11.04.08

the greening

my friend recently shared some techniques she's using to reduce the amount of money she spends each month like drying clothes on a line during summer, which also happen to inclusively reduce carbon emmisions. a win-win, right? i get excited about money saving ideas, that involve recycling and reducing, especially when those ideas also involve me receiving/maintaining additional revenues. so, in an effort to share some great sites i've come upon that save money, reduce waste, and are easy to do, i've created this short list of websites. feel free to share ones that are not on this list.

•paperback swap: lets you sign up, list ten books you’re willing to trade by mail, and the site gives you two credits. a book costs one credit--you “spend” one of those credits on the site to get any book they have listed sent to you. every time you send a book to someone else, you get a credit. other media sites like this: swapadvd and swaptree. i'm also a huge fan of selling all and occasionally buying my books on half.com.

•local harvest: finds all sorts of retail sources for locally grown foods all around you, including door-to-door grocery delivery co-ops. these services are popular in the larger cities like LA and SF. see magda's entry for a review of spud.com, which exclusively delivers to the larger west coastal cities. for a long time, i assumed farmer's markets were my only option. thanks to local harvest, i found a great spud.com-like program in my area, old soul organics.

•bringsome: is a new web site that connects folks who can't shake their cravings for foreign treats with travelers whose itineraries include the countries in which said treats can be found. although it’s still in pre-beta, the site has already logged over 100 requests for goods, which include ads offering to bring something back—-it's like a great big international potluck. and while the savings and the eco-friendliness of it isn't explicit, there's something about connecting yourself to fellow travelers and global strangers that makes me think it helps people be more aware of your larger community. plus, you're likely to save some money.

•walkscore: walkscore allows you to put in your home address, then lists the services near your location in a bunch of different categories (grocery stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, movie theaters, schools, parks, libraries, bookstores, gyms, drug stores, hardware stores, and clothing stores). it also assigns a "score" which provides a rough numerical estimate of how good your house location is in terms of the resources available within reasonable walking distance. my score is 35/100, which is about what i’d expect given that i live in a relatively small town. people in larger, more urban areas have much better scores. the score itself isn’t all that useful other than as a thumbnail comparison, instead it serves best as an identification of nearby services for any address. plus, i think it humbles your need to drive. when something is only three miles away, it makes you wonder why you always jump in your car to get there.

•manybooks: has tons of classics that are in the public domain and available for free. all you have to do is download the ones you want. those with kindles (not only do i want to theive your little digital book reader), you have the luxury of pointing their kindle’s web browser at manybooks.net and downloading away. the best part of the kindle coupled with this site is that the web browser on the kindle works anywhere that cell service works. i so want a kindle. i'm already the type of bibliophile that doesn't need to own the books i read, so i love the idea of keeping my life lighter and cheaper. plus, my local library also carries some newly published ebooks, as well, and yours might too. this bookless advantage is catching on with college campuses as well.

•gazelle: is a simple-to-use website that allows you to search for the gadget you wish to get rid of. after you find your item you can input the condition it is in. for example, i typed in "blackjack ii" and i was asked if the item powers on and what condition it is in. after that, gazelle spits out an appraisal and allows me to add the item for checkout. it also has an estimate of how much the item may be worth in the future. for electronics the price trend tends to go down because people always want to buy the newest gadget. after i checked out, it prompted me to print out a prepaid shipping label and ship the item with a box. for some qualifying items gazelle will even send you a box to ship the item. after the item is received gazelle will inspect the item and confirm that it is in the condition you described, then you will be paid the quoted price. this process takes about a week according to the website. the company also guarantees that if you ship in an electronic with data on it they would wipe it clean so you do not have to worry about your privacy. they will also take items with no value for the purpose of recycling. currently the company buys mostly electronics such as cell phones or gaming consoles, but they may expand the types of items they are willing to purchase in the future.

•greenyour: ever since greenyour.com launched on earth day (in beta), it seems to pop up on eco-blogs every other day or so in some form or another. if you ever sit and wonder how to green particular items and/or parts of your life, this is an exceedingly useful resource. everything is arranged in easy to find categories and subcategories, making this one of the most comprehensive, navigable go-to go-green sites. start out with the facts, move through to the tips and then end with products.

i <3 rachel

i know, i know, all the ladies (and many dudes) do too. but my crush crippled me ages ago, i swear. anyway, if you don't know her by now, she's most famously known for hosting a show on air america and near-daily appearances in MSNBC punditry.

her background, via wiki:

A graduate of Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California, Maddow later obtained a degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1994. She then received a Rhodes Scholarship in 1995 and used it to obtain a D.Phil. in political science from Lincoln College, Oxford University. Her political activism has focused on AIDS and prisoners' rights, especially the prevention of the spread of HIV and AIDS in prisons. She is gay, and is an outspoken advocate for gay and progressive issues.

but like i said, i'm not alone. for more on her and her following, see this.

the lion's share

because i clearly suck at sitting down and doing the necessary after a long, fantastic vacation (by writing an account of the trip and putting together a nice slide show of photos), i am going to submit to the fact that it will come at its own pace. and because i had such a long hiatus, i've been storing up links to share like crazy. so in no particular theme or order, here are some early week treats:

• future me: e-time capsule a note to yourself.
  
