Show You Love Your Computer...By Keeping It

Even among TreeHuggers, computers have a sadly short lifespan.

With the holidays rapidly approaching and so much temptation to go out and buy a shiny new computer, we thought it was worth putting up a fun little reminder that your computer can last a really, really long time as long as you show it the love it deserves.

Read on for some stats and tips to help you nurture a long term, committed relationship with your computer.

The LoveThe1YoureWith website notes that the energy required to produce a new computer is enough to run a computer for 10 years, and the energy saved by extending the life of your computer by a year could run it for 2 years.

By doing a few quick fixes, you can keep your computer happy and lighten your environmental load. Defragment your hard drive regularly, reinstall the operating system or switch to Linux, add RAM, treat the battery right, uninstall programs you never use, and most importantly, be patient.

If you have more tips, please leave it in the comments. We want to learn and share as many tips and tricks as possible.

LIFE Photo Archive

http://images.google.com/hosted/life

Anyone can type in a simple image search into Google, but this new
initiative sponsored by both LIFE and Google takes these searches to a whole
new (and rather interesting) level.

Working together, the two businesses brought together several million images from the 1750s to the present day. Many of the images have never been seen before, and it's quite a bit of fun just to look around their offerings.

On the site's homepage, visitors can browse photos by decade, or by a set of basic categories that include "People", "Places", "Events", and "Sports". These categories include everything from Jacqueline Kennedy to the Winter Olympics.

If visitors like certain shots, they also have the option to purchase various prints from the site.

It's also a bit fun to type in any number of phrases to see what they
offer, such as "medicine ball", "lacrosse", or "Robert Maynard Hutchins".

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2008.
http://scout.wisc.edu/

Curing Colds

from the Farmer's Almanac

A common saying about a cold is that it “lasts for a week if you treat it, seven days if you don’t.” As amusing and true as that may be, it’s not fun to have a cold. What can we do to help our bodies through this seven-day healing process so that we can savor the joys of the season?

1. Drink plenty of fluids to keep your body hydrated during times of dry indoor air.

2. Hot soups (chicken, of course) clear nasal passages. Try Granny’s Best Chicken Soup steaming hot and seasoned with garlic.

3. Herbal teas bring relief. Rose hip tea is full of vitamin C.

4. Eating foods heavy in garlic, onion, or horseradish may aide recovery as well.

5. To ward off spreading colds during the holidays, wash your hands frequently!

See more herbal cold remedies as well as ways to avoid colds and the flu before they start!

Simply stay warm, rested, and wait. In seven days, we all have the same amount of time!

Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings. –Publius Syrus (c. 42 B.C.)

5 Reusable Water Bottles Better Than Recyclable Paper Bottles

From Treehugger.com

In the effort to kick the water bottle habit, we’re open to all suggestions on alternative water containers. But that doesn't mean we like anything that isn't a disposable plastic bottle.

There is a new product idea getting attention called the 360 bottle that uses paper instead. But it doesn’t appear to be any sort of ideal solution. While the containers are made of recyclable paper, it is still a disposable product and therefore far more wasteful than any solution we would prefer.

Read on for five better ideas that area already on the market for water bottles at Treehugger

Buy Nothing Day: A Memorial

Kalle Lasn, co-founder of Adbusters, whose brain child is the Buy Nothing Day campaign recently wrote. "It's our culture of excess and meaningless consumption - the glorified spending and borrowing of the past decade that's at the root of the crisis we now find ourselves in." The crisis that it would lead to people lining up all night, just to save a few bucks on some junk at Wal-Mart. TH Lloyd thinks we do need a Buy-Nothing Day, if for no other reason than to honour the memory of Jdimytai Damour, the Wal-Mart employee who was crushed to death, as shoppers stampeded for their precious cheap stuff. :: more ::

from Treehugger.com

Some more Quotations

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you
believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you
think."

-- From A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh

"There are no classes in life for beginners: right away you
are always asked to deal with what is most difficult."

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

"Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture
of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously.
Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the
picture... Do not build up obstacles in your imagination."

-- Norman Vincent Peale

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you
help them to become what they are capable of being."

-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"I believe that uncertainty is really my spirit's way of
whispering: I'm in flux. I can't decide for you. Something is
off-balance here."

-- Oprah Winfrey

"One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to
beat him at politeness."

-- Josh Billings

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test
first, the lesson afterwards."

-- Vernon Sanders Law

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with
others."

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Girl Scouts Perform Energy Audits

Being a Girl Scout has come a long way from making jewelry out of tree bark and safety pins and selling cookies. And it’s a good thing, too.

On November 22, 25 Girl Scout Juniors and Cadettes participated in a day-long camp focused on improving energy efficiency in buildings. They learned the bulk of the lessons by performing an energy audit of the Math and Science Center and the Program Center at Camp Dellwood in Indianapolis, IN.

However, the training is intended to do more than just teach about energy efficiency.

The scouts used Trane’s Energy Analyzer Software to determine the efficiency of the buildings, based on everything from lights to air conditioning to windows. They also got a chance to conduct experiments on energy efficiency, and learn about the different engineering specialties that create the different parts of buildings and their efficiency improvements.

Have to admit, I’m a bit jealous. Makes you kinda want to be a Girl Scout for a day. And makes you proud of the next gen of girls – apparently they’re an “untapped resource.”

"Girls are the single greatest untapped resource for engineering talent in this country," said Sommer. "They make their decisions on whether or not they want to pursue math and science-related fields by the time they're in middle school. We need to get to them early with options on how engineering can be fun and how it can truly make a difference on the economy and environment."

Yaaaay! It’s a relief to hear that kind of encouragement. It only means even more hope for the planet in the future with young people getting this kind of training early.

seen at Treehugger.com