Good Economic Practices for Consumers

The Best Reusable Grocery Bag

2011-12-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

After much experimentation, research, and trying out various bags when grocery shopping over the past 3 years, here is the best reusable grocery bag I've found yet:

SteppingStones natural unbleached EcoSac GlobalGrocer cotton canvas bag (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E8X3J8/).

SteppingStones (http://www.bags4you.com/index.html) is based in Cambria California and this particular bag is currently made in India. SteppingStones seems to be as green a company as you can find in their operations, materials, supply chain, and product design. See http://www.bags4you.com/company/company.html

What I like best about the GlobalGrocer:
- very sturdy (can hold very heavy groceries or serve as a book bag even -- they are very versatile)
- great handles -- not too short, not too long, and wide enough to hold easily
- can sling handles over your shoulder or hold in your hand
- folds flat
- quite large so holds a lot (but not too large) 18" x 16" x 7"
- very tear resistant
- since they are not mesh they can contain and absorb liquid and dry leaks and spills
- washable
- made of a naturally sustainable, reusable, and recyclable material (cotton)

Some alternatives I've tried but don't like as much:

Woven polyethylene bags
- These are the most common reusable bags around and generally fold flat. They are lighter and stand up a bit more on their own when loading but are not as strong and they are torn relatively easily by simple things like the corner of a kleenex or cereal box.

String mesh bags
- Lighter but they snag, don't contain spills, and small items fall thru some mesh variations.

Others
- Many other bags of various materials just haven't been the right size or shape to hold groceries effectively or don't fold flat or into some other convenient shape for storage. We do have a couple of recycled plastic reusable bags we bought at Whole Foods that are very sturdy too but I don't like them as much as the cotton Global Grocer.

We keep a set of 6-8 bags in the trunk of each car we use to shop. That way we don't leave them behind. We also keep a set of clean reusable plastic food containers in our car so we can put restaurant leftovers in them rather than using disposable take out containers.

Economical "Pit" Maintenance (in other words a Deodorant Bargain)

2011-04-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

If you want a deodorant that works very well, saves a lot of money, and is much better for the environment and you, I strongly recommend the Thai Deodorant Stick.

Please note that it is primarily a deodorant and not that good an antiperspirant. If you need an excellent antiperspirant, use something else. However most people do not need a high-powered antiperspirant every day. For instance, if I'm headed into a situation where it is critical that I stay dry (like a tense presentation in front of many people under hot lights), then yes I still use a good antiperspirant such as Dry Idea Roll On. However 99% of the time (even for most presentations -- and I give a lot of presentations) a good deodorant is all I need every day. Plus sweating is a good thing. It keeps you cooler.

To use the Thai Deodorant Stick effectively, it is best to wet it slightly and rub it back and forth on your underarms making sure to cover them thoroughly. This takes a little more time than typical liquid underarm deodorants/antiperspirants that spread themselves out even after application. However, these are much more costly for both you and the environment.

Saves money: Dry Idea Roll On works extremely well as both a deodorant and antiperspirant and costs about $5 for 3.25 ounces (good for about a month of use). That's about $60/year. Whereas a $7 Thai Stick (4.25 ounces) will last about 2 years (based on my use) for about $3.50/year.

Less waste: almost all of the Thai Stick is product you use -- it is a solid mineral crystal -- so there is little waste afterwards, just the cover and the base. Whereas other deodorants leave you with many more containers made of much more plastic as a waste product in the end.

Fewer allergy problems: more people seem to react to aluminum chlorohydrate, aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex (or pentachlorohydrex), or the long list of other chemicals that usually are in other commercial deodorants. Alum (the mineral salt that makes up the Thai Stick) seems to cause fewer problems.

Less damage to clothing: the Thai Stick is a water soluble salt that does not seem to leave stains. It is made of alum -- see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alum and http://www.deodorantstones.com/faqs.html. Dry Idea can leave stains behind after repeated use -- especially on my T-shirts, just as described at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_zirconium_tetrachlorohydrex_gly. Some other deodorants may leave white marks (see: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/beauty-personal-care/personal-care/antiperspirant-claims-10-07/overview/anti-ov.htm)

Caveats: The crystal in the Thai Stick can chip/crack if dropped on a hard surface. If it breaks, the resulting hard edges may discourage use. Since the stick lasts so long, this risk of breakage may be significant for some. [Update: we have dropped, cracked, and broken 2 of these now so I would say the lifespan is more like 1 year rather than 2]

Aluminum: sorry to pop some bubbles but there is aluminum in the Thai Stick: KAl(SO₄)₂•12H₂O. However it contains less aluminum than competing products such as aluminum chlorohydrate and aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex and in a form that seems less harmful.

