WalletPop

Twenty great uses for your old newspaper

Josh Smith — 2008-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

Do you still subscribe to your local newspaper? If you do, you likely have a stack of papers somewhere in the house or garage waiting to be recycled. Apartment Therapy has come up with 20 ways to recycle or reuse newspaper around your house. It turns out leftover newsprint is suited for a myriad of uses but it is especially useful for soaking up odors in many places.

If you have a smelly container, fridge or shoe stuffing some newspaper in it is likely to pull the odor and moisture out. This method of odor fighting is no doubt much cheaper than air sprays and baking soda. Other uses include keeping weeds out of your garden and as an additive to your compost pile. The uses for newspaper around your house or community abound. You can even use the newspaper to prevent icing on your car windows during the winter.

We don't get the paper at home anymore, since the idea of on time delivery eluded the local delivery boy. At work we get 3-4 papers daily which get recycled by an employee but I don't think any of the papers enjoy any of the varied recycling activities mentioned by Apartment Therapy. I enjoy using newspaper and Windex to clean my car windows as it does a great job of preventing streaking, but that is my extent of paper reuse.

Do you still get a hard copy paper? If so, what do you re-use your newspaper for?

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Fantastic Freebies! Tree seeds

Zac Bissonnette — 2008-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Fantastic Freebies

Every day, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more!

Here's one that will make the green-lovers feel all warm and fuzzy: Planting America will mail you the seeds to plant your very own tree. They currently have Colorado Blue Spruce, Englemann Spruce, River Birch, Paper Birch, and Red Spruce. They have all the information you need to figure out which tree will work in your climate. From the site:

Why do we give away free seeds? In an effort to plant as many trees in as many places around the country as possible, we are offering a variety of free tree seeds. Look at the list below and find a tree that suits your area and your needs. Please refer to the sowing instructions we have supplied for the best chances of success. Fill out our order form and you will receive a minimum of 250 seeds in a few days for free!* If you do not plan to plant your seeds immediately upon arrival, please refrigerate them, but they do not have an immense shelf-life and would most likely survive if planted in the spring. Thanks for helping out the Planting America cause and making your community a bit greener. We ship our seeds on Fridays.

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Penny foolish, pound foolish

Tom Barlow — 2008-05-07T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Saving

Here we go again. Congress is investigating the possibility of returning to the steel pennies last seen during WWII as a way of ending the most foolish of circumstances, i.e.; it costs more than a penny to make a penny. 1.26 cents, to be exact.

That's not the end of the idiocy; a nickel costs 7.7 cents to make, according to an AP report. Dimes can be made for 4 cents, a quarter for 10 cents. The millions of oh-so-useful dollar coins (useful as ballast, that is,) cost us 16 cents.

Here's a very cheap solution, Congress; ditch the penny. It's just an annoyance. The reason we need to stamp out so many? People don't want to carry them, since they are so useless. Ditching them would open up a slot in the cash drawer for the $1 coin.

And If you want $1 coins to gain acceptance, quit printing paper ones, and make them easily distinguishable. Some countries have coins with holes in them, others have two-part coins (the English pound, for example), of two different metals. Give that consideration.

If you don't like those ideas, how about this- one day a year, offer to buy back pennies for 1.2 cents apiece. I guarantee you'll be flooded with enough pennies that you can shut down production, and save money.

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Go green with a battery powered lawn mower

Josh Smith — 2008-05-06T16:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Home, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

High gas prices don't only affect your vehicle; for many homeowners mowing your lawn is getting more costly each week. Fortunately for the frugal and eco-conscience home owner, there is a battery- powered lawn mower which claims to provide a cheaper and quieter home landscaping solution.

The Neuton company sells two different models of its battery powered mowers, both with an optional trimmer, starting at just under $400. The Neuton company estimates close to $250 in savings over a three-year period when switching from a gas-powered mower due to fuel and tune up costs. Additionally if you live in any of five counties in Southwest Ohio, you can currently get the mower for $289 through a special program at the local waste department.

