Weekly Greens – August 21st

Image by dorena-wm

Sorry I’m little late on my ‘Weekly Greens’ edition for this week. I spent the last few days visiting with out-of-town family. It was very nice to catch up and enjoy some quality time with them.

Since I’m back now, let’s get caught up on everything from eco inventions to car-sharing tips to a ‘Weekend without Oil‘ to turning landfills into filling stations and more:

1. 15 Crafts Using Recycled Materials: These are simple but great projects for the weekend (or any day really). Especially if you have kids, this is a great way to teach them about recycling and that just because something is used once, doesn’t mean it can’t be used again for something “new”.

Image by knitsteel

2. Green Lite for Energy Conservation: This one is a current entry in GE’s Ecomagination Challenge. Did you know the average home can waste up to 3/4 of its power on phantom power loads? This particular invention, Green Lite, is designed to dramatically reduce those loads and thus cut down power use, waste and greenhouse gases.

3. Finding & Using A Car Sharing Service Near You: Car-sharing is a great solution for those people who only need a car every now and again. Why make payments on a car you rarely use? Why have a car of your own if you don’t need or use it that often? Car-sharing solves the needs for periodic car use.

Image by JoeBehrSoCal

4. Turning Landfills into Filling Stations: Back to the Future, here we come! Being able to turn landfill trash into fuel is a creative re-use of something we’ve already relegated to be “unusable”. Ideally, we can move away from our oil dependence, but until then I personally think something like this could be a smart use of quite a bit of landfill waste.

Image via Greenopolis

5. U.S. EPA Targets Cancerous Dyes, Toxic Detergent Chemicals: It’s good to see action being taken to remove harmful chemicals from products we use every day. It’s just a drop in the bucket, but every step makes a difference.

6. First Zero Energy School About To Be In Session: If you missed my Monday post, you should definitely check it out here. Richardsville Elementary in Kentucky is soon to be the Nation’s first net-zero energy school!

Image courtesy of SCBArchitects.com

Since there is only about a month left in Summer, I figured I’d end this week’s ‘Weekly Greens’ with a look at a few of California’s Hidden National Park Gems. If you haven’t had a chance to get away for a vacation, a weekend get-away or even a nice day trip, now is the time. Get outside and enjoy nature!

On that note, since you are already into your weekend, don’t forget to spend some time outdoors. Get some fresh air, get some sun, lay on the green grass and watch the clouds for a bit, go for a nice walk/hike, etc. Whatever you do, just get outdoors. You’ve earned it!  (But, if you can, please try to do it without oil because this weekend is a “Weekend Without Oil“. Learn 11 simple ways you can help reduce our dependence on oil.)