At http://www.dothegreenthing.com/shop/get_gloves readers are encouraged to send in single gloves. These are matched for size and offered for sale for GBP 5. This is a clever way of ensuring that gloves whose partners have gotten lost don't get wasted. (Other suggestions for utilizing single gloves: as a sponge for bathing or cleaning and as a stocking substitute for small gifts.) Or to avoid buying anything you could simply ask your friends if they have any lonely gloves and mismatch them yourselves. Glove-matching parties are going to be all the rage in 2012!
Effort involved: looking at gloves. Pretty low-energy effort, if you ask me.
Image from: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/tracking-michael-jacksons-glove-online/
Something that saves money as well as water is worth looking into. Rainwater conservation is one of those somethings, as that stuff that falls from the sky can be used to flush toilets, water gardens, wash cars and fill water guns aimed at loathsome people. Rainwater catchment devices range from the somewhat simple (the most basic of rain diverter kits can sell for less than $10) to an Escher-like level of boggle (http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Water/Water.htm#RainWaterHarvestSystems). The more complicated systems are appropriate for installation only by the engineering-proficient or those who can hire the engineering-proficient. And if you're exceptionally lazy and/or cheap, you could always just stick a bucket outside and wet days and use the water in any way you please.
Effort involved: varies wildly.
Image from: http://www.flixya.com/photo/1963327/Funny-natural-car-wash-in-rain
The tagline of http://www.goodguide.com/ is simple: 'Find safe, healthy, green & ethical products based on scientific ratings'. The database is an ever-expanding work in progress, and can be used in multiple ways. You can search or browse product categories online; you can also download a mobile app that scans barcodes in stores and allows you to see the environmental, health and social rankings of items you're considering buying. This is fantastic for the indecisive. If you often find yourself flummoxed by rows upon rows of similar products, these scores should make it easier to decide what to buy. (Of course, you might find yourself just as perplexed by moral quandaries like 'Hmm, this company has a better record of respecting labor rights, but that company does less damage to rainforests...' Don't say I didn't warn you.)
Effort involved: if you download the app, there's a fair bit of pointing and scanning, which can be quite fun. If you use the website, there's a fair bit of research.
Image from: http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/02/18/experiencing-the-paradox-of-choice-at-the-local-schnucks-grocery-store/
This may not apply if you live in a rural area, but if you regularly encounter buskers, magicians, jugglers, mimes, dancers, chalk artists or full-body paint-smeared human robots in public spaces it's likely you usually pass them with varying degrees of indifference. But many of them are very talented, not to mention hard-working and dedicated given the amount of effort and inconvenience it takes to ply their artistic trades out in the open. Take a few minutes to pay attention to one. If you're feeling flush, you could hand over some money. If you're feeling brazen, you could even applaud.
Effort involved: just a bit of your time.
You've done the responsible thing. You've waited a full day after receiving a gift (for which of course you graciously thanked the giver) to decide that you'll never use it and it's better off going to someone else. So why not set up an exchange with other recipients of terrible things? All you have to do is get together discreetly with some friends or family members and swap the unwanted presents, thus avoiding wasting a gift someone thoughtfully selected. After all, one person's terrible thing is another person's...less terrible thing.
Effort involved: picking out what you like, that's all.
Image from: http://www.dothegreenthing.com/blog/get_crafty_with_your_cat
Posts
At http://www.dothegreenthing.com/shop/get_gloves readers are encouraged to send in single gloves. These are matched for size and offered for sale for GBP 5. This is a clever way of ensuring that gloves whose partners have gotten lost don't get wasted. (Other suggestions for utilizing single gloves: as a sponge for bathing or cleaning and as a stocking substitute for small gifts.) Or to avoid buying anything you could simply ask your friends if they have any lonely gloves and mismatch them yourselves. Glove-matching parties are going to be all the rage in 2012!
