Geo-Tracking our Stuff... A Techno-Triumph

The world is full of new compound words, like geo-tracking and techno-triumph. As we become aware of more ways to be responsible consumers, paying attention to supply chains so we know where the stuff that makes up our stuff actually comes from, it becomes ever more complex. In a globalized world, things come from endless amount of places and travel through many stages. Ever shop at the beloved Trader Joe's, where every package says it comes from Framingham, Mass?

Here's a very cool story about supply chain tracking technologies and websites, where you can learn more about this whole process. Hopefully, when carbon is priced and traded, it will raise the cost of shipping things all over the world, and we can become more efficient, lowering emissions and wasting less energy on shipping component parts ridiculously far.

(hat tip to worldchanging.com )

Lazy Blog Post: Admire the Wesleyan Enviro Organization's Tag Sale!

This is so smart. It solves the problem of what to do with these items at the end of the year if you don't need them, or have no way to ship them home, keeps the stuff out of landfills,and gives the next year's entering class a change to consume lower on the stuff chain, by reusing! And the net goes to charity!

EON Raises $9,000 for Charity with Tag Sale

Sep. 22, 2009 by Olivia Bartlett Drake

Wesleyan's Environmental Organizers Network hosted a Waste Not! tag sale Sept. 5-7 inside the former Moconaughy Dining Hall.

EON collected usable items from students last spring and sold them in the sale.

Students stocked up on clothing, school supplies and furniture for the school year.

EON raised more than $9,000 for local charities.

Students walked away with bedding, books, kitchen supplies, microwaves and rugs.

All unsold items will be donated to GoodWill, Amazing Grace food pantry and the College in Prision Program. Left over electronics will be recycled. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett Drake)

Following David Pogue's Take Back the Beep Campaign re: Cellphone Messages

A few months ago, David Pogue, tech columnist for the NYTimes (yes, a few journalists are still writing for newspapers) made an impassioned plea for cellphone customers to rise up and protest the stupidity of being forced to waste 15 cellphone billed seconds every time someone wants to leave a message. You know you're forced to listen to a bunch of dumb suggestions, like "If you want to page this person, do yada yada yada", even though no one bothers with pagers anymore? That's all enforced cellphone revenue!
He has a careful list of all the different companies to complain to, for the right to simply leave a message after the beep, without listening to anything. Most everyone who uses phones knows what to do when they hear a beep.
As for me, I mostly use my cell to keep in touch with my adult children. Usually they call back without listening to the messages I've left, anyway. So my new strategy is to stop leaving messages just to say hi. They generally check for missed calls, and since I show up in that list, I've told them to consider a call with no message a Hello-I-love-you. If I DO leave a message, it is because I need to tell them something significant. This cuts down on the time we all waste on cellphones, and the cost, too.

Lend to MicroFinance Clients, but Keep Your Funds Fluid!

Microplace sent a really interesting offer to my inbox: lend money to the world's poor, hardworking micro-entrepreneurs, at a modest profit - but take your money out when you need it!

Microplace, run by Calvert's socially responsible financial services along with Ebay, has been offering this opportunity to be a mini-microlender for about a year, but this is the first time I've seen the option to do so without locking your money in for a specified time period. I think this is a neat way to stash short-term funds, knowing they're being used by women to help climb out of poverty. (Note that it's still better to invest for a longer time period, so the Microfinance Institutions don't constantly need to chase capital.) If you don't know when you'll next need a sum which can safely put away for awhile, this is perfect.

Generally at Microplace you designate your desired interest rate and chosen time frame. (This is different than Kiva, which pays no interest, though the borrowers do, of course.) To take advantage of this offer, you need to specify "Repayment Anytime".