Go Green with Amazon Kindle 2.0

Books are great educational tools. They seem to have been around forever. But as you all know, you don’t make paper out of thin air. You’ve got trees that need to be cut down to pave the way for companies to provide you with the paper that makes up your books. To be fair to some of these companies, they have become more efficient with their processes, and they are trying to reduce their pressure on our environment, but at the end of the day, there is no need to kill trees to have books when you have gadgets such as Amazon Kindle.

Amazon Kindle 2.0 is a great gadget that is designed for people who want to carry hundreds of e-books with them. The E-ink technology gives you a book-like reading experience, and best of all you won’t need paper to read on Kindle.  Kindle 2.0 is highly portable and even slimmer than the iPhone. It also allows you to gain access to the Internet at all times, whether you are in California or Boston. You can buy e-books right from Amazon Kindle store, and you will receive them in less than 60 seconds right on your Kindle.

The display is very easy to read as it boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images. Your device can last for 2 weeks between each charge as long as you keep the wireless feature off. And the 5-way controller gives you a better navigational control, allowing you to flip through pages easier. And if you are too lazy to read your book, you can use the Read-To-Me feature to have Kindle read your books for to you. If you have an iPhone, you can now sync your Kindle content and consume your Kindle books on your iPhone as well.

Kindle 2.0 is not only a great gadget, it helps save the environment too. Think about how many paper books that we won’t be needing if we start adopting new e-book technologies. Let’s not forget that you won’t get the always-on Wikipedia and an Internet connection with a paper book. Overall, if you are looking for a gadget that helps you read more and save the environment in the process, you should consider getting a Kindle 2.0.

Is Al Gore Hurting The Green Movement?

Al Gore has certainly managed to polarize the nation in the past few years. The issue of global warming and climate change is something very real. But a lot of folks in the conservative movement folks are using Al Gore as a target to undermine the merits of this movement. Folks such as Newt Gingrich have dismissed the issue of climate change as a liberal propoganda to get more taxes out of small and big businesses. It’s true that there will be some costs for going green in this country, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try our best to move forward. The climate is changing fast and regardless of which camp you are in, there is no question that we need to avoid harming where we live — planet Earth.

Newt, at some point we are going to get to that point of no return. We may have already passed it. Are there people who’ll make money out of this issue? No doubt! But that’s the case with any movement. That doesn’t mean we should keep harming our earth.

Which side are you on?

Six Degrees Could Change the World

I don’t know about you but I am a big fan of National Geographic channel. Instead of hearing the doom and gloom that you usually hear on Fox News or MSNBC, you actually get to learn about new things and ways you can save the environment. Six Degrees Could Change the World is a special program on NGEO that addresses the issue of climate change. Whether you are an advocate of the global warming movement or just not completely sold, you can ignore the fact that the climate change is in the horizon. That’s earth’s natural cycle, and we can expect strange days (weather-wise) ahead. 6 Degrees Could Change the World addresses the issue of climate change that could happen by 2100.

I was very impressed about how a single degree change can affect our planet. You’d be surprised how many things could go wrong if our temprature rises by the slightest of margins. Now we may not see a 6 degree increase by 2100, but it’s interesting to contemplate what would happen to our green planet if the temperature increased just a little. I am not a fan of doom and gloom scenarios, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared.

3 Green Books You Should Read

The green market is heating up, and the more reading you do, the easier you can stay on the top of things. While there are a lot of blogs that you can read on a daily basis to stay in toch with the latest developments in this industry, there are still a lot of books that provide you with a lot more information that you wouldn’t normally get on blogs. The dummies series may be a bit funny, but I have personally found some of the best books on various topics in the dummies series. The same can be said about Eco books. Here are 3 top green for dummies books that have been released recently:

1. Green Your Home for Dummies: Green Your Home for Dummies is one of the most comprehensive books on this topic. It shows you exactly how to go green in your daily life without breaking the bank. If you are new to this game and are looking for ways to help save the environment and live a green life, this is one book to consider.

2. Organic Gardening for Dummies: Organic Gardening for Dummies is a cool book that shows you how to develop your own environment-friendly garden. A lot of people know how to garden, but there are practices that you need to pay attention to to save the environment. This book teaches you how to do that exactly.

3. Green Business Practices For Dummies: Green Business Practices For Dummies is a great book for small business owners that want to help save the environment while conducting their business. A lot of companies are realizing the benefits of going green these days. Green IT is a field that is on the rise, and that’s only scratching the surface. There are many ways to save money conducting business and help save the environment as well. This book teaches you how!

Honorable mentions: Green IT for Dummies, Socially Responsible Investing For Dummies, Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies

Go Green with Lutron Skylark Eco-Dim Dimmer

Everybody wants to save money these days. I have talked about in the past how you can use DIY green guides to go solar and save money that way. But not everyone’s is prepared to go that far. If that is the case with you, you can always spend less energy and save money that way. One way to save money on your electricity bill is by using a dimmer. A dimmer is a device that lets you turn your lights dim and save energy in the process.

Lutron Skylark Eco-Dim Dimmer is a gadget that lets you dim your lights and save a lot of money in the process. By dimming your lights to 50%, you are going to save a lot of energy. And you are going to increase the life of your bulbs as well. I got to admit. When I first heard about this dimmer, I was a little bit skeptical. After all, dimming my lights by 50% just seemed unrealistic. But you’d be surprised what you can get away with by using these dimmers. And the more places you use these dimmers, the more money you save.

Lutron Skylark Eco-Dim Dimmer is very easy to install. It took me about 30 minutes to get this to work. The instructions are simple to follow, and you don’t have to be an electrician to put this to work. Best of all, you can turn the Eco mode off if you prefer. Overall, if you want to save money on your energy bills without going solar, you can always try going dimmer. It can save you a decent amount of money, and it’s very easy to do.

