5 Great Green Apps

The other day, as I scoured the web for good ideas for a home project we’re doing, it occurred to me that the process was far easier this time than the last time we collected ideas.  Why?  Because I’m using Pinterest to do it. I can pin any photo I find on the web to my Home Design bulletin board on Pinterest.  No more going through magazines, cutting them up, sticking the cut-out photos in a file, jotting notes on post-its to better explain what I liked about the images, etc.  That kitchen tile I liked in the photo I found on Houzz.com?  I can show the photo of the tile via the Pinterest app on my iPhone to my tile guy and he can help me find it.  That got me thinking about other apps I regularly use that help me to be less wasteful - and more efficient. 

Here are the five “Green Apps” I use most regularly:

1.     Pinterest: for the reasons indicated above.

2.     JotNot Scanner: take a photo with your smart phone of anything and fax or email it directly from there.  Now if you could only get other people to stop sending you faxes...

 

3.     iRecycle: hop on to www.earth911.com‘s app, iRecycle, and find out where the nearest place is to recycle your (hopefully) now redundant fax machine – or virtually anything else, for that matter!

4.     iRewardChart: set up paperless reward charts for your kids.  Award points for achieving certain goals and set up rewards your kids can earn using those points.  It’s helpful to be able to award points as they are earned (such as right after you leave a church service during which your child did not melt down), to really drive home the praise.  Similarly, if I’m in the checkout at the supermarket, I sometimes find it helpful to hold my cell phone up and calmly say to my four-year-old “if you ask me again for another candy bar before we leave this store, you’ll lose two ‘cooperation points’.  You do want to go on that camping trip worth sixty points, don’t you?”  Works like a charm.

5.     Evernote: whenever I need to create a grocery shopping list, I do it on Evernote.  I can create the list either on my desktop or on my cell phone and the two devices will sync up.  When I’m in the store, I just click the button next to the item to note that it’s already in my cart.  This is just one of many ways to use this great app.  It helps me use less paper and create less waste, helps me save money by NOT buying things that aren’t on my list, and my seven-year-old actually enjoys grocery shopping with me when he can check things off as we find them.

 You might also want to check out Light Bulb Finder and Hootroot – two apps that won the EPA's Apps for the Environment Challenge.

What are your favorite green apps?

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

A lot of you probably know how to find out where to recycle almost anything -- just to go to earth911.com. 

One of the more difficult things to dispose of safely is unused medication.  You can't just flush it down the commode or throw it in the garbage. 

This Saturday, October 29, is the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, from 10am to 2pm.  Visit the DEA's website to find a collection event in your area!

Man Invents Machine To Convert Plastic Into Oil

The Blest H.

The video, below, presents an invention by Blest, a Japanese company that claims its machine can turn plastic back into oil that can be used to make gasoline, diesel or kerosene. Really amazing!

How to Explain Earth Day to Kindergarteners

I was asked to do something for my sons' Montessori class for Earth Day.  After a bit of thought, the following is what I did:

I kicked things off by lending the school our boxed set of BBC's Planet Earth DVDs.  These DVDs have mesmerized my five year old, particularly the one about the oceans.

Next, I got the kids thinking about conservation by reading to them The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. This story is as relevant today as it was when it was first published almost 40 years ago.  I then had them discuss the book using questions I found at the Seussville website.

The next day, I gave an interactive presentation followed with an activity/coloring book I found on the EPA's website (which I printed double-sided, natch).

I brought props (recyclable items) and three posters:

Recycling 201: Yard Sales

I love yard sales.  It's an important and fun part of the recycling chain.  The process of preparing for a yard sale is a great way to keep your home tidy, organized and efficient.  It requires sifting through your possessions to see what you can part with.  It generates cash, and it's a great way to lessen your contribution to landfills.  Your castoffs might be another's treasures, and you can feel good about that.  You're doing a solid for humanity. 

My friends are dedicated yard salers.  Every Saturday morning they set out to see what treasures they can find.  This past Saturday, during my visit to LA, I joined them in this ritual and learned some great tips.

