Most people, especially college students, have at least one pair of socks that hold such sentimental value to them that a few holes, a worn heel and unraveled yarn won’t even get them thrown away.

When they finally are thrown away by a disgusted girlfriend or roommate, people go back to buying the same synthetically-produced cheap socks that use the same energy-consuming manufacturing methods….

Most people, especially college students, have at least one pair of socks that hold such sentimental value to them that a few holes, a worn heel and unraveled yarn won’t even get them thrown away. When they finally are thrown away by a disgusted girlfriend or roommate, people go back to buying the same synthetically-produced cheap socks that use the same energy-consuming manufacturing methods.

But what if you could purchase a pair of socks that had an advanced design so they would rarely ever get holes in them, AND they were made of sustainable and recycled products so they wouldn’t harm the environment? You might just find your new favorite pair in Teko Socks.

What Makes the Socks Green?

You can’t get a quality product without first knowing where the materials came from. The wool that is used, known as EcoMerino Wool, comes from a fifth generation Tasmanian farm called Downie-Dungrove. From the plants to the sheep that eat the plants, everything is pesticide, herbicide and hormone-free, making the wool completely organic.

Other sustainable products used in the socks are:

• Ingeo ‘ Biodegradable fiber made from corn
• Ecopoly ‘ Made from recycled polyester and postindustrial waste
• 100% Organic Cotton ‘ Grown using eco-friendly methods
• Eco-Wash Wool ‘ Shrink-resistant wool made without chlorine

Find out which socks you prefer by clicking here.

The Teko Socks Company not only makes sustainable socks, but they also support some great green causes. They purchase energy credits from Renewable Choice Energy to offset 100% of their energy consumption, and they follow the operational practices of Leave No Trace, a non-profit organization that promotes enjoyment of the environment through responsible practices.

It’s nice to see companies going completely green, and in a way that doesn’t diminish the quality of their product or the standards that they represent.

I’m not embarrassed to say that I watched The Celebrity Apprentice last Thursday night. This is because when I saw what was on Donald Trump’s head it made me feel better about the bad hair day that I was having, but it’s also because the celebrities were actually coming up with an advertising campaign for a good cause: the debut of the new Crocs shoe recycling program called Soles United…

I’m not embarrassed to say that I watched The Celebrity Apprentice last Thursday night. This is because when I saw what was on Donald Trump’s head it made me feel better about the bad hair day that I was having, but it’s also because the celebrities were actually coming up with an advertising campaign for a good cause: the debut of the new Crocs shoe recycling program called Soles United.

What’s a Croc?

If you haven’t seen or worn a pair of Crocs then you haven’t had the pleasure of walking in one of the most unattractive, yet comfortable, shoes ever created! This fashionable footwear became hugely popular last year, and they’re still the latest craze for kids and adults everywhere.

When you wear a pair you feel like you’re walking on marshmallows, plus, they’re affordable enough for the average person. These two bonuses definitely offset the importance of its not-so-stylish appearance.

The Basics of the Program

I think it was very clever for the Soles United team to debut their new program on such a widely popular show. The program basically works like this: you wear down your old Crocs, take them to a recycling receptacle or mail them in and then they will be recycled and donated to needy individuals in countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. It’s easy to do, and the shoes are guaranteed to be delivered to an approved non-profit organization around the world.

You can learn more about the program and the countries it helps here.

The best part about watching the show was seeing celebrities actually care about the advertising campaign they were working on. The guy team even came up with the slogan ‘Wear Them, Share Them,’ which was highly liked by the Crocs team. I guess famous people can be both creative and compassionate!

College students are addicted to a LOT of things, from playing video console games and chatting online into the wee hours of the night to downloading music and ordering from the Wendy’s Super Value Menu at 2 a.m.

Every student has his or her own unique addiction, but one thing that I realized was that probably 4 out of 5 people I knew did share one common dependency: caffeine…

College students are addicted to a LOT of things, from playing video console games and chatting online into the wee hours of the night to downloading music and ordering from the Wendy’s Super Value Menu at 2 a.m. Every student has his or her own unique addiction, but one thing that I realized was that probably 4 out of 5 people I knew did share one common dependency: caffeine.