For additional background reading with numerous references see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deodorant.

(BTW, it's interesting that the price for things that perform really well with good reviews tend to go up in price on Amazon. I bought mine for $5.76 each but now these are about $7 each. Regardless it is still a good deal.)

Wikipedia

2011-01-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

Many gleefully trash Wikipedia, but nonetheless it is one of the most helpful and practical resources on the internet along with Google search. While most articles are not eloquent prose, as a whole Wikipedia is the largest and best first stop when investigating a topic. It is a wonderful example of what people can accomplish when they work collaboratively. My hat is off to Jimmy Wales and all the others who created Wikipedia. It's a self sustaining information ecosystem that is constantly cleansing itself and making itself better and better every day.

Knowledge is power. Power to the people. It's as simple as that.

For some other perspectives upon Wikipedia's 10th Anniversary, please read:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/01/all-star-thinkers-on-wikipedias-10th-anniversary/69523/

SPAM & Protecting Your Online Accounts

2010-12-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

Recently (as of 2010) hotmail, yahoo, and gmail accounts have been under increasing attack by spammers because once they break into valid accounts, spammers can get around most spam filters (because email from known hotmail, yahoo, & gmail accounts are "trusted" by other systems and the email is sent to addresses from those accounts' address books).

The only current solution to this problem is for everyone to practice safe computing:
1) use very strong passwords on all of your accounts
2) don't use the same password on different accounts, use a unique one for each (so that if one system is broken into it does not expose a password used elsewhere)
3) be very careful when on unprotected networks or computers
4) keep your own computers and networks well secured and free from malware.

These are not necessarily easy things to do although tools such as LastPass (http://lastpass.com/) can make #1 & #2 easy (otherwise #2 is impossible for most people). #3 can be achieved but not using such or by being extremely careful. #4 can be achieved by being careful and only using programs on your computer from trusted sources. Additionally virus & spyware scanners may help, especially on MS Windows.

11 Steps for a Super Efficient and Effective Shower

2010-11-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

Here is the best way I've found to take a shower efficiently, effectively, and ecologically. Why a shower rather than a bath? Because it uses much less water to get you clean and rinses all the dirt off of you rather than you sitting in it.

1) Put your dirty clothes in a proper and safe location as well as your clean clothes (a place they won't get dirty or wet but separate from each other).

2) Put your shampoo and soap in an easy to reach location in your shower and have a towel within easy reach as well. Also keep a squeegee in your shower (more on this below).

3) Get the water hot without wasting it. Use an on demand hot water heater or on demand water recirculation system (http://www.gothotwater.com/). Or capture the water in a bucket to flush the toilet or water your plants. Or do it military style and just jump in regardless of the water temperature -- let it get warm while you are in it.

4) Make sure all the water stays in your shower. Shut the shower door or tuck the shower curtain inside the tub or shower so you don't get the floor outside the shower wet. This is a safety hazard as well as something extra you'll need to clean up later -- otherwise you'll find mold and fungus growing outside your shower.

5) Wash your hair first (including conditioner if desired) and clean yourself with soap starting from the top and working your way down your body to your feet. I prefer to just use my hands to scrub my body as it serves to inspect my body for possible issues and I don't need to maintain a clean wash cloth, loofah, or scrubby that otherwise harbors mold, mildew, and bacteria.

6) To be super, super efficient consider wetting yourself down first, turning off the water, sudsing yourself up (top to bottom), and then rinsing yourself. I call this the "2 quarter shower" because I can take a shower using just 2 quarters at a pay shower stall like the ones at many state or national parks. One quarter to get wet and a second quarter to rinse off.