Here's a list of good things to know about yard sales.

Where to Find Yard Sales

• You can find yard sales by driving through your neighborhood on Saturday mornings and looking for signs.  Don't be misled by the number of signs you see for a yard sale.  If you see a lot of signs for the same sale, it doesn't necessarily mean the seller is desperate.  It might just be because there's an overzealous teenager involved who has a stake in the proceeds.
  
• You can log on to CraigsList.  Just navigate to your city, then use the search term "yard sales."  Up pops everything that folks have listed (here's an example, for Los Angeles).  
• If you are planning your own yard sale, put up signs with your address and the time of the yard sale at major intersections near your home, and don't forget to list it on CraigsList.
  

Pricing of Items

• Pricing is an indicator of the economy.  In good times, people are just looking to get rid of their things.  They're less likely to care about the pricing.  These days, you'll see prices stuck to every item.  People are more serious about getting their asking price for their things.  Sellers need to have realistic expectations, though.  For instance, if you want $20 for that big box of Legos, you won't get it.  You'll only get $10.  It doesn't matter how much they sell for in the stores.
• If it isn't gone by 11:30am, pack it up and drop it off at Goodwill.  So price things to sell.
  
• Buyers can find Harry Potter books for $1 at yard sales.  Want $50 for the whole series?  You won't get it.  No, it doesn't matter that Amazon sells the hardcover boxed set for $120.  You will get $1 a piece.
• Don't sell high end things at yard sales (yesterday, I saw a jet ski at a yard sale for $7500).  You won't even get a "reasonable" price.  
• The golden ratio is 20:1.  If a yard saler pays $1, it's worth $20.  One person's trash is another person's treasure. 
• Sellers should have lots of change on hand - dollar bills, fives and quarters.  LOTS.
• You can find baby books, in great shape, at yard sales for $0.25 a piece.  In stores, a small stack of baby books would cost a fortune.  Get there early to find these treasures.
• CDs can go for $0.25 a piece.  Buyers can upload their favorite songs to their iPod, then resell the CD at their own yard sale for $0.25, rendering the uploaded songs free.

Should You Hold A Yard Sale?

• In yard sales, the dollar still has value.  Buyers are looking for a "find", a "treasure."  They're not looking for a deal versus retail.  That sort of shopping is done on eBay, so you might consider listing certain items there.  If you don't want to ship items, list them on CraigsList because the expectation there is that people will come and pick them up from your home.
• Yard sales are a great way to teach your children lessons about money, the value of a dollar, budget and frugality.  It's also a great opportunity for your youngster to operate a lemonade stand under your watchful eye.  The going rate for lemonade is $0.25 a cup (not dixie cups, not huge beer cups - the size just up from a dixie cup) - maybe $0.50/cup if your neighborhood is more affluent.  Another great item to sell is Donettes or bite-sized brownies for $0.25 a piece.  It is breakfast time, and people would probably love these.  If you have an older child manning the stand, he/she could also make change.  Younger kids might request exact change only, and buyers can get change from mom and dad.
  
• Goodwill Versus A Yard Sale: For clothes, you might sell a pair of pants for $0.50.  The tax deduction you might get through a contribution to Goodwill might be $0.50, and Goodwill might resell those pants to the public for a few dollars.  
• Consider joining forces with your neighbors to hold one large yard sale at one person's house.  You can separate the shopping areas so folks pay the proper sellers, but you might gather a larger crowd if you've got a few houses worth of items displayed.
  

When to Go

• Yard sales tend to be held 8am-noon on Saturdays.  Most of the good stuff, if priced correctly, will be gone by 11:30.  What's left at noon should be packed up and taken to Goodwill. Sunday yard sales don't do well.   
• Serious yard salers should show up early.  In LA, there are professional yard salers.  They show up at 7:30am, scour the landscape, pick up a few treasures and then might resell them at the Rose Bowl.  The Rose Bowl hosts a huge, wonderful flea market one Sunday each month. 
• It's ideal to arrive at yard sales at 8:30am or 9am. 
• Sometimes it's better to show up late because when people have never had a yard sale, their expectations are high and they won't bargain until they realize they're not getting people to buy things.  That usually happens later in the day.