I would say that soda was pretty high at the top of the caffeine list, but it could not compete with the wide-awake goodness that coffee offers. Whether you drank it on your way to an early class or brewed a whole pot to keep you awake for an all-night study session, coffee became the buddy that was always by your side.

Opt for Organic

Since coffee is such an important staple for college students, the brand that you purchase should also be a top priority. I know that many students are on a tight budget, and it doesn’t leave much room for extra spending money. But if you have your own coffeepot and brew coffee every morning or night like I did, and you know that you’re going to be spending money on a pound every other week anyways, then why not go organic?

Organic means that the product you are buying was grown with no pesticides, fertilizers or other harmful additives. So, organic coffee comes from coffee beans that were grown using renewable and environmentally-friendly practices. You can read more about organic coffee at the Organic Trade Association website.

Eco-Friendly Brands

Now I have nothing against huge coffee corporations like Starbucks or Caribou Coffee, but I think that smaller family-owned organic coffee companies can offer good, or even better, coffee products than the more popular brands. Plus, many of these smaller companies grow the coffee right on their home land and sell it locally to keep their family business alive. Almost all of these companies promote sustainable growing practices, and some even donate a portion of their funds to eco-friendly organizations.

Here are a few organic coffee companies that I discovered, as well as some things that they do to help protect the environment:

Bean Trees

Works with the NRDC (National Resources Defense Council), whose mission is to stop corporate companies from destroying clean air and water.

Café Bom Dia

Uses recycled shipping pallets to reduce carbon footprint.

Café Mam

Member of the Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign of the Seattle Audubon Society, which promotes the preservation of healthy forest habitats.

Elan Organic Coffees

Supports programs like Coffee Kids and Cup for Education, which help to improve the lives of coffee farmers’ children.

Jim’s Organic Coffee

Joined with Sterling Planet and the EPA to become 100% powered by renewable energy.

Coffee may not be great for your health, but it’s evident that college students, and half of the world, drinks it every day anyways. So why not support society’s caffeine addiction by buying a brand that tastes great and helps the environment?

As a student taking classes in college there are a few things that you’ll do at least once or twice every semester:

• Procrastinate writing a paper
• Fall asleep in your dorm room or in the library researching that paper
• Stay up late the night before typing the paper
• Run out of ink printing the final copy of the paper (and it’s due in 15 minutes)

As a student taking classes in college there are a few things that you’ll do at least once or twice every semester:

• Procrastinate writing a paper
• Fall asleep in your dorm room or in the library researching that paper
• Stay up late the night before typing the paper
• Run out of ink printing the final copy of the paper (and it’s due in 15 minutes)

We’ve all done it before, and it’s definitely not fun when you have to run halfway across campus to the library to print out your paper because a) you could not afford to buy another ink cartridge or b) you are so devoted to the green movement that you refused to buy another one because of the harmful effects it has on the environment.

Well, I’ve discovered a way for you to be both eco-friendly and responsible when you print out your papers, and it has to do with recycling!

Buy for Less and Give Back More

One of the safest and most affordable ways for students, or anyone else who goes through tons of ink jet cartridges every year, to print on paper is to purchase recycled ink jet cartridges. Instead of piling up in landfills, the non-biodegradable plastic used for the cartridges can be cleaned, refilled and then resold for less. That’s a huge help to your wallet and to the environment!

An even better incentive to buying a recycled inkjet cartridge is to donate your old one to a good cause. Some organizations give you money for donating your old cartridge, while others use the money raised from resold cartridges to benefit charitable organizations.

Choose What Works for You

There are many websites that sell recycled cartridges and offer ways for you to donate your old ones. Here are a few:

Atlantic Inkjet

Inkjet Cartridge.com

Enviro Solutions

Squid Inkjets

Re-inks

Transverse Myelitis Association

Recycle-Free

Now you have no excuse not to turn in your paper or presentation on time! Not only will you feel good that you got your work done, but you’ll also help to minimize waste!

The Winter X Games are known to showcase some of the most exciting extreme sports in the world, most notably skiing and snowboarding. It’s the perfect kind of event for college kids to attend because it not only has some of the most popular athletes in the world, but it also offers good food, interactive sports and live music.

