Green

Think it's not easy being green? Think again. As the understanding of how pervasive phthalates and other toxic chemicals are in our children's everyday products grows, the urge to chuck it all in favor of glass bottles and wooden toys grows as well. But that's an expensive undertaking, isn't it? Not necessarily. I've learned a few tricks as the mom of three boys. Read on.

I was almost shaking as I listened to the piece on NPR in which the authors of Slow Death by Rubber Duck explored the book's subtitle, "The Secret Dangers of Everyday Things." Rick Smith, who along with co-author Bruce Lourie exposed themselves as part of an "adult science fair project" to the things most adults, and kids, do in their (yes) everyday lives. BPA in microwavable plastics; phthalates in shampoos, soaps, pajamas, rubber duckies; Teflon in cooking pans. The results were sobering: the levels of these synthetic chemicals in their bodies rose, sometimes 10 or more times the baseline.

Who wants to take a quick drive down memory lane? If you live in Sacramento, today's your day. Propel Fuels is offering 85-cent a gallon gas at five local gas stations. You read that right. Under one dollar gas. Today only.

But before you run out the door, note that we're talking about E85 ethanol, which won't work on every car. Still, this renewable fuel normally costs about $2.39 a gallon, so if you do drive a flex-fuel vehicle, get on out to fill your tank. You can check if your car is eligible here.

E85 (so called because it is 85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) is a clean-burning alternative to petroleum-based gasoline. It is made using fermented grains and sugars and is said to reduce carbon emissions by 21%. It's already in wide use in Sweden (of course), but it growing in popularity here, particularly in the Midwest, where they grow the corn used to make the stuff.

The Bloom Box sounds like a con-man's dream, but eBay and Google and Walmart are already proving that, yes, these small stacks of material can turn air and many forms of natural gas into emission-free electricity. CBS's 60 Minutes recently toured the plant in advance of the grand unveiling of this new fuel-cell technology that could be epic.

The basic Bloom Box is made of 64 thin squares of coated ceramic and metal alloy that are interleaved, forming a cube you can hold in your hand. One Bloom Box can supposedly provide enough electricity for a European home, two for an American one, while large conglomerations of them can power entire buildings. The boxes can work with many types of fuels, including natural gas and bio-gas.

So are we about to witness a dramatic drop in the cost of powering your home? Much is unknown, but let's venture a comparison anyway.
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I've long thought that the suggestion to unplug electronics when not using them is impractical; all than bending over and moving furniture to get to the electrical outlet is much too much work for a nation addicted to remote controls.

Declaring war on standby power, the power electronics consume to remain ready to spring to life in an instant at your command, is a noble quest, but you might want to devote your energy to other, more fruitful ways to save electricity if you have not addressed them yet. Start with the big energy fails, and work your way back to standby power.

• First, cultivate a habit of turning off lights. Even if you've swapped out those 100-watt incandescent bulbs for some low-energy CFL or LED ones, leaving lights on where they aren't needed is both wasteful and a sign of conspicuous consumption. Mr. Electricity estimates you could save $219 a year by simply turning off lights you don't need, another $90 by using compact fluorescents.

For the past two years, I've been chasing down a crazy goal: to reduce my family's trash enough that I could call the company which collects our garbage and tell it that, instead of picking up our one 32-gallon can every week, we'd need the service only once a month. Even though we've always been obsessive about recycling, it had taken our family of five a long time to reach this place.

First, we'd started composting all of our kitchen waste, feeding the tastiest scraps to our backyard chickens. Then, I'd begun a serious and totalitarian campaign to stop buying things with excess packaging, toting my recycled glass jars to the co-op to fill with dried cherries and black beans and brown rice flour from the bulk bins; baking cookies and breads instead of buying them; saying 'no' to single-serving foods. It didn't hurt that we were on a "financial fast" that had us buying very little we didn't need.

As the federal government's Cash for Appliance Clunkers program begins, consumers may find themselves in a stew of confusion over when rebates are available, how much they'll get and from where.

The rebate clock is already ticking in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Wisconsin, and come February, residents of Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, New York and Rhode Island will be eligible for rebate deals. The rest of the states and territories will open their rebate programs in March and April, and some are even running second offer phases later in the year. See the chart below for a link to your state's program.

Wherever you live, the key to getting your biggest possible share of the rebate pot is understanding exactly what your state, local utility, retailer and new-appliance manufacturer are offering for your green-minded trouble ─ an equation you practically have to be a PhD to figure out.

