Even His Font Is Green...

We've all heard about printing less and printing double-sided to save paper, but what about saving ink? Creating those cartridges uses up natural resources as well. SPRANQ, a company based in the Netherlands, has created ecofont, a green font that uses less ink than your more traditional fonts. When enlarged, you can see that the letters in ecofont have holes all over them. At regularly-used font sizes, the holes cannot be seen, but 20% less ink is used. Ecofont is free to download, so check it out and save some ink!

Have Your CAKE With No Guilt!

The Sacramento-based band, CAKE, isn't just paying lip service to their support of renewable energy. They have taken matters into their own hands! CAKE's sixth album of original songs is being produced with 100% solar energy. The band had solar panels installed on their recording studio. You can even check out the process in a short video on their Web site, and the background music rocks!

Red Light, Green Light...Actually, Just Green Light

The Environmental Working Group has a handy-dandy shopper's guide to compact fluorescent light bulbs. Where should you replace them first? How much money and energy can you save by switching to CFLs? Which bulbs have the lowest levels of mercury? Find out all of this and more! Plus, there's a printable one-page information sheet covering most of what you need to know.

Room by Room

Check out the Green Guide's Room by Room Interactive where you can click on household objects to learn how to save energy and make smart purchasing choices. Each clickable object provides helpful tips and a link to a complete buying guide. From the bedroom to the bathroom to the laundry room and beyond...you'll be making greener choices all over!

Looking for Something to Read?

Check out Green Cotton's list of the Top 10 Green Books for 2009! It includes some green favs that have been around for a little while like Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. It also has some very recently published books such as My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolt Taylor. Dr. Taylor and her book were featured on NPR's Fresh Air last summer. So, if you're looking to curl up with some good green books this winter, this is a list you'll want to see. Grab your cup of fair trade coffee and start reading!

rent A toy!

Our kids do it now just as we did it to our parents a generation before...beg for a toy and then tire of it in a month or two. A friend of mine asks her son to choose several of his toys to donate to less fortunate kids every year before the holidays and his birthday - a great idea for extending the life of an item and making somebody else's life happier. Another idea is to check out rent A toy. It's kind of like Netflix, but with toys instead of movies. Pick out the toys you and your little ones want, have them delivered to your house, and send them back when you're done! What if one of the toys becomes a cherished favorite? You can purchase the item for a below-retail price. The Web site gives all of the details. My favorite part of the rent A toy site? The description of the staff members includes their favorite childhood toys...that tells you much more about a person than most employee descriptions I've seen!

Combine Artist and Do-It-Yourselfer, Mix with Reuse and Sprinkle with a Dash of Humor

That's my best attempt at describing Jim Rosenau and his This Into That collection. Rosenau uses second-hand books and turns them into functional works of art. His pieces range from themed bookshelves to bird houses made from books about birds. Shown here is a piece Rosenau calls "One Fish." Five different fish-themed books and a giant hook make a wall-mounted bookshelf. Past shelf themes have included cooking, gardening and woodworking. He'll even do custom made designs. Creative reuse of materials is a topic of interest to lots of eco-smart consumers out there. Jim Rosenau has made it into a fine art!

Who'll Take My MTV?

We've been hearing a lot about electronics recycling in the computer industry, but what about old TVs? The Electronics TakeBack Coalition, a national coalition of non-profit organizations promoting green design and responsible electrionics recycling, has launched the Take Back My TV Campaign. On their site you'll find the TV Recycling Report Card. It grades 17 television manufacturers and retailers on their recyling efforts. Companies are evaluated on the scope of their program, the level of responsible recycling provided, program visibility and volume, and public policy. With the TV digital deadline quickly approaching, responsible disposal programs will be more critical. Find out how the brands measure up!

Bill Nye is Back

The whole point of Eco-Smart Consumer is to help illustrate the connections between natural resources and our everyday actions. I don't think anybody puts this idea quite as simply as Bill Nye in the title of his show "Stuff Happens." Yep, that Bill Nye, the Science Guy...he's back! On his show Stuff Happens, which airs on Planet Green, Nye seeks to explain what happens when we use stuff, make stuff and toss stuff and how it can impact the environment. He does so in a manner that is both easy to understand and upbeat. So, whether you're eating breakfast, in the garage or on the beach, stuff is happening...and Bill Nye can tell you what it is!