Strollerderby : recycling

Family Mounds Up 250 Pounds of Plastic in a Year

JeanneSager — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:06:00 GMT

All these "I did it for a year" people are starting to get to me.

They live the Bible for a year. They live on $1,500 for a year. They cook from the Julia Child cookbook for a year. Get ready to hear about one family, one year, two hundred fifty pounds of plastic (yes, this is where we start being REAL!).

The Garcias of Phoenix, Ariz. did everything they could to eliminate plastic from their lives. Jesse and Kim and their young kids skipped plastic bags at the supermarket and opted out on plastic water bottles.

Every piece of plastic that made their way into their house, they saved (where, I don't know - I get irate just dealing with a month's worth of yogurt cups and empty milk cartons waiting for the recycling truck to make its rounds). In the end, they had two hundred fifty pounds.

That's my three-year-old times eight! That's the more meat than you get from your average side of beef. It's disgusting. But not all that surprising (we fill an average of five milk crates with plastic recyclables each month. What's actually worst about all of this is that the Garcias were only able to recycle twenty five percent of the entire pile - the rest went into the landfill. And remember, this is a family trying to CUT BACK on plastics.

The problem is, not every "numbered" plastic is recycled in ever area. The "chasing arrows" at the bottom of a plastic container don't necessarily mean they're recyclable. And as the economy slumps, so does demand for recyclables - which means haulers don't want to take them off your hands.

Which means the only option is to do what the Garcias have done from the beginning - attempt to reduce consumption. But is it feasible? What percentage does plastic represent in your garbage can or your recycling bin?

Image: WasteRec

They Say: U.S. Toilet Paper Usage Worse for the Environment than Driving a Hummer?!

Shannon LC Cate — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:30:00 GMT

Ah potty-training! There are so many benefits to convincing your kids to use the potty. Big savings on the expense of diapers and wipes--whatever type you use. And then there's the eco-guilt factor. When cloth diapers probably harm the environment by using excessive water and detergent (and possibly chlorine bleach, depending on your own proclivities), and disposable diapers are all but considered the highest form of environmental sin known to the first world, getting the kids into underwear and onto the potty lets you off the hook, right?

Wait just a minute, say environmental experts. According to Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council:

"Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution."

According to an article in the Guardian, Americans have a dangerous proclivity for what the Brits term "luxury" t.p.--those with two or (gasp!) three "plys," quilting, and even lotion infused in the roll. These varieties are the worst sinners when it comes to decimating virgin forest.

My roll of choice has always been one of the very simple, single-ply, 1000-sheet varieties. A friend with a cruder sense of humor than I calls it "John Wayne toilet paper" because, according to him, it's "rough and tough and don't take s--t off anybody." I like my t.p., personally, but alas, it is not made of recycled paper. Not one bit of it.

Who knew?

If you're curious about the effect your roll has on the planet, Greenpeace has helpfully created a PDF that you can conveniently print, clip, fold and carry around in your wallet to spot-check any paper product you're thinking of buying. Unfortunately, it would seem that the "good" brands cost more than some of the "bad" brands (though not all). I suppose I will swap out my virgin 1000-sheet choice for a recycled option, but probably not 100% of the time. I just can't resist the bargain of buying 20 rolls for that low, low price.

What do you think? Does your toilet paper choice merit reconsideration, given the scorn of the Europeans for "delicate American buttocks" or will you just teach your kids to chant "USA!" as they reach for the Charmin?

Five Easiest - and Cheesiest - Christmas Gifts to Make With the Kids

JeanneSager — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:36:00 GMT

Let's face it, even when the economic picture is rosy, Christmas with the kids is expensive. There's that darn Toys R Us lookbook that always seems to make it into their hands. Most of us won't scrimp on their gifts, so it's the rest of the family that gets the shaft.

What if there was a compromise? No need to beat around the bush here - I'm talking good old-fashioned child labor here. Yeah, it's a little cheesy in that holiday commercial where a kid hands mom a big handmade card kind of way, but what the heck. At least you can afford it.