The Neuton mowers are much quieter and lighter than conventional gas powered mowers, which for many users will be a huge positive, but these benefits do not come without a few trade offs. The Neuton 5.2 mower, which is the lightest it offers, does have a smaller mowing area than most gas mowers and some users have complained of poor power. The newer Neuton 6.2 mower provides a wider mowing base and more power for a better mowing experience, but gains back some weight for these strengths. It would be well worth noting that I haven't had a chance to use either of these mowers, so you might be wise to seek out someone with experience before forming any final judgments.
I have had the pleasure of mowing my in-law's lawn the past several weeks due to a recent surgery and recuperation, it took me back to my days mowing lawns in high school and over college summers. I forgot how unwieldy and loud some mowers can be. I had to max out the volume on my mp3 player just to hear it over the roar of the mower.

Cornering a heavy mower with a recently recouped knee has also proved more challenging than in my younger days. The Neuton mowers also start with a squeeze rather than an elongated series of pulls and grunts, which should be joyous news to anyone dealing with a mower a few years old. When we purchase a home in the near future, I would love to check out the Neuton 6.2 mower, but I would want to see a demo before I purchased it outright. These mowers may also be very useful elderly homeowners who enjoy cutting their own grass.

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It's going to be a big yard sale season - are you ready?

Beth Wechsler — 2008-05-02T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Bargains, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

As consumers search attics for fast cash, resale shops are seeing a glut of merchandise. For-sale listings on Craigslist are also way up. We can be sure that there will be more sellers and less buyer money around as the yard sale season begins.

I've been a yard sale addict for more than 25 years. My buying habits won't change very much - except for the fact that I'm also part of the wave of downsizing/decluttering baby boomers and like everyone else, I'm watching what there is of my money. Since I'm also a social worker, I don't want to profit from anyone else's misfortune, which makes me a little uneasy about what it's going to be like once I start my Saturday routes. I expect that I'll make the same kind of offers - looking for the same kind of percentages off - that I always have, looking for a fair price. As a real estate agent recently explained, "A fair deal is when both the buyer and the seller are both just a little dissatisfied." No one gets the best of anyone.There may be more merchandise out there to buy and the prices are likely to be lower. Neither of those things will change my yard sale strategy.

My system for yard sale success is more elaborate than some people will enjoy. I am indebted to my friend, yard sale maven Edith Dondis, for telling me about the system. Most of it is done on Friday evening, sometimes with a glass of wine and the television in the background, and a few supplies. These are:

Local Newspapers
Street maps (a serious yard sale shopper needs detailed street maps, otherwise you will waste time and gas and gain only frustration)
Index cards
Scissors
Scotch tape or a glue stick
A highlighter pen.

Begin by reading the yard sale ads and highlight all the sales that look attractive to you. Check not only the "Yard Sale" section of the newspaper but also look for church sales and other fundraisers. Decide how far you want to roam. Once you've determined your radius, cut out all the ads that interest you. Glue to tape them one per index card, highlighting the start times as you do. This isn't wasteful; you can recycle the index cards. The advantage to this system is that now you will be able to shuffle and reshuffle your cards, mapping the route for both geographic convenience and start times. It will also be easy to adapt your route again once you're out "in the field" (hunting).

Your sequence for which sales to hit first, second and third will be determined by a combination of specifically advertised items that interest you, size of a sale, start time and location, location, location.

Don't forget: If you're on time, you're late. Being "late" doesn't mean that you won't find a gorgeous maternity wardrobe or that dining room set you've been searching for at 1:00 p.m. What will be gone, however, are the thriving houseplants that someone is selling for $2 each at their moving sale and the woven throw that still has the original $49 price tag, but is priced at $5.00.

Stay tuned for Part II - Supplies to Take Along.

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Greenwashing: When fake eco-consciousness makes you blue

Bruce Watson — 2008-05-01T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Shopping

Last weekend, my wife and I went to the Green Living Expo on Long Island. A two-day event, it was designed as a way for homeowners to learn about all the emerging green technologies that could help them develop a more environmentally-conscious, energy-conserving lifestyle. We got free tickets from my wife's boss, who runs a green engineering firm, wrangled a weekend invitation from my aunt and uncle, and got ready to experience the cutting edge of the green world.