7) After you've rinsed, stay in the shower and squeegee yourself off with your hands. This removes most of the water from your body and is a good stretching exercise. Use the front and back of your hands like a squeegee to remove water first from your hair and then wipe water off of your body from top to bottom including your arms and legs. Using this method I can generally finish drying myself with something as small as a wash cloth or small hand towel -- very helpful if you are camping and traveling light :-)

8) Squeegee down your shower next. This helps prevent soap scum buildup on your shower walls and greatly reduces mold and mildew since your shower will then get drier faster after you are done. This will save you lots of effort later in cleaning and maintaining your shower (an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure).

9) Dry yourself off while you are in the shower (but if you are going to shave, skip drying off your face). This is why your towel should be within easy reach. The shower floor is relatively clean (you've just washed it down while cleaning yourself) and any drips stay in the shower. When you get down to your feet, dry each off just before stepping out of the shower. The area outside of the shower is often a bit dirty when camping so I will often step into or on top of my shoes or a small clean cloth when stepping out of the shower. Even if stepping out onto a bath mat this keeps the mat quite dry so the next person taking a shower also has a dry mat to step on. Plus dry feet are less prone to pick up dirt then wet feet.

10) Shave over a sink with a mirror after your shower. You can then see what you are doing and can rinse off your razor with short bursts of water from the faucet rather than leaving either the shower or the faucet running.

11) Hang your towel up neatly so it will dry quickly. Don't leave it in a bunch or a pile where mold, mildew and bacteria can have a feast. If you squeegee yourself, your towel will often be relatively dry already. If you do a super efficient shower daily, it works well to get a new clean towel weekly. The less laundry you do, the less water and energy you use.

That's it. Thanks for using our precious resources efficiently and effectively! Enjoy!

There's a sucker born every minute

2010-02-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

"There's a sucker born every minute." (quote possibly from P.T. Barnum)

The counter to this is don't believe everything you read or are told (whether on the internet or elsewhere). While I believe that most people are generally honest and trustworthy, there are many unethical people who are eager to steal from you.

Online marketplaces & exchanges (Craigslist, eBay, freecycling lists, online classifieds, email lists. etc) are great enablers of more efficient distribution of goods, but be warned -- they can be misused as well. The following article from PC World about Craigslist scams applies to all electronic venues. Please read and be careful out there!

See:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188584/keep_clear_of_craigslist_scams.html

And for freecyclers see in particular:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20070405&slug=webhouse05m

A similar scam occurred on a San Jose freecycling list in 2004/2005.

A Great Password Solution at Last!

2009-05-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

I've been searching long and hard since 1997 for a good way to manage hundreds of online accounts and passwords securely. Everyone who has been on the internet for any length of time has the same problem. It is impossible to remember all your account names, IDs, and passwords let alone use different strong passwords for each account (so that if one is compromised the rest are not). Yet if you write them down, that introduces other security risks. Having your browser remember them is also very insecure.

Roboform and many other password safe solutions were inadequate (not cross platform or too hard to use). Bank of America's My Portfolio and Yodlee provide interesting solutions but have flaws depending on your perspective.

By far the best cross platform solution and the one I now use is LastPass (http://LastPass.com).

In a nutshell, it locks all of your account information into an AES-256 bit safe that only you can open. That safe moves wherever you want it to go. LastPass makes it simple to log onto hundreds of accounts all with different strong passwords while also providing safe storage for arbitrary bits of sensitive textual information. It does what Roboform does, but better.

The only thing it currently lacks is a trusted auditor (like KPMG or Ernst & Young) to verify that LastPass's documented security protocols are really what it does. Based on my review of LastPass, it is the real deal. I highly recommend it. And it's free!!!!!!

Kudo's to my friend Andy Sohn for introducing me to LastPass.

[Added 5/5/2009: See also some older reviews at Downloadsquad and LifeHacker. These additional reviews compare LastPass to KeePass, an older open source alternative.]

Vaccines are Worth It

2009-01-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

In general, I'm in favor of vaccines. They are one of humankind's biggest health accomplishments of all time (along with soap, dixie cups/drinking fountains, toothbrushes, and antibiotics).

Every intervention, really every action we take, has consequences. If we breathe air, we generate by products (carbon dioxide, etc) that can catch up with us. If we pave roads, we reduce the capacity of our earth to purify water. On the whole vaccines have been hugely beneficial with very few adverse effects.

