Leading Hands Through Technology » Being Green

Car Sharing with CityWheels

Marc Majers — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:04:34 +0000

With today's economy, owning a vehicle is extremely expensive, between gas and car insurance. If you are looking for an alternative to your daily commute, then perhaps you should consider trying car sharing. City Wheels is a club for people who only need a car occasionally and can have convenient access to an entire fleet of cars when they need them. You only pay when you use them.

City Wheels covers the cost of gas, insurance and maintenance. You will need to pay to join the club. However once your approved, you can reserve a car near you, pick it up and you'll be ready to drive.

Wheels when and where you want them.
http://www.mycitywheels.com/

August is Recycle Your Computer Month

Marc Majers — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:00:48 +0000

Is that’s time of the year again where you have the opportunity to get rid of that outdated hunk of metal you call your computer and recycle it. Cuyahoga County residents can recycle their unwanted computer equipment at over 40 participating city service departments during this campaign.

Household equipment will be accepted including CPUs, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, terminals, modems, software, cell phones and accessories, and ink printer cartridges. No televisions or other electronics will be accepted. All equipment collected will be taken to RET3 job corp, a non-profit computer recycling and refurbishing company based in Cleveland.

RET3 has partnered with OneCommunity, a local not-for-profit broadband provider that works to give students technology skills for the workplace and, in turn, drive economic development in the region. OneCommunity Green Computing has a goal of putting 50,000 computers in Northeast Ohio schools over the next five years. Businesses with large amounts of computers to dispose of should contact RET3 job corp. at (216) 361-9991.

For a list of participating cities or additional information about Recycle Your Computer Month, log onto www.cuyahogaswd.org/residents/comprec.asp or call the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District at (216) 443-3749.

April Is Recycle Your Computer Month

Marc Majers — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:33:29 +0000

This month in Cuyahoga County you can recycle you unwanted computer equipment during Recycle Your Computer Month. Residents are invited to drop-off their personal computer equipment at over 40 participating city service departments during the month of April.

What Can I Drop Off?
Household equipment will be accepted including CPUs, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, terminals, modems, software, cell phones and accessories, and ink printer cartridges. No televisions or other electronics will be accepted. All equipment collected will be taken to RET3 job corp, a non-profit computer recycling and refurbishing company based in Cleveland.

The county has partnered with OneCommunity, a local not-for-profit broadband provider that works to give students technology skills for the workplace and, in turn, drive economic development in the region. OneCommunity Green Computing has a goal of putting 50,000 computers in Northeast Ohio schools over the next five years.

http://www.cuyahogaswd.org/residents/comprec.asp

Need Software, No Cash?

mminnich — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:17:30 +0000

Before making the next big software purchase, check out Source Forge.

You just might be surprised what you don’t have to pay for.

My Home Computers run Win XP, at work its Mac OSX. I even run Ubuntu at times. Sourceforge has software for everybody.

I needed to convert some video files and then make a DVD. At Work the Mac has built in options. At Home I needed solutions. I was able to find open source software at http://sourceforge.net/ for converting my video files and make the DVD with menus.

Everything was found, installed and going within a half hour.

George Jetson here I come.

Sticky Screen: Virtual Post-it

Marc Majers — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:40:09 +0000

Is your monitor or desk cluttered with yellow Post-it notes? How often do you wonder if you stacked up all the sticky notes on your desk, could they reach the ceiling from your cubicle? If you are looking for a change and you want to consolidate your notes, then you should consider doing them online with Sticky Screen.

Sticky Screen

You have room for up to three notes
It will remember notes even if you close your browser
You have up to 19 characters per line
Be green and save paper

The idea is to set StickyScreen as your homepage so that your ‘note to self’ shows up whenever you open a new tab or browser window.
http://stickyscreen.org/

Save some trees with the Ecofont font

Marc Majers — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:21:35 +0000

Download the font that could save the world? This font will save 20% of ink over regular fonts because of strategically placed holes in each letter. You really can’t see them unless you really look closely.

Download the Ecofont today!
http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html

Mobile Coupons at 8coupons.com

Marc Majers — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:19:28 +0000

Now available in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, sign-up at 8coupons.com to get digital coupons delivered to your mobile phone. In an effort to “go green”, this website is giving you the ability to flash your phone at your favorite establishment to get your discount.

At this time, the service is limited to three states, however I believe over time, the concept will catch on because it’s a great idea. Instead of clipping the coupon or printing it out, why not just digitally generate it on your phone? Most coupons these days have expiration codes built right into them, so it’s futile to think you can cheat the system.

What is featured at 8coupons?

Restaurants
Entertainment
Beauty and Spa
Services
Shopping

Find coupons galore to your favorite chain restaurants like Applebees, your favorite local sports bar or saving $2 bucks at your local barbershop. The possibilities for mobile coupons are endless and I hope the service comes to my neighborhood soon.

Gas Pump Bait & Switch?

Marc Majers — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:50:52 +0000

If you are among the many people that haven’t stepped inside a gas station in years and always pay at the pump, then listen up. There is a concerted effort by gas station owners to charge you a different price per gallon depending on if you pay with cash or credit card. There is now a cash price and a credit card posted for gasoline. Keep a look out for signs posted to signify the different price levels.

The reason for this price change is two parted. The owners want you to stop in to pay in person with cash so you are lured to buying a snack while you check-out. Also, it costs the owners more for the monthly credit card transactions and they want to pass the fees on to you. The next time you travel to the gas pump, pay attention to the price per gallon after you swipe your credit card, the price per gallon could change.

Do you think it’s fair companies are now charging different prices for gas based on purchase method?

Flip Swap

Marc Majers — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:45:53 +0000

Are you getting ready to buy the new Apple iPhone tomorrow? If you are one of the millions wondering what you are going to do with your old cellphone, then check out Flip Swap. At Flip Swap you can get instant store credit for your old phone at their network of stores, cash it online, donate it to charity, or recycle it.

A friend of mine recently told me that he sold a bunch of his cell phones to Flip Swamp. The process was easy. They instantly gave him a fair price for his phone and paid for shipping. It was simple.

http://www.flipswap.com/

MSN Gasoline Meter

Marc Majers — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:39:51 +0000

If you are feeling the gas crunch, this is a pretty sweet tool. Just enter your zip code in the site below, and it tells you which gas stations have the cheapest prices (and the highest) on gasoline in your zip code area. It’s updated every evening.

http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx