Toyota 'prius' should be renamed. . .

[protege]

- I recycle what I can, when I can. (My recycle bin is twice as full as my regular trash bin. My only complaint is that this means it fills up faster, and the recycle truck only comes once a week, and not on the same day as the trash truck does.)

I actually throw out very little. I'm sure the neighbors are a bit confused since there are some weeks that I don't put out trash. What can I say, other than I eat both breakfast and lunch at work...and I tend to recycle as much as I can. I collect all the paper and cardboard, and that goes in the green and yellow dumpsters on Friday. There's a local group, which employs mentally-disabled people, and if they can get some good out of what I'm disposing of, why not?

Along those lines, I also recycle old computers. When we 'decommission' something at work, I bring it home for parts. I'll clean it up, repair where necessary, and then give the rebuilt machine to charity. What I can't reuse, gets scrapped. I'm sure it makes the recycling people go when they find scrap aluminum heatsinks or keyboard casings in with the bottles and cans

Energy bulbs. Love these things. Wish humanity had invented/started using them sooner. AND they save a good chunk of money! Only problem is that you really have to be careful handling them. They tend to break easier than plain bulbs do if accidentally dropped.

I'm another fan of the swirly bulbs! I replaced all of my bulbs with them shortly after I moved in. My electrical bill literally *dropped* by fitting them. Also helping, is that most of the appliances (furnace, water heater, 'fridge) have been replaced with more-efficient models. While I was at it, I'm slowly fitting ceiling fans into various rooms, so I don't have to run the A/C constantly when it's 90F during the summer. I get migraines if it's either too humid or there's no air circulation.

- Water bottles. Okay, I'm guilty of this one. I loves meh bottled water. It's not too practical for me to carry a stainless steel bottle, unfortunately. But I do recycle the bottles when I'm done with them!

I'm not a fan of bottled water. Sure, I'll drink it, but it's expensive, relatively speaking. I'd rather fill up my huge plastic blue bottle a million times.

But lastly, I'm not against salvaging things for reuse. That's why there's a 1959 Radio-Flyer wagon in my garage, along with '77 and '88 models...all of which were used to deliver newspapers, but are now used to haul things around the yard. Other than the '88, the rest were found in someone's trash pile. Other than a coat of paint on the '77, and new wheel bearings on the '59, they're in great shape. Also in the 'fleet,' is a dead '82 that broke. This has had the brakes jammed on, the handle removed, and currently serves as a 'fuel tender' for the lawn mower. That is, it keeps the gas cans off the ground in the crawl space under the porch

[Shalom]

- I try to run electrical things only when I need them, and I try to unplug 'phantom' sources when I can ('phantom' sources are things - like your TVs or unused cell phone chargers - that may be turned off but are still plugged into an outlet - this can suck away as much as 10% of your energy costs, depending on your layout).

I have one monster A/C unit that plugs into a heavy duty timer. We try not to run the monster unless it's sweltering outside, but the timer stayed plugged in even when the A/C was off. I finally remembered to unplug that a week or two ago. Nowhere on this machine or on Intermatic's website does it say how much power the clock motor draws. I'm sure it's only a couple watts, but leave it plugged in 24/7 and it starts to add up.

I do leave one cell phone charger plugged in, but we'd lose it otherwise. It does get slightly warm to the touch, so obviously some power is being consumed. In the wintertime that's OK, because whatever heat is radiated goes to help warm the house and reduce the gas bill (which is why I don't feel guilty for leaving my computer running during the winter), but it's still some "energy" being used that doesn't have to be.

(I put scare quotes around "energy" because the word is misused. I remember the first fuel crisis of 1973; I was a little kid at the time, and the slogan "Conserve Energy!" was everywhere. It wasn't until I got older and started learning physics that I realised that energy is always conserved, regardless of slogans; that's the first law of thermodynamics. What they really meant to say was "Conserve Fuel", but for some reason they didn't like that for a slogan.)

[Amethyst Hunter]

While I was at it, I'm slowly fitting ceiling fans into various rooms, so I don't have to run the A/C constantly when it's 90F during the summer. I get migraines if it's either too humid or there's no air circulation.

I LOVE ceiling fans! The place I'm in right now only has one, and it's in the kitchen. One thing I liked about a former house I used to live in was that it had ceiling fans in every single room. If I ever have a true place of my own there will be ceiling fans in every single room, because these things rock.

I get migraines too, but they come from the eeeeeeeevil hormones and thus cannot be controlled through outside means.

I'm not a fan of bottled water. Sure, I'll drink it, but it's expensive, relatively speaking.

Depends on what kind you buy. The name-brands like Evian are costly; generic usually goes better (although some generics can taste like crap). But yeah, overall, drawing your own instead of buying bottles saves more in the long run.

I miss the well water we used to have in one home. You just had to add a salt block every now and then because it was harder than hell and if the salt dropped too low you'd start tasting that metallic ickyness and feeling it in your skin from washing with it. But otherwise it was clean and tasted decent, and was probably healthier than city water. (I'm told that natural mineral water is very good.)

The most recent two places I've lived in, we didn't/don't drink the water from the tap because it's just plain nasty. One has that chemical sting to it, the other is hard city water and they flush the damn hydrants CONSTANTLY, so you get a nice rush of rustwater (seriously, this crap turns BRIGHT reddish-orange. It's disgusting) for at least two days out of every other month. (And this is in a RURAL area too - so much for that country space being "healthier"!) Also, there's arsenic in it. Not enough to flat out kill you, of course. But they do regular studies on it and give reports, because evidently it's enough to be a noticeable concern. Drinking that shit...can't be good.