Etiquette

• If someone wants $60 for something, don't say "will you take $10?"  It's insulting.  You don't want to break someone's spirit.  Maybe you could ask for 1/2 off, or a "2 for 1" deal.  If it's $10 and you say "will you take $5?", that's very different than saying "will you take $2?"  
• If you see something you like and want to discuss it with your shopping buddy, don't look directly at the item while you're talking.  It attracts the attention of other yard salers and they will descend like vultures.  
• Don't step on another yard saler's deal.  If an item is tagged at $10 and they're offering the seller $5, don't cut in and say "I'll pay $10!"  You will make a yard sale-ing enemy.
  

The Best Way to Display Items

• Put items on tables.  Resist putting things on the ground.  That's what you do with garbage.  It's a psychological thing.  If you put things on a table, people feel like they are shopping.  If things are on the ground, people feel like they are rummaging.  They might not be very careful with your things and they will not want to pay money for items they have to rummage through.
• If you're selling clothing, try to hang it up on racks.
  
• If you're visiting a yard sale and you see lots of things on the ground, you might find some bargains because people overlook things on the ground.

A Word of Caution

• The vast majority of humankind is honest and nice.  Just be alert.  You might encounter someone who is casing your house, looking to "shoplift" or wants to pull a scam.
• Don't hold your yard sale inside your house. 
  
• One scam I've heard of is someone approaching a seller when he/she is very busy and asking a price for something, then coming back and saying "do you have my change?  I gave you a $5."  You don't want to make a scene, so you give the change and the person walks off with the item AND the change.
• Don't accept checks, and don't accept any bills over $20.  Counterfeiters love yard sales. If someone approaches you with a larger bill, ask them to go to 7-11 for change.
  

25 Great Green Ideas

There are so many great things I'd love to do to make my home greener.  For a variety of reasons, I haven't done them all yet, but they remain on my list and I hope to get to them eventually.

Here are 25 Green Ideas you might also consider:

1. Composting - this is the next thing I'll do.  A composter tumbler is a must for easy composting.
   
2. Tubular skylights - I can think of at least 5 places I'd put one of these in my home.  Seriously awesome idea.
3. See if radiant barrier foil makes sense - we installed this in the Summer of 2008 and our house was noticeably more comfortable this past summer.  We also get an annual tax credit for the enhancement.
4. Solar landscape lighting - I bought a bunch of solar lights this past Spring for our front yard.  While they are not as powerful as corded lights, they enhance the evening appearance of our home and provide critical path lighting.
   
5. Explore solar roof panels.
6. Consider a wind turbine - we live in a very windy part of the country.  Right now, our city doesn't allow them, but I can hope!
7. Install a programmable thermostat - we've got one and it's really useful  Along those same lines, try to tolerate warmer in-home temps in the summer and colder temps in the winter.  This saves energy and might even be better for our health.
8. Collect rainwater from our roof in rain barrels and use it to water our lawn later.  This might be our second project, after the composter.
   
9. Bathe the kids together to save hot water.  I've got two small boys so it works for now. 
10. When doing dishes, scrape pans and scrub dishes with the water faucet turned off, rather than letting it run.
11. Grow organic fruits and vegetables in the backyard.  It saves money, provides fresher produce, and reduces environmental impact.
12. Install energy-efficient motion-sensor floodlights above your garage and in your backyard.  They use less power (you don't leave them on for any longer than you need them) and they might scare off intruders.
13. Use homemade non-toxic household cleaners.  I've been doing this for a while and love it.
14. As old light bulbs burn out, replace them with more energy efficient ones.
15. Get rid of plastic food storage containers in the kitchen.  Plastic leaches toxins into food.  Replace plastic with stainless steel or Pyrex.
16. Cook with cast iron, not non-stick pots and pans. 
    