Maybe we built it up too much.

Admittedly, there were some impressively green items on display. We learned about bamboo clothing (only $35 for a t-shirt!), solar-powered attic fans, bio-composters, and other cool technologies. We also got to see a nice variety of hippies, new-agers, and other assorted lunatics. As expected, there was a weedy-looking guy with a beard who was trying to sell his book about hiking the Appalachian trail, various people hawking crystals, and more than a few natural-remedy folks. While I'll acknowledge that natural remedies are less polluting and invasive than traditional medicine, I have yet to figure out how aligning my chakrahs will help me use less energy and reduce my carbon footprint. To put it mildly, the snake-oil quotient was pretty high.

Even more disturbing than the huckster hippies, we were dismayed to discover that many of the exhibitors were adept at the art of "greenwashing," in which companies claim to be green in order to capture an ecologically-conscious market segment. While a great lesson in showmanship, this left us more than a little depressed. We saw representatives from a credit union on Long Island, a sunroom builder, a mainstream investment firm, radio stations, movie theaters, and various other companies that had absolutely nothing to do with the environment. Worse yet, some of the companies that claimed to be ecologically conscious were actually major polluters. There were mainstream paint companies that offered a small line of very expensive "green" paints, cosmetic companies that were hawking petroleum-based eyeliners, the SmartCar (which only gets 25mpg in the city, 33 on the highway), and several other concerns that were trying to cash in on the green buck without actually doing anything for the environment.

I don't blame the Green Living Expo for the fake greenies among its exhibitors; after all, they needed to fill their arena. Besides, New York City's Green Expo was even worse. My favorite was the company that claimed to offer "green" private jets, but the greenwashers were out in force, pushing everything from cell-healing green drinks to eco-luxury vodka. If I could have found a recycled barf bag, we would have been in business, but I was out of luck and had to hold it in.

According to BearingPoint, 71% of American firms are trying to sell consumers on the environmental friendliness of their products. It's not hard to understand why everybody's hopping on the green bandwagon; after all, not only does ecological awareness appeal to consumers, but it also translates into big bucks. I like to call this the "Whole Foods Effect": by claiming that their products are eco-friendly, retailers are able to automatically add a significant percentage onto their prices.

My favorite fake greenie is Mattel. Could someone tell me how, exactly, a doll that is produced from petroleum-derived compounds and emits hazardous volatile organic compounds can possibly be positioned as a "green" product? Yet, Mattel is somehow trying to convince consumers that its "Green Barbie" is improving the planet simply because its accessories are made from salvaged scraps of fabric! Does this mean that putting patchwork seatcovers on a Hummer makes it environmentally responsible? If I wrap my aerosol cans in recycled newspapers, will I somehow save the ozone? How about if I burn Styrofoam in a recycled oil drum?

As eco-consciousness becomes a greater market force, there are bound to be more and more examples of greenwashing. While some companies, like Dr. Bronner's soaps, have begun questioning the green claims of their competitors in court, the sad truth is that "green" is a slippery term. Unlike "organic," which has a carefully-regulated legal definition, companies can claim to be green or "eco-friendly" with minimal justification. Some analysts have argued that, as more and more polluters exploit this trend, "green fatigue" will begin to set in. Consumers will become more and more wary of "green" claims, transforming ecological awareness from an important lifestyle choice into an exhausted marketing fad.

Personally, I'm blaming it all on Barbie. I bet her Malibu dreamhouse doesn't even have a solar panel. Poser.

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He is not, however, a hippie, as he both bathes regularly and eats meat. With vigor.

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Fantastic Freebies! Purex Natural Elements detergent sample

Zac Bissonnette — 2008-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Fantastic Freebies

Every day, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more!

In case you aren't aware, going green is very popular right now. One of our sister sites -- GreenDaily -- is devoted exclusively to helping you find ways to make your life more eco-friendly.

