The Budget Ecoist- Eco Living on a Budget

There are some things that are just awkward to recycle. Water bottles, easy. Pizza boxes, not so much. Some city recycling rules don’t allow items that have held food, others do. Lucky for those of us who are easily confused, some innovative designers are making use of some of those borderline waste products.

CB2 is exclusively selling this mosaic recycled placemat made from shredded juice boxes and milk cartons. Isn’t it fab? The mats are....

2007 – Ireland institutes a 15 cent PlasTax (tax on plastic shopping bags), leading to a 90% drop in volume of free bags. In the three months after the tax was introduced, shops handed out just over 23 million plastic bags - about 277 million fewer than normal.

March, 2007 – IKEA stores begin charging a nickel per plastic bag in an effort to get people to haul their wares out of the store in reusable bags and cut down on plastic bag waste.....

Perhaps you’re like the average American and you’ve found yourself suddenly surrounded by small electronic devices that (feasibly) make your life easier. With those time saving wonders come lots of plugs and cords that get tangled up and lost just when you need them. What’s an eco-minded tech-savvy guy or gal to do? Check out the Solio, an all-purpose charger powered by solar energy.

Whether you’ve got a Blackberry, a PSP or your standard....

This week on CBS Sunday Morning the Fast Draw guys mentioned that overweight people actually get worse gas mileage, which shocked us so much we dropped our potato chips. But in this economy, the gym membership may be the first thing to go on the “extras” list. If you don’t have perfect weather to run or jog in (or just hate running) you may think you’re stuck carrying around that extra jiggle. But wait! Leo over at Zen Habits recently posted....

Ever look at the base of your plastic water bottle and wonder what that little number means? You'd be smart to know those numbers since some of them can be detrimental to your health. Look for the number enclosed in the recycle symbol (arrows that form a triangle) at the bottom of your plastic container.

#1 Polyethylene Terephthalate:Used for most clear beverage bottles, this is the number you'll likely see at the bottom of your plastic water....

The environment and China are locked in a symbiotic relationship, one we will all be involved in and be accountable for, to generations to come.

The Olympics (way to go, Michael Phelps!) have highlighted something most people already know: the development of China in such a short period of time is having a profound effect on the environment. Could it be that this is the beginning of seeing Olympians walking around with masks to protect them....

We’ve touted the benefits of homemade cleaning supplies before and promoted new gizmos that cut down on your laundry carbon footprint. But Susie J gets a lot more pleasure out of her time in the laundry room than we ever have -- and she thinks you will be a “laundry day is the best day of the week” convert if you follow her thirteen steps to eco-friendly, non-toxic, all natural laundry bliss. We think we can pull off some, but not all, of these....

Buying bulk is fun. You heard us, F-U-N. Of course it is environmentally responsible and budget-savvy as well, otherwise why would we be discussing it in the first place? How many times have you walked down that bulk aisle, past all those little goodies just beckoning you to grab a scoop? (Confessions: how many times have you snuck a chocolate-covered pretzel?) DO NOT put your dirty hand into that bulk bin! For shame! Psst...just pull out....

We've all heard about solar , wind and water energy, but have you ever heard of motion creating enough electricity to charge a phone? Well, now you have -- M2E (motion to energy--not very creative) Power is a company that formed last year to reach this milestone in green energy, and they've done it, according to cnet.com. There is a lithium ion battery, coils, and magnets inside the charger. When the device moves, an electromagnetic field forms....

We mourn the loss of the handwritten letter when when we open our mailbox eagerly every day, only to see bills and advertisements. That's why we cooed over these recycled envelopes ($10) when we came across them on Etsy. These clever creations come in handy when you're sending out a thank you note, a greeting card, or a short letter. Alternatively, you can purchase them as a gift for a stationery-lover. The packet comes with 24 handmade....

If you’re among the throng of college students headed back to the quad next week, you might want to put aside the hacky sack and practice balancing your bowl of soup, salad and apple crumble instead.

CNN is reporting that many college cafeterias are going green by getting rid of those handy plastic trays that tote all your lunchables to your spot at the cool kids table. The reason? Good old-fashioned conservation. No trays means a 50%....

In this digital age, regular old circular clocks have all but disappeared from American homes. Just like with handmade envelopes, Etsy has helped resurrect the past. This handmade, upcycled clock seems to have come from an industrial age, what with its hard metallic edges. It seems mean and spunky, but it's actually made from a bicycle chain ring, a hanger, and a textile sample. This clock doesn't have numbers, making knowing the time not as....

The good people of San Antonio are showing up their friends in Houston yet again with their new plan to utilize their citizen’s poop for cash and environmental gain. According to CNN, The San Antonio Water System is already sells some of the “biosolids” from the plant to use in compost in yards and gardens as well as making some money from their treated water. But they’re taking it one step further as they set up a system to capture the methane....

A newcomer on the scene spreading the green gospel is the sassy, classy and not trashy - The Grist. One of our favorite features on The Grist is the advice column, Ask Umbra where Umbra Fisk (if that is her real name) doles out quick and clever advice from the big issues to the small changes small changes.

One small change she tossed out of the mailbag this week was to cut down your total meat consumption. We love easy and non-costly....