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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Jan 22 2010
Going to an exclusively digital music lifestyle frees up space in your closet or storage unit and puts your CDs, cassettes, and vinyl albums back into circulation to be reused. Besides the obvious tools to go digital, such as an MP3 player and an iTunes type program to convert your music into a digital format, here are a few other tools to include in your arsenal. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Travel & Outdoors Mar 24 2009
The Gateway to the Hill Country of central Texas, Austin is one of the most beautiful and under-hyped natural landscapes in the United States. The Colorado River runs right through the center of this city, and the streams, creeks, and natural springs which flow into the river form an extensive network of natural swimming holes and hiking paths, otherwise knows as the Greenbelt. Speaking of green, Austin consistently makes lists designating the top 10 greenest and most desirable cities in the world. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Travel & Outdoors Feb 23 2009
Don't have time to go camping because you are always working? Investing in an annual state park pass, a good tent, sleeping bag, and other basic camping gear, can save you hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars over the course of a year compared to what you would pay for motels or hotels. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Food & Health Jan 26 2009
I purchased a Soyajoy soy milk maker about 8 years ago for $100. Even though it was the most amount of money I have ever spent on a kitchen appliance, I did the math and figured that I would make my money back in a year. It turned out that it paid for itself in under a year and it is still running strong eight years later, just having to replace the blade once along the way. That same $100 investment would have only afforded me between 30 and 40 cartons of soymilk or other non-dairy milks, and I use it at least one a week. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Jan 21 2009
Every time a new iPod is released, thousands of slightly older models go on sale on sites such as craigslist, ebay, and amazon at a fraction of the new price. Why? Because early adopters must always own the latest model of everything, and are constantly upgrading. And because early adopters may have more of a disposable income, they can pay a premium for it. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Jan 20 2009
When I was living in Portland, Oregon, in an apartment complex, we would get a weekly stack of junk mail, mostly from fast food companies in the area, compliments of a company named Adville. They are not a local company. In fact, they invade mailboxes around the country with unwanted coupons for fast food restaurants and other franchises. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Jan 7 2009
Letting one passenger occupy one of your seats can cut your trip expense in half. Taking a few riders and/or cargo may pay for your trip entirely, while it also offers your passengers a more direct, and cheaper alternative to the bus, train, or plane. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Dec 23 2008
So here is some advice on how to not only be a good passenger, but also find a trustworthy, reliable driver, for a successful rideshare experience. This advice is from a Craigslist user, but also works for any of the various dedicated rideshare sites. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Dec 18 2008
Many commuters have learned that being car-free is not only realistic, but also ideal in cities with good planning. But transportation between cities is a bit more challenging for the car-less. While the bus and the train connect most cities, it is not always cheap, convenient, or schedule permitting. That is why ridesharing is becoming a more and more attractive option. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Dec 11 2008
We all know that, even if gas dips below $1 per gallon, it is only temporary. It won't be long before gasoline will be a major monthly expense again. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Dec 9 2008
While heavy consumerism would stimulate the economy during a time of year when businesses have grown to depend on a significant percentage of their year's revenue, practicing fiscal conservation during this normally excessive period of consumption not only keeps money available to pay off debt and mortgages, etc, it also keeps unwanted junk out of the waste stream. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Home & Garden Nov 25 2008
Living off-grid usually means that there is no trash pickup day. No Problem. Here is what I do in order to limit my trash to one small carryout bag per month. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Travel & Outdoors Nov 18 2008
Since I live more than 100 miles from a gas line, I have to use a propane stove for my cooking. The gas comes from a tank on-site, instead of a pipe underground. Whenever it runs out, I have to make a trip into town to refill it. Even though I only have to refill it once every two months, it is still an incentive to conserve my propane as much as possible. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Home & Garden Nov 13 2008
There are many clean, rust-free relics that were once functional appliances out there. Their only problem is that they no longer work. Not as they were originally intended anyhow. Broken refrigerators are easy to find for free. Turning a broken refrigerator into and ice-box is a good solution for getting started off-grid. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Home & Garden Nov 11 2008
