Carnival of the Green #187

Welcome to the Carnival of the Green, where wonderful worldly people get together to discuss green ideas.
Every week, the Carnival goes round and round.

It is our blog's honor to host the 187th Carnival of the Green this beautiful week of July 6th!

Thank you to last week's Carnival host, who wrote up a great blog entry at Conserve Plastic Bags.
Be sure to check out next week's Carnival host at Kids Discover Nature.

If you would like to be part of the fun, visit Treehugger to see how to be a Carnival of the Green host.

It was a downright pleasure to receive and compile the blog submissions for this week.

We have many submissions for TIPS TIPS TIPS!

Refrigerator Energy Savings Tips.

The Pays to Live Green blog entices the reader with the starting line which reads, "Your refrigerator can be one of the highest energy consumers in the kitchen. Making sure that you do everything possible to reduce that energy use can really lower your energy costs every month ..." (click to read more).

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in the Real World.

Guffly gives 5 ways to really contribute to the overall health of our planet.
[Editorial note: Our Plant a Tree USA Founder, Cindy Katz, actually uses Tip #2 every day, reusing plastic bags.] Good going, Guffly! (click to read all 5).

The Story of Stuff.

Frugally Green has reintroduced the Annie Leonard 20-minute movie The Story of Stuff. The blog includes parts of the script typed out with commentary and of course the video itself. "It's really important to think critically about the media that we consume. I got hooked watching this video, The Story of Stuff the other day - a short film full of shocking statistics and catchy anecdotes about what we're doing to our planet. I picked out the most shocking parts and reviewed them."
If you have not seen the video or have not seen the video in a while, click to view now.

Packaging: Considering the Environment and the Protection of the Product.

Memory Card Packaging discusses a few packaging options, with pro's and con's.

Planes, Tours, and Hotels ... Travelling the Green Way.

Amadeus e-University has a great down-to-earth blog entry on the importance of what hotels you frequent, what to do at your hotel, what airlines do green, and advise about bike tours. "Many Hotels, Airlines, and Tour Operators offer green programs that deserve your patronage. You can help the environment by encouraging your customers to green up their travel with these eco-friendly tips. By the way, these tips apply to you too." We really liked the extensive information about hotels. (Click to read more and then go on vacation).

Money Saving Eco-Tips.

Ooffoo is at it again! "Confident that saving the planet can also mean saving money, ooffoo launched a competition to discover your tips on how to be eco and wallet friendly. Check out the winning entry and the brilliant runner-up ideas for saving money and going green at the same time." (click to read about the winners).

Cool Your Home.

Trees Full of Money knows "How to cool your home during the warm summer months with geothermal energy stored in your basement." This blog entry, entitled "My Inexpensive 'Do It Yourself' Geothermal Cooling System" is quite in depth and exciting. Give it a read and share it with your friends. Go green go!

Indoor Air Quality.

Amadeus e-University wants you to know: When we hear “environment” and “air quality,” most of us probably think of the outdoors. But did you know that indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates so. And considering we spend 90% of our time indoors, we should work on making our indoors more green. How do we do that? Know your pollutants and their effects, and ... (click to read more).

Outdoor Mosquitos.

All About Mosquitos says, "If you are going hiking or camping, you will want to make sure you are protected ... You should also choose a campsite with a light breeze whenever possible. Moving air is more likely to keep mosquitoes at bay." (click to read more).

Green Project Management (PM).

Many congrats to Green PM, "project management with the power and benefit of green thinking". Read their blog about the launch of Earth PM (Project management). They ask: Is the world ready?

Plastics, waste, landfills, and composting, oh-my!

Experiment Gerbus writes, "I recently had a conversation with a friend about the impact of composting. She and many others believe that sending organic matter to the landfill in black garbage bags is a bad idea ..." (click to read more).

Saving the environment, one print at a time.

Amadeus e-University writes, "Do you print everything before you read it? Let’s try this little exercise to see how much paper is wasted in an average work day. Count the sheets of paper you print in one day,... Now my question to you is, will you ever look at those papers again? Probably not, so why print them?" (click to read more).

Saving Money while Living Green.

Amadeus e-University has a few well-known tips that will help you get started at no cost, and will also save you money. (click to read more).

Frugal Life with Ease.

The Smarter Wallet writes an inspiring story of a family who instills values of "frugality" in their kids and teaches teamwork along the way! (click to read).

Lower Your Energy Bill.

Energy Saving Gadgets presents "An Easy Way to Save Money Around the House". Read how to lower your energy bill by monitoring your consumption.

Organic or Pesticide-free, That is the question ...

Thank you to Organic Mania for bringing into the light some "shortcomings" of the USDA Organic Seal and Certification. This blog includes 5 tips on navigating your way as an organic-minded shopper. Click for more info and an organic "reality check".

Surfing the Plastic Wave.

Fake Plastic Fish interviews dynamic surfer, artist, environmental activist, Kathleen Egan whose awesome Plastic Wave sculpture aims to inspire people to use less plastic.
Kathleen says, 'You are where you are. You have to go through the waves to get out and through the waves again to get back in.'
Fake Plastic Fish writes that "it's a metaphor, not only for life, but for the environmental movement and for finding ways to live sustainably. There are no shortcuts. My interpretation: we can't wait for some miracle technology to save us from the mess we've made. Each of us must do our part, every day. We can't bypass the waves; we have to go through them." (click to read more)

55 Best Ways to Save Money.

Silicon Valley Blogger shares "frugal ideas from their readers".
There are lots of (55 to be exact) green ways to save, in this list.
Can't say more besides we really enjoyed this submission! (click to read more).
Great job!


Now for the top 5 tweets!

1. RT @msoeden: Starbucks to seek LEED certification for all new company-owned stores. http://bit.ly/v3S9l

2. RT @MotherNatureNet: Proposed wind farm 13 miles off NYC coast could be largest such project in the U.S. http://tinyurl.com/lm93w7

3. RT @DerekMarkham: The Blogosphere's Top 5 Ways to Green Your 4th of July Celebrations http://bit.ly/YDGaX

4. RT @DerekMarkham: Why green bloggers are uniting to support environmental organizations http://bit.ly/vb9o5 #buckforcharity

5. RT @RIRRC: Newport seaweed harvester triple threat! Compost material & keeps beach clean & seaweed out of landfill http://tinyurl.com/m4symy

Thanks for coming to be a part of the Carnival of the Green.

Tree Blessings to you, great readers!

Warmly,

The Plant a Tree USA team

www.plantatreeusa.com

Planting 18 Billion trees and educating millions!