Since vaccines are a bit mysterious and somewhat invisible, it is easy to blame them for some mysterious maladies -- like autism. While it is possible, it is quite doubtful. Thankfully a recent book defends vaccines against this rampant urban legend. For more, please read http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/13auti.html.

Passive Houses -- Simple Sophistication

2008-12-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

I'm always looking for simple systems that work well. Passive houses seem like a great innovation: they are so efficient that they do not need furnaces and are heated by the occupants and other equipment in the house itself. A special heat exchanger allows a steady exchange of air with the outside to keep the house ventilated yet warm.

Unfortunately they are still too cutting edge in the US to make them practical but they are doing well in Germany.

Read more in the Dec 27, 2008 NY Times article: No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses’

Nutritiondata.com is the Best!

2008-12-17T23:15:00.000-08:00

After I created the relatively healthy but still tasty Canola-meal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I wanted to find out how it compared to other cookies -- ideally by creating a nutrition label for it like those found on packaged foods in the United States. I started doing this calculation myself by reading labels and assembling all the information in my own spreadsheet. This was very tedious. In looking around the web for nutrition information about vanilla extract, I stumbled on http://www.nutritiondata.com/ and discovered that I could put my own recipe into it and have it calculate the nutritional results for me. Wonderful!

Having found this source, I looked diligently for others and found http://www.nutrientfacts.com/ and a few others. But these others were not nearly as good as http://www.nutritiondata.com/.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/ was by far the best, most thorough, and most accurate. Plus it allowed me to enter my own ingredients, assemble recipes, display the nutritional results of the recipes, and save it all for others to use.

Try it out for yourself! Enjoy!

Canola-meal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-12-17T22:57:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

7/8 cup -Canola Oil
1/8 cup -Water
1 1/2 cups - Brown Sugar
2 tsp - Vanilla extract
2 - Large Eggs

1 1/2 cups - Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups - Whole or Quick Oats
1 tsp - Baking Powder, Double-acting, Sodium Aluminum Sulfate
1 tsp - Spices, cinnamon, ground [Cassia]
1/2 tsp - Salt

12 ounce package - Chocolate Chips, Nestle Semi-Sweet

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. A stand or other electric mixer works best. Otherwise this is very good exercise for your arm. In a large bowl mix oil, water, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs and mix. Add flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt. Mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips and mix until chips are evenly distributed. Drop tablespoons of cookie dough 1.5 inches apart onto baking sheets (greased if necessary). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will be soft but should firm up some as they cool. Let stand on baking sheets for 2 minutes before transfering to racks to cool. Makes about 48 cookies.

This is the healthiest chocolate chip cookie recipe I could come up with (I invented it myself). I've also posted it at: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/recipe/792359/2 so everyone can see its resulting nutritional makeup as compared to the nutrition in a more traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe as described at http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/recipe/792363/2 and http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=18476

(12/7/2009 -- added 1/8 cup of water to recipe to better account for lack of butter -- butter contains a bit of water)

Copyright 2008 Tim Oey. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Smoking is a Dead End

2008-10-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Most know this, especially in California, but it bears repeating as many worldwide still smoke and/or tolerate it:
Smoking is a huge waste -- addictive, expensive, smelly, dirty, bad for the environment, bad for everyone's health.

It's amazing yet tragic that tobacco companies have made huge profits from killing others. And yet so many still giving them money to kill themselves.

Save money, save lives, stop smoking.

Read more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20081015/hl_hsn/smokingmakesyouoldbeforeyourtime

Prius Reaffirmation

2008-09-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

The article 'Which hybrids save you money?" in the October 2008 Consumer Reports compared hybrids with similar all-gas models to see how the each car's 5 year total owner cost compared.

The Toyota Prius was a clear winner with the lowest total 5 year owner cost ($28,250) whereas the Lexus G5 450h Hybrid had the highest (70,250). So just picking a hybrid does not necessarily save money or the environment, but taking the total vehicle into account, can do both.

The Prius is a very nice family sedan with lots of features so it was great to confirm my earlier post that it is very economical as well (just as we would expect) -- useful features at a low total cost.

Reuse Boxes (instead of recycling)

2008-08-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick and inexpensive moving and reuse tip: if you cannot find free moving boxes on your local freecycling list (like those listed at http://overcycle.org), look for local businesses that will sell you sturdy boxes and buy them back from you when you are done. The buy back price may not be much but it is something and it puts the boxes in a place where they will be used again. A good moving box can be reused dozens of times. Plus, standard sized moving boxes will hold your stuff better, are easier to move, and stack compactly in a truck whether you do it yourself or hire someone else.

The locally owned and run JDM Packing Supplies store (408-739-2500) at 1328 South Mary, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 is one such business (http://www.jdmpackingsupplies.com/).

JDM is also a great place to recycle styrofoam packing peanuts (you can drop them off in a box or a plastic bag). Finally, it is very well stocked with everything you are ever likely to need when boxing and/or shipping something. And they’ll ship it for you too via UPS or FedEx if you wish.

Digital Photo Frames are Way Cool!

2008-08-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Digital picture frames are an excellent way to see all of your digital photos without needing to get them printed on paper. Printing consumes paper and and chemicals. It's great to keep everything digital and more reusable (as long as the digital frame lasts for a long time).

Here are some I've tried. The number of different frames with skimpy specifications makes picking a frame confusing. And I'm leery of frames with TOO many features as well as ones with external dependencies that may require additional labor and expense.

--------------
The Smartparts SPX8 8-Inch Digital Picture Frame is a very good digital picture frame.

Pros:
- built in motion sensor turns off frame to save power when no one is around
- automatically copies and resizes photos into its own 256MB of memory (can hold about 3000 photos)
- crisp, reasonably large display size
- 800x600 pixels (4x3 ratio matches that of most digital cameras)
- mounts on wall or sits on desk in either portrait or landscape
- reasonable UI
- felt reasonably well constructed
- about $125 is a good price for it as of 8/7/2008 from Amazon.

Cons:
- can take a while to move and resize/optimize photos (other picture frames use photos directly from memory card so may require zero time to start display, but then need to leave card in the frame, yet cards are inexpensive these days).

Price on Amazon seems to go up and down somewhat. I can recommend this product because it works well. (Better than the other 2 digital picture frames I have -- see below). The Smartparts SPX8 was one of the frames recommended by Consumer Reports in their July 2008 issue.

The main remaining features I'm thinking about are an even larger display and possibly a WiFi connection that works easily to get more pictures to the frame automatically -- but I have not found a WiFi frame that works well for this yet.

--------------
The Philips 6.5-Inch Digital Photo Frame is a good picture frame.

Pros
- plug in a card with pictures and go!
- crisp, clear display (720x480 resolution is good match for frame size)
- reasonable UI
- felt reasonably well constructed
- $100 is a good price for it as of 8/14/2008 from Amazon.

Cons
- really requires you to leave a separate memory card in the unit (but at least gigabyte cards are large and cheap).
- to maximize image quality and space use, resize pictures to 720 x 480 ahead of time.
- no auto motion sensor to turn off frame when no one is around

I can recommend the Philips 6.5-Inch Digital Photo Frame because it works well and meets expectations. The cons are really missing features that other higher priced models such as the SPX8 may have.

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Axion AXN-9701 7-Inch Widescreen LCD Digital Picture Frame is a poor picture frame.

Pros
- cheap
- pictures do cycle continuously

Cons
- disappointing resolution at only 480x234, not well matched to screen size
- really needs separate memory card
- must make a manual selection to start picture show

I do not recommend the Axion AXN-9701 at all.
--------------

Data, Numbers, Knowledge

2008-05-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Numbers are powerful. Unfortunately too much data often obscures meaning and people routinely misuse statistics and numbers in their decision making.

For those who wish to bring clarity and light to numbers, I highly recommend the book “Turning Numbers into Knowledge” by Jonathan Koomey. His book is a useful, practical, and easy-to-read tool to help regular mortals analyze numbers and reach well reasoned conclusions. The ability to deal with numbers, statistics, and data is a skill important to all citizens in a democracy. Please give it a read.

(Disclosure: Jonathan is a friend and college schoolmate).

Be seeing you!

The best Sunnyvale to San Jose bike route

2008-05-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here is the best (prettiest, lowest traffic, fewest stoplights, most trees & shade) bicycling route I know from Southern Sunnyvale to Adobe Systems headquarters at 345 Park Avenue in downtown San Jose and back again:
Sunnyvale to San Jose Bike Route using Google Maps
San Jose to Sunnyvale Bike Route using Google Maps

Sunnyvale to San Jose using Bikely (click on title of map below for bigger version):

Sunnyvale to Adobe HQ (San Jose)

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

It's about 11 miles and passes many parks and schools. Credit to Roberto Perelman for showing me the bulk of this most excellent biking route. I've been using it periodically since 2001 or so and Roberto rides it daily.

The best way to dispose of dog poop

2008-03-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

Based on my research, the best way to handle dog poop is to use a reusable pooper scooper and flush the poop down a toilet.
Pros:
- Sewer systems are designed to handle poop (yours and your pet's) safely and effectively (this was verified by calling the local sewage treatment plant in Sunnyvale, California)
- The poop is treated and recycled fairly quickly and safely back into the environment
Cons:
- Need to carry the poop to a toilet
- Need to purchase or make a reusable pooper scooper

Here are other alternatives generally listed from healthiest for environment to least healthy.

Use a flushable poop bag and flush down a toilet.
Pros:
- Sewer systems are designed to handle poop
- The poop is treated and recycled
- Easy to carry bag around to pick up poop
Cons:
- Flushable bags can "melt" in rain or other very wet conditions
- Flushable bags should be kept sealed in another plastic bag before use
- Flushable bags are a bit expensive and hard to find
- Flushable bags smell a bit

Put the poop in the trash.
Pros:
- Sometimes easier than flushing down a toilet
- Easy for poop picked up in a plastic doogie doo bag
Cons:
- Dangerous to sanitation workers
- Poop is not recycled easily back into our environment in a landfill
- Takes up landfill space
- Uses up plastic bags (which do not decompose very quickly)

Hire a pet waste pickup service.
Pros:
- Someone else does the dirty work
Cons:
- Expensive
- Poop probably just ends up in the trash in which case those cons also apply
- It takes extra energy and causes extra pollution for a service to drive to and from your house

Put it in a "doogie doolie" septic system.
Pros:
- Does attempt to recycle poop and get it safely back into environment
Cons:
- Expensive
- Takes work to set up and maintain
- Have to purchase system
- Can smell
- Can spread disease
- A real septic tank system is much more effective, these smaller septic-like systems are usually too small to work safely and effectively

Bury it.
Pros:
- Cheap
Cons:
- Takes a bit of effort to dig hole
- Can still spread disease and smell
Comments:
- May be the best option when you are very far from civilization

Leave it were it is.
Pros:
- Cheap & easy
Cons:
- Spreads disease to you and your pets
- Greatly increases the local fly population
- Messy to step in
- Smells and is unsightly
- Illegal in many public areas
Comments:
- This is generally the worst option.

---------- October 15, 2008 addition ----------
Additional supporting references can be found at:
http://www.slate.com/id/2200638/
http://www.tappwater.org/what-pet.aspx?a=viewPost&PostID=2242
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sourcewater/pubs/fs_swpp_petwaste.pdf

The Tastiest Kabobs in Sunnyvale

2008-02-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

There are a number of Mediterranean and other restaurants that sell kabobs in Sunnyvale, but the one my family likes most is City Kabob (http://citykabob.com) -- a "hole in the wall" place in the Sunnyvale Tennis Center next to Las Palmas park. The proprietor is very friendly, you can dine outside with dogs or inside without them, and it's easy to bike to. The lamb, chicken, beef, and koobideh kabobs are all tasty as are the roasted tomatoes. For a low carb option you can get the kabobs with salad or 1/2 salad 1/2 rice.

Toyota Prius -- an incredible car

2008-02-11T00:08:00.001-08:00

The Toyota Prius is the best car I've yet purchased and owned. Here is why:
- excellent gas mileage (I'm getting about 50 mpg now, my previous car got just 21 mpg)
- it's a family sedan that holds 5 adults (pretty much the same size inside as the Toyota Camry)
- hatchback design allows it to hold lots of stuff too
- excellent product design all around (ergonomics, features, etc)
- networks seamlessly with my cell phone for hands free calling with excellent voice quality both ways
- direct power and audio inputs for iPods and other music devices
- well designed navigation system
- soft touch controls for most operations on center console
- most frequently used controls are right on the steering wheel under your thumbs so your hands rarely need to leave the steering wheel -- including phone controls, climate controls, radio controls, and more -- and they are clear and easy to use too
- lots (!) of places to stash stuff
- sturdy well designed cup holders
- comfortable seats with lots of leg room for rear seat passengers
- it just works correctly and is very reliable.

Consumer Reports

2008-02-10T23:57:00.000-08:00

The magazine and web site provide the best independent expert advice for consumers in North America -- from money to health care to cars to consumer products. Their articles are not always perfect but they are far, far better than advice from just about any source (especially better than random anecdotes from friends). And when they make a mistake, they admit it and publish a correction.

read more | digg story

Effective Charitable Giving

2008-02-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

You should "spend" your charity dollars wisely so they are used as effectively and efficiently as possible on what you want to support. The following are a few simple tips to maximize the effectiveness of your charitable giving.

Goals

What are the best ways to help the world? Who do you want to help most? End world hunger? Promote peace? Educate people? Rescue refugees? Help children?

Write down your giving goals or areas first so you have a plan for where your charitable giving will be invested. Rank or weight each category if you wish as well.

Budget

How much do you want to give out in a year? Write down how much you can afford to give or want to give in total. Then divvy it up among your giving areas

Research

What charities do the best job in the areas that you want to support? How effectively and efficiently do they use the money that people give them?

Research your charities to find the ones that best match your objectives, will use your money well, and won't line their own pockets with it. When you have a list, use your budget and goals to determine how much to give to each one.

By far the best charity research sources I've found are:
http://guidestar.org
http://give.org (Better Business Bureau)
http://charitynavigator.org

Maximize

Figure out the most efficient way to transfer your money to your charities so the maximum amount possible goes to the programs you want to support and as little as possible goes to middlemen.

Give enough to each charity so your money is not eaten up in administrative expenses. There is an expense for each transaction. Giving at least $100 to a charity is a reasonable minimum amount as of 2008.

If you keep your charity list short, you will minimize return mail asking for more money. Such mail consumes more of what you give.

NEVER give out money to anyone who calls you. They are most likely a contracted firm that takes a significant cut of the money going to a charity. Or worse a scam artist is simply trying to steal your money.

Giving directly to your charity usually cuts out most middlemen. While a bit more work for the giver, writing a check usually maximizes the funds that the charity actually gets. Note however that the charity does incur some costs in handling checks. If you do online banking then you can often save a few steps and a stamp by having your bank send the charity a check. Plus then the bank helps you keep records of who you gave money to and when.

Giving by credit card is convenient but credit card companies typically take a 5%+ cut from donated funds as a transaction charge. Do you really want to make

One of the most efficient and convenient ways I've found to donate is through the Network for Good (http://networkforgood.org) using their "TeleCheck" option. The Network For Good tells you exactly how much is going to the transaction processor. TeleCheck charges a simple flat fee -- so the larger the donation the smaller the percent that gets diverted. Plus the Network for Good returns a nice compact summary to you of how much you donated to whom.

Both http://guidestar.org and http://charitynavigator.org have "Donate Now" buttons that link directly from their charity reports to http://networkforgood.org for those charities that can receive funds from the Network for Good. This way you can do your research and donate all at the same time.

For more information

If you would like more detailed tips, please read the Better Business Bureau's "Tips on Giving" at http://give.org/tips/ -- they are quite thorough.

You may send a copy of this to your friends!

Copyright 2008 Tim Oey
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

A beginning

2008-01-27T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm far from perfect but I usually do a good job of researching what I write and what I do. Like any journalist or writer, I do my best to find the truth. This particular blog is dedicated to best practices for individual consumers -- optimizing economics, ethics and ecology -- at least from my perspective (generally everything is relative).

I'm a college-educated mixed-race male living in California with a wife, 2 sons, and 2 dogs.

My other main blog is http://timoey.blogspot.com. It is dedicated to whatever else I feel like writing; whereas this blog is more focused.

I hope you all enjoy what I have to share.

Cheers,
Tim Oey