If you log onto Purex's website, you an request a free sample of the company's Natural Elements laundry detergent. Here's a little promotional material on the product courtesy of WalMart.com:

Natural Elements[TM] laundry detergents are made from 100% naturally derived cleaning ingredients and natural fragrance extracts.

Purex Natural Elements also offers these important benefits: Hypoallergenic, Free of dyes, and the bottle and cap are both completely biodegradable and recyclable.

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How to light your house for free

Josh Smith — 2008-04-29T16:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Home, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I have long been jealous of any home or office with a skylight. The thought of enjoying sunshine even when indoors and hard at work is giving me energy right now. Unfortunately most skylights are large windows, which can also be a thorn in the side of your heating bill. Thankfully there is a innovative solution which uses "a series of tubes" to deliver sunlight to several rooms.

This lighting system is made by Sun-Tek and come in several configurations depending how you want to use sunlight in your house. The Sun-Tek tubes can even be outfitted with an additional light so you don't need to install other fixtures to use the room at night. According to the Sun-Tek website the smallest tube they offer, 10 inches, is equivalent to two 100 watt light bulbs, sure to brighten up your home.

I'm not sure that any studies have linked sunshine to productivity, but I know sunshine bumps mine up. I would love to have a skylight in the shower in order to harness the sun's energy as part of my morning wake up routine. I don't know how far these tubes can carry the sunlight, but how cool would it be to light your basement man-cave with sunlight? You know: for those times you need to be sure just how many troops you have in Australia before you launch your quest for world domination.

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Telecommuting could save America $4.5 billion

Josh Smith — 2008-04-28T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Technology, Transportation

The American Electronics Association released a report last week as part of Earth Day celebrations making a strong case for telecommuting. The study found that if all employees in the U.S. whose positions allowed it worked from home two days a week the demand for gasoline would drop by 1.35 billion gallons!

The report also addresses many of the concerns managers have with their underlings telecommuting, dispelling several, and providing additional reasons for companies to support working from home. The strongest reasons other than cost savings are that working from home improves both employee retention and productivity.

For many employees, the technology to enable telecommuting is already available. Possibly one of the biggest hurdles is the need for a secure connection to the work network, known as a VPN, but in recent years these have become more common. Off the shelf solutions such as LogMeIn and GoToMyPC provide secure connections and are easy to set up, providing a link to a computer already on the network. This leaves just the need for a laptop, miscellaneous office equipment and a high speed Internet connection to complete the telecommuter's home office.

I would love to be able to work from home for a few days a week at my day job as a database administrator. I currently commute about 40 miles round trip, and while I carpool, I am still spending a nice chunk of my monthly take home on gas. In my case, the technology is all in place, and as for home office equipment, I'd be willing to use my own technology to work from home a few days a week. Unfortunately working from home is still looked at warily by my employer, though given the green initiatives in place at work; this report may be just what I need. I guess I'll be doing a mass emailing in the morning! I think I'll need support from the president to get this one green lit.

What do you all think? Do your employers allow you to telecommute? Why or why not? Let's hear from you.

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SmartBike: One way to combat the rising cost of fuel prices

Geoff Williams — 2008-04-28T16:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Travel

This idea could go places.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that sometime in mid-May, SmartBike DC, a bicycle-sharing program, is going to get moving.

Metal racks are appearing throughout the city, enough for 120 red three-speed bicycles. For $40 bucks a year, bikes can be rented as many times as a person wants--though each rental can last no longer than three hours, and the hours are restricted from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (If you don't bring it back within three hours, you're charged $200.)

The idea is that you get a magnetic card to swipe at a bike rack downtown, enabling you to remove the bike. Take it for a spin. Get your exercise. Go to the store. Commute to the office, if it's convenient. (Park it at another bicycle rack near your place of employment and then hope that a bicycle is there when you get off work.)

It's a public and private partnership between Washington D.C. and the advertising conglomerate Clear Channel Outdoor, which has automated bike rental systems in France, Norway, Sweden and Spain.

