Summer’s in full swing and we still have a good two months before the leaves start changing and the BBQs are tucked away until next year. Make sure the rest of your summer is as green as possible with the tips below.
Green your gril
Propane burns cleaner than charcoal but if you do use charcoal, try an all-natural, chemical-free brand like this one. When you’re finished, use a natural grill cleaner like this one. No one wants chemical residue messing with their marinade!
Thanks to the excess methane produced by cows on factory farms, meat’s not green. But just because you’re sticking with Meatless Mondays or cutting back on beef doesn’t mean you can’t have amazingly delicious BBQs on any summer day. Check out these 6 meatless BBQ recipes from discovery.com and choose one to cook up for dinner Monday.
Banish bugs without chemicals
Bugs come with the season but no one wants to expose their kids or pets to harsh chemicals; they’re not great for you either. Cut back on chemical-laden bug sprays by using natural alternatives.
Ant invasion? Bay leaves or cloves at the source (doorways, etc.) will send them packing. Spraying white vinegar mixed with water covers their scent trails, which they need to find their way back into your house. Baby powder and tea tree oil can help too. Learn more here.
Got mosquitoes? While sprays and poisons help keep them away, they’re also harmful to birds, butterflies, rabbits and your pets. Planting rosemary helps keep mosquitoes at bay. Plus, it smells great and provides yummy flavor for your homemade dishes all year. Need something stronger? Try Garlic Barrier.
Shrink your picnic’s carbon footprint
While reusable plates are best, we know not everyone is up for a marathon round of dishwashing after a backyard gathering. If you’re going to buy disposable, avoid styrofoam and shoot for compostable products; they’re made from corn and are a step-up from biodegradable. You can buy compostable trash bags too. Learn more about plastic vs styrofoam vs paper here.
Get an energy boost from the sun
Pick up a solar charger. Aside from saving the day when your camera, phone or iPod runs out of juice at the beach, on a hike or wherever, they’re a simple and convenient way to go green. The summer sun and one of these chargers can power your iPod for 18 hours and your cell phone for 44! They’re great for camping and road trips too.
Demand the freshest of fruit
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: take advantage of farmers markets! Visit localharvest.org if you’re not sure where to find one. Locally grown food means it’s fresher (yum), and it wasn’t brought to you from thousands of miles away in a big gas-guzzling truck.
Have a tip of your own to share? Post it in the comments!
"The age of privacy is over," according to Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook. Since privacy is sooo last century, the New York based blog, Gawker, decided Zuck wouldn’t mind having his invaded.
"All in all, Facebook's CEO doesn't seem too preoccupied about your privacy, or about ours. Likewise, we weren't bothered by the notion of tailing him around the Valley for a few days, or about sharing the experience with you. Enjoy."
Zuckerberg leaving his house
Zuck on his iPhone
Zuck and his girlfriend
Though he originally claimed that the ability to make info private was vital to Facebook, Zuckerberg has since overseen moves to make friend lists, pictures and other info public and even shared users’ info with partner sites without the users’ knowledge.
In his defense, it is his website. It’s a free service and no one’s forced to join. Most people are well aware that what you put on the Internet is not exactly private. Still, having your privacy settings changed on you without your consent is irritating and possibly unethical.
What do you think about Zuck being followed around for a week, paparazzi-style? Did he deserve it? Share your thoughts in the comments?
A graduate student in Georgia is suing her university for attempting to require her to undergo sensitivity seminars and diversity workshops in an attempt to change her views on homosexuality.
Jennifer Keeton
Augusta State University told 24-year-old Jennifer Keeton that she would be removed from their psychology program if she refused to attend, and argues that her current views on homosexuality could affect her ability to properly treat gay men and women once she graduates.
Throughout her time at the university, Jennifer has made her religious convictions very clear in class discussions and assignments. Though she believes that homosexual behavior is immoral and that homosexuality is a chosen lifestyle, she argues that her views will not interfere with her ability to treat gay and transgendered men and women, and says that the school has violated her constitutional rights.
The issue here isn’t necessarily whether you agree with Jennifer or not, but whether it’s legal and ethical for a school to attempt to change a person’s religious convictions under the threat of expulsion.
There are an estimated 23,000 nuclear weapons in the world. Those that are launch-ready right now can kill 100 million people in about 30 minutes. Here’s the kicker: we don’t know where they all are. The new film, Countdown to Zero, lays out the facts about our global situation and presents a convincing argument to get that 23,000 down to zero.
Got chills? Good. It’s a terrifying thought, but there are things that all of us can do to change it, and sometimes that chill gives us the push we need to take action.
