photo credit: inoc

Wow – it’s environmentally friendly, and it’s free!  Treat yourself to a one year digital magazine subscription from The Read Green Initiative. All you need to do is pick your magazine and enter your e-mail address.

Then, sign up for an account with Zinio, which provides sales and distribution of digital content.  When I signed up for my Zinio account, all I had to do was provide an e-mail address and create a password (no physical address or credit card information was required).

Being a personal finance geek, I picked Kiplinger’s for my free magazine, but there is definitely something for almost anyone (US News and World Report was one of the choices, for example).

I also installed the reader so that I can download the digital issues to read at my convenience (sans internet connection).  If you’re really into supporting the green initiative, you can also purchase subscriptions from Zinio.

If you decide to try this out, please drop a line and let me know what you think!

Even though it costs money, Green Disk seems like a good option for us. Here is a list of some of the things that they will take for recycling (from their website):

• All forms of electronic media and their cases: diskettes, zip disks, CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs et al, video tape (i.e. VHS), audio tape, game cartridges, DAT, DLT, Beta or Digibeta, and virtually all other type of computer tapes.
• Hard drives, Zip and Jazz drives, jump drives, etc.
• All forms of printer cartridges including both inkjet and toner.
• All types of cell phones, pagers, PDAs and their chargers, cables, and headset accessories
• All types of rechargeable batteries (not regular alkaline ones) and their chargers
• All of the small computer accessories such as MP3 players, iPods, digital cameras, hand-held scanners, handheld games and other connected devices
• All of the cords, cables, boards, chips, etc. attached to or removed from a computer.
• Laptop computers.

They also will take computer systems and computer components, although it is part of a separate recycling program.

We’re thinking of purchasing a Technotrash can because the postage is included.  They also destroy any information on the media you send them, which is nice if you have a small business or even personal files.

Have you ever tried this service or used something similar?  I haven’t seen anything else where we can send all different types of items to one location yet, but would be interested in other options that may be available.

A quick google search helped us come up with a solution, and I just wanted to share the link.  The Plastic Loose Fill Council has over 1500 collection sites in the US – you just need to fill out an online form to find the collection site nearest to you.  Hope this helps someone out!

If  you’re interested in getting a free tote to get you started on your independence from plastic bags, you can take a short conservation quiz at Earthbound Farm Organic.  I’ll be getting one myself to add to my collection!

photo credit: Manuel.A.69

A friend of mine sent me a link to a site with a 20-minute video called “The Story of Stuff” with Annie Leonard. It took me over 3 months to follow the link an get around to watching it, being that if I don’t do something right away, it takes me awhile to get to it.

I’d highly recommend watching it, and sending it along to others (who hopefully get around to things before I do!). Here is a short excerpt from the website regarding what “The Story of Stuff” is about:

“From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.”

I do think that some of the ideas are oversimplified, and that Annie Leonard’s tone sounds a little too preachy.  However, the message is clear, and some of the statistics really make you think!

I liked it enough to send along to a number of my friends, some of whom aren’t quite so frugal and environmentally-friendly. Perhaps it will influence them to start taking small steps to changing their lifestyle.

If you take the time to watch this video, please let me know what you think. If you follow the link and decide not to watch the video, I would be interested to know why!