The Post's article says that SmartBike DC is still working out some kinks: like will it be possible to park the bicycle outside of a store, go into the store, return with your purchases and not find yourself squinting into the sun and watching a teenage kid making off with your bike.

Still, it sounds like a great idea, and as I said, one that could catch on. Especially if gas prices keep going up.

Geoff Williams is a business journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).

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How to find yourself in "estate" of bargain bliss

Gillian M. Kalson — 2008-04-28T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Bargains, Entrepreneurship, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Shopping

The most recent estate sale I went to with my friend Annie was like walking into a dollhouse full of "what Ever Happened to Baby Jane" lookalikes. The "sale matrons" running the show belonged to another era unto themselves.

This was an authentic estate sale. We had hit our mark. The signs were visible on every piece of furniture and every item down to the Victorian-inspired lace eyelet curtains hanging from the enormous bay window of the mock Georgian home we had entered.

Some sales pass under the guise of estate and turn out to be glorified tag sales where the majority of items are spread out on tables in the front yard, and only a limited amount of household treasures are purchasable. An authentic estate sale is run by a family who opens their own home to the public after the death of a loved one, or in desperation before moving far away, or by a company hired by a family to do its research and appraisal.

One downside to bargain hunting at sales where the owner is not directly selling her own wares is that the bargains tend to be more scarce. This is because the hired hands or sale companies know their stuff and are less likely to sell an object of desire for less than its vintage value. They're also strict! I made the mistake of sitting on one of the three vintage sofas in the living room of the last sale I went to a little too long and was told that my time was up and that I needed to move on to another room. The estate matron explained to me in the strict tone of an authentic auctioneer that visitors were not allowed to sit on the furniture unless they were "seriously" considering buying.

I made my way to another room and ended up breaking a gold rimmed vintage wedding band wine glass which I had to pay for along with the other three I bought to match my parent's set for their wedding anniversary. Feeling like a bull in a china shop -- literally -- I made my way upstairs to peruse the vintage, if not antique, linens, most of which had been hand-embroidered with different flowers and leafy grape clusters.

Spring is the season for estate sales, although you can find them advertised year round on Craigslist and in the back of most newspapers. Come early, or else it will be picked over by mid-morning, and avoid sales where you sense the presence of estate matrons. They're stingy and, like you, they know a bargain when they see one.

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Cash for junk cell phones, PaceButler.com

Gary E. Sattler — 2008-04-27T00:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Simplification, Technology, Daily Deal

The Daily Deal for Sunday, April 27, 2008

I went into work Friday and set my lunch box down next to an advertisement that caught my eye right away. It claimed that you can turn used cell phones into real money. After researching the offer a little bit, I've determined that it sure looks legitimate to me. Pace Butler Corporation claims it will buy your used cell phones for cold hard cash.

The company website is clear and simple. The process works in four easy steps. Just gather the cell phones that you want to sell, print out a prepaid postage shipping label, box the phones up and ship them, then get a check. The company states that your check will be issued within four business days.

Many of the phones on their payment list will only garner you a few dollars, and some only pay .50 cents. However, there are models which will get you as much as $50. You can check out their payment values on this list (PDF file). Just a few of the higher paying models are Motorola's Q9m and Q9h, each paying $50. If you have a Nextel i580, that model pays $30. The LG CU515 and CU575 each get you $35. There's a whole range of the Blackberry 8000 series which will net you anywhere from $10 to $50 apiece.

Nowhere on the website did I see mention of cell phone condition as a requirement for payment but I assume that they want the phones to be all in one piece. They also offer assistance with cell phone collection drives and will help you with cell phone collection fund raisers. If you just want to find out where to send your dead cell phones to keep them out of the landfill, they have a link to help with shipping 3 or more phones for recycling.

I think Pace Butler is really in step with responsible consumerism and assuming that it's completely legitimate, I believe this whole concept is an extremely timely idea.

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Stop receiving junk mail and get a buck for doing so

Tom Barlow — 2008-04-25T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Shopping, Technology

Josh blogged recently about Catalog Choice, a service that helped him decrease the number of catalogs he received. Another service, GreenDimes, goes this one better. If you sign up, it will help you reduce your junk mail AND pay YOU a dollar for the privilege.

