I am still without a working camera, so I’ll be posting some old shots, as wells as my favorite no-known-copyright photographs from the Library of Congress. No comment on how much time I regularly spend sifting through historic photographs, I think we’ve well established how much of a nerd I am already.
On to the weekend reading…
Apparently it costs the New York Times twice as much to print the newspaper as it would to send each subscriber a free Kindle. Brilliant! Although the green-ness of the Kindle is debatable, I’m happy to accept a free one from any quarter…
37 Ways to Reuse Clothing. My favorite: making mittens out of old sweaters (cut the arms off first to make draft dodgers!)
I think this is the fifth time I’ve brought up this article, but I love it so much: Ed Begley Jr. and Bill Nye are eco-neighbors, competing to one-up each other on the eco-front. Summoning the same sense of eco-competition, some utility companies are grading customers based on peer performance. Some use smiley faces vs. frowny faces, while others give a percentage. This practice is based on a study which
left different messages on doorknobs in a middle-class neighborhood north of San Diego. One type urged the residents to conserve energy to save the earth for future generations; another emphasized financial savings. But the only kind of message to have any significant effect, Dr. Cialdini said, was one that said neighbors had already taken steps to curb their energy use.
“It is fundamental and primitive,” said Dr. Cialdini, who owns a stake in Positive Energy. “The mere perception of the normal behavior of those around us is very powerful.”
I love it! County vs. county, state vs. state…who doesn’t love winning?
PETA plays race card at dog show. I’m not even going to explain it, you’ll just have to read it for yourself. As an environmentalist, I have to say I find PETA vaguely embarrassing, but they know how to get attention.
CFLs vs. LEDs vs. incandescents: Which is the best deal overall?
Local mom does eco-good: East Coast Greening is a Delaware business run by moms, educating families on how to detox their homes. Even better, their business is steadily growing… proving that going green is possible even in a down economy.
On the same note, organic food sales are on the rise. In the wake of all the food recalls, discovering that there’s mercury in high fructose corn syrup, and I don’t even know what all, are people starting to consider where their food comes from and what goes into it?
“Mommy, Are We Poor?” An interesting article on how the recession might be good for providing youth with perspective.
Report claims video games are good for kids, boosting creativity, cooperation, and strategic reflection. Right. Also boosts nervous jitters, sibling bickering, and all-around ability to irritate parental units. (P.S. I wrote this article. Leave me a comment?)
Finally, help Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology learn more about bird populations by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend! Click here for details.
That’s all folks! Have a good weekend!
All right, I also left a comment on your article! But I wanted to say I really do enjoy your Weekend Reading posts when I get the time to read them.
I also think the line in the "Mommy, are we poor?" article speculating about the nature of childhood is thought-provoking: "How does being indulged in sheer entertainment for your entire childhood affect your drive, empathy and engagement?" I saw a sentence earlier that said something about how long it took before people figured out that childhood needs to be treated differently than adulthood, but do we treat it too differently? Good question to think about for parents, I suppose.