Be Informed

A couple of Web sites that help you to be informed when making your shopping decisions. I may have written this before, but I love the idea of voting with your wallet.  For example, I don't shop at Wal-Mart, even though I could probably save a lot of money there, because there are just so many problems with that corporation that I just don't agree with.  I'm not trying to sound high and mighty with that statement, because I definitely give my money to plenty of companies that I probably shouldn't give my money to, but Wal-Mart at the least is one company that I've made up my mind against.  I need to keep visiting sites like these to find out about others I should know about:

Co-Op America - A site that encourages you to be a responsible shopper.  Learn about the companies that you patronize.  Find out abuses that have been reported.  Compare companies within an industry.  There are even grade charts to help with these comparisons - although I'm a little skeptical about these charts because a "no information" is graded higher than a letter grade.  In other words, if no information is known about a company, than it is rated higher than a company with all Cs.

Who Is Behind Your Green Snack? From TreeHugger - Gotta love the fine folks at TreeHugger.  I could just use this blog to constantly point people to that one.  This particular article is about knowing the big corporations who are responsible for various organic brands.  The story for most is that a company that produces an organic product grew successful enough that a major company bought it out.  Read all about who owns who now - and decide for yourself whether it matters to you.

It's not just about cardboard and pop cans

Prompted by a recent conversation with a dear friend about recycling, I started thinking about all of those "hard-to-recycle" items. Mostly electronics. I think by now most of us know that there are a lot of bad things in electronic equipment that should not end up in landfills. But taking time out of our lives to drive out to a recycling center is not practical for a lot of us - it's just much easier to toss that broken monitor in the trash bin.

So here are a few places that will take your electronic trash, with only a little effort on your part and either for free or for pretty cheap:

CFL Bulbs: The Home Depot will accept used CFL bulbs at any store, at the returns desk, for free. Note: They need to be unbroken bulbs. See the press release for more info.

CDs, DVDs, and Jewel Cases: There are a number of organizations that will take in CDs and DVDs and their cases, and many will do so for free. I like the CD Recycling Center of America because it has an easy to navigate Web site and is very clear about how the material should be packaged and what will happen to it. I actually just packed up a box to ship today. The CD Recycling Center does not charge for the service; however, you will need to pay for shipping. If you send your box via USPS, you can use media mail and it shouldn't be too expensive.

Other Electronic Equipment: Costco will not only recycle your old electronics for free, the company may even pay you for your equipment. Through the Costco Trade-In and Recycle Program, Costco will recycle your notebook PC, Mp3 player, digital camera, printer, monitor, etc. Simply follow the directions on the Web site to determine if your item still has any value - if it does, Costco will give you a gift card for recycling the item. For example, I went through the steps on my 5-year old Dell notebook and had an estimated valuation of $60. Not bad. And even if your item doesn't meet criteria for a trade-in, you can still send the item in for recycling for free. Costco will send you a pre-paid shipping label, and you just need to drop off the item and a shipping center. I like that the program has a zero tolerance landfill policy.

Another place to recycle electronics is through Sony's recycling program. Sony is working with Waste Management so that you can take old electronics to Waste Management drop-off centers for recycling - for free.

Not Such a Material Girl

I love that being "green" is getting so much attention lately; I think that when environmentally-friendly items are readily available, then even people who don't really care can live a little more responsibly. Buying items that are recycled, organic, or just all-around take less of a toll on the earth are better; however, buying less is still the best option. There's absolutely no waste if you skip buying something you don't really need.

That being said, I'm not very good about buying less. I'm fascinated by all the things I see in the world around me -- I want to try the various gadgets, have the cute clothes I like, etc., etc. And then of course, you get to the holidays, when everyone wants to know what you want. You can ask for all of those things you restrained yourself from buying throughout the year. In my family, asking for specific items is actual doing people a favor, because we don't like having to figure out what someone else wants.

So I was excited about finding a couple of cool online gift registries. The first is the Alternative Gift Registry. It allows you to create a wedding or baby registry with both tangible and intangible objects - anything you want. The samples show people asking for, yes, a DVD player or some place settings, but also for recipe cards with people's favorite recipes or used books or cleaning advice. It allows for people to ask for the things they think they really need for their lives and not just things to fill up a registry. It emphasizes the relationships between people instead of the presents, can cost significantly less, and can have positive environmental impact.

A less altruistic option but still something that I find really cool is TheThingsIWant.com. It's a "universal" wish list, meaning that you can add items from any Web site to your list. I see this being particularly useful for family Christmas and birthday lists. I tend to make an amazon.com wish list with books and movies on it, then have to send around e-mail lists with in-depth descriptions of the exact bag I want or the color and size of these shoes from REI. If I only want one item from a store, then there's no point in creating a wish list on its site. This option can be a one-stop-shop for all those material things I can't help from wanting.

All Bottled Up (How Taxing)

I read this article a long time ago about an attempt in Chicago to tax bottled water, and I think it's brilliant.  Bottled water is one of my latest pet peeves.  By all means, filter your water - it certainly tastes better than a lot of our tap water.  But then put that water in a reusable bottle, like this SIGG bottle that I really want.

Disposable plastic water bottles just seem like such a waste to me, especially since I see so many of them end up in the trash can.  But trying to get people to stop drinking bottled water is a hard battle to win.  A tax measure can discourage people from buying so many water bottles, while at the same time generating revenue for a city.  Maybe a little financial incentive will convince people to stop their wasteful ways more than arguing with them will.

Powerful...like the wind

I've been meaning to do it forever and ever.  Since my name is on the electric account, I get a lot of the information that comes from our power company, so I've known about their wind power program for awhile now.  But I've never taken action on it.

Well, today I wanted to post on my blog since it's been a few months, and I was surfing around looking for something interesting, and I once again came across a green power Web site.  It served as a reminder to me about Avista's wind power program and I immediately followed through.

Basically, many utility companies are offering programs in which you can purchase alternative and renewable energy.  Avista's program, Buck-A-Block, allows you to buy 300 kW of wind power for $1.  From what I understand, your purchase won't necessarily bring that wind power directly into your home.  But you are purchasing that amount of energy to make up part of Avista's energy mix.  I went through and averaged our energy consumption - about 600 kW a month.  So by subscribing for 2 blocks of power a month, I'm making a small attempt to offset our energy use.

I believe strongly in speaking with how I use my time, money, and resources (although I certainly stumble in my "words" through each medium).  So I like the idea that I'm making a statement in how I'm investing a very small amount of my money, and hopefully as more and more people do so, the market will shift more and more towards renewable energy sources.

By the way, check out The Green Power Network to find out if there is a similar program somewhere near you.