Saturday, May 31st, 2008
Bikes are on the rise around the world, according to a recent article on OneWorld.net. (I should know — I edited it.)
Some 130 million bikes were produced worldwide in 2007 — more than double the number of cars rolling off assembly lines (52 million). Bike production took off in the 1970s, and after a brief dip, has been soaring since 2001.
So, why don’t you hop on and get with the cool kids. It saves gas, which saves money and reduces your CO2 emissions. It’s healthy for the body and, More…
Sunday, May 25th, 2008
Can’t afford a hybrid car but want to do your part against climate change? U. Chicago researchers have determined that eating 20 percent less meat is climatically equivalent to switching to a hybrid car. That’s because it’s incredibly energy-intensive to raise cows, chickens, and other animal-meat products. Those animals also require lots of land, which means forest clearing. And don’t forget about More…
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
Have you ever thought about how much energy it takes to get things to the store before you buy them? A lot of thought is going into that kind of thing and there is a term for it, embodied energy. Now lets apply that thinking to that morning fix so many of us have every day, our morning coffee, tea or caffeinated soda. Let’s compare drinking a pot of tea versus 24 ounces of soda every day.
I weighed a couple items around my house to get a start:
- 10 tea bags weighs 1 oz (30g)
- 15 sweetner packets (Splenda) weighs 3/4 oz (20g)
- 24 oz soda in plastic bottle weighs 1lb 10 1/8 oz (739g)
Using 2 tea bags and 3 bags of sweetener for a pot of tea, which is what we use in my house, and a pot a day for a year we end up with 8 lbs per year. Figuring that tea travels 1,500 miles to get to the store via a semi-truck with a 231,800 pound miles per gallon, that works out to 0.052 gallons per pot a day habit per year. Now let’s switch glasses to soda. More…
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
From Jonathan in Boston.
Here’s the Thing:
Don’t wash your hair, at least not every day.
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Wash that mop –
just not everyday!
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My wife came across this tip about ten years ago when she was trying to grow her hair long and healthy. It is actually healthier for your hair and scalp to not shampoo your hair every day, according to Marie Claire Healthy Hair 101 and the Embracing Women’s Health site. The natural oils from your scalp, once adjusted to producing the correct amount, are very beneficial to healthy hair. In addition to being healthy, it is also good for the your wallet and the environment. As a guy with short hair, if you skip shampooing your hair every other day, you can save about 2 minutes of water and the energy to heat it. For folks with longer hair it is even more important and the savings add up faster.
My wife had been encouraging me to skip washing my hair every day when I shower for a few years. Her main reasons were to save time and give me the flexibility to not need a shower every single day. She also More…
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Here’s the Thing:
Make an appointment for a medical checkup.
I can’t tell you how many people have said to me in recent weeks that they know they should go to the doctor but they just haven’t gotten around to it, or they haven’t been to the dentist in, well, you know, five years.
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My teeth, in paperweight form.
Click for a real close up. |
Idiots.
Going to the doctor and dentist regularly will save you and me money and it could save your family and friends a heck of a lot of heartache.
I’ll give you my story first. It had been over two years since I’d seen a dentist when I finally got around to scheduling a checkup and cleaning last summer. Four fillings and two crowns later, I’m out 700 bucks, my insurance is maxed out at $3000 (over two calendar years), and I’ve wasted about seven Thursday afternoons getting shot up and drilled into. Plus, by maxing out my insurance, I’m doing my part to make sure rates stay high for everyone.
But that’s just teeth. The stuff going on inside your body can be hundreds of times worse. Cancers and other diseases seem to be crazy-common these days, and with a lot of this stuff, catching it early More…
