sleeping much better these days.  But what should we do with the old mattress?  I know the mattress delivery company removes it, but I am sure that they just send it to a landfill.  I would like to dispose of our [...]

A year after having first noticed the green ‘cyber’wave, months after informing the world about Global Internet giants going green and weeks after being appointed as the new Moderator of the Delhi Freecycle Network(TM) group, the green ‘cyber’wave just got stronger. And Yahoo! has taken the lead. Starting Earth Day, it is not just spreading the message, “Free is good - Give stuff, get stuff. Do good for the environment” through its green pages, but is also working to achieve the same.

My new favorite word is “upcycle. “A German chemist Michael Braungart and architect William McDonough coined the term in their 2002 book, ‘Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.’ To upcycle simply means to use waste products to make useful things.

Upcycling is what Tsia Carson, one of the brains behind SuperNaturale, is all about. In case you have not seen it yet, SuperNaturale is a fantastic site dedicated to all things DIY with an online magazine, bulletin boards and blogs. Carson’s book ‘Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle,‘ is based on her website and features 40 projects to turn your trash into treasure. As Anda from Etsy Storque says, “After only a few pages, you should be itching to visit a local thrift store, the back of your closet, or the dumpster behind your apartment for interesting (and free) supplies.”

The college years are an exciting transitional time for young people. Many are off on their own for the first time, and they’re faced with responsibility for their own actions and their own well-being. For some teens, college is the first time they experience autonomy, and the variety of choices they’re faced with can be overwhelming, and the pressure of making green choices might just be too much to handle. There

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Photo Credit: Kansas City StarA bookstore in Kansas City has a huge glut of books in its warehouse. There are books that have gone unsold for more than a decade. Copies of books that had huge print runs, but now no one wants. Books that are decades old. Books that are in foreign languages. And, unfortunately for the store's owner, books that are not selling.

The owner has

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You want to get friends together for a party, but you want an original theme. You also are in the middle of spring cleaning and want to get rid of a bunch of stuff that is junk to you, but still is in great condition. Have we got the perfect idea for you! Start planning a free swap among your friends, neighbors, or community.

Here's how you'll do it: