Tom Savage from CleanTechnica shares his 30 favorite green newsletters. – CleanTechnica

Did you know that Texas is leading the green movement? Hey! Stop laughing! According to the Pew Research Center Texas has the second most green businesses and jobs in the country after California. – cbs11tv.com

Did you know that there may be a new net domain aimed at green groups, .eco, in the near future? Did you know that two groups are fighting to control it? Don’t feel bad, I didn’t either. – Rocket News

Samsung will be introducing a cell phone made from 80% recycled material next week. – earth2tech

Project Green Search is looking for the next green model. Could it be you? – Mother Nature Network

Are you looking for some green iPhone apps? Daniel Hohler at the Matter Network has some reviews. – Matter Network

“A new study by Oregon State University suggests having multiple children may be the most environmentally damaging of all human activities.” Jeeze… That’s a buzz kill. – An Honest Climate Debate

IBM recently released report showing it has reduced it’s energy consumption 6.1%. They saved 30 million dollars on energy cost and avoided producing 200,000 metric tons of CO2.

Pepsi Co. opened a green beverage plant in China. This plant should use 23% less energy compared to other Pepsi plants in China.

Coca Cola is to put 2 fuel cells in it’s NY bottling plant. This will provide 1/3 of it’s energy. A fuel cell creates electricity by combining oxygen and hydrogen in a electrochemical process.

Procter & Gamble was a winner in the 14th annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. They use greener chemicals for a new paint based of sugar and vegetable oils.

The Museum of Science in Industry in Chicago has built this fantastic home that you can tour that is advertised as Green and Wired.  The exhibit originally was suppose to last through January 2009, but because of it’s popularity it was updated even more and extended through January 2010.  Take a tour of the Green and Wired House.

I found a great site on ConsumerReports.org that has an interactive Home Improvement Guide , check it out.  Run the mouse over the rooms in the house you are thinking of remodeling and get reviews and  tips on the different materials and fixtures.  Look for energy efficient products. Consumer Reports home improvement guide.

Want to learn how to construct a Worm Farm?  Follow the steps of this activity supplied by the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Worm Farm activity.

President Barack Obama’s Energy Secretary Steven Chu suggests people paint flat roofs white. This is a great idea. It’s simple, scientists believe it will make an impact, and, my favorite part, it creates jobs.

Let’s start with how simple this is. You can hire someone or do it yourself with no more than 5 gallons of paint. It would take 2-3 hours. So an easy job for you or hire someone at $15 an hour plus the cost of paint it couldn’t be more than $80.

Top scientists think it will work. According to Chu “Making roads and roofs a paler color could have the equivalent effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years. That is an impressive stat.

It would create a new wave of jobs throughout the world. It’s easy, someone needs to make this paint and some people would need to hire painters.

Think of what is possible if the world could think of 5 simple things like this to stop global warming. It is not going to be one thing that stops global warming, it is going to be several small things. Do you think this Idea will catch on? Vote on the Green Goings Monthly Poll, located on the far right column of this page. Let your voice be heard!

Steven Chu U.S. Energy Secretary

Sneezing Season

Allergy season is upon us.  It is a challenge to use natural remedies instead of shots or drugs to alleviate allergy symptoms.  cnn.com had some interesting information on coping with allergies.  Did you know you can go to pollen.com to find out your area’s daily pollen count?  If you or your children are really affected by allergies, plan your daily outside activities based on your area’s  pollen count.  

Four common sense allergy relief tips are listed:

1. Use air conditioning, keep the pollen outside.
2. Avoid activites  outside in peak pollen times - early morning and late afternoon.  The best outside time is noon till 2 pm.
3. Shower before bed, the pollen will be washed off your body and hair, keeping it off your bed linens.
4. Wash your bed sheets weekly, to keep them pollen free.

Share with us your medicine free remedies to alleviate allergy symptoms or any ideas you have to cope with allergies.

When you look at your electricity bill you probably don’t think much of it. It usually hovers around the same amount with some seasonal changes depending on where you live. What if your energy bill would hover $10, $20, or even $30 less a month. Energy efficient lighting can do this for you. If you don’t believe me, check out a green calculator. There are a lot of bad ones out there so be careful. Try to find one that shows you the math and uses government figures. This one here does both: GREEN CALCULATOR

I did this for my own home today. Some things you should know before I give you my results: I live in a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, with a basement. I estimated 7 one hundred watt bulbs and 45 sixty watt bulbs. I counted everything, from closet lights to garage lights.

Here are my results:
After 5 years I would end up saving over $1000! Also, my carbon footprint was reduced 94kg CO2.  94kg CO2 is not very much because I live in an area powered by Nuclear, but if I lived in a place powered by coal it would be reduced 15,000kg CO2!  The initial investment would be higher but in the long run it would be worth it.  You can save the environment and money if you are smart about it.

After Using A Green Calculator

Bike Sharing

Reading the Chicago Tribune this morning while having morning coffee, I came across an interesting article on “bike sharing” in Chicago.   With  a swipe of an Id card, students can unlock bikes to ride to class or off campus.  Some Chicago  workplaces have begun offering bikes for their employees from the Sears Tower to the Field Museum.  You  can check out a bike and ride around Chicago or the Lake Front during your lunch hour.  What a novel idea.  Mayor Daley introduced it to Chicago after a visit to Paris where it is used city wide.    I would like to see this “green-bike”  program sprout all over, isn’t it an interesting concept?  No charge, just check out a bike, great for the environment, great for your health, just a good idea all around.

Reuseable quilted shopping bags - 4 pieces

Sorry we are SOLD OUT of our ReUseable Shopping Bags  featured as one of our April Specials.  

When is Earth Day? It’s April 22nd 2009. This April 22nd try to do something for the Earth. Here are some simple ways to participate:

- Car Pool: Hitch a ride with a friend. A friend needs to go to the store, you need to get some milk, go together you just participated in Earth Day.

- Plant Something: This might sound stupid but it’s simple. Start growing some vegetables for the summer. Hey go all out, plant a tree in your yard.

- Start Composting: Not sure how to do it? Experts can tell you how on books sold at the greenstoreandmore.com. Also, make sure to buy biodegradable items.

- Switch to Energy Efficient Lighting: Take the three most used light fixtures in your house and switch the bulbs to energy efficient ones. You’ll save the earth and on your energy bill. You can find them here at the greenstoreandmore.com

- Try to only create a handful of garbage all day. Recycle everything you use. Use washable plates and utencils. If you go shopping bring your own shopping bag like these: Shopping Bags. Do your best to not waste anything.

There are a lot of other ways to participate.  Please write your suggestions here.  Remember Earth Day is  April 22nd, 2009.

Earth Day 2009

With this calculator you will be able to see how much money you can save by switching to energy efficient bulbs. Also, we’ll show you the waste you accumulate from plastic disposable shopping bags and much much more! What makes our carbon calculator better than others is we are happy to show you how we calculated our figure and let you decide how accurate we are. You can follow along with the numbers and see if an investment in energy efficient light bulbs is a smart choice not only for the environment but for your pocketbook!  Check back in April!