(from a green mag I got at the Ecogift Festival in Santa Monica) - great resource!

Feelin' warm and fuzzy and well-grazed(?!?)

Sheep were kept on the White House lawn during WWI to free the gardeners for military service. The sheep of state - which at one point numbered 18 - not only grazed and kept the lawn well manicured, but their wool was auctioned off to raise money for the Red Cross.

Fabulous fact: Indonesia

About 6,000 of the Indonesian islands are inhabited. They are spread out over a 741,100-square-mile area.

Now that's big.

RecEYEcle

Visit www.lionsclubs.org/EN/content/vision_eyeglass_recycling_shtml for info on donating your eyeglasses. The Lions clean 'em, classify them by prescription and pass them on to others who need them.

Perfect vision!

Protect your privates, ladies!

Many tampons are bleached with chlorine, leaving enough traces of the chemical behind to worry some health-minded women. Then consider how many used tampons leach those chemicals into the environment at one point or another - TOTALLY FOUL, on all counts! Use chlorine-free tampons and pads and get on with yer bad self.

Potato chip/pretzel/cereal bags second life

Repurpose all of your bags as trash bags - they're going to the dump anyway, so they might as well serve you again instead of your buying a virgin bag for your throwaways. You'd be surprised how much money you save by not buying those Hefty sacks. Not to mention how much clearer your conscience is by saying "no" to extra plastic!

got diesel?

Convert to BIOdiesel. A conversion system with a stainless steel tank and heating element are all you need. Find conversion kits at www.greasecar.com and www.goldenfuelsystems.com. It'll cost you $800 to $1000 plus installation labor. Enjoy the mild scent of french fries as you drive!

No, thank you

Although some restaurant servers will resist the wasteful urge to continue filling your water glass even when you're barely sipping on it, most won't. Politely let your server know if the water they're about to pour will never make it down your gullet.

The glasses will get washed even if the water is untouched, producing a double waste of water.

Two billion

That's the number of disposable razors Americans buy and toss each year. It looks like the best present this holiday and throughout the year is the electric razor. No, we're not sure it's worth the environmental cost of the battery...please comment on this if you know!

Let my people KNOW

Using recycled paper in your publications, envelopes, letterhead, and so on? LET PEOPLE KNOW! Include a note on these items that makes it obvious the care you've taken to use post-consumer recycled paper - a lot of people will take the clue and do the same next time they're printing something. Go on, this is no time to be humble. You might miss the chance to pay it forward for the earth (and us!)

Reuse shipping materials - FOREVER!

Plastic was made to last forever, and so it shall. So make sure you save packing peanuts, bubble wrap and other packing materials to use again...and again...and again. You shouldn't need to buy them, like, EVER.

Biodegradable (insert here)

Compostable, biodegradable, made-from-corn...these are buzz words we're hearing to sell us, the eco-aware consumer, on everything from poopoo bags for our pups to picnic flatware and plates.

Wise up, people - none of that matters if you're not COMPOSTING. If it goes into the landfill, it's going to share the same fate as the plasticky plastic - enduring for decades.

In order to decompose/biodegrade, you need sunlight, water and air. Basic - and true.

Don't be fooled.

Spay, Neuter and Adopt again!

Roughly 9.6 million animals are euthanized each year, according to the American Humane Association. That should be reason enough.

Foil the aluminum

Since numerous studies have linked aluminum to Alzheimer's, we say forget the aluminum altogether. Use glass bakeware instead of needing to use foil on top...but if you HAVE to use the silvery paper, make sure to rinse and recycle when you're done.

share the magazine wealth!

In an office, share mag subscriptions - route the journals by affixing a list of your coworkers' initials to the magazine's front cover to make sure everyone gets a turn.

environmentally-friendlier kitty litter

Alternatives for all you feline owners include litter based on wheat, corn citrus peel and recycled newspaper. Some are even flushable, which I'm sure raises debate...what about composting? I'll leave you all to discuss amongst yourselves...

Naughty car?!?

If it's got a dirty air filter, it IS a naughty car! A dirty filter results in a "richer" mixture of air and gas, cutting into those mpg's. Change single-use filters every 12K miles, clean reusable filters as directed. Cleanest option? Ride a human-powered bike and power the human with organic fruits, veggies and nuts!

salute the sun

What about using the sun's power to heat your water? An investment of about $7,000 can slice 10% a year off water-heating bills, and your system can pay for itself in as few as 10 years! Life expectancy of the system is about 30 years. Some states offer rebates of up to half the cost of the unit, cutting that payback time in half. Check with your state government for specifics...

it makes sense (cents)

For your home office, look for used desks, file boxes, bookcases, etc., when you visit yard sales or used furniture stores. You can limit needless consumption, cut waste and even save money.

BONUS: By choosing remanufactured furniture, American business could avoid $93 million in disposal costs. Worldwide, annual material savigs from furniture remanufacturing amount to 14 million tons.

Give a gift that REALLY matters

Annual holiday sales in the U.S. amount to more than $200 billion - and there's no telling how much of the product ends up on the curb. Memorable holiday gifts don't have to cost a lot of money - and they don't have to consume much in the way of resources. Learn someone's favorite tune on the piano, promise a month's worth of back rubs, or issue a snow-shoveling voucher.