Spranq, a Netherlands based company, has figured out a cool way of saving ink. They developed a new font, aptly named “ecofont,” that uses up to 20% less ink than a traditional font. Essentially, when the letters are viewed at a large font size (like the diagram above), it looks like somebody riddled the letters with holes. But at a normal size type (font size 9 – 10 looks best) you can’t tell the difference AND you get the benefit of saving money and the earth by using less ink when printing. The font is free and can be downloaded for both Windows and Mac platforms directly from Spranq’s Web site.

To celebrate Earth Day I suggested to my sons that we clean out a creek near our house. I thought for sure they would moan and groan about doing physical labor, but believe it or not, they enthusiastically replied, “Sure, Mom.” In fact, they approached the job with determination and vigor. Turns out, they were just as disgusted as I was that people were deliberately throwing trash out of their car window as they drove by.

“I don’t get it, Mom. Why can’t they just wait until they get home to throw their trash out?”

“I don’t know, dear. I guess they just don’t care that they are ruining our environment.”

“That’s so, so…WRONG.”

“Yes. Yes it is.”

As a mom, this was such a proud moment for me. I felt like all of my “preaching” about the environment was actually getting through the noise of the video games, television, and computer games they surround themselves with on a daily basis. Perhaps I’m doing something RIGHT? Hallelujah!

Now, if I could only get them to clean their rooms.

This isn’t the case where my sister lives and it drives me…and her…crazy. When I visit and have something in my hand, like an empty yogurt cup, that we would normally recycle I always ask, “Do you guys recycle these?” Usually the answer is “no.” It is of no fault of their own. In fact, my sister took it upon herself to stop the constant flow of catalogs coming into her home by signing up at www.catalogchoice.org. Unfortunately, not all companies will participate in this service so she called all of the non-participating companies and asked them not to send them anymore.

When I got home, I was thinking about this. Why is it that in our town, we can recycle everything and other towns won’t take the stuff. I’m still not sure of the answer on that, but I did happen to come across this cool site www.earth911.com. It allows you to type in what you want to recycle, your zip code, and then tells you the closest place you can drop it off. I did this for my sister’s house and although all of the drop-off locations were 10+ miles away in a different town, at least it opened up her options. So, if you’re looking to recycle something and your local waste management company or transfer station won’t take it, look around, you might be surprised who will.

So how do you get the word out? Join Freecycle.org. By visiting their Web site, you can see where there are local groups near you and when you have an item you want to get rid of, you post it online and then if someone wants it, you make arrangements with them where and when to pick it up. Saves you a trip (and the cost) of taking something to the dump. It also gives someone else the opportunity to repurpose something that still has some life left to it and most of all…it saves planet earth! It’s a win-win all the way around.