The Reality of Earth Day Savings

I have always believed that we should do everything that we can to help the planet and go green. Not a lot of people are willing to take a chance on green technologies in these tough economic times. It’s always nice to see companies offer savings to folks who may be interested in adopting Eco-friendly technologies but don’t want to spend too much money, but we need companies such as Amazon to treat every day as Earth Day. To its credit, Amazon has created a green portal to let folks find green products easier, but a lot of companies still haven’t jumped on the green movement’s bandwagon.

The green movement is not about being part of an exclusive club. It’s about saving the planet. There is no question many companies join the green movement to gain some goodwill back. There is nothing wrong with that. But going green is more than giving your design a more green makeover. It’s about what you do to help the consumers adopt green technologies and help save the earth. Unfortunately, not a lot of companies get it!

Your take: In your opinion, what company has the best green promotions?

Meet 2010 Toyota Prius

I remember when I got my Prius 2007 a couple of years go. It was and still is the best car I have ever owned. Not having to put gas in it too often is a plus, and the car works great. But Prius 2010 has simply made me regret buying Prius 2007. Not only it is more energy efficient, Prius 2010 comes with a solar roof package that adds a power tilt/slide moon-roof along with a solar powered ventilation system which uses an electric fan to help keep the vehicle cooler when parked under the sun. The advanced technology system even parallel parks you car all by itself. Prius 2010– (model ZVW30) is one heck of a car. Now if only it were cheap.

Your take: what Prius 2010 feature is exciting to you the most?

Green Your Home For Dummies Review

The tough economic times have been a blessing in disguise for a lot of folks. A lot of people are hurting, and that has made them make adjustments to how they live their lives. One of the best ways to save money is by going green. And I am not just talking about going solar or using wind energy to power up your home. There are a lot of ways to go green and save money at the same time. And unlike what most people think, you are not going to have to settle for less with these technologies.

Green Your Home is a new book by the folks behind the “For Dummies” series that shows you exactly how to go green and save a lot of money in the process. I was very impressed how simple the book is to follow. You don’t have to be a green engineer to put into practice some of the tips that you learn in this book. By following the tips in this book, you can start saving money and save the planet as well.

What’s Covered?

This book not only shows you how to use solar energy to save money but also how to go about teaching your kids a greener lifestyle. You also learn how to remodel your house without breaking the bank. Here is what’s covered in this book:

• Green energy saving tips
• Solar power tips
• Green cleaning solutions
• Organic gardening tips
• Green food choices
• Tips for financing solar investments
• Tips on how to raise ecoconscious kids

Green Your Home for Dummies is not one of those books that you can finish in a weekend. It’s a comprehensive book that shows you how to get started with green technologies. No matter how advanced you are in the game, you are going to pick up some valuable nuggets here.

Sony P: Portable and Eco Friendly

There are a lot of shiny, sleek gadgets on the market, but not all of them are environment friendly. Take the first generation iPhone. It was a revolutionary gadget, but it wasn’t exactly setting the world abuzz for being Eco-friendly. So it’s not everyday that you see a super gadget that helps save the environment as well. But Sony has decided to adopt a green strategy with its popular Sony P netbook. Sony P laptops are not only sleek and powerful, but they are Energy Star and RoHS compliant as well.

Sony P is a green netbook that is designed for folks who are constantly on the go. Netbooks are highly portable laptops that are designed for producing and consume content on the Internet. Sony VAIO Lifestyle PC comes with an 8″ screen that is no too small to read things but not too big to take away from the device’s portability. Among all the netbooks that I have reviewed, Lifestyle has undoubtedly the best screen quality. You also get a decent CPU, 2 GB Ram, and a decent-size hard drive (60 GB) with your Sony P. Sony P comes equipped with the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500 integrated graphics chip, which uses shared video memory (up to 760 MB allocated from the system memory). It has an integrated audio card with Intel High Definition Audio and a headphone jack. You can connect to the Internet through a wireless N adapter, so you’ll have enough Internet speed to get your work done. You can also use the web cam to join video conferences or video-blog while you are on the go. Bluetooth is also supported. Who wouldn’t love the GPS that you get with this portable netbook?

What I like about Sony P is that not only it comes packed with lots of useful features, it helps save the environment too. Sony Lifestyle  is Energy Star 4.0 certified, and has received a Silver EPEAT designation for meeting the proper environment protection standards. It’s also RoHS-compliant. Overall, if you are looking for a super portable laptop that is environment friendly too, you won’t go wrong with Sony P Lifestyle.

Bissell 1400B ECO Deep Cleaner

Who says we don’t have enough green cleaners around. Bissell 1400B Little Green Multi-Purpose Compact Earth-Friendly Deep Cleaner is a green gadget that helps you keep your car clean without harming the environment in the process. But don’t limit its use to your car. You can keep your house clean as well by using this cool cleaner.

This cleaner is made from post-consumer recycled plastic, and comes with Eco-friendly packaging. A lot of folks complain about green gadgets not being as powerful as their non-ECO counterparts. I didn’t see such a problem with Bissell 1400B. The device is very powerful and can remove tough stains and spills. The Little Green will remove tough odors in dirt, dander, and other soils from pets, so that’s another bonus. You can also clean all kinds of carpets with it.

I was personally impressed with the power of this little machine. It’s very convenient to use, and it is an all-in-one cleaning system. And best of all, it’s not that expensive. If you are looking for a deep cleaner for your house or RV and want to help protect the environment too, Bissell 1400B ECO Deep Cleaner is a good choice to consider.

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