The Iraq War. Many issues of this war have already been discussed, but I ask you: what of the environmental impact of the war in Iraq? The Onion steps up to the plate and delivers a home-run with this spot-on news feature.

In The Know: How Can We Make The War In Iraq More Eco-Friendly?I can’t believed no one mentioned bombing Iraq with saplings in the hope that they would take root and turn this desert into a thriving, forested land.

Look at them polar bears. Just look at them. Dang 🙁

How can you help them out, you might ask? Welp, the least you can do is to help spread the word about energy conservation by emailing the Natural Resources Defense Council and requesting some free “Unplug for Polar Bears” and “Turn Off Global Warming” stickers for chargers and light switches. Email them at polarbearsosinfo@nrdc.org, and por favor give them your mailing address and how many sets of stickers you need (each set contains six stickers, 3 each of “Unplug for Polar Bears” and “Turn Off Global Warming”). “Supplies are limited so please keep your order to two sets, unless you have a special need for schools or institutions.”

If for some reason you think you’re better than the rest of us, and feel you can somehow do more than just ordering free polar bear stickers, then you can find out other ways to curb global warming rotch here. So please, act now. If not for yourself, then for the baby polar bears.

Hey, if you get your power from Tennessee Valley Authority, you can get a free energy conservation kit sent to you with mess that helps save energy AND lower your electric bill. You can also get a free energy audit report that’ll show you where your house is using most of its energy, and how you can lower that.

The energy conservation kit includes two compact fluorescent light bulbs, outlet and light switch gaskets, filter whistle, two faucet aerators, hot water temperature gauge, home thermometer, and “How to Save” brochure.

To get all this free energy conservation mess and whatnot, click on this here LINK.

Work. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Am I right, people? Welp, until you hit it rich with a lottery ticket (or by making millions off your green contraption), work will probably be a big part of your life. As long as you’re going to be there, you may as well try to “keep it green”, as the youngsters like to say.

Reuse Paper at Work

Do you know how much printer paper is used every single day by offices world-wide? A lot. That’s how much. But here’s a simple tip: when someone prints something, it leaves one side of paper blank. At my work, we put paper like this in a scrap bin next to the printer. If you’re printing something that doesn’t need to look “official”, print it on the blank side of the used paper. Voila, paper use cut in half.

Turn Off Them Lights

Too often in today’s work-a-day hustle n’ bustle world, people leave their lights on at work when they leave to get a few fitful hours of rest at home. A simple flip of a switch can save 15 hours’ worth of light-energy a day, slashing your electric bill like a serial killer.

Go Easy on the Thermostat

Try to use your air conditioner and heater sparingly. Oftentimes, there are other ways to regulate the temperature of your office. At my work here, when it’s hot inside, we can usually cool off the building by opening some windows. If it’s cold, use a low temperature setting on the thermostat. Try to use the AC and central heating as little as possible (but do use them if the temperature is unbearable).

There are three simple ways to save energy and money in the workplace. If every company would follow these three, simple steps, just think how much money (and energy and paper) could be saved. So please, print out this here list, and tape it to the water cooler immediately. By doing so, you will have done your lil’ part in saving the Earth.

LEDs are becoming more and more popular since they use a tiny fraction of the energy that other lighting uses. Here’s your chance to replace your old, energy-wasting desk lamp with a FREE energy-efficient LED desk light.

The desk light will have a small logo from an advertiser on it. That’s how they’re able to provide the light for free. I tried it out, and it seems legit. You don’t even have to put in your email address at all. So go get yourself an energy-efficient LED light.

Here be the link

P.S. Don’t throw away your old desk light. If you’re getting rid of it, find someone else who can use it, or donate it to Goodwill or Habitat or something.

THIS OFFER HAS EXPIRED… 🙁 DANG

I don’t know how long this will last, but EnergyStar is giving away one free CFL bulb per household. Why are they doing this?

In addition to helping you save money and the environment, we also understand the concerns associated with switching to Energy Saving bulbs. Will the color be the same as a standard bulb? Will it REALLY save me money? We want you to try ours free to see for yourself. Along with your bulb you will receive additional exclusive savings throughout the store that will help jump start your switch to ENERGY STAR. We want to thank you for participating in our Free Eco-Bulb program.

3-4 weeks from now, I shall have a free CFL bulb. Hot diggity dang.

Let’s say you’re about to clean your dishes, and you want to do it in the best way environmentally possible. So do you use your energy-efficient dishwasher, or do wash your dishes by hand? It might seem like a simple question, but man oh man there are a lot of answers (and a lot of other websites which have covered this question, with one result or the other). I’ll try to look at both sides of this surprisingly heated debate.

Water Use

A modern dishwasher will use less water than you would if you hand-washed your dishes. But this is assuming that you hand wash your dishes several times a day instead of leaving them in the sink for a “big wash”, which I always end up doing. This also assumes that you don’t use too much water pre-rinsing the dishes. So basically, it all boils down to efficiency of scale (doing a large load is more efficient than doing many smaller loads of dishes). If you only do large loads and moderate your water use, hand-washing is more efficient. But the smaller your loads are and the more water you use, the bigger the advantage of using a dishwasher.

Energy Use

Most of the energy for washing dishes (whether by hand or by dishwasher) comes from heating up the water (unless you like to wash your dishes with ice-cold water). Obviously, the dishwasher uses some electricity on top of that, so hand-washing wins this battle.

Time

Dishwashers will save you time. Just put in some dishes, turn it on, and walk away. But sometimes you open the dishwasher when it’s done, and some of the pans and dishes are still dirty. The more that happens, the smaller the time advantage that dishwashers have.

Overall Environmental Impact

Hand-washing wins this one. There are phosphate-free soaps available for dishwashing or handwashing, but the energy and materials used to make a dishwasher is considerable. Plus, dishwashers take more energy, sometimes use more water, and sometimes even take more time. So unless you are doing a huge load of dishes (or unless you work in a restaurant), then hand-washing is the way to go. So put on them yellow gloves, fill up a pot with hot, soapy water, and get ready for some good ol’ hand-washing.