Catalogs!

Getting buried in catalogs?

I do not know about you but I am getting buried in catalogs! I am not a shopper I am a buyer, so I do a lot of my buying online. I find it to be less of a hassle. But to equalize the “hassle-factor” the companies follow-up with catalogs for you to peruse.
I have found the solution with an app: PaperKarma

PaperKarma is available for iPhone, Android and Windows phones
PaperKarma® lets you take photos of the unwanted mail you want to stop. Snap a photo, and you’re done. They automatically contact the Mailer and remove you from their distribution list. PaperKarma® can stop most unwanted mail that is addressed directly to you.
You chose the catalogs to keep and the catalogs to stop.

Should you be ready to not receive ANY catalogs at all: Send an e-mail to optout@abacus-us.com with your name and mailing information. Abacus is the database used by nearly all product catalogs.
Save the planet, Your money and Your mailman!

Driving and Texting!

ToddYou do not “have to” text while you drive!

Submitted by Todd-FL

There is no justification for texting while driving…

According to Edgar Snyder & Assoc. a law firm representing injured people…..

  • Talking on a cell phone while driving can make a young driver’s reaction time as slow as that of a 70-year-old.
  • Almost 50% of all drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 are texting while driving.
  • Teens say that texting is their number one driver distraction.
  • One-fifth of experienced adult drivers in the United States send text messages while driving.
  • In 2008 almost 6,000 people were killed and a half-million were injured in crashes related to driver distraction.
  • At any given time during daylight hours in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone.
  • 4 out of every 5 accidents (80%) are attributed to distracted drivers. In contrast, drunk drivers account for roughly 1 out of 3 (33%) of all accidents nationally.
  • Texting while driving is about 6 times more likely to result in an accident than driving while intoxicated.

The urge to text in this instant gratification world is that we do not want people to feel we are ignoring them. So all of you APP people out there….you “have to” develop an APP for our smart phones that automatically answers a text when it detects we are driving or moving …. with a preset message;
“I am driving right now…get back to you soon”
Or the ultimate 1 word response that would let people know you can’t answer
Text back: ” Driving!!”

Bag It!

bagit-1You do not have to use plastics but it is not easy!

Submitted by Ford-CO

Have you seen the documentary “Bag It”

‘Bag It’ http://www.bagitmovie.com/ Best of Show at Blue Ocean Film Festival and is produced by a small team from the mountains of Telluride, is a continuation of a style begun by Michael Moore. A slightly naïve character poses a seemingly simple question (“Where do all those plastic bags end up?”), and then spends the movie chasing down various explanations and bad guys.
Bag It’s instigator, Jeb Berrier (who has the presence of Moore, though with a Harpo Marx fringe of wild hair), sets about to trace plastic’s origins and how so much of it ends up in the ocean (and landfills) and ultimately in the bodies of birds, fish … and man.
Building on facts like “the average American uses about 500 plastic bags a year, for an average of 12 minutes before they are thrown away,” the film is a fun, provocative reminder of why we should all remove plastic from our lives—and the sooner the better
From the Bag It website we have: What does it mean to be a bag it town?
Bag it towns send a clear and strong message to not only your own citizens, but to other towns. When a town goes bag free you’re saying to the world: Hey, we’re different, it works and we like it!

Bag It citizens are informed, proud and often happy to explain where all the bags went and, more importantly, why.
Once floodgates are open, expect your town to be quick to adopt other waste reducing habits, lifestyles and mindsets.
The transition from plastic to reusable can be hard at first — you may find some neighbors, friends and retailers reluctant to change. Others might try to stop the movement altogether. I now keep fabric bag in the car to use when I grocery shop or visit any store. I also carry my water in a reusable stainless steel water bottle. These things are not hard to do just hard to remember to do! Ultimately, once old habits are replaced, consumers are happy and proud to tote their goods responsibly.
The planet is doing fine but this plastic is killing us!!