Tempted to throw caution to the wind and make presents with the kids? Here are my five favorites:

Cookies - seriously a no-brainer here. Most people who celebrate Christmas are making them anyway (or buying them and plunking a doily on a paper plate to make it look like they are anyway). So throw together an extra batch and take them with you - anywhere. The thing about cookies is that people who say, "Oh no, I couldn't," inevitably end up digging in. And they'll appreciate not having another tchotchke that ends up taking up space on their bookshelves. Speaking of which . . .
Whatsit jars - Forget the muffin mix in a jar. Have you ever actually seen someone bake one of these things? I usually end up pouring mine in the compost pile just in time to get another shelf full. Save the jars, the gingham squares and the raffia ties, and let your kids loose in the junk drawers or their toy room. Short of the knowledge that everything MUST fit inside the drawer, all they need to know is this is a gift for so-and-so. In other words, they can't get this stuff back, but they can make somebody's day and clean up your house. See what they come up with; you might be surprised - and your best friend will have a kitshy found art piece to show off instead of the same old macaroni necklace. Speaking of which . .
There aren't many people who really like to wear kid-made jewelry (their mothers accepted, of course - and maybe some grandmothers). But a button that can be stuck in a corkboard? Not too shabby. Flattened bottle caps, with pictures glued to the front and plenty of glitter are a bit more work, but the fact that they're kid-made is a bonus for these, not a detraction. (Click here for directions).
Who says the presents have to be people-specific? The same people who will stop in awe to watch a bluebird alight on their windowsill don't necessarily have the time (or the ambition) to go out and buy a feeder. You can do the old pine cone and peanut butter trick (or Crisco, if your kids are young and you're still wary of allergies). Smear the pine cone in goo, swirl in a pile of cheap birdfeed, tie on a piece of twine and voila. Or . . .
Popcorn strings will keep the animals who don't hibernate busy this winter, and provided your kids are old enough to trust with a needle and long piece of thread, they're something a trained monkey could make. And did I mention won't require dusting or take up space for time eternal?

Call them cheesy, but they're easy on the pocketbook - and your kids will remain out of your hair for a good thirty minutes.

Image: Family Fun

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Crafty: Shrinky Dink Your Christmas Tree

JeanneSager — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:36:00 GMT

If you're not one of those "everything has to match" holiday tree people, you're my kind of parent. The more nursery school Santas and one-eyed reindeer the better in my book.

With the economy, well. . . you know what the economy is like . . . this year we'll be decorating the tree in a way that's both nostalgic AND futuristic. Think shrinky dinks (remember those?) from recycled plastic.

Instead of picking up the sheets of shrinkable plastic from a retro toy store online, rescue clear #6 plastic from your recycling bin (it's usually in the form of those single-serve take-out boxes from restaurants, salad bar containers or those the grocery stores use to store strawberries and blueberries).

Cut off the excess plastic so you have a flat sheet to work on, pour out a pile of markers and let them have at. Have your cookie cutters out to make holiday cookies? Trace around them, and let them add their embellishments. Let them write out a holiday message . . . whatever. Then cut around the picture. Make sure you cut a small hole near the topto later slip a string through to hang the ornament on your tree.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and drop the rack to the lowest spot it can go in the oven. Create a "tray" out of aluminum foil, and place the kids' plastic pictures across it - just make sure you keep the pieces spaced an inch apart.

The plastic will start to get wavy in the oven, but it will flatten out, shrinking to about one third of the original size and nine times the original thickness. For a piece that's about six inches across, cooking time is about three and a half minutes - a little less for smaller pictures. You can keep an eye on the plastic through the oven door and take it out after it's finished the shrinking process and flattened out. Remove carefully (using tongs) - when the plastic is still hot, it is still relatively pliable.

Stick your string through after the "ornament" is cool, and commence decorating.

Image: Playlibrary

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Crafty: Make a Green Owl With "Oh My GAWD" Janice from Friends

JeanneSager — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:32:00 GMT

The time, the late nineties. The setting, a coffee shop with couches that were mysteriously always free at just the right time. The characters, "OHHH MY Gawwwwd, Chandler. My Bing-a-ling." Yes, that was the first reaction when I caught the first episode of a new kids crafting show starring one-time Friends star Maggie Wheeler. Fortunately, she has a way with a unicorn-shaped tube of glue.

