Hey everyone! I've been thinking a lot here lately about ways to jump on the "going green", "save the planet" bandwagon, and here's a few I've come up with. Some are no-brainers, and some others have taught me. Everyone else add some too.

1. Recycle, recycle, recycle. Separate cans, plastics, paper, and styrofoam. (DUH ME!)

2. Depending on where you live, you can get money for your aluminum cans. Where you take them determines how much money you get. We have metal recycling centers in Tennessee that take anything metal from aluminum cans, to copper wiring, broken down bicyles, and old appliances. Money in your pocket.

3. Donate newspapers and mailbox circulars to your local animal shelters and humane societies. They depend on these donations to line the cages for their animals. (They also need donations of food and kitty litter too!) If you can't adopt a pet, it's a great way to love some animals.

4. Replace at least 2 regular light bulbs with the new CFL bulbs (the twirly ones). They are cheaper each if you buy a two-pack. The bulbs last way longer than the regular ones, and use a lot less energy too. So you save money two ways.

5. Buy at least 2 cloth shopping bags and take them with you every time you go to the grocery store. The big ones at Walmart are 50 cents each, and you really can wash them and drip dry them even tho it says on the bags that you can't. (I do it all the time, teehee.) And other stores really don't care if you use a Walmart bag in their store. They are just happy they didn't have to use their plastic bags.

6. Clean the lint trap in your clothes dryer every single time you use it. Your dryer works more efficiently when the lint trap is clean. If your dryer is larger than your washer, wait and dry two small loads at the same time instead of drying each small load.

7. In the winter time, after you have finished cooking in your oven and turned it off, leave the oven door open just a little to let the warm air out into the kitchen. It will help heat your house. (Don't do this if you have little ones, however. Or really nosey pets.)

8. We all know to turn lights off when we leave rooms. But unplug small appliances that you are not using too. Some of them have "on" lights or use a teensy bit of energy just by beeing plugged in that adds up over time. Some could even short out and catch on fire. (yikes!)

9. If you take your lunch to school or work, invest in one of those reusable insulated lunch bags. You will save money on buying brown bags in the long run, and less paper trash too.

10. Take your shopping carts back people!! (This one doesn't have anything to do with anything, except that I hate it and it's my favorite pet peeve, teehee!)

Well, that's everthing I can think of. What can you add to the list?

Halochild

And also... On a related but maybe-not-exactly 'green' note....

I have recently learned that by playing certain free, online 'games'... Anyone can contribute to scientific research. A group of online gamers may have helped to find a cure for AIDS. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/18/7802623-gamers-solve-molecular-puzzle-that-baffled-scientists?GT1=43001

And there are already several more puzzles online. So... My last idea for saving the world is... Play.

http://fold.it/portal/

http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/eng/index.html

No worries, Halo-san.

Yah. The dust/cleaning rag conversion is a practical and popular option for cloth that is too worn to donate. However, for those who have patience and are feeling a touch creative, use the search engine of your choice to look up the phrase towel oragami. Some people also use these random scraps for quilting, true patchwork style I guess.

I wanted to point out, the tip about cleaning the dryer lint.... If anyone here is the type who goes out camping a lot, save your dryer lint. Because dryer lint is extremely flammable - which is WHY you need to take the stuff out of your dryer on a regular basis - and is also why it makes an awesome starter, for camp fires.

Quite a lot of things that are hazardous to despose of - paint, expired perscription meds, etc - most communities have at least one annual "drop off your hazardous waste here, no questions asked" day. Sometimes they might ask that you donate some canned food to a food bank but usually these types of events are free. You should be able to find out when and where these things happen by talking with your local government or sanitation office.

If you're looking to declutter your life a bit.... Remember that there are all kinds of charitable causes willing to take donations of any sort. The Lions Club - and sometimes also the Elks Club - collects prescription glasses to recycle and reuse. Librarys will typically accept donations of books, audiobooks, magazines or even VHS videos. Hospital waiting rooms and senior centers will often accept books, magazines and any puzzles that you've given up on. Generally you should ask before just showing up with something at a school, historical society or humane society. But the art classes - and any local art or drama clubs - might be able to find a use even for those items that no one else is sure what to do with. So it doesn't hurt to check.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and try to get better at sequencing genetic data. Which is more fun that it sounds, actually. Yay, games with a purpose. =D

... Uhm Halo-san... What you just said... If you're feeling brave.... The truth is kinda scary.