I stumbled on a rather interesting idea the other day: Local Cooling. The site offers a free small download that monitors your computers power usage (also will total your system's whole requirements) and tweaks it to save energy. You can already do the same settings but this lets you keep track of how much you've saved.

Solar Electrical Vehicles offers a kit to convert your existing Prius into a solar powered (well, not totally) car. They claim to get 20 miles per day in total electric mode. Makes pretty good sense to me. I drive about 2 miles one way to work. On that basis, most days I would never have to

burn gas to get anywhere.

I know all the ladies out there want to really leave their favourite toy in the sun for everyone to see while its charging. Wowzer.

There's not much else to say. Solar Power Rocks has the story.

--shakes head and walks away from computer--

This guy is brilliant. Typical wind power does in fact rely on spinning something, usually mighty large. This guy got away from that idea completely. Watch the video to understand.

I'm a kick with hydrogen today.  Its really sparked my interests right now.  A quick Google of "hydrogen car" gave me back 1.97 million hits.  Hmm...  That's pretty healthy.

MSNBC  was in the top with a great article about the price to convert your existing vehicle to hydrogen power.  First, you buy your Hummer.  Then you take it to some place like Hydrogen Car Company (site was down at time of writing) who will convert it for a mere $60,000.  You drive away with a vehicle capable of two or three times the original fuel economy, which you'll need trying to find an appropriate filling station or a commercial vendor that will sell you a tank of hydrogen.

When you're ready to part with that dear old computer, don't throw in the trash. Earth911 let's you search for local recyclers who take not only electronics but also plastics, household goods, automotive parts (think oil and tires), and lawn and garden chemicals.

Its especially important to recycle your electronics. Many computers contain lead which if thrown in the landfill, can seep out. I'm personally not big on drinking lead water.

The other interesting part on this is that you can recyclers for your CFLs (compact fluorescent lamp). These lights go a long way in reducing energy demands but the huge downside: mercury. The bulbs work by exciting a small amount of mercury inside the tube to produce light. Wikipedia can explain it much better.

Finally, if there's a Staples store nearby, you can take your computer, printer, monitor, whatever you have into them. Staples is the first big retailer to offer electronics recycling in store. The big items do cost money. Its $10 to recycle your monitor, printer, or computer tower. However, that price is fairly competitive with everything else I've seen. Small items (keyboards, mice, speakers) are free to recycle.

Update Nov 17, 2007 - CNET UK  posted an article on recycling your old electronics.

There's not much to say about Wal-Mart. I don't shop there. And I could criticize the company all day long for many things. Fast Company however has a decent article on the giant.

Read the article and tell me what you think.

• How wasteful is it to buy a gallon jar of pickles (no matter how much you may love pickles) if you know that you will never eat them all?  What if its cheaper to buy them by the gallon?
• What's more important: How much something costs you know or the total price (where it was produced, how, who did it, what wastes were there) of the good?
• Is outsourcing jobs good or is it just creating more excess here in the States?
• Would you rather buy $20 jeans at Wal-Mart or $30 jeans at another retailer? What if the $30 jeans are better quality? What if they are the same brand?
• Efficiency is great but is it worth losing jobs over?

I'll be posting my own personal response to my own questions after I have some feedback. I'm just curious how this goes.

Another one from Fast Company, 50 Ways to Green Your Business lends examples of how the big guys did it.

From the article:

38 Paper or plastic? The unsatisfying answer is neither. Retailers including Ikea and Trader Joe's sell heavy-duty polypropylene sacks designed to be reused. But how do you get convenience-obsessed American shoppers actually to use them again? Timberland's (NYSE:TBL) "Trash Is My Bag" totes (made from recycled plastic bottles) cost $5.50 each or come free with a $100 purchase; to encourage reuse--and more shopping at Timberland--each bag doubles as a 10%-off coupon through the end of 2008.

Definitely take tips for your own business, I'm sure you'll get some lovely insight. I also learned a few things about companies that I never would have imagined. Plus don't pass up #50 Hire This Guy. I think I want that job.

Update  Sorry about the coloring on the quote.  I hadn't noticed that the blockquote was a different color.  CSS is great but not when you can't change it (for a free anyway) and someone else wrote it.

Laundry detergent and soaps are about as good for the environment as pouring bleach down the drain.  While they have improved drastically over the years, detergents are still mostly chemicals, unfamiliar to the natural world.  They are harmful to the environment but have been viewed by many as a necessary evil.  Afterall, even as Earth loving green conscious people, do we really need the smelly hippie image?  No.  I like to smell good, at least decent.

Soapnuts are a great alternative.  Eastern societies have used them for centuries to clean their clothes.  They actually produce a soapy froth due to the saponin found in them.

What's makes this better?  Electrolux has picked up on it and it looks like its coming to market in a few years as nice washing machine.  The Daily Mail has the whole story.