greenlagirl's blog

1. Get out and drink. Take advantage of St. Patty's deals at your local green watering hole. Opt for local breweries -- or local bars and restaurants that serve organic beer! 2. Or drink at home. Stephanie Rogers at Earth First has a list of organic brews to pick from. Or throw a party and get some local keg beer, which Slate's Green Lantern is the greenest beer container -- as long as you drink from reusable glasses.

Made a resolution to drop a few pounds in 2010? If you followed a popular, highly-marketed diet -- say, one that basically encourages you to buy sugary milk that could be contaminated with diarrhea-causing bacteria -- you've probably given up by now.

Ask many a driver why she doesn't take public transit, and a good number will cite safety reasons. While I think this safety issue's often overblown by the Prius-driving neighbors in my Santa Monica neighborhood who drive around midday with the excuse that bus stops can be dangerous in the middle of the night, both real and perceived dangers can certainly keep people -- especially women -- from taking to our public transit systems.

When quitting bad, un-eco habits, I tend not to be a cold turkey kind of person. Smoking's a polluting habit that slowly died out after college. My job in a New York City high-rise didn't make for easy smoke breaks, and my move to smoker-unfriendly California snuffed out the cancer sticks for good.

Did you know your microwave uses up more power when you're not using it than when you are? Yes, the microwave draws a lot of energy when you start nuking something, but the vast majority of the time, the machine's sitting idle while slowly sipping energy to light up its display. According to Umbra at Grist, that slow, daily sip ends up being about 80% of the energy your appliance consumes!