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99 things you can do to save the planet
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• Enjoy music courtesy of the sun! Can't live without your iPod, but bemoan its frequent need for recharging? Invest in a product like the Solio Universal Hybrid Charger ($99.95, www.solio.com). Sit it in the sun and it will charge your iPod, laptop, cellphone, Sidekick — basically any portable electronic device.
• Don't toss your computer. A 1999 New Jersey Institute of Technology study reports that consumer electronics make up about 1 percent of landfill volume, but up to 70 percent of landfills' toxic content. Donate your old computer to an organization that will reuse or recycle it. Consult the National Recycling Coalition (www.nrc-recycle.org).
• Send an eVite! Forgo paper and send invites via e-mail (www.evite.com). According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generated about 83 million tons of paper products in the municipal solid waste stream in 2003, nearly a three-fold increase from 1960.
• Take a walk. It's good for you. Plus, not driving your car two days per week will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an about of 1,590 pounds a year, according to the EPA.
• Unplug before you unwind. Before you leave for vacation, unplug all unnecessary appliances — televisions, DVD players, stereos, microwaves. They can still consume energy even when they're off, says the EPA.
• Have a kiddie craft party. Turn that plastic ice cream tub into a flower pot (poke drainage holes in the bottom, fill it with dirt and plant some seeds). Transform the enormous cardboard box the refrigerator came in into a fort. Wash that old tire and hang it in the tree for a swing.
STYLE
• Bag the extra packaging. Do you really need a plastic bag to carry that new mascara to your car? Are your expensive new undergarments any less exciting if not wrapped in layers of wasteful tissue paper? Can you buy the family-sized bottle of shampoo instead of the smaller one? Ask yourself these types of questions while you're at the store, and you'll cut down on what you toss out at home.
• Get hip to hemp. Ecostyle guru Danny Seo, author of the Simply Green series, swears by Converse's slip-on hemp sneakers. What makes hemp earth-friendly? "It can be grown without pesticides, herbicides or insecticides and it's 1w times stronger than cotton," Seo writes. "It also resists bacterial growth (e.g. odor) and lasts a long time." Converse's Chuck Taylor All Star Slip Hemp comes in black, barley or olive and costs $62 a pair at Zappos.com.
• Bamboo you. Its 100 percent biodegradable, super-soft and antibacterial. One stylish line available locally is Sworn Virgins — its tops, tunics and dresses range from $80 to $220. (Another bamboo bonus: no dry-cleaning necessary.)
• And if you must dry clean... Find a green cleaner near you at www.greenearthcleaning.com.
• Tree-t yourself. In June, Lancome will launch Primordiale Cell Defense, a skin-care treatment that helps reverse pollutant-caused damage, and the company will plant one tree for each of the first 10,000 products sold.
• Go green with your jeans. Insects adore cotton, which makes it one of the most likely crops to be soaked in pesticides. More jeansmakers than ever, though, are producing blue jeans that are green. Levi's affordably priced Eco line is made with organic denim (see levis.com for stores), while sales of Del Forte Denim's Juniper jeans help support the Sustainable Cotton Project (see delforte.com).
• Take a step in the right direction. Simple makes shoes from sustainable materials such as recycled car tires, crepe rubber, jute and organic cotton. Proceeds from sales of the company's new Toepeeka flip-flop will benefit StopGlobalWarming.org. Find 'em at simpleshoes.com.
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• Cut chlorine. Use distilled white vinegar in place of chlorine-based cleaners. (Distilled white vinegar contains about 5 percent acetic acid, which makes it a great stain remover.) Deidre Imus, wife of shock jock Don Imus (don't hold it against her), has written Green This!, which suggests using essential oils — oregano, tea tree, sage and eucalyptus — for disinfecting surfaces. (You can find these oils at most holistic and health food stores.) Non-chlorine bleach and oxygen additives, such as OxyClean, are alternatives.
• Turn your pool "green." Another chlorine source, obviously, is your swimming pool. Rain Forest Blue is an EPA-registered product that kills algae and bacteria without using chlorine or bromine. And ecoONE Pool Conditioner is a combination of nontoxic food-grade additives, such as enzymes and mineral softeners, that helps stabilize pH and alkalinity by reducing overall chemical use. See www.pacificsandsinc.com.
• For more than baking ... Buff up shower tiles by applying baking soda with a damp sponge, or wipe with vinegar first and follow with baking soda or salt as a scouring powder. Add a squirt of lemon for good measure.
• Breathe easier. Instead of an aerosol air freshener, douse cotton balls with oils, such as lavender, citrus and rosemary, and tuck them around the house. Another idea: Put a few drops of oil on a damp cloth and place it near the air conditioner intake vent.
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Where does the water go? Isn't it just sent back around, recycled? I guess there'e energy expended to do teh recycling, but the water doesn't vanish or vaporize.
7:52 PM, 4/24/2009