Why the largesse? The company has a war chest of $5 million it has allocated to cut down on the environmental damage wrought by the avalanche of credit card offers, catalogs and sale flyers that jam the nation's mail boxes.

The company's efforts are not all altruism, though. It also sells upgraded services. A $20 premium package will keep your box clean for 3-5 years. It also offers a limited number of environmentally sensitive products such as high-efficiency light bulbs.

I'm fascinated by the for-profit aspect of GreenDimes, and will watch with interest to see if it can make money combating mail proliferation. The fact is that we get junk mail because consumers respond. As a reformed mass mailer, I know the sad fact is that direct mail packages that contain a lot of pieces, including hard-to-recycle decals and the like, work better than bare-bones pitches. Given this, the market GreenDimes is basing its business on should provide it with a steady stream of potential customers.

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Global warming becomes real: A look at the looming beer crisis

Bruce Watson — 2008-04-24T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Extracurriculars, Food, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I try not to be too much of a global warming preacher. In my personal life, I recycle, walk a lot, take public transportation, and generally do everything in my power to reduce my energy usage. However, there are few things that annoy me more than holier-than-thou eco-Nazis, and I decided a long time ago that I would never, ever become one of them. I refuse to lecture people about light bulbs, yell at them for throwing away recyclables, make snotty comments when they keep the fridge open for too long, or pick up any of the other endearing little habits that dedicated green warriors seem inclined to inflict upon the rest of us.

Part of the reason that I don't like talking about global warming is the fact that it's somewhat difficult to explain its effects. Frankly, there seems to be a rejoinder for every argument against global warming: as people often point out, summers that are a couple of degrees hotter don't seem like that much of a big deal, unless you're a kid or a really old person. For that matter, while rising water due to the destruction of the polar icecaps will be a really big problem for people in coastal regions, most of the world isn't coastal. Beyond that, the death of thousands of different species of aquatic life isn't really all that big a deal, unless you're a really big fan of fish; for the rest of us, there will always be cows, chickens, pigs, deer, and other land-based life forms that we can consume.

However, I recently discovered something that beautifully illustrates the dangers of global warming, a far-reaching, catastrophic problem that affects every one of us, and my just be the key to explaining why green living is so important:

GLOBAL WARMING IS DESTROYING BEER.

You heard me right: global warming is killing the beer that you love. It is conspiring to ruin one of the great delights of life, the beverage that makes darts enjoyable and summer evenings perfect. In short, global warming is undermining America, Mom, apple pie, and civilization as we know it.

Basically, it works like this: global warming is changing weather patterns around the world, raising the temperatures and reducing the humidity of many areas that are currently used for farming. This, combined with water shortages, is reducing their agricultural yield. The plants that have been hardest hit include hops, barley, and other grains, which has already caused increases in the prices of some beer ingredients, a trend that has been particularly damaging to microbrewers. The brewmaster of Brooklyn beers, for example, recently noted that his malt prices have gone up by 50% over the last year, and other brewmasters were predicting that the prices of certain strains of hops will increase by up to 200% over the next few years. In the short term, this means that the prices on Brooklyn beers have risen by roughly 15% over the last year; in the long term, prices on many beers are set to almost double.

On the one hand, this is somewhat funny. After all, in the grand scheme of things, paying $15 for a six-pack of Bud doesn't qualify as one of the world's great tragedies. On the other hand, I can still remember the mid-eighties, when Michail Gorbachev's anti-vodka campaign led to massive home brewing, with horrifying consequences, including blindness, poisoning, and some truly horrifying wallpaper paste-based liquors. While that won't happen here, I imagine that the hot nights of a post-global warming future will be particularly unbearable without the benefit of a nice cold one. While I wait for the coming apocalypse, however, I'm going to do my part and go to all the "Save the Ales" events that I can find.

See you there.

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He wants O'Douls to be outlawed.