My second thought? It's the playhouse, but where's PeeWee? Turns out the show, Magpie Time, is the brainchild of a group of creative Hollywood types that includes Ric Heitzman, three-time Emmy Award-winning production designer on PeeWee's Playhouse. OK, that 'splains it. But Janice? Turns out Maggie Wheeler (who has done her fair share of highly respectable gigs in Tinsel Town, even though that shriek still sends chills down my spine) is a mom of two and long-time crafter.

The clip, made available by Boing-Boing, shows she's got the stuff to spin turntables from cereal boxes and maybe make ratings gold from recycled garbage?

First up, a green take on making an owl:

Take one fast food restaurant or coffee shop cup tray, three paper coffee cup sleeves, cup stirrers and two cup lids.
Cut the bottom off two of the cup-wells in the tray (make sure they are two that are side by side). The cut-out pieces will be used later, so be careful to save at least one well.
Cut a slit up the side of each cup sleeve so it can be stretched out into a straight sheet of paper.
Spread two across the cut-out space in the cup tray and glue in place. If there is significant hangover, feel free to trim.
Cut a triangular shape from one of the cut-out cup wells and glue on top of the upper sleeve, positioned between the two remaining cup wells, to serve as a nose.
Cut two wing shapes from the remaining cup sleeve, and glue one to either side of the tray.
Glue a cup lid to each of the wells to serve as eyes.
At the opposite end of the tray, along the edge, you will need to find space for two clumps of stirrers sticks that will serve as the owl's feet. Three sticks, fanned out, are sufficient for one foot. The same can be done for the second.
Feel free to gussy her up with glitter, paint or whatever strikes your fancy. Whooooo are we to judge?

Need some more help? Watch ~~Janice~~ Magpie making fast work of night-time bird crafts. Because this is just a teaser for the show, beware she skips ahead, so be prepared to hit pause (and sometimes rewind the clip).

The Official Magpie Time sizzle reel from Magpie Time on Vimeo.

Image: Magpie

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Greenhouse: Bottled Water Is Evil (?)

Amy Kuras — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:31:00 GMT

Remember back in the 1980s when suddenly, it seemed, everybody was lugging around a bottle of water ala Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally? Now, you can’t have a meeting, party or soccer game without those little individual bottles of water resting on ice or in the fridge.

But those inviting little bottles of hydration are super bad for the environment, not to mention being economically nsustianable as well. That water (which is usually just tap water, by the by) has to get pumped from somewhere. It's been a big issue here in Michigan, which doesn't have much, but we do have water galore.

There are issues with water depletion (right now, you can't pump large amounts of water out of the Great Lakes, but put that same amount of water in 16 oz bottles and truck it to Arizona and it's fine), the gas used to truck the bottles, and the waste created by all those one- or two-serving containers everywhere.

According to this article on Alternet, tap water has 1/100th of the environmental impact of bottled water. Add to that that it's almost free, readily available, usually delicious (and can be chilled and filtered to taste better) and you can up your green chic quotient considerably by carrying a Sigg or Klean Kanteen versus the BPA-laced Nalgene bottles, and more and more people are starting to go for the tap.

It's not perfect – I have two bottles I rotate and I leave them behind more often than I should, especially since my diaper bag has a big pocket made especially for toting a water bottle. And most plastic commercial bottles are easily recyclable – my gym even has a collection box just for this pruose. If the choice is between, say, bottled water or a pop, go ahead and take the water, I think. Bit if it's between sticking with bottled or taking the extra 5 minutes to wash and fill your own bottles, the choice seems like a no-brainer to me.

Crafty: Fun with To-Go Containers

Adrienne Martini — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:00:00 GMT

If your kitchen is like mine, there is an avalanche of plastic to-go containers every time you open certain cabinets, this is the craft for you. If you are a far more organized or don't do takeout, well, it's still a pretty cool project.

It turns out you can use #6 plastic for shrinky dinks. My love of shrinky dinks knows few boundaries and the discovery that I can combine them and recycling is nothing short of life changing.

You may have more going on in your life, which means you might only find this craft neat. Still, neat is better than nothing, especially on a rainy July day when all you have in your house are bored kids, sharpies and superfluous plastic containers.

