Posts Tagged ‘Environmentalism’

A Super Simple Way to Help the World

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

There are sites out there, that much like the “insert a dime and you’ll save an acre of rainforest” bubblegum machines you sometimes come across in museums, zoos, and aquariums, you can do something so tiny, you’ll have a hard time believing you’re doing something good for the world. I used to be a dedicated, die-hard clicker, with several sites bookmarked that I’d kick myself if I forgot to visit and do my daily clicks by midnight every night. Each time you click on these websites, some environmental, animal rights, civil rights, or otherwise similar extremely worthy cause feels the benefit, through ad revenue or donations or promised contributions.

Care2 is one of the best sites for supporting such causes. Aside from having 10 separate causes to click for, they have news, social networking, a daily action section, and a petitionsite, where you can put your digital signature on virtually any petition imaginable to support any cause which might interest you out there.

There are other websites out there like this, unfortunately they were bookmarked on my old laptop. So in the future, expect more helpful suggestions like this one, and for now, swing by and do your part every time you go online to check your email. It could NOT be any easier to make a difference in the world, no matter how busy you are.

HYmini – Handheld Wind or Solar Power

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

When I first started living by myself, I finally began to feel the pain of the many bills which come along with living by yourself – gas, electricity, cable, internet, etc. At first, I began looking for ways to shave pennies off of these bills, but this sort of spurred my now strong views on conservation and recycling. Now, instead of unplugging my microwave when I’m not using it simply as an attempt to save a few cents per month on my electricity bill, I do it even more so to save precious wattage that would otherwise be used to power that little clock that I never check. In addition to the measures I’ve adopted into my life to save time, energy, carbon dioxide, and money, I’m always looking for new ways to reduce my carbon footprint more and more.

This is my dream tool, realized.

The HYmini is, according the the website “A revolutionary way of capturing renewable power for your iPod, mobile phones, PDA, mp3, digital camera.” It’s a small tool for capturing green energy at any time for use rather than plugging in your charger yet again.

The first device captures wind energy.
You can even attach it to you bike or arm to capture wind energy while out exercising:

The second is a mini solar panel and you can buy multiple panels and link them together to harness more energy at once:

And neither one is very expensive. Amazing. It’s about time these things existed more prominently in popular culture.

China Bans Free Plastic Bags

Monday, January 14th, 2008

I love to hear about the steps that major industrial countries in the world are finally taking to combat pollution and global warming. San Francisco (of course…) was the first to do something similar in the U.S., but they’re not alone. China has now announced that starting in June, stores will no longer be allowed to disperse plastic bags for free with purchases. If you don’t know what kind of environmental impact these bags have on the environment, and why this is such a major step for a country of this size, or any for that matter, then you should definitely check out the full article on Treehugger. Hell, I encourage you to just skim it even if you do already have an idea the kind of impact these shopping bags that collect in your pantry or just go straight from store to garbage bin once you get home have on our planet.

I encourage everyone out there to make a small investment in some canvas bags and help cut down. Everyone can make a difference. It’s just a small effort.