Living Green

1. Jennifer McNichols of Z Recommends is up in arms about legal mandates that prevent children's toys -- even lightly used ones -- from being donated to places like Goodwill. She says, ""We waited with bated breath for the CPSC to make its wish list of amendments to the law. Now that they have, it is looking clearer that secondhand children's goods are going to be left out in the cold even if the CPSIA is fixed - and we are going to see more and more dumpsters and dumps filling up because parents can't give the stuff away easily anymore."
    
2. Got an idea for a green business of some sort? It'd be nice to have some capital to go with it wouldn't it? How does $190 million sound? Katy presents Training Grants for Green Jobs posted at Green Jobs Ready.
    
3. I love solar chargers. Do you have a boat or camper but constantly find yourself without power? Rob presents Maintain the Charge on Any 12 Volt Battery with the Sunforce Solar Trickle Charger posted at Energy Saving Gadgets.
    
4. I had a terrible problem with ear infections when I was a little tike. To make matters worse, I remember the medicines and treatments for them to be utterly foul. PureNaturalDiva presents Pediatric Ear Infections & The Home Remedy That Works For Us! posted at Pure Natural Diva.
    
5. Mrs Green, aka Rachelle Strauss, has 2 submissions this week. At My Zero Waste, she explores if a zero waste shave is something that is attainable. On Little Green Blog, she shares an incredible way to get rid of fleas without employing harsh chemicals.
    
6. Looking for a new HDTV or to make a different significant purchase? The Smarter Wallet presents Yard Sale Deals: Where To Buy Cheap Treasures posted at The Smarter Wallet.
    
7. Have you ever considered going vegetarian? Travis presents Vegetarianism (posted at Personal Web Guide), an article where he explores the reasons, health benefits, and challenges that are involved with going from omnivore to vegetarian.
8. Are you blowing tons of not-so-disposable income at Starbucks? June Tree presents Gourmet Coffee Recipes: Make Your Own Starbucks Coffee Drink posted at The Digerati Life.
    
9. Are you someone that likes to stay up on the latest climate change news? Sally Kneidel, Phd, presents a new study on how Climate Change Is Speeding Up Insect Breeding on Veggie Revolution.
    
10. Brenda Pike's dad passed away a couple of weeks ago. His wishes were for a simple, unintentionally environmentally friendly burial that involved cremation and no viewing. Through her difficult time, Brenda presents Green Burials on Pragmatic Environmentalism...are thoughts are with you Brenda.
     
11. We just finished up digging out of a big snow (by Nashville, TN standards) here in middle Tennessee. We could have used one of these Green Snowblowers, presented by James Buchanon and Chris Brooks at SnowBlowers.net.
     
12. Cleaning products can be SO overpriced...and SO unhealthy. Savvy Brown presents 10 cheap things to clean your house naturally posted at Savvy Brown.
     
13. I absolutely LOVE reusing something and giving it new life as something else, as well as any kind of DIY project. Crafty Rose presents 101 Free Green / Upcycling Craft Tutorials posted at Fine Craft Guild .com
14. Should endangered sea turtles be bred in captivity to increase their numbers...and should the funding for that captive breeding come by selling some of those sea turtles for meat? David Shiffman presents Ethical Debate: Endangered Species on the Menu at Southern Fried Science.
     
15. Revamping our energy system is going to take substantial funding....but the U.S. is only investing sporadically, at best. Renee Cho presents Where's Google Putting Its Money? on Solve Climate.
     

From The Twittersphere:

Some of the most interesting stories I've seen this week on Twitter (and from the #bestgreentweets tag) are:

• @SallyKneidel (from carnival entry #9):
  Fear = irrational killing of snakes. Controversial study says why women fear snakes more. http://sallykneidel.com/?p=1051
   
• @AdamShake:
  Please Help! Today is the last day to donate to #Green blogger @DerekMarham's Medical Fund! http://bit.ly/aeBSpZ
   
• @JerryJamesStone:
  How to Stretch your Automotive Dollar via @Greenopolis http://bit.ly/9QCbIZ
   
• @GranolaJoe:
  Some cool suggestions and some weird ones, like the Choc-U-Lator -> Budget Green Geek: 20 Great Gadgets for $20 + Less http://bit.ly/ck0ybC
  
• @JMichaelEdwards:
  THANK YOU!!! @FreshUnlimited salt may not be all that bad (the good kind) like himalayan http://bit.ly/9HEuMO salt... http://bit.ly/9fzcqU
   

And that's going to do it. As quickly as the tents went up, they've come back down and are being packed up to head over to Supernatural Botanicals next week.

What was your favorite tweet or story from this week's Carnival of the Green?