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Farming your front yard in suburbia

Josh Smith — 2008-04-24T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Food, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

In a quest for sustainability, self sufficiency and money saving; folks nationwide are trading in their Scotts Turfbuilder for manure as they begin growing crops at home. Homegrown veggies and herbs sound wonderful to me, especially with the warm weather we are finally getting in Ohio. I can appreciate the ideas behind farming in suburbia, replacing your front yard with rows of crops is taking it a step too far. If I was a homeowner I would help anyone on my block till up and seed their backyard, but I draw the line at rows of soybeans in the front yard. Putting negative pressure on my property value by growing crops in your front yard makes me long for the rules and strictness of a good ol' home-owner's association.

A backyard garden can be loads of fun and makes for a great family project over the summer months. Divvying up the chores for a garden is a great way to share family time and show children the value of hard work. If you are getting ready to garden, be sure to check out this handy guide for growing vegetables. It leads you through site selection, soil prep and garden care. Everything you need to keep fresh produce on your dinner table all summer long.

If you do have a home garden, feel free to send me some of your wonderful homegrown veggies!

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Go green! Cut down on unwanted catalogs

Josh Smith — 2008-04-24T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Shopping

I'm not sure why or how but for some reason I currently receive several women's apparel magazines, all addressed to me. My wife loves to give me a hard time about these catalogs, all of which I am sure I receive because of some purchase I made for her, a birthday present or another random gift. My credit card purchases must have thrown up a flag and --ZAP-- my address was handed off to women's retailers all over. I assumed I would at the least be in need of 4-5 phone calls before I could rid myself of this waste of paper and time.

Thankfully I was wrong, Catalog Choice, is a very useful site which lets you bulk unsubscribe from many magazines. The sign up process is very simple and the site has a large selection of catalogs to request removal from adding to the usefulness. You may be wary of handing over your home address, but seriously how else are they going to remove a "Josh Smith' from mailing lists nationwide! I have already signed up and I am working my way through several catalogs we receive but have a need for. Cutting down on catalogs is great, it saves time, reduces clutter and is better for the environment.

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This tactic to save money on gas could cost you your life

Gary E. Sattler — 2008-04-23T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Budgets, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Simplification, Transportation, Health, Wealth, Travel

Ideas for reducing the cost of driving, such as carpooling or buying smaller, more efficient cars, have gained popularity. One concept however, may be getting far too much positive publicity. It's the risk-your-own-life practice of drafting. Sure, it's used in every NASCAR race on the circuit. But while it could save you in gasoline usage, it could also kill you in a split second.

Drafting is accomplished by tucking your vehicle in behind a larger vehicle while moving at highway speed. The tactic is most often employed behind the trailers of eighteen-wheelers. By moving to within 100 feet or less of the lead vehicle, drivers take advantage of the swath that the lead vehicle cuts through the air. The vacuum pocket behind the truck reduces air resistance and the "wake" of the truck closes in behind you helping to propel you along. However, my two brothers-in-law, who are professional drivers, will tell you that there's nothing more nerve wracking for a truck driver than when a car moves in so close behind that it can't be seen in the truck's mirrors. It's simply a recipe for disaster.

The problem is, for the maneuver to be effective at all, you need to be too dangerously close to the lead vehicle. Any successful drafting attempt eliminates your safe reaction time. If the lead vehicle needs to stop in a hurry, about all you'll have time to effectively do is to open your eyes very wide and then noisily go splat. If the truck kicks up road debris, it will be on you before you can blink.

Kiplinger 's Personal Finance writer, Stacy Rapacon has provided us with five safe ways to save money on fueling your car. Stacy's ideas don't involve risking your life or compromising the safety of other drivers. Additionally, Kiplinger's can help you to get ahead of the game by steering you into cars with the best fuel economy ratings.

Remember, saving money a few pennies on gas is a foolish bargain if it puts you or others at risk. You can't spend the money you saved on gas while resting in your grave.

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Earth Day plus Arbor Day equals $avings

Geoff Williams — 2008-04-22T16:31:00+00:00

Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Kids and Money, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Someone should tell the Earth Day people that the Arbor Day people are trying to muscle their way into their territory.

