April 24, 2006
Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an Ipod? These activities will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law that gives giant corporations more control over the Internet.
Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet’s First Amendment. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. Amazon.com doesn’t have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer.
Politicians don’t think we are paying attention to this issue. Many of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies and are on the verge of selling out to people like AT&T’s CEO, who openly says, “The internet can’t be free.”
The free and open Internet is under seige–can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7449-1760363-CkKHjM4D3JO9R1pVLNaSqg&t=1
A list of all the ways you might be affected by Net Neutrality is located on the bottom of this link: http://civic.moveon.org/alerts/savetheinternet.html
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April 22, 2006
In the spirit of Earth Day and my new found mission to use/have less stuff, I’m including the last of EarthDay.net‘s Top Ten list to help accomplish that.
Be a minimalist.
We know it’s difficult, but in today’s consumer economy, an easy way to conserve energy is to simply use – and buy – less. Every time you buy something, energy has gone into getting that product to you. So the less you buy, the more you save energy-wise. It’s a simple equation.
This last item on our Top Ten list may, in fact, be the single biggest way to make a dent in the global warming problem. Again, we know it sounds obvious, but buying less things – some of which you just don’t need – changes the energy equation across the board, on every single consumer product. If everyone used less, the impact would be large indeed.
So how about some specific things? Here are a few:
- Buy in bulk. In short, bulk items use less packaging, which translates into less energy.
- Buy one of something, not 21 of something. You don’t need 21 pairs of shoes, if one pair works just as well.
- Go through your closet. Donate or recycle what you really don’t need, then make a pledge not to replace everything you just got rid of.
- Buy quality products that will last longer. Over time, you’ll obviously buy fewer products that way.
- Be creative in what you use for work, play and leisure. You don’t always have to buy new products for activities. Re-use in creative ways.
Good stuff.
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