Good Economic/Ecological Practices for Consumers

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 somethin

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 -