Eco-Friendly Existence for Beginners

Going green, or eco-friendly, couldn’t be easier now more than ever before. No matter how rural our homes, most county landfills now offer the opportunity to recycle. We all use paper, glass, plastic and metal each day. All we have to do is separate them in different containers and put them by the curb, in most cases.

That’s just one simple way to ‘go green’. Another ‘free’ way to conserve energy is by planning your trips around town. If you have to go to the cleaners, take the kids to soccer and ballet classes and pick up a few items at the grocery store, planning is easy. Rather than three separate trips, or even two, try to combine trips. You can even plan it out on mapquest.com, including your stops, using the most economic route.

Another easy green tip: use cloth shopping bags. Cloth bags are reusable and available at most major retail stores. Target and Walmart both have them. Keep your bags in the car, in a convenient spot so you don’t forget. I keep several bags, all inside of a bag, behind the passenger seat. If you have to use plastic, reuse the bags once you bring them home. They come in handy as small trash can liners amongst other uses.

Solar Powered Bus Shelters equals Light Plus Wifi

If you find yourself in San Francisco, new solar-powered bus stops might make the wait for a bus more pleasant. Last week they unveiled the first solar-powered shelter which contains photovoltaic cells on its roof that power LEDs for night-time vision. Excess power is sent back to the grid.

To top it off, San Francisco’s new shelters will have free Wi-Fi access. The city expects to install 1,100 new solar-powered bus stops between now and 2013. That means a blanket of free Internet across the city, handy to get email or work done while waiting.

Each shelter costs between $25,000-$30,000, but they are being paid for in full by Clear Channel Communications.

Check out the prototype shelter at the corner of Geary and Arguello in the Richmond.