It's That Time of Year: Weatherstripping your Home

Weatherstripping is one of the most effective ways to increase the efficiency of your home, and it's very simple to install. With rising fuel costs, there couldn't be a better time to perform this easy maintenance task. Most weatherstripping is self adhesive, so it couldn't be an easier project.
The Benefits:

• With an average cost of around $20, you'll make the money back and see savings in just a month or two of cold weather.


• Stops drafts, blocks out noise from the outside.


• Keeps critters from entering the home when a tight seal is made on doors and windows.


• You can read more about how to install weatherstripping here.

So you THINK you Know How to Recycle Everything?

Do you really know how to recycle everything? How about old CDs and DVDs? Toilet paper rolls? What about huge appliances like washing machines? Those old Crocs that you've been wearing for a while? Aersol cans can be recycled too, and even computers. You can find out how to recycle more of these products on this page:

The Top Ten Things to Recycle that you Didn't Know About

Giving Flip Flops a Second Chance with Unique Eco

Unique Eco, the Flip Flop Recycling Company, has come with a commendable idea that's helping needy peope while cleaning marine habitat and beaches. The premise of the company is this: discarded flip flops that wash up on beaches (or are left at the beach) are repurposed into unique artwork, jewelry, stationary, computer bags and other unique items.

The organization has gone out of their way to create some really unique sculptures, including the lifesize projects they are working like Twiga, the Flip Flop Fashion Giraffe, and Mfalme, the life sized flip flop Minke whale. Located in Kenya, these projects are completely made from flip flops that have been collected by locals and fishermen.

To see the gallery of products Unique Eco offers, visit their collection of flip flop artwork today.

Organic Products from Chartreuse: Eco Friendly Gift Ideas

There are plenty of companies out there that claim to be green, or that are making the effort to be greener, but some companies are basing their entire premise on the green movement and doing it well. Chartreuse, for example, is an eco friendly business offering many green products like organic shower gel, biodegradable trash bags, reusable produce bags, and all natural organic cleansers. The great thing about this company is that it makes a big effort to ensure every aspect of its business is green, from the shipping process (reused boxes, biodegradable starch peanuts, biodegradable plastic bags), advertising (sparing use of recycled paper pamphlets, recycled paper business cards), to transport (liquid products are shipped in concentrate form to reduce shipping costs, refills are available in pouches). Chartreuse's products are easily purchased online, or through fun, informative home parties that provide a forum to share questions, ideas and sample products.

Recycling your Old Cell Phones

Your old cellphones have plenty of uses that you never knew about. There are many people who desperately need a cellphone to stay in touch and don't have one (can you imagine surviving without a cellphone nowadays?). For those less fortunate, you can donate to any of the following:

• Cellphones for Soldiers


• Americancellhponedrive.org


• Recycling for Charities


• Wireless Recycling:
  

Why Recycle your Old Phone

Cell phones are a adding up to huge amounts of waste. With millions of users, only a small percentage of those users are recycling their old phones when they upgrade to new ones. Cell phones contain hazardous, toxic materials like mercury, which are harmful to the environment and humans.

It's Easy.

Recycling your cell phone couldn't be easier. Use any of the above links, many of which will provide you with a postage free envelope to mail the phone. Also, many companies will allow you to return the phone to them to recycle.

Sell your Phone

Your cell phone could be worth something. Check eBay to see what you're cellphone is going for. Check "completed listings" to see what they've sold for recently.

Factory Resets on your Phone

Perform a factory reset on your phone to restore the settings to the "factory settings," deleting any information, text messages, pictures, and other senstive information. A simple google search should yield plenty of instructions on how to quickly do this.

Reading Gone Green: The Amazon Kindle

If you've ever thought that books were wasteful, you're not the only one. Amazon introduced late last year the Amazon Kindle, a wireless reading device that has "revolutionary electronic-paper display that provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper." Not bad, and fairly high marks on Amazon in terms of reviews (average rating 4/5). The benefits for the environment are obvious: less paper created, less books and paper disposed of, less trees used to create paper. Newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times delivered to your Kindle automatically, and you can download virtually any book from Amazon right onto your Kindle.

Your Personal Bailout: A Green Tax Break

Everyone wants to know what they're going to get out of the new bailout package, and it seems there's a small silver lining on this cloud. The Daily Green has listed some of the 2009 credits and breaks that you can get for making some green upgrades to your home, from water heaters, hybrids, windows, insulation and much more, the package does look impressive. Take advantage and save yourself some cash in '09 by reading the Green Tax Breaks that you can take advantage of from the bailout package. Why not? You're also paying for it, so reap the benefits.

Reusable Trick or Treat Bags: Long Lasting, Better Looking, Holds More.

If you're looking for a better alternative to cheap plastic bags or a dusty pillowcase for your kids' Halloween treats, there's a solution: reusable trick or treat bags from EcoGreenBags. There's six different ones to choose from, and they're fully machine washable and fade resistant. Extra long handles on these 100% cotton canvas bags make them great for work, too, so you can bring a little Halloween festiveness to your office. Here's where you can find them: Reusable Bags from EcoGreenBags

Better Compost, Lighter Trash: Using Coffee Grinds Up

Using your coffee grinds is extremely easy, and decomposes in a matter of days into nutrient rich soil for your plants, trees, shrubs, or even house plants. To start, you can try using washable, reusable coffee filters. These can be washed and reused again and again. If you prefer using paper filters, you can easily dump the contents of your coffee filter into a ziploc container, emptying it weekly into wherever you see fit. A word of caution: empty it often, it can produce mold if left over time, like any food product. You'll be reducing the amount of waste that is deposited into landfills, and you'll be providing plenty of new soil for your plants. According to many, the introduction of plenty of coffee grinds brings about bigger, healthier plants, along with more worms to help the process along.

How to Recycle Pizza Boxes

Pizza boxes do take up quite a bit of space in landfills, but are also easily recycled. They cannot be thrown in with all other corrugated cardboard, however. To recycle pizza boxes, tear around the greasy/food area completely and throw the affected area in the trash. Recycle the non affected part as you normally would with your corrugated cardboard. The food affected part of the pizza box will quickly decompose (time will vary depending on the thickness of the cardboard). Sell pizza? You can purchase 100% recycled corrugated pizza boxes from the Web Restaurant Store. Your customers will appreciate and remember the sentiment, too.

The WEBstaurant Store - Massive online restaurant equipment and restaurant supply store.