One of the most important things you can do is educate yourself. Grab a friend and head over to a free (yes, FREE!) showing near you. Go here or visit takepart.com/zero to find a showing in your area and reserve tickets. Better snag ‘em while you can – the film has already made the rounds at festivals like Sundance and Cannes and the first showing near our SocialVibe offices sold out!
Once you’ve reserved your tix, make sure you sign the petition to demand a world without nuclear weapons at takepart.com/zero. The US and Russia recently signed a treaty to lessen the number of nukes we’re both storing, but it can’t be enforced until the Senate passes it. It's up to all of us to sign it, share it and post it everywhere we can. Join the movement to create a safer world for all of us. Demand zero!
Classic literature that’s now public domain is becoming relevant in a whole new way. The mashup trend has spread from music to books and spawned reads like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Little Vampire Women, Jane Slayer, and Mansfield Park and Mummies all in the past year.
The latest classic lit mashup comes in the form of a movie trailer and combines Pride and Prejudice with the psychological thriller, Fight Club. Though it’s not a real movie, it’s been watched by 65,000 people since it was uploaded to YouTube just two days ago.
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Want to help make sure that everyone grows up able to read, regardless of whether or not they prefer classics with a gory twist? Support an education cause like DonorChoose.org on SocialVibe!
With all the lights, cameras and action, each day on a movie set means an astronomical amount of energy use. BFF to the environment, Leonardo DiCaprio, is always looking for ways to make things more eco-friendly and decided see what he could do about bringing alternative energy sources to movie sets.
Leo on the eco-friendly set of 'Inception'
He decided to start with the movie Inception and had a chat with the head of Warner Bros., Alan Horn, who agreed to cough up the extra 1% it costs to use solar generators instead of the standard ones.
“We do a lot of things in the world that are wasteful. We keep talking about this all the time. Hopefully, fingers crossed, with these small steps, we’ll make that transition on a much larger scale in the future.”
By using the solar generators, they were able to keep more than a ton of carbon dioxide out of the air each day while filming Inception. Plus, it totally eliminated the more than 40 carcinogens that would’ve been emitted by using diesel fuel.
Solar panel used on set
Warner Brothers has plans to use the same mobile solar power system in an upcoming Steve Carell movie. Looks like this could be the start of a great Hollywood trend!
Kudos to Leo for getting the ball rolling and to Warner Brothers for making it happen!
A “dislike” option exists. You can change your language choice to “pirate.” We’ve all heard the story about Facebook starting in a Harvard dorm room, but there are tons of cool features and facts that most people still don’t know about everyone's favorite social network.
Image via sync-blog.com
Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has called the upcoming Social Network movie “fiction,” but here are a few confirmed facts that you can have some fun with:
1. It’s possible to add a dislike option to your own status updates. You can also add “love,” “hate,” or even “LOLs” By adding the Status Magic app.
2. Up until 2007, there was an image of a man’s face on the Facebook homepage. That guy was Al Pacino. “Wirehog” was their former file-sharing feature.
3. The language options include “upside down English” and “pirate.” They won’t translate your status updates but you can do it yourself with sites like typeupsidedown.com.
5. If you ever use Facebook chat, type “:putnam:” then press enter and see what happens.
6. As of last week, there are over 500 million people on Facebook. If Facebook were it’s own country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world. If China didn’t block the site, you can bet it’d be much larger.
7. Facebook makes money through advertising and their value comes from the data each user provides. Based on their stock value, each of us is worth about $50 to them.
A town in Illinois is considering establishing a "disturbance and disorderly conduct" violation. The drama started when a woman rolled her eyes and sighed during a committee meeting last month.
Disorderly?
She was expelled from the meeting and now the City Attorney has been ordered by the finance and council affairs committee to come up with a legal definition of “disorderly conduct.”
For the record, a legal definition of “disorderly conduct” already exists – in the state of Illinois. Their official definition:
"an act in such unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb another, or to provoke a breach of the peace."
The woman who was removed from the meeting welcomes having an official definition on the record – for the city officials:
“I’d like for them (city officials) to have a better understanding of the open meetings act and its meaning and to understand what disorderly conduct is... and to better understand what the public is entitled to.”
The first amendment to the US constitution prohibits any law that infringes upon a person’s right to free speech, peaceful assembly, petition the government, etc. It’s pretty much what makes it okay for Americans to disapprove of our government.
Things must be going pretty smoothly in Elmhurst if they’re taking the time to make an issue out of this… right?
What do you think? Is this an acceptable use of city officials’ time? Do you think this is a legitimate effort to ensure orderly gatherings or an infringement on residents' First Amendment rights?
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