Photo credit: Dot

Greenhouse: Don't Make These Recycling Mistakes

Amy Kuras — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:33:00 GMT

Must be nice to live somewhere with curbside recycling. We don’t have it in my city, so we have to load up the family truckster and actually take the stuff to a center. I think if you have someone actually come to your actual house and haul away stuff and all you have to do it put it in a bin? You'd better be recycling. I mean come on, it cannot possibly be any harder than tossing stuff in the trash.

But according to this post on Green Daily, even the most well meaning recyclers make mistakes. Broken glass, for example, is difficult to sort and should be trashed instead of recycled (I did not know this, although we trash it anyway because we sort recycling into big open kid-height bins in our small kitchen and like to minimize the emergency room visits due to sliced-open little fingers). Also, any sort of food-stained cardboard like pizza boxes is no good (husband, I'm looking at you).

And there are lots of paper products that frequently make their way into recycling that don’t belong there, like stickers, waxed paper, and "sanitary products" (ewww ewww ewww — do people seriously need to be told this?).

I've yet to see a human being at the place we bring our stuff, but many recycling centers are staffed, or you can ask the friendly folk who pick up your bin from the curb, should you be so lucky. A quick call to your city's public works department would also clarify what's recycling friendly and what isn't.

Have You Been "Greenwashed"?

Amy S.F. Lutz — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:06:00 GMT

Given that so many people are interested in reducing their carbon footprints, it's not surprising that travelers today want to make greener choices when they plan their vacations. A recent Travelocity study found that nearly 75% of travelers said they would pay more for more environmentally-friendly options.

Don't think the travel industry hasn't figured this out. In fact, there's a word for the kind of manipulation done by companies to convince customers they're concerned about the environment when the commitment is entirely superficial: greenwashing.

Examples of greenwashing include policies with little impact that actually save the companies money, like re-using towels or switching to more energy-efficient lightbulbs, or merely follow the law, like recycling.

If you're really interested in choosing an environmentally-conscious provider, you can start by looking for an objective rating, such as the one by the Green Building Initiative, which awards "Green Globes" to "validate a resort's commitment to everything from greenhouse gas emissions to land-use planning." But there's no industry-wide ratings system for other travel companies, such as rental car companies or airlines - at least, not yet.

Really, what it comes down to is doing your research and not depending on the glossy brochures. The Rainforest Alliance, which also gives out green certifications to travel companies, suggests that you ask questions about impact, such as specific water and energy conservation policies and waste management procedures. Also find out whether the resort or hotel supports any initiatives benefitting the local community, and the percentage of the company's staff that's hired locally.

So, bon voyage, and don't forget to leave the plastic water bottles at home!

Crafty: Old Games, New Bag

Adrienne Martini — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:00:00 GMT

In my house, games have a brief but glorious life. New ones are so beloved that the children will carry pieces or cards or tokens forever or, more likely, until they lose it. Some future archeologist will have a field day with our heating vents, which is where I suspect the bulk of lost things go.

All of these missing bits make the games almost unplayable most of the time. It'd be nice to do something with the remains rather than just chuck them in the trash.

Enter this tutorial from Craft Bits. Recycling and duct tape are two great tastes that go great together. Green Crafter Autumn Wiggins comes up with a couple of spins on the idea.

Just keep in mind that any activity that involves duct tape should be preceded by removing all pets from the immediate area. Craft safe, y'all.

7 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day With the Children

Cole Gamble — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Yep, Earth Day is next Tuesday the 22nd. Earth Day has been around for decades; it's funny to think of how many went by with hardly anyone noticing. Now, however, Earth Day is a pretty big deal, if for no better reason than to teach your kids about good sustainable practices and the importance of the global climate. Let's face it, our generation is trying to do better, but we are not going to do a 180. We've had cars, lived in suburbs and enjoyed apples flown in from Paraguay during the dead of winter for too long to give it all up. Yes, you bring a reusable shopping bag to the grocery store, good for you. Our kids are going to have to make far greater sacrifices, especially if the way we treat the earth now doesn't change.