There is nothing worse for energy efficiency than an empty, or sparsely populated, refrigerator.If you find that most of your refrigerator is used to store sodas, beer, or other items that only need to be refrigerated for a few hours before using, this is a good sign that you can downsize to a smaller fridge and keep... + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Nov 5 2008
While we have heard a lot about 'Main Street' being overlooked by politicians, we have not heard much during this campaign about investing in important community infrastructure such as mass transit, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and trains. Perhaps these are issues that are better tackled at the local level? + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Oct 9 2008
Men used to try to impress their date by demonstrating how fast their car is. Or how much money it is worth. Now it's all about MPG. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Oct 9 2008
On February 17th, 2009, analog broadcasts will cease completely and digital television broadcasts will dominate all television transmissions. But this does not mean that you should junk your old TV. Millions of analog TVs are still in use today. Junking them all would not justify the FCC's decision to set an expiration date for analog broadcasts. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Home & Garden Sep 30 2008
When a friend of mine was reversing out of my driveway, he ran over one of my solar garden lights.If you don't have any solar powered garden lights, I am sure that you have seen them for sale at a home, garden, or even a dollar store for about $20 for a pack of four. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Sep 10 2008
Due to escalating gas prices, for the last 6 months of the year 2008, mileage re-imbursement from the IRS for business related trips, jumps 8 cents from 50.5 cents per mile to 58.5 cents per mile. BUT...While this helps to supplement the cost of political campaigns hurrying around the country in large convoys to win over our votes, it doesn't help everyday commuters traveling to their place of employment and back. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Travel & Outdoors Sep 8 2008
Some friends of mine recently showed me how to make a simple solar oven from a car shade and the Sun. I was hopeful and skeptical at the same time, until I cooked a frozen pizza an about 20 minutes. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Sep 5 2008
If you are reading this, then you have access to the internet. If you have access to the internet, then you have access to virtually all of your favorite catalogs online. Granted, it is not the same as thumbing through the glossy color pages while sitting outside on a lawn chair, but you?ll survive. And so will the tree. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Food & Health Sep 5 2008
What is the part of the cigarette that is the most harmful to the environment? It is the part that is consistently tossed out of cars and building...the BUTT. The butt contains residue from up to 599 additives found in cigarettes. The butt is also the catalyst for many forest fires. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Aug 28 2008
Today, six of us Planet Green writers had a meeting...over the phone. We even had a PowerPoint presentation that we all followed along over the internet. While we didn't have the advantage of making eye contact with each other, we did have the advantage of not having to spend hundreds of dollars and countless hours of traveling just to be in the same room with each other for an hour. Our meeting today did not require an unfathomable amount of carbon credits to offset either. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Home & Garden Aug 21 2008
True, there are highly efficient dish washers that use less water than hand washing each dish one by one while leaving the water running the whole time with the sink drain open. But washing dishes by hand does not need to take more than a few gallons of water. Here is how. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Aug 21 2008
Do you do errands? Do you own a bicycle? Do you exercise or rather, NEED exercise? I think you see what I'm getting at. Imagine doing all of your errands as usual and then never needing to exercise. On a paved road, a bicycle is the most efficient vehicle on Earth...100 times more efficient than driving a car, in terms of caloric energy used. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Aug 19 2008
Noise. Noise. Noise. It is what one hears above the music at many concerts these days as excessive chatter, cell phone usage, and appliances often drown out the performer. This is not the case at the Bugle Boy in La Grange, TX. The Bugle Boy is a listening room by definition, where the music is what the audience is there for. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Aug 18 2008
I used to be more of a night owl, but off-grid living encourages me to live by the sun. Once the sun goes down at about 9 pm, I tend to stay awake for an hour or so, read with my headlamp or listen to a podcast. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Aug 13 2008
On Wa$ted, one life-long subscriber to convenience claims that "there is always one extra step when trying to be green." Is this really true? + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Aug 12 2008
A couple of years ago, the news of Starbucks closing 600 of their doors would have been shocking. Today, it is just another weekly headline about a large corporation topping out. With energy prices reaching new records each day, and with alternatives unavailable at a level of mass consumption, people are saving where they can. Coffee is first on that list for many Americans. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Aug 12 2008