17. Get rid of plastic in kids' meals.  Use stainless steel whenever possible.  Need ideas? Click here and here.
18. Maintain the lawn and garden organically to keep kids, pets, wildlife and beneficial insects safe.
    
19. Have a bug problem?  Deal with it organically.  Don't want to make your own solutions?  Here's an online guide to organic products you can buy.
    
20. Recycle when you can.  
21. Sell or give away things you don't want - post them on freecycle.org or craigslist, or give them to Goodwill.
22. Avoid some of those dry cleaning chemicals by learning how to wash dry-clean-only clothes.  Better yet, vow to buy fewer dry-clean-only clothes.
23. Drink tap water rather than bottled water, but make sure your tap water is healthy.  If it is not what you would like it to be or you worry about it, consider installing water filtration.
    
24. Use less paper.  Remove yourself from mailing lists - click here to do that.
25. Don't just clean the home - keep it tidy and organized.  This facilitates figuring out what can be discarded (see #21) and using possessions more efficiently (thereby avoiding unnecessary purchases).  Green living and good organization go hand-in-hand.

10 Ways We've Gone Green This Year

This has been a year of change for us and we've really just begun. I've got a lot of other projects under way to make our lives greener and more efficient, and I'll blog about those as we tackle them.

Here are ten ways we've become more environmentally conscious so far:

1. As our light bulbs burn out, we've started replacing them with more energy efficient ones. They last longer and use less energy.

2. I now clean our home with homemade cleaning supplies and machine-washable cloth towels, not paper towels.

3. I buy green versions of the household products that I don't make myself (such as garbage bags, bathroom tissue, facial tissues, paper napkins, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish soap, dishwasher detergent). The labels don't just feature nebulous words such as "green", "non-toxic", or "environmentally-friendly". Rather, the words I look for are "recycled" (at least 30%), organic, biodegradable, or sustainable.

4. I give things away rather than throwing them away. I could go on and on about this. We all sometimes itch to push the ejector button on certain things in our homes - maybe old plastic tubs, clothes, shoes, that old wagon-wheel table, or old baby toys. Before you haul it out to the curb, ask around to see if someone wants it, post it on freecycle.org or craigslist, give it to Goodwill. Your castoffs could be treasures for someone else! Seriously. You will be surprised.

5. No more bottled water. As I previously blogged, we had our tap water tested, confirmed it's safe to drink (as best as we can) and stopped buying bottled water.

6. I am more careful about planning our meals and food purchases to minimize tossing out spoiled food.

7. I use reusable shopping bags whenever I remember to bring them. When I don't bring them, I opt for plastic bags and use them to dispose of dirty diapers later.

8. My older child is now old enough to understand conservation, so I've started reinforcing this with the kids. We turn off lights when we leave a room, don't run the tap while we're busy brushing our teeth, eat what is on our plates. This last point is an important one. I've started explaining about those in the world who often go to bed with empty stomachs. It is disrespectful to these people to waste the food we are so fortunate to have.

9. We are more careful about recycling - particularly our curbside recycling, which represents the majority of our recycling opportunity. But we are also now more careful about finding ways to recycle items that should not or cannot be picked up curbside.

10. We've lined our attic with radiant barrier foil to save on our electric bill. I will write more about this later. I'll just say that we did it last summer and are now reaping the benefits.

Must go now. The older child has just convinced the toddler that he is missing a toe. I hear some shrieking.

Do You Know How to Recycle Used Batteries Or An Old Computer?

Those with children know how quickly a family can cruise through a bulk-sized package of AA batteries, especially around the holidays. Goodness knows we've worked our way through a few so far. We love Costco and Costco loves us. One of my kids' favorite games is to hide plastic animals in a dark room and then "find" them with their flashlights. They often forget to turn off said flashlights before moving on to the next game.

Folks need to know there is a safer way to dispose of the dead batteries than tossing them in the garbage. Many retailers will accept these batteries for recycling. Here is an excellent website that could help you find a recycling location near you for just about anything - including those old computers and TVs: Earth911.com