25 ways you can go green

Lifestyle

• 13. Swap the lightbulbs. Only about 5 percent of the energy that goes into incandescent lightbulbs turns into light. The rest turns into heat. Fluorescent-bulb manufacturers and light-emitting diode (LED) bulb makers say their products can produce as much light with far less energy. The cities of Beijing and Raleigh, N.C., are tinkering with use of LEDs in public places. Some lighting specialists, meanwhile, are working on systems that pipe in sunlight and employ optical cables as light sources for businesses. Another near-future idea for a low-energy, high-brightness light source is covering entire walls with organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, the same stuff used to make cell phone screens.
• 14. Go organic in the garden. Traditional fertilizers carry a lot of baggage. Many are made out of petroleum products and are being phased out by legislation due to concerns that they're causing health problems. So how do you kill garden pests without them? Companies such as AgraQuest have devised biopesticides, which kill fungi and other material with bacteria that's not harmful to humans. Meanwhile, Novazone has created a system for farmers that kills pests with ozone. Although conventional food processors use this type of technology too, it's more prevalent in the organic world.
• 15. Buy plastic forks selectively. Cereplast, among other bioplastic specialists, has come up with a fork made from cornstarch that dissolves in landfills. Plastic forks can biodegrade too, but it takes several decades. Also, look for foods and beverages packaged in biodegradable plastic containers rather than those made from petroleum-based compounds.
• 16. Chose your dry cleaner well. HangerNetwork produces biodegradable hangers for use by dry cleaners. You just have to put up with ads in your closet: advertisers pay to have ads posted on the hangers, which are given to dry cleaners for free.
• 17. Look for the green personal computer. More-restrictive laws in Europe and Asia are forcing manufacturers in those regions to remove toxic metals from their electronics sold around the globe.
  
  One way to find green computing gear is to consult the nonprofit Green Electronics Council's EPEAT ratings, which give high marks to computers and monitors that can be easily recycled and contain fewer hazardous substances. Green geeks can find stringent guidelines for gadget shopping and recycling tips on the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition's map of recycling centers, which manage e-waste without shipping it overseas for unsafe dismantling.
• 18. Cut down on vampire-power gadgets. PCs, DVD players, televisions (especially some flat-panel models), and other devices can suck a lot of power, even in sleep mode, so unplug when you can. Tech toys and household appliances built for frugal power consumption brandish the government's Energy Star label, and the standards were recently upgraded. Tools that can reduce phantom power waste include the Watt Stopper lighting-control devices.
• 19. Buy carbon offsets. These arrangements are designed to allow individuals and organizations to reduce emissions directly or by participating in programs that, through various energy-conservation techniques and emissions-trading initiatives, attempt to achieve a net reduction in greenhouse gases.
  
  Carbon offsets can sound complex, but they're essentially giving to charity. Buy a plane ticket, and then donate to a foundation that will plant trees that will suck up the carbon dioxide produced by putting an extra passenger on a plane. The math for these arrangement is indeed a bit fuzzy, however. For example, in a tree-planting program run by computer maker Dell with help from The Conservation Fund, an environmental nonprofit, people buying a Dell PC can donate $2 to $6 to plant trees. It will take the trees 70 years, though, to offset the carbon dioxide produced by utility companies that produce the electricity used by the PCs. (The PCs themselves don't spew emissions.) Still, some extra help can't hurt.

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