E3 Living stands for Energy, Ecology and Economy and is meant to convey a relationship between them and our purchase decisions. 

By now most everyone has heard of the benefits of changing your incandescent lighting to compact fluorescent (CFL's).  And now that L.E.D.s are becoming more readily available maybe you have been holding out for those (still kind of pricey though).  Wherever you stand on this, knowing the potential savings of making such a switch to energy saving and long lasting compact fluorescent is always a good thing to know.  We have our own comprehensive

$10,000 a gallon! Must be liquid gold. Nope! That's what it costs for the ink that is in your printer. 

So saving 60% can add up to a lot of money according to a recent studing done by the University of Wisconsin. 

A recent study conducted in London has shown that 75% of people throw their compact fluorescents into the trash bin, instead of recycling them.  Aside from the toxicity issues of not recycling, the troubling thing is that this is in a part of the world where environmental issues concerning energy use have been prelevant for quite a long time.  Makes you wonder what the statistics are in the U.S.

Of course, the English have their own way of looking at things as well as their reasons for not recycling.

The subject of Global Warming, Global Climate Change, or whatever you want to call it is not settled easily and causes great debate among alot of people. 

Frankly, I have always felt that no matter where the science ends up on this issue that it is better to do something, then nothing. Besides, energy and water conservation is always a good thing not matter what side of the argument you stand on.

Gwendolyn Witherspoon, 54, of Baltimore, came across her stay-healthy secret—an icy shower—during a power outage. “I felt great afterward,” she says. A year later, she says her chilly regimen keeps her cold-free, her skin glowing, and her energy level higher than ever.

There is research that indicates that the average American throws away 68 pounds of clothing a year.  Why in the world would anyone throw away clothing when there are so many great, and easy, alternatives to getting rid of worn-out or fashion-challenged apparel.

Here are a few ways:

1) Hand me down.  If you are not an only child, or the only male or female in your family, you know what this is.

It's that time of year when the dandelions start popping up and taking control of your yard.  What do you do?  Get the jug of roundup and blast them? Cover your yard with weed killer? Or do you just live with them?  I won't belabor the point (too much) about the damage that weed killers and pesticides do to the environment.  I think we all know they are hazardous.  But what else is there to do about that scourge of dandelions?  Here are 6 environment friendly ways to get rid of them:

One of my favorite authors, Harold McGee, is a columist in the New York Times and the writer of a feature called The Curious Cook. Recently, he wrote an article regarding how much water is needed to cook pasta.  Amazingly, aside from the fact that you may not need as much water as you think, he revealed an interesting way to save energy. First, he determined that you can cook a pound of pasta with just a couple of cups of water, not the 4-6 quarts as the spaghetti box recommends.

Waukesha County, Wisconsin has put together a great learning experience for kids on the workings of a landfill.  And the best part of all is that they get to eat the project when they are done.  Have fun.