I only recently learned that leaving your cell phone charger plugged in still drains power even if there is no phone attached.  I mean, it totally makes sense.  I just never put it together or thought about it.  So today’s lesson is easy.  Unplug your phone charger and save energy and save money.  And I’ll be honest, it’s a really easy thing to do and I’ll tell you I felt a little annoyed not leaving it plugged in cause that’s way easier, ha!  But after I did it twice I’m totally in the habit.  I’m still learning all the ways to easily adjust daily habits to be more eco-aware.  I’ll share my successes and failures and my “special” moments with you.  Feel free to share yours back.

Do you think my cell phone pulls too much power?  Can you imagine!

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Your green homework just got easier! I introduce you to Sustainablog.  While I still think we should be able to trust labels, we know that isn’t the way it is, so if you want to have someone else do the legwork and you can trust them, wouldn’t you?  Leaves more minutes in your day.  They have an array of products from cosmetics to cleaners to furniture.  Check out your new eco-shopping guide.

Happy Friday and have a green weekend!  Don’t forget to keep an eye out and submit those claims!

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I’ve come across some handy services that help you be green and save money, and who doesn’t love both of those things!

The first site brings that nostalgic feeling of having friendly neighbors and living in a community.  A day when people used to walk next door and borrow a cup of sugar.  With that, I bring you Share Some Sugar,  a service to connect you to a neighbor that has what you need or vice versa.  A beautiful exchange.  Say you need to use a hammer for a single project, is it worth buying one?  Now you can find one to borrow!

This is Veggie Trader!  You can swap your gardens’ fruits and vegetables for the ones you want. Become a member and start looking to swap your extra oranges for some tasty lemons.  This is a great idea.  I picked so many oranges this season and was just giving them to people and donating them to local restaurants.  I could have been trading for what I needed!  This is another way to get to know your neighbors too.

Growfriend is a service for garden sharing.  If you’ve got extra land  you can find gardeners to use it or if you are a gardener with no place to go you can find someone willing to share some land with you.  How perfect is that?

You can also visit your local farmer’s market.  Get to know your food and where it comes from.  Make friends, meet your neighbors and stop twittering a hello, have some human interaction!

If you know of other sites that may be helpful like these drop me a line.

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Several times I find myself holding something that I’m not sure if I can recycle or not. The city picks up the basics, paper, plastic (but not all kinds), cans, but what about those items you’re just not sure about. The easy uncaring way is probably what happens most. Just throw in in the trash. You might not be able to throw everything in your normal recycling pickup, but you can drop off at locations that will accept those untypical items. And yes, this does take a bit of extra effort on your part. But hey, it’s probably a matter of 1-2 minutes and then you know for the future and can pass on your newfound knowledge. I’m even going to help you and give you this handy dandy website that you can punch in what you want to recycle and your zip code and vwaaaalahhh! Now you can find your local recycling center to drop off electronics, old sneakers and whatever the hell that thing is that has been in the back of your closet!

Where can I recycle this – Earth 911

Recycle California!

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I am totally fine with you choosing whatever day of the week is meat free for you. But if you want to hop on board with the popular day, it’s Monday. At least Paul McCartney and all those other celebrities say so. Here are a couple of sites to check out.

Support MFM

Meat Free Monday

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