You’re not going to hear this from my figurative lips very often, but HP and WalMart have done something that may change the packaging world. How? By not using packaging at all.

These new laptops from HP ship in a messenger bag. When you buy it, you get the laptop pre-packed into the bag with no plastic, no cardboard. Pretty good idea, if you actually use the bag. If you’re not a messenger bag type of person, then wasting an entire laptop bag is probably worse than recycling a cardboard box, but you can always give it away.

I know, I know… “Another Pickens Plan video, Jimmy?  Really?”

Yes.  Really.  There are a lot of people who say we can cut dependence on oil.  There’s Pickens, Gore, Obama, and even McCain.  They all have plans.

Pickens is the only one putting out regular updates, continuously updating the research, and putting out pithy television ads.  He also understands the power of the internet, and the power of viral marketing.  I, with all of the above, believe that our homes and vehicles can be more efficient and use alternate energies.  Here’s the latest spot from Pickens, and Gore, McCain, and Obama should jump on this whole internet video thing.  It just may take off someday….

If video doesn’t load: video link

Environmiddlism (in-ˈvī-rə(n)-mi-d^əl-i-zəm) noun, 2008

A half-assed approach to the advocacy of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment. Used especially in relation to climate and pollution.

It’s not a word.  I checked.

I think it should be.

Hey, not everyone is going to Live Like Ed, but we all can do our part.  I am a proud environmiddlist.  The one part of the “green” movement that I really don’t like is that it’s too preachy.  It’s counterproductive sometimes.  People have lives to live and things to do.  We need to change the ways energy is produced, and the ways we consume it, but we don’t have to take 45 second cold “navy showers” or cook in a solar oven to achieve this goal.  We all need to change, but take baby steps, people.  Baby steps.

I recycle, I bike to work, I use CFLs in my house, and I turn them off when I’m not using them.  I take my own bags to the grocery store, and I take all my batteries to Best Buy for recycling instead of tossing them in the trash.  I use a Brita pitcher instead of bottled water, and I donate old clothes so they can be reused instead of filling up a dump somewhere.

I also have 2 computers (Macs, of course…), 4 LCD TVs, a PS2, a PS3, a Wii, a couple of DVD players, a wireless router, several external hard drives, and an Apple TV that run pretty much all the time.  I like long, hot showers once in a while.  I buy DVDs in plastic cases (usually on that trip to Best Buy to recycle batteries),  I still read paper magazines and newspapers sometimes.

Nobody’s perfect.  Many people (including myself) are environmiddlists.  We try to do good for the planet and the climate, but we like our modern conveniences.  I’m planning on rewiring my entertainment center to have a green switch, that will save some power.  I’ve set up a schedule in my calendar to vacuum the coils on my refrigerator, to make it more efficient.  It’s the little things, you know?

There’s nothing wrong with being an environmiddlist.  If we each do a little, we can all do a lot.

Environmiddlism.  Spread the word.

This is the latest ad for the We Can Solve It campaign.  The "RePower America" campaign is out to inform and educate the people about climate change and what we can do about it.  I'm not going to take a bunch of time here to re-blog everything about WeCanSolveIt, but I encourage everyone to go to the website and look around, sign the petition, and help us get on the way to energy independence. Check the video and a mini-rant after the break.

Recycling is easy, right? Sometimes, not so much. Different municipalities take different plastics. Most take some, some take most, and on and on. Here’s a quickie guide to get you started. Contact your city or town to find out which numbers are accepted into the recycling pool. You can also just go to Earth911 to get inormation. Just type in what and where, and Earth 911 will give you info.

In New York City, they accept only #1 and #2 plastics. You can find independent recyclers to take care of the rest, if you are so inclined.

There are two websites that I use pretty regularly here in the Big Apple. I walk a LOT, and I’ve recently begun biking again, a lot. Google Maps is great for driving directions, but with all the one way streets and time-of-day restrictions here in the city, sometimes you end up walking several blocks out of the way to hit streets going in the right direction.

Of course, when you're walking, or sometimes biking, you don't need to travel in the primary direction of traffic. Ride The City is a Google Maps mash up that allows you to get biking directions. It will emphasize bike routes, streets with dedicated bike lanes, wider streets, and multi-lane side streets. It will avoid tunnels, highways, and no-bikes-allowed bridges and streets. It allows you to pick "Safest Route", "Safe Route", and "Most Direct Route", so you can pick your priorities. I usually do the "Most Direct Route", but if I'm traveling at night or in foul weather, I'll do a safe route.

The other website I've been having fun with is WalkScore. Just type in your address, (or possibly more importantly, where you're thinking of moving) and it will score your location on walkability. It takes into account nearby grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, movie theaters, schools, parks, drugstores, libraries, bookstores, hardware stores, and clothing stores that are within walking distance, and scores the location accordingly.

Here at Lounge HQ in Brooklyn, I get a walk score of 100. My parents house in Suburban Washington DC gets a 5. Yep, a 5. You can use this score to determine if this is a good place to live. Scores range from "Car Dependant" (my parents) to "Walkers Paradise" (me). If you want to avoid owning a car, or at least avoid driving one as much as possible, check out WalkScore before you move. It could save a car.

Both of these websites are a mash-up of a good idea and Google Maps. Google has a ton of websites out there that let users download an API (Application Programming Interface) and use Google's data to present information in different ways. For more information on mash ups and APIs and what-not, check out Programmable Web

The debate between plastic or paper bags is still fundamentally undecided.

Plastic is better because it uses less energy, resources, and no trees to produce them. They can also be reused as trash bags, doggie pick-up bags, or lunch sacs. But, they are generally not recyclable and require vast amounts of petroleum products (read: oil) to produce.

Paper bags, on the other hand, also require tons of resources, including dozens of trees and thousands of gallons fresh water to create a batch of bags. The good news is these bags are recyclable and compostable.

While we may not know for sure which is least bad (I won't say "better" because "better" would be a reusable canvas shopping bag), Los Angeles is bypassing the argument all together and banning plastic bags.

According to the L.A. Times, the Los Angeles City Council has passed a measure that will ban plastic shopping bags from groceries and delis by 2010, with a caveat.

The law will only pass if the state doesn't pass a separate law forcing vendors to charge 25 cents per bag. The 25 cents per bag law is not looking like it's going to pass, so the council put in this stop-gap.

The new law is intended not to gather a 25 cent tax on wasteful plastic bags, but to reduce them. With stores like Trader Joe's and Ikea offering reusable shopping bags for under a buck, there's no reason to pay a quarter for a disposable one. Go reusable, and keep a few in your trunk, if you drive, or in your front closet if you're a mass-transit person like me.

Reuse a bag. It can save a tree, or a barrel of oil. If we each do a little, we can all do a lot.

So, with all the hype about T. Boone Pickens' wind and natural gas energy plan, it’s only natural some people are going to find new and creative ways to harness the potential of the 250 ft. tall wind generators going up all over the wind corridor in the midwest.

Some are good, and some are just plain fun. Don’t try this at home.

Texas Oil Man T. Boone Pickens has a plan. It is aptly named PickensPlan (catchy, huh?) The plan is a way to reduce our dependency on foreign oil by harnessing wind. Here’s the Cliff’s Notes

• The U.S. has the most pronounced wind corridor in the world, providing endless, free, natural fuel to power wind turbines.
• The wind turbines will produce over 20% of the nation's electrical power.
• Currently, natural gas provides over 20% of the nation's electrical power.
• Take the natural gas that's being saved by wind, and put it into transportation.
• Oil needs for transportation will go down 38% by transferring the natural gas from power to transportation.
• Our foreign oil costs will drop over $300 billion annually. Within 10 years.
• The technology is there. Wind turbines exist. Natural Gas vehicles exist. no more inventing is needed, just production

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                  This is no "Inconvenient Truth" in terms of production value, but it is interesting. Check out the video:<br />