Sustainable Living

Previous entries

Read It, Love It, Share It

Nov 3rd, 2008 | By Wise Snob | Category: Sustainable Living
Rating 4.00 out of 5

books4 Read It, Love It, Share ItPurchasing books can be an addicting and expensive habit.  Why not swap your books for new ones?  Here’s how you can easily save cash and reduce clutter while expanding great works of literature.

Book Mooch is a free online community where registered users post books they’d like to mail to other members who’d like to receive them.  Each book sent gives you a point, and the points accumulate to allow you to receive books in return.  Just like Ebay, users get get feedback from transactions to help indicate those who are great to work with and those who aren’t as timely.  The only cost is the shipping and the time spent waiting to receive a book.  You even get bonus points if you ship internationally.

Book Crossing is another free swapping site and was founded in 2001 by a couple who found tracking books an interesting hobby.  This idea developed into an online community of over 720,000 members and 5.1 million books that are being shared and tracked over time.  Book Crossing differs from Book Mooch in that it allows you to register books that originated from you so that you can track them as they travel from reader to reader.  This is a nice touch and allows you to see how some of your favorite books are being shared around the world.

So take a look at your library shelf.  How often do you honestly read the books you’ve collected?  Wouldn’t it be great for you to share some of those great tomes with other interested readers?  And wouldn’t it be great if you stumbled upon something you want to read and received it at no virtually cost?  These sites allow you to free your literature to curious minds out there, so register today!

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It’s All Fur Love: Adopting a Pet

Nov 1st, 2008 | By The Conscious Snob | Category: Sustainable Living
Rating 4.00 out of 5

adoptpet4 Its All Fur Love: Adopting a Pet

Considering a furry addition to your home? Whether you’re considering your first pet or looking for your second or third, I highly suggest thinking about the different ways your new pet can come to you.  I’ve had several friends who have had a great experience purchasing pets, but personally, I find pet adoption an even more rewarding event.  Although it may seem like there’s more work in adopting a pet, the truth is that taking care of any pet is going to require a certain level of commitment from you. If you think you’re ready to share your home with a dog or a cat, consider the following 5 points.

Are you ready to commit? While taking care of a dog may not be as strenuous as caring for a child or working full-time, it still takes time and responsibility.  The basics involve being able to feed and walk your new dog at least twice — daily.  If you have a sporadic work schedule or know that you can’t commit to these fundamental needs of a dog, then consider getting a cat.  Even if you’re able to hire a dog-sitter or a dog walker to help you out, remember that your dog also needs baths, occasional vet visits, and most importantly, attention and love from you.

Evaluate yourself. First, make sure you’re not allergic to pets.  If your eyes well up whenever you’re near Fido, then leave Fido to someone else’s care.  Next, consider your lifestyle and what kind of pet you’re looking for.  Dogs have a wide range of personalities and different levels of energy.  Think about what you can handle and what works best with your personality.  Finding a pet, to a slight degree, is similar to finding a significant other… you guys have to work well together.

Think money. Taking care of a pet is an expense.  While the basic costs tend to be minimal and predictable (unless you’re spoiling your pet with Coach collars and LV carriers), there can be incidents where you may have to rush your pet to the vet for emergencies.  These visits can be very costly.  And if your pet happens to have bad teeth, be prepared to pay a sizable sum for doggy dentistry.

Screen the animal. Determine the criteria and qualities that you’d like your new pet to have before you start your pet hunt.  Like humans, dogs come with different characteristics and different temperaments.  The best thing is to test a dog’s temperament before you make the commitment to take it home, this will ultimately benefit both of you.

Consider adoption. An innumerable number of dogs and cats are put to sleep in shelters each year because there just aren’t enough homes for them.  Instead of encouraging over-breeding (and even worse, the proliferation of dog mills), why not adopt from your local pound or animal shelter?  If you’re a first time dog owner, there are a number of foundations that help with your adoption process.  Many of them will screen you and your home first before they allow you to adopt, to insure that you’re ready and able to make this commitment.  If you’re looking to adopt a particular breed or type of pet, a good starting place is petfinder.com, which allows you to search for your criteria in your local area.

I can’t stress how rewarding it is to give an adopted pet a comfortable and loving home.  If you’re looking for a furry companion, think about these five points before you take action, and please, remember to consider our very last point!

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GC6: Quality Ride with the SO

Nov 1st, 2008 | By The Conscious Snob | Category: Sustainable Living
Rating 3.00 out of 5

giftchallenge6-4 GC6: Quality Ride with the SOOn day 6 of my participation in the 29-day gifts challenge the weather was gloomy and sporadically rainy — but it engendered a bit of quality time with my significant other.  No, we didn’t spend a cozy night at home roasting marshmallows.  I got to drive him to work so that he didn’t have to bike in the rain.  It wasn’t a whole lot… but I did have to get up ridiculously early!  That’s love. :)

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The Giving Challenge series is intended to document The Conscious Snob’s day-to-day experience participating in Cami Walker’s 29-day Giving Challenge.  Check in with us daily to see how we’re giving back.  Will you join the challenge?

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GC5: Ricola From Your Secret Neighbor

Oct 31st, 2008 | By The Conscious Snob | Category: Sustainable Living
Rating 4.00 out of 5

giftchallenge5-4 GC5: Ricola From Your Secret NeighborYesterday, I did something bit more spontaneous for day 5 of my participation in the 29-day gifts challenge.  For the past few days, I’ve put quite a bit of thought and planning into the challenge — but last night the opportunity to give just unexpectedly came up.

To give you the proper backdrop: I live in a small, 6-unit apartment complex where my neighbor and I share one stairwell.  The building is old and the walls are thin.  This means we can hear everything.

Recently, a new tenant moved into the apartment next to me.  We’ve introduced each other in passing, but otherwise we’ve seen little of each other.  Last night, through the thin walls I heard him coughing up a storm.  A loud, dry, throaty cough that lasted into the wee hours.  Having recently been sick myself, I offered up what I found most comforting during my distress: Ricola herbal cough drops.

So I took a handful of Ricola cough drops, dropped them in a little baggie with a get well note, and left them in front of my neighbor’s door to be found the next morning.

I haven’t heard him coughing tonight — so maybe it’s working?  Or maybe I was just imagining the sound?!?

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The Giving Challenge series is intended to document The Conscious Snob’s day-to-day experience participating in Cami Walker’s 29-day Giving Challenge.  Check in with us daily to see how we’re giving back.  Will you join the challenge?