The only way this earth will be saved from ruin is if future generations are ingrained with a respectful attitude and good habits toward the environment from the get go. So with that in mind, here are seven simple, fun and eco-smart activities you and your kid can do this earth day…

Here’s a couple to get you started: planting a tree with your child, making a bird feeder and creating recycling bins. The full list is here.

Out of all the seven tips included in the list, the one I like best is leaving the car at home one day and walking your kid to school. If this is something you can feasibly do, imagine the talk you can have about respecting the environment while you pass through it. Hell, I wish I could walk to work everyday.

Photo: www.searchtrends.org

Greenhouse: Recycling-Bin Crafts

Amy Kuras — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:31:00 GMT

Crafts are fun, for some of us super awesome parents. Then there's people like me, who are either spending a small fortune on new stuff or finding ourselves stuck with five blue markers and all the pink ones dried beyond salvaging, crusty glue and goopy paint.

But the green mantra of "reduce, reuse, recycle" is especially apt for kids crafts. Raiding the recycling bin can yield project starters like yogurt cups, paper towel rolls and egg cartons that can be turned into all kinds of things (my level of creativity is mostly "Look! A flower pot! A telescope! A home for, um, egg people!" but YMMV).

Luckily, there are some really creative parents out there coming up with some cool stuff to do with odds and ends around the house and sharing with the less inspired among us. One of those is Donna Erickson, a TV host and blogger with the St Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota. If you've got an old CD and a mustard bottle headed for the recyling bin, you can make and decorate a spinning top. Or, (and this is awesome) balloon hovercraft, anyone?

Crafty: New Uses For Old Things, II

Adrienne Martini — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:00:00 GMT

My only crafty crayon recycling idea involves heaping all of the nubbins into a pot, melting them down, and molding the wax into a new uber-crayon. Almost needless to say, it would be foolish for me to try this idea at home. You can be your own judge of your patience and skill.

Whether or not you ever try yourself, you have to admit that Diem Chau's crayon carvings are insanely cool. Chau takes her inspiration for these sculptures from Depression Era Folk Art and the thriftiness it represented. Crayons became one of her chosen mediums when she was just starting out and money was tight.

If your own attempts at Crayola totems aren't working out, Chau does take commissions. No, I don't know if you get to pick your own color.

Strollerderby Playdate: Crunchy kids and eco-fams

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:02:00 GMT

There's a lot of talk about carbon footprints and bicycling on the internets these days, friends, and if you're not busy changing your lightbulbs and cranking up the hybrid car (that's how they work, right?), well...then you should at least be reading blog posts about people who are loving up the Earth from inside their homes (that's your cue to turn down the AC, lovies). This week, these bloggers make me feel like natural living:

Sewing with Cafemama at UrbanMamas.Take that, foamy craft projects!

Airing clean (suuuuuure) laundry with Who's the Boss.

Book recycling with Magpie Musing (honor system, y'all...it doesn't get more friendly than that!).

Looking smokin' hawt in hemp shoes with Mom Go Green.

Planetary partying at Eco-street.

GreenHouse: Is Pee-Cycling the (Yellow) Wave of the Future?

Alisyn — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:11:00 GMT

I'll just come out with it straight away: This is a post about recycling urine - or rather the phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium in urine - for agricultural purposes. Too hell with the fancy, schmancy composter - let's hear it for pee-cycling! (O, how I wish I'd coined that phrase...)

Phosphorus is an extremely important agricultural fertilizer, and like many of our other natural resources, its stores are depleting. But urine is one of the richest sources of concentrated phosphorus in the world, and we humans are each making 100 gallons of it per year. So you can take yourself right outside and pee all over your tomatoes and lettuce, if you are the D.I.Y.-type, or you can order one of these handy urine-separating toilets for your home, which funnel this liquid gold into a holding tank, which, when full, is picked up by "urine reclamation" specialists. After standing for 6 months - to kill bugs or bacteria that may have been picked up on the way out of the body - the tanks are emptied all over some lucky farmer's crops. I'm not sure how advisable a D.I.Y.-version of the holding tank would be, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some hardcore green livers out there who devised their own systems. A low-impact and resourceful, if only a little funky-smelling, way to make that garden grow! Not surprisingly, those oh-so-progressive Swedes are all over this one.

