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Next week is the start of April, and in Cuyahoga County, it is also the start of Recycle Your Computer Month.  Cuyahoga County’s Solid Waste District has claimed April for residents to “recycle” all your old computer equipment.  Now I put that in quotes because what they are doing is really cool.  They will first look at your computer equipment and see if they can refurbish it, and if they can, it will be fixed up and donated to a school.  I feel very good about that.  Additionally, it can be any kind of computer equipment, including accessories like keyboards, printers, even cell phones. 

Just before I started my blog, I replaced my old desktop with a brand new laptop.  Now this has helped me a number of ways with my new venture into the world of green, but I’ve been holding on to my old computer so that I can make sure I get rid of it properly.  This is my perfect opportunity.

If cleaning out your house for a better place to live, making someone else’s life better through donation, and saving the planet wasn’t enough, this is even considered a tax deductable donation.  You can get a receipt simply by calling the Solid Waste District.

Now I am aware that not everyone lives in Cuyahoga County.  So I did a quick check on Maricopa County (where my parents live).  Maricopa County’s Solid Waste District is not doing this, but I did find a different resource in Arizona.  It is called AZ StRUT and their 8th Annual Computer Recycle Day is April 19th.  Again, they refurbish the equipment and donate it mostly to schools.

So along with my old desktop, I’m starting a box of old computer equipment lying around the house.   On April 12th I will be going to the Parma drop-off site to recycle (donate) all my unused computer equipment.  If you can’t make it in April, many of the locations do have year round drop-off, but why wait. 

So this past weekend I went to Philadelphia and my aunt, knowing about my green initiatives, gave me one of the coolest gadgets. It is a wind-up flash light, meaning no batteries to buy, dispose of, and it always works. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to use a flashlight and the batteries were dead. Right now the flash light is on my nightstand, so I always have light if we lose power.  Both Doug and Dutch have made comments on previous posts about the SIGG water bottle, and there is another water bottle that I am just drooling over.  So here is some more information on these products.

1. L.L. Bean makes this wind-up flashlight that is so small and powerful.  Just wind up the little crank on the flashlight and it works. It has two settings, one for lower level light and one for a higher level light.  I personally think both are plenty bright for whatever you need it for.  Totally cool product, check it out!  If you are also interested, NPR also has a crank radio/flashlight.
2. So many people have told me about these SIGG water bottles.  I feel very good about the craftsmanship and the lack of chemicals used to make it.  Not only that, but if it does get beat up way too much or some weird story about it getting crushed on a hiking trip happens, it’s recyclable!  Can it get any better?
3. Now how about combining a reusable water bottle, a light and alternative energy… There is this water bottle that has a solar panel on it for a light that is part of the lid.  So while you are hiking during the day, the solar panel charges up, then while you’re camping at night, you have a source of light for those nighttime nature calls. There is an option for it to use a red LED light (and that will last for 16-18 hours) or a nice bright white LED light (lasting 8-10 hours).  So you have clean water, clean energy, and emergency lighting.  This is a must buy for me before our next camping trip.

I’ve been doing a bit of research on solar cell phone charges and have found a lot of options on the market, but functionality I don’t know what would be best yet.  Look for a post on this in the future, but if you have any input, please email me.

In honor of tomorrow being World Water Day, I’d like to talk about ways to conserve water.

1. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. This is actually something I’ve always done, but have been surprised at people that recently that don’t do this. If water runs straight from the faucet to the drain, with no use, it is very wasteful of clean water.
2. Only run the dishwasher with a full load. The dishwasher is supposed to be more efficient with water usage than hand washing dishes. That is really only true if the dishwasher is actually full.
3. Be smart when washing clothes. My washer has a setting on it to specify how large the load is that is being washed so that the washer will use the appropriate amount of water for the load. If you don’t have a setting on your washer, try to only run the washer on full loads of laundry.

There are many other ways to conserve water, from collecting rain water to just using less. In celebration of World Water Day, I’m taking a closer look at the ways that I use water and how perhaps I can be smarter about it. If anyone has suggestions on what they do to conserve water, I would love to hear about it.

So I thought it would be appropriate to write about doing something green on St. Patrick’s Day.  I struggled a little bit with coming up with an idea, but I think this one is pretty good.  Here in Cleveland, St. Patrick’s Day is kinda big, or at least that is my impression.   Many people took off work today to start drinking at 6 or 7 AM!  The pubs were all coloring their beer green.  So I thought what if you were greener with your beer, instead of just coloring it green.

In the Cleveland area, we have some fantastic microbreweries.  Now, I’m not much of a beer drinker, but everyone tells me how great Great Lakes Brewing Company is (especially their Christmas Ale).  For this time of year they have Conway’s Irish Ale.  When I used to travel more, everywhere I went, the locals would rave about the local beers.  So my theory is that there are great local beers pretty much everywhere.  The best part is that local brews don’t have as far to go in distribution, so the environmental impact is much less.

On this fine St. Patty’s Day, raise a pint of the local beer.  If you are more of a wine person, see my post on Wines.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Have you ever paid attention to the lights and electronics you leave on?  Lately I’ve made myself much more aware when I leave things on and plugged in.  When you add up several of these items, it can really add up.

Simple things like making sure you turn a light off when you leave a room.  I am notorious for leaving the kitchen light on during dinner, even though we usually eat in the dining room or living room.  This is only because I usually have my hands full with plates the last time I pass the light switch.  Once I became aware of all the lights I was leaving on, I started to make sure I turn them off.

I also watch to make sure I unplug things.  I will often take my laptop to the living room to work on my blog (or whatever research I’m doing online).  Usually I won’t bother to plug it and just run on the battery.  Sometimes the battery is low though, so I have to plug it in.  The problem comes in when I’m done.  I will shut down my computer and move it back to the office, not bothering to move the cord right then.  If you’ve ever noticed, there is a little light (mine happens to be green) on the battery charger.  This green light stays on whenever it is plugged into the wall, whether it is plugged into the computer or not.  So that battery charger is actually sucking power, even though it isn’t charging anything.  This is true with any device (like a television) where even though the device is turned off, just because that light is on, it is still using energy.

I’ve been doing this since I started blogging back in January and I’ve actually seen a $10 decrease in my electric bill. Wow!  By simply being more aware, I’m saving energy and money.  I’m still looking out for things that can be unplugged, so stay tuned to see other ways I’ve cut down my energy consumption.