We're having a real winter this year. As opposed to a few winters past, we've already seen several snows and have had the heater cranked up for months. I happen to live in an old house (and by old, I mean about 130 years), so heating it can be a challenge. Our old unit isn't cutting it anymore, and we're going to have to replace it. Fortunately, we might get a tax break for doing so.

Under current law, taxpayers may be eligible for a federal income tax credit for the purchase of a new energy-efficient water heater, air conditioner or furnace. But it doesn't stop there. The credit also applies to such improvements as windows and doors, roofs and insulation. You can find a detailed list of qualifying purchases on the Energy Star Web site.

Tired of the urban grind? Sick -- literally -- of the produce from your local supermarket?

You are not alone. A growing number of urban dwellers and suburbanites seeking a rural life where they have more control over the food they eat and can get their fingernails dirty are taking up farming as an avocation.

The trend, dubbed "hobby farming" in some circles -- and "lifestyle farming" in others --is loosely defined as one in which the participants' incomes are not derived solely from farming. Many who slip on their first pair of overalls have no experience whatsoever with the avocation, but their business skills give them a leg up. They also are enthusiastic about trading in their lattes for Lima beans, so don't mind the learning curve.

Miss last night's Shark Tank? Then you missed witnessing some everyday people make money fast by daring to take their dreams in front of a panel of multi-millionaires.

Decked out in banana yellow bike shirts, close friends Erin Whalen and Tim Stansbury appealed for $40,000 for 40% of their Grease Monkey Wipes. It sounded like a product you thought existed before: a disposable cleaning sheet that can tackle grease and other stains that baby wipes can't handle. During a very effective and simple demonstration, the aroma of the key ingredient, orange citrus oil, filled the Shark Tank, but that couldn't keep the whiff of greed away for long.

Here's our follow-up interview with the branding whizzes, who snagged $40,000 for what was essentially a new kind of Wet-Nap:

New York City's homeless may be wearing a motley collection of castoff clothing: the rejects from the closets of more financially-blessed residents, perhaps, or the logo merchandise from now-merged banks or defunct companies, maybe even some cast-offs from local discount retailers that lingered too long on the clearance racks. Yet, you won't see any such freebies from H& M or Walmart. Instead of donating unsold clothes to the needy, the two retailers have evidently been quietly stuffing unloved frocks in the trash.

According to The New York Times, unsold clothes from the two retailers were found destroyed in garbage bags outside the H&M store on 34th Street east of Sixth Avenue, and in the nearby 35th Street Walmart. At Walmart, unworn clothes had been punched with holes by some sort of machine. At H&M, they'd been slashed by a box cutter, rendering a bunch of fiber-filled coats unwearable.

Cash for Caulkers, the Obama administration's push to subsidize home energy efficiencies via tax credits, faltered before 2009 came to a close -- but is expected to return this month.

So let's take a breath and ask some basic questions, such as whether such credits will work and what models around the country suggest alternative approaches?

In conversations with various ground-level groups, WalletPop came away with a variety of intriguing perspectives about the federal Homestar proposal, from frustrated homeowners and entrepreneurial municipalities, from measured energy consultants and curious insulation installers. Here is a sampling:

According to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, 100 majors, minors and certificate programs were created at American colleges and universities in 2009, with focuses on topics like renewable energy and green technology.

According to the USA Today, "The Obama administration has estimated that jobs in energy and environmental-related occupations will grow 52% from 2000 through 2016, vs. 14% for other occupations. That's partly why budget-strapped schools are adding energy and sustainability programs even while cutting other majors ... "

Looking for a job in the great outdoors? Love animals? Like money? Then you might take a look at a growing new business in the U.S. -- renting out animals to clear troublesome brush.

The goat herd of Rent-A-Ruminant LLC is over 100 strong and voracious, cleaning up parks, construction sites, school grounds and private business greenery in the Seattle area.

"Wouldn't it be weird," thought Nashville, Tenn. singer Britt Savage, "if I could ask everybody to give me their old Christmas wrapping paper?"

Remember, she goes on, when you were a kid and you had to save the wrapping paper, opening everything super-carefully. "You'd upset the whole family if you just ripped your gift up," she says.

The next step is logical only for someone with a mind like Savage's: make a dress from the resulting amalgam of saved paper, packing tape, velcro and staples ("a bunch of staples!"), and wear it onstage for a holiday season gig.

When I spoke to her a few hours before that gig on Tuesday night, Savage was buzzing with excitement, having just picked up a little more packing tape to secure the dress, a string of lights for her mic stand, and "granny pants. The skirt was already really short, so I went to this dancewear store, and they told me they're called cheerleading pants!" she tells me.