While restocking the world's oil supply is hopeless, and getting the federal government to recognize and help reverse the process of global warming seems far fetched, replenishing the world's phosphorus supply is as easy as taking a leak. You gotta love that. How long do you think it'll be 'til we can score urine-separating toilets from Ikea?

Earth Day: 50 Tips For You And Your Family

Patti — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:25:00 GMT

Becoming a parent has turned me from a lip-service-paying dilettante into an actual tree-hugging freak, my heavy disposable razor blade habit notwithstanding. I used to care about the planet, now I actually try to find ways to show that I do. Things like DivineCaroline's list of 50 Green Tips are useful, because no matter how many things on the list that you're already doing, there are bound to be a few that you're not, but could be. Like, I might be the last eco-mama to get on board with Tip 7, Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs, which is criminal given that I live within walking distance from an Ikea.

Several of the things on the list actually make a parents' life easier: cutting back on junk mail (Tip 16) and getting bills sent and paid electronically (Tip 26) not only saves trees, but it eliminated one of the major sources of clutter in our house, leaving more clear spaces for Polly Pocket shoes to collect. Using eco-friendly cleaning products (Tip 42) or better yet, making your own from vinegar and other household staples (Tip 21) both saves money and relieves the fear of having your child take a swig of Scrubbing Bubbles. Tip 22 might be controversial though: if you have a baby, consider using cloth diapers. There's a school of thought that the chemicals, power, and water necessary to sanitize cloth diapers brings its own set of problems, and I have a feeling that this is ultimately something for which you'll have to follow your gut (too bad that diaper recycling thing seems like such a bust).

Tip 27 is Teach kids about the environment, but so many of the tips are fantastic ways to teach by doing. My four-year-old is on Reusable Grocery Bag patrol, charged with helping remind me to bring them into the store from the trunk and with helping me remember to return them to the trunk when we get home. She takes this job seriously to the extent that one day she had a complete meltdown when she realized we'd forgotten the bags at home. And my three-year-old is already a champion sorter of paper, plastic and bottles. Both kids are itching to move to a neighborhood where we can safely bike to more places. We talk in age-appropriate ways about not wasting resources and about reusing what we can, and we'll keep building on that as our family gets older.

What environmentalists practices has your family adopted? Anything on the list sound like something worth picking up?

(photo credit: University of Oregon)

New Harry Potter Book Will Kill Fewer Trees

Patti — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:35:00 GMT

At 784 pages and millions of preordered copies around the world, the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter saga stands to destroy a lot of forests. But don't feel guilty about buying it: The first US edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be printed on recycled paper. This marks the single largest purchase of sustainably produced paper used in a single book printing--not so surprising, given that the first US print run will be twelve million books.

My kids are nowhere near old enough even to listen to these stories, so I have no excuse for how excited I am about this book. Maybe now I can chalk it up to my fierce devotion to environmental causes.

Of course, you can preorder the book at Amazon. You know, for your kids. And for the planet.

(via Naturemoms Blog)

The Compact - Anti-Consumerism For the Post-Millennium Era

Karen Murphy — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 14:30:00 GMT

A new wave of anti-consumerism is overtaking the land, and proponents call it The Compact. It began innocently enough, with a group of 10 middle-class San Francisco-area friends deciding a year ago to spend one year buying nothing new. No HDTVs, no digital cameras, no Tickle Me Elmos. Everything other than food, essential toiletries like toothpaste and shampoo, underwear and a few other things had to be purchased used or bartered or found.

Participants discovered old and new ways to obtain things they needed. Sites like Craigslist and Freecycle as well as the old thrift-store standby became their new shopping malls, and participants, after an initial period of retail withdrawal , found they had more money and a new appreciation for the “stuff” they had.

Like this idea? Think you can give up your Barnes & Noble and Baby Gap for a year? It’s not too late to join the wave for 2007. There’s a Yahoo Group devoted to it as well as many local groups around the country. Me? I'm always looking for new ways to stick it to Wal-Mart, and this one seems quite satisfying. Dare me? I will if you will. (Wait. Does that laptop I've been coveting count? Or...)

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The Compact - Anti-Consumerism For the Post-Millennium Era