conservation

Stop Flash from sucking up power

BashFlash is a free, low-profile utility that can identify and terminate Flash video processes in Safari, which can help you improve CPU performance and (on a laptop) conserve battery power--and it can even help keep your computer from heating up and running its fans excessively because of Flash overload.

BashFlash only works in 64-bit Safari (i.e., Safari 4 in Snow Leopard), since earlier versions don't run Flash as a standalone process that can be easily terminated. The app sits in your menu bar, and a small BashFlash icon shows your current Flash use (gray for none, black for … Read more

Get the most out of your iPhone battery--David's iPhone tip of the week

You just can't swap out your iPhone battery whenever you feel like it, so it is important to know how to prolong its life. This week's tip will show you how.

I rummaged around inside my iPhone Atlas archives and I found an article I recommend that you read: Get the most out of your iPhone battery.

I wrote the post, which is still relevant, last summer with information in it that will help you to get the most life out of your iPhone battery.

This is particularly important for people that experienced poor battery performance after the … Read more

Waterpebble gets water-wasters out of the shower

It's easy to lose track of how long your shower's getting--especially when it's 10 degrees out and the only thing that roused you from bed was the vision of a steamy cascade of water. Well, Waterpebble is here to guilt you out of your wasteful ways.

The little round device monitors water going down the drain. It records the length of your first Waterpebble shower and uses that as a benchmark, then indicating via a series of gently flashing "traffic lights" when you need to get out of the shower already! Green tells you to … Read more

Four ways to reduce your PC's carbon footprint

Roughly speaking, powering a desktop PC with a 17-inch LCD 8 hours a day, 20 days a month costs about $35 a year. That's according to the energy-use calculator on Michael Bluejay's Saving Electricity site.

The same site indicates that computers and electronics represent less than 10 percent of the average energy bill in the U.S. That's about the same amount we spend to power our refrigerators and a third of what the typical home pays for heating.

But if you're looking to reduce your carbon footprint along with your electric bill, minimizing your computer'… Read more

Fun food containers brighten up your lunchbag

Packing lunch for your kids--or yourself--every day can get a little boring. But you can spice things up a bit and have some fun with these atomic food containers.

You probably won't convince anyone that your lunch is truly radioactive, but you'll at least have the most recognizable containers in the office, so Kevin from accounting can't claim he "accidentally" grabbed your leftover pad thai.

And despite the warnings emblazoned on the bowls, they're dishwasher- and microwave-safe. They even include a built-in air vent and date timer, so you probably won't poison yourself … Read more

Drive, bear, drive!

Enviro-Bear 2010 is part game, part joke, part art piece, and part game-design experiment, but it's also a bold and ridiculous app that's basically a Rorschach test for gamers. Unlike any other game, Enviro-Bear 2010 challenges you to play as a bear driving a car who's trying to run over and then scarf up enough food to hibernate in the last 5 minutes before winter.

Whether you love or hate Enviro-Bear 2010, a couple of things are certain: the interface is deliberately difficult (reflecting, one might suppose, the difficulty a real bear would experience driving a car) … Read more

Drink up with reusable hemp tea bags

When you start looking for ways to conserve and cut down on waste, you can find them in almost every corner. Take tea bags, for example. Even if you've mastered the "reuse it before you toss it" trick, you're still throwing away every tea bag you use.

Now, you could toss the tea bags in your compost crock, but if you're using bags with staples in them, you've got to remove the staples first. And not all bags are made from compostable material. And that string, and the plastic coating on the paper tag--there'… Read more

Conservation groups say eBay should ban trophy hunt sales

Conservation groups praised eBay for banning the sale of ivory products in December, but on Friday they criticized the online auction site for allowing the sale of trophy hunts of lions, leopards, bears, wolves, and other animals.

Raincoast Conservation and Big Wildlife urged eBay in February to stop posting guided hunts of large predators on the auction site, arguing that trophy hunting of carnivores puts species at risk. Under guided hunts, hunters typically seek thousands of dollars up front to pay for a hunting trip and then get the remainder of the fee after an animal has been killed.

On … Read more

How to reduce your impact on the planet

Earth Day happens one day a year. But it should spur us to do our best to reduce our impact on the environment for the other 364.

I've picked five sites that provide a framework for how to live your life in a way that's better for the environment. Whether it's car-pooling or simply eating the right foods, you'll find ways to be a more responsible Earthling.

The tools of the trade

Carbon Diet

Though there are countless "carbon calculators" on the Web that try to measure your carbon footprint, the Carbon Diet does it better.

When you start using Carbon Diet, you'll be required to input your usage of electricity, natural gas, and vehicle fuel. Simply input your monthly bill amounts and Carbon Diet will do the rest. It then calculates your impact on the environment. You can go back each month to update your usage. As you input more information about your activities, it continuously modifies your impact, displaying graphs and charts to give you a visual outline of what you're doing to the planet.

The best tool on Carbon Diet is its "analysis" feature, which examines your activities and gives you tips toward becoming a more responsible environmentalist. It told me that I need to stop driving so much. I also need to turn the TV off instead of leaving it on for most of the day.

You'll learn a lot from Carbon Diet. It's the best carbon calculator I've seen. Try it out.

The Daily Green

The Daily Green is the best resource for green living on the Web. It delves into healthy recipes, better living, low-impact gardening, and more.

When you first go to The Daily Green, you'll probably have trouble finding what you're looking for simply because there's so much content to consult. If you start with the news, you'll find a host of interesting articles and discussions on topics that relate to the green lifestyle. The section is also filled with articles on political news surrounding environmental concerns.

But the most value you'll get from The Daily Green can be found in the site's "Tips and Advice" tab, which shows you ways to save money with green products. The site also provides advice on how to turn your home green so you become a more responsible environmentalist.

If you want to change the way you eat, The Daily Green also has green recipes. All of the dishes contain organic products, like soy milk and basmati rice. The site claims green food is just as delicious as dishes that don't use organic ingredients. I can't corroborate that claim--the recipes didn't sound all that appetizing to me.

The Daily Green is the perfect destination to immerse yourself in the green lifestyle. It makes you a better inhabitant of Earth.… Read more