Daily Tip : August 3, 2007

I am always looking for ways to conserve water. So much water is wasted when people take their showers. So instead of washing my hair in the shower, I wash it at the sink before getting into the shower. In the summer, when I take a shower, I turn off the water while I wash and then turn it back on to rinse off. Another suggestion is that when I rinse fruits and vegetables, I save the water in the dishpan and take it outside to water my plants. It is amazing how much water can be saved if we are more conscious of our actions.

-- Submitted by Lisa K. Long

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Read All About It

A roundup of news worth noting from the past month or so:

BUSINESS/MONEY
* GE jumped on the green-credit-card bandwagon with its GE Money Earth Rewards Platinum MasterCard, which must be applied for online or by phone (to save paper, don'cha know). Boosters and doubters weighed in.

* A Portland startup has developed software to reduce paper waste while printing.

GRAPEVINE
* Actress/activist Daryl Hannah is working to green this weekend's Virgin Festival (sponsored by the media company, silly) in Baltimore. Music-lovers coming to see the Police, the Smashing Pumpkins, and dozens of other acts will also find plates made of sugarcane, biodiesel-run generators, and "green angels" monitoring waste disposal. Don't miss Explosions in the Sky, y'all. They totally rock.

* Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro has joined the campaign to preserve the island's Northeast Ecological Corridor. (Yeah, the article is in Spanish and from April, but even old news is worth reporting when it comes to Benicio.)

Daily Tip : August 2, 2007

If you drive a car, keep your tires inflated to the recommended pressure in your owner’s manual. Underinflating tires by as little as five pounds can cut your gas mileage by 2 percent.

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Real Readers of Genius

C'mon now, don't be shy. We see the clever tips you submit to our mailing list and we know there have got to be other ReadyMade and Make aficionados out there in Green Life land. So if you've got an eye for the DIY, why not share your brilliant, environmentally friendly ideas with the world? Instructables, Popular Science, and Treehugger are sponsoring a "Go Green" contest and they want to know "how you're reducing your environmental footprint, and hopefully saving some cash in the process! Are you modding your gear, simplifying your life, or building something awesome? Tell us what you're doing to go green, and teach us how." Enter by August 19 for your chance to win a Breezer bike or a Solio solar charger. We'll be rooting for you!

Daily Tip : August 1, 2007

Still paying your bills the old-fashioned way? Consider switching to electronic statements. If all American households received and paid their bills online, it would eliminate more than 800,000 tons of waste each year.

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