Quick Tips

Brrr it’s cold outside! Stay toasty and reduce emissions this winter… Keep energy costs at a minimum. It’s easier than you may guess. Simply insulate your windows with plastic window film (for example) to keep the cold out – even hanging...

Want to limit the eco-impact from your gift-giving this year? Instead of the typical gift ideas, give an 'experience' gift. Movies, concerts, restaurants, massages or cooking classes all are thoughtful alternatives of the typical stocking stuffers. Another bonus: You can pick something you & the recipient both enjoy to spend time together!

Need to cut some excess from your life? While you may be familiar with Beth's Paper Peeve and my co-workers apologize each time they print a doc... but no longer fear! An easy gesture such as shrinking your margins (I recommend .5" on all sides ) on computer printouts will save your printer (and co-workers) pages. Word 2007 even has an easy default: Go to the "Page Layout" ribbon Click the "Margins" dropdown Select "Narrow". You'll be amazed at how much more info you can fit & trees you can save! (One study by Change the Margins says if you change your margins to .75" on all sides, you can reduce paper by 4.75% - saving 1.14 trees per ton of paper. If the whole US changed their margins, we'd save 6,156,000 trees every year just by a small change.)

Next time you're defrosting frozen food, instead of using your countertops or microwave - use your fridge. It'll take a bit longer, but by planning ahead and defrosting in the refrigerator you'll

No I’m not just channeling Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest here.  In all seriousness I have a huge aversion to wire hangers in my closet. If you do too – one way to reuse your unwanted hangers  is to check if local...

Listen up chocolate lovers - Endangered Species Chocolate is where it's at. I tasted this delicious cocoa treat in Southern California recently and was hooked. As a chocolate lover, I felt like I was living under a rock having not heard of it previously. What's even better? Endangered Species is registered with and meets all requirements of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. ) They practice the 3 R's

Have you ever thought about how environmentally-friendly your toothbrush is? Maybe not, but it is a material we use everyday (hopefully at least twice a day) that doesn’t have a terribly long shelf life. Two simple ways to green your brushing:

Don't worry, I'm not talking about this weekend. Reduce your soda, juice and other bottled drink intake. While the bottled water industry hurts the earth, soft beverage and juice bottles also end up in landfills. If you're addicted to a Nestea or Cherry Coke, use it as a reward or special occasions - You'll also save empty calories that sneak up on you!

The scholarly folks over at Learn-gasm have put together a list of a 100 ways to make your library greener. Many of these tips can be applied to your home or office including: Switching to safe cleaning products, fixing leaks,  using...