I mean, here it is, Earth Day, and someone from the Arbor Day Foundation sends me this information about an 11-year-old named Michelle Holiman, from Stillwell, Oklahoma, who won their 2008 National Poster Contest about trees (that's the winning poster over there on the right). That's nice that they have this contest, and that this little girl won a $1,000 savings bond, but again, it's Earth Day. Arbor Day isn't for another few days, and aside from creating most of our oxygen for us to breathe, what can Earth Day possibly have to do with trees?

Well... maybe there is some overlap. In fact, trees provide more than oxygen, they can save us money. Here's what I learned, after the good folks at the Arbor Day Foundation tied me to a sturdy oak and gave me a talking to.

The net cooling effect of a young healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners that operate 20 hours a day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Landscaping can reduce air conditioning costs by up to 50%, by shading the windows and walls of a home. --American Public Power Association
If you plant a tree on the west side of your home, your energy bills should be 3% less. In 15 years, the savings will be nearly 12%. --Center for Urban Forest Research
Trees can stimulate economic development, attracting new business and tourism. Commercial retail areas are more attractive to shoppers, apartments rent more quickly, tenants stay longer, and space in a wooded setting is more valuable to sell or rent. --from the Arbor Day Foundation people themselves

So there you go. Get out there and help the economy and the world by buying a tree. And since I'm currently typing this article with my nose, into a blackberry, if anyone happens to be passing through their neighborhood and sees a writer tied to a tree, please go free him.

Geoff Williams is a business journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).

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Preposterous products: The sandal flask

Tom Barlow — 2008-04-21T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Extracurriculars, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Even wish you could sneak some vodka to the beach, but have no place to conceal it within your bikini? Then I call your attention to a line of sandals by Reef, well-known for its extensive line of beach wear. What makes the BYOB sandal distinctive is not its appearance, but the fact that a bladder is built into the heel of each, perfect for smuggling the liquid of your choice with you wherever you go.

The small polyurethane sacks are accessed via a spout in the heel.

I have a couple of reactions-

If I have to smuggle booze in my shoe, might I have a drinking problem?
How cool would I appear guzzling hootch out of a sandal?
Who in their right mind would drink from another person's sandal?

The company also makes a stash sandal, perfect for your one-hitter. Or more innocent booty.

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Weird times. Business is good for the environment

Geoff Williams — 2008-04-17T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Shopping

Truly. I know that the tipping point has arrived. The United States is on its way to becoming a nation serious about preserving the environment.

Now, if you're wondering if I'm about to tell you that our government has initiated some comprehensive plan for fighting pollution, no, of course not. You'd know about that already. It would be the big story on every cable news station, and in every paper, most of the front pages probably emblazoned with the headline, "Hell Freezes Over..."

No, if you notice, these days, real policy change comes from within the business community first.Seriously. For instance, for all of the criticism of Wal-Mart, the retailing behemoth is making a big point of selling recycled and pro-environmental products, and lately, although it's had a recent public relations disaster in health care, it has been improving its health insurance plan. Maybe it's because politicians only have to face the voters every couple years or so that they don't have to think about pesky little things like health insurance and saving the environment; stores have to face the paying, or "voting," public every hour of every day.

And now the two latest pro-environment changes... Toys-R-Us and Burger King.

Toys "R" Us is currently unleashing a line of environmentally friendly toys with the motto, "Recycle, Renew, Reuse, Re-think" and promoting the playthings by telling kids to have "good green fun."

Come this April 22, Earth Day, at every Toys "R" Us across America, children will be able to play with natural wooden toys, natural cotton plush animals and organic cotton dolls. (Of course, last year's rash of recalls from China, when you suddenly had to wonder if that toy gun really would lead to death, may have something to do with this.)

In July Burger King will package its Kids Meals in bags made from 100% recycled materials. In addition, the beverage cups ordered with Kids Meals will be 10% recycled.

Stay tuned. If the public keeps asking for it, there are many more pro-environment changes to come, at least from our business leaders.

Geoff Williams is a business journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).

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