It used to be that the exclamation point was used in the rare circumstance that there was something so important, or so exciting or urgent, that the sentence or phrase preceding it would be screamed or exclaimed rather than spoken. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Aug 11 2008
I write most of my articles between the hours of 11am and 4pm. That is when my laptop is getting power directly from the sun instead of my battery bank. I have six 15 watt panels totaling 90 watts. However, here in the desert where there is low humidity, solar panels provide about 30% more energy than what they are rated at. That gives me about 120 watts of power, even more in the summer when the sun is showing off. I know that doesn't sound like much, being that two old fashioned light bulbs use 120 watts of energy, but that was then. I will upgrade my $400 solar system as needed. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Aug 6 2008
I once took one of those postage paid return envelopes from a credit card company, glued it to a brick, and then put it back in the mail. I was hoping that the soliciting company would get charged the cost of mailing a brick. Even though my experiment failed, it sure made me feel better. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Food & Health Aug 5 2008
The first marathon runner, Pheidippides, ran 26.2 miles to Athens to deliver an important message. He then fell down and died. Millions of us have repeated this distance by foot just to prove that we could do it. The training and the hydration involved is what has kept most of us alive at the finish line of a marathon. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Aug 1 2008
Driving your kids to school can siphon even more gas out of your tank than your commute to work. There were four of us kids in the carpool, and so a different student?s parent would each have one set day a week to drive us to school. Friday was sort of a flexible day since there were only four drivers and 5 weekdays, and... + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Fashion & Beauty Jul 30 2008
It seems to be a growing trend for clothing companies to mass produce the "worn-in" look. It is not their fault. They provide what people want and many people want their clothes to be pre-washed, pre-fit, pre-shrunk, pre-faded, etc. Many new jeans and other threads even come with carefully plotted holes and rips. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Jul 30 2008
It depends on how far one lives from the store as well as the mode of transportation used. While it is hard to beat the greenness of walking across the street to your neighborhood grocery COOP and bringing your own containers for bulk purchases and canvas bags for the short walk back home, not everyone is fortunate enough to live in such close proximity to the marketplace. Not everyone even desires to live centrally. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Jul 29 2008
On Wa$ted, me met a couple who was spending a small fortune on taxi cabs, canceling out the financial rewards of their choice not to own a car. As the price of gasoline goes up and up and up, so will the price of cab fares. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Home & Garden Jul 28 2008
This is a healthy experiment to find out how much water you actually need to get sparkly clean. This little bucket experiment can be replicated in your shower without the bucket by turning off the shower head when lathering up and keeping the actual water flow down to a minute or two. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Home & Garden Jul 28 2008
Keeping your trash in your sight and in your mind helps to keep it out of the landfill. Some waste management companies even offer a very inexpensive once-a-month trash pickup plan; those plans still pickup recycling weekly, because they actually make money from selling your reusable and recyclable waste. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Jul 26 2008
How much does it cost you in gas to get to your job?Here is my list and what is costs me for a roundtrip: WHERE MILES (RT) GAS COST The Natural Food Store in Town 48 $7.81 J-O-B ( telecommute ) 0 $0 M-O-M 1100 $178 My Mailbox 7 $1.14 I have started to go into town as seldom as possible. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Home & Garden Jul 25 2008
On Wa$ted, fraternity brothers were paddled by the show's host, Annabelle, for their 8,840 cumulative pounds of garbage in a year.In a well-organized communal living situation, there is a good balance between personal space and shared space. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Jul 21 2008
It seems that one short conversation through email can take up to a few weeks or even longer, if the conversation even completes itself. I seem to go through phases where I am good at replying to emails, but at other times, I tend to leave conversations dangling because I am not in my phase of daily computer usage. By the + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Work & Connect Jul 21 2008
Does anyone really feel any sympathy for spammers? Since that technology isn't available yet, there are a few things you can do to lessen spam: Leave your email address off of publicly viewable web pages. + READ MORE
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By Trevor Reichman IN Tech & Transport Jul 20 2008
This was the dilemma I was faced with today as I prepared to depart for Houston from Austin for Father's Day weekend... I could either drive the 160 miles by myself and pay $4 a gallon...OR...I could take a passenger and pay only $2 a gallon for my share. I calculated the amount of gallons used based on the MPG of my... + READ MORE
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