  
• stickk: this site helps you commit to your personal goals by helping you create a timeline to reach them and if you fail to, you forfeit an amount of money to a good cause. participating organizations include american red cross, CARE, doctors without borders, feed the children, freedom from hunger, multiple sclerosis society, UNICEF, and united way. i haven't tried this, mostly because i'm short on the dough lately after my big trip. but i like the element of credible threat it provides. and the threat just happens to include good-doery.
  
  
• original oregon trail: i don't think i need to say a lot about this program. oregon trail is fun and even though facebook has an OT application, it just isn't the same. so, whenever you get that itch for the real OT experience, see the link above.
  
  
• quizlet: quizlet was started in 2005 by a fifteen year-old. makes me feel unaccomplished. anyway, the site is great because it's basically a web-based program that helps you create digital flashcards. you make a list of words, and the site teaches them to you. you can also browse other existing sets of cards.
  
  
• metremade: free, pretty wallpaper designs for your desktop.
  
  
• nine months of free credit monitoring: transunion, one of the three major credit bureaus, apparently lost a class-action lawsuit and the settlement involves offering up to nine months of free credit monitoring service to anyone who has ever held a credit card over the last 20 years (i.e. lots of people). this includes free access to your credit score in addition to the report, as well as e-mail alerts when something changes. you don’t need to supply your full social security number (needs last four digits) or a credit card number, and you won’t be automatically signed up for any paid subscriptions after the free period. see this website for more details.
  
  
• fivethrityeight: developed by nathaniel read silver, this site features a system for tracking and forecasting the outcome of the 2008 US presidential election. the site is highly regarded, as forecasts based on demographic analysis proved to be substantially more accurate than those of the professional pollsters.
  

a little help from my friends

i'm asking that you take a moment of your time and check out charity: water, an organization that magda, a blogger pal of mine, has chosen to fundraise for.

because i'm also convinced that this is an exceptionally good cause and an exceptionally awesome organization, i'm also asking another favor from you as well: please donate! magda is asking for as little as $1, but i know you're good for more. and i'll let her explain why you should donate:

Help me raise money for charity: water as I train for and run the America's Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego, CA on August 17, 2008.

charity: water is a non-profit initiative bringing clean water and basic sanitation into impoverished communities. Since charity: was founded and began activity in August 2006, they have funded the construction of more than 250 wells that, when completed, will provide clean drinking water to 150,000 people.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation causes 80% of all sickness and disease, and kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many people in the developing world, usually women and children, walk more than three hours every day to fetch water that is likely to make them sick. Those hours are crucial, preventing many from working or attending school. Additionally, collecting water puts them at greater risk of sexual harassment and assault. Children are especially vulnerable to the consequences of unsafe water. Of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation, 90% are children under 5 years old.

“But Magda,” you may ask, “what’s in it for me?” In addition to helping me build wells in Africa, India and Bangladesh, you too can experience the joy of running a half marathon without any of the discomfort, sweat, or risk of heat stroke. Why choke down those disgusting packets of energy gel when I’ll do it for you? Take it easy, stay in bed. No, I insist. Let me get up at 6 a.m. for training races. Let me dump little paper cups of water over my head. Let me wear the unflattering shorts. Really. It’s my pleasure. Read my training blog and pat yourself on the back every time I add a workout. Or comment on photos or videos. It's just as important as putting in road time.

Donate per mile, per minute of race time, per blister. Give $1, $10 or $100. 100% of your donation goes to water and sanitation projects on the ground.

To donate, visit: http://www.charityis.org/promos/magda/

To read my training blog, visit: http://evilqueenmagda.sweat365.com/

For more information visit charity: water at
http://www.charitywater.org

i've also put a helpful link to her donation page on the right-hand navigation of this blog. and note that the featured picture on this post is miss magda, herself, shown far right. yes, those are the legs of one hot, ex-model. so, if the philanthropic spirit does not quite take hold of you after reading about her fundraiser, i hope that the desire to impress a hot babe does.

with all of that, is there really any reason why you wouldn't donate?