The 2008 Winter X Games began yesterday in Aspen, Colorado, and even though the event has be eco-friendly since 1995, this year it’s going even greener…

The Winter X Games are known to showcase some of the most exciting extreme sports in the world, most notably skiing and snowboarding. It’s the perfect kind of event for college kids to attend because it not only has some of the most popular athletes in the world, but it also offers good food, interactive sports and live music.

The 2008 Winter X Games began yesterday in Aspen, Colorado, and even though the event has be eco-friendly since 1995, this year it’s going even greener by involving everyone from staff and crew to athletes and fans in a mission to reduce everyone’s carbon footprint.

Fighting for a Good Cause

This year the games are working with a Disney program called X Games Environmentality. There are literally hundreds of different green initiatives taking place, but one of the most rewarding to both fans and to the environment is the chance for people to get free prizes, like a snowboard, just for recycling!

Other cool things about the event are:

• Leftover food grease will be turned into biodiesel to power buses
• All paper and plastic products are made from recycled material
• Media guide is printed on recycled paper
• All leftover food scraps will be turned into compost

By far the best way the games are reducing the carbon footprint created by everyone there is the planting of 500 trees in a nearby national forest.

Click here to read more about the event.

Both the Winter and Summer X Games have some of the most spectacular sporting events ever to watch, and it’s great that they have a huge eco-friendly following. Now, with everyone from football teams to snowboarders helping the environment, sports fans will be more educated about global warming and other environmental issues!

When I think of New York City I picture the Statue of Liberty, taxi cabs, crowds of people, tall buildings and of course’traffic! With so many buildings consuming energy and modes of transportation contributing greenhouse gases in the air, New York City is one of America’s most polluting cities.

But the city is taking huge steps towards combating global warming, and one company has come up with a brilliant idea to turn a 26-story apartment building into a green lover’s paradise…

When I think of New York City I picture the Statue of Liberty, taxi cabs, crowds of people, tall buildings and of course’traffic! With so many buildings consuming energy and modes of transportation contributing greenhouse gases in the air, New York City is one of America’s most polluting cities.

But the city is taking huge steps towards combating global warming, and one company has come up with a brilliant idea to turn a 26-story apartment building into a green lover’s paradise!

A Diamond in the Rough

The Verdisian is located in Battery Park City, which is a planned community located right at the tip of Manhattan. If you’re lucky enough to get a room on one of the top floors then you can have a great view of the Hudson River.

The building provides residents with an overwhelming amount of eco-friendly amenities, and is itself green by design. Here are just a few of the green features of the apartment community:

• Each room uses Energy Star appliances
• 24/7 centrally filtered fresh air
• Eco-friendly paint and finishes
• Building design is 40% more energy efficient
• Uses green cleaning products
• Landscaped roof garden

You can read more about this green oasis here.

Apparently New York City isn’t the only place building eco-friendly apartments. Modern Green Living has an entire directory for green apartments located in the U.S., and it’s the perfect tool for college students and anyone else to find a green community near their school or work.

Back in the 1960s and 70s the citizens of South India used to pack their lunches in boxes made out of steel or tin. These lunchboxes were also known as tiffins, and they were perfect for carrying rice, vegetables and sauces in them because each tiffin had small, separate compartments in it. These metal boxes were not only a great way to take your food with you, but they also…

Back in the 1960s and 70s the citizens of South India used to pack their lunches in boxes made out of steel or tin. These lunchboxes were also known as tiffins, and they were perfect for carrying rice, vegetables and sauces in them because each tiffin had small, separate compartments in it. These metal boxes were not only a great way to take your food with you, but they also dramatically reduced the amount of waste produced by consumers.

Banquet’s Big Idea

Now it’s over 40 years later and the metal tiffins are making their way back into mainstream society! A chain eatery in Singapore, called Banquet, decided to bring the tiffins back to replace their plastic take-out containers. Apparently Banquet’s customers use over 27,000 plastic take-out containers every month, and these containers are not very eco-friendly. Tiffins will replace these non-green items and start consumers on the path towards living an eco lifestyle. What will happen is that customers will put down a small deposit on the tiffin, use it to take home their food and then return the tiffin to the Banquet eatery to get their deposit refunded back to them.

Better Than Styrofoam

I think that this is a great idea to implement into take-out food chains. Instead of millions of plastic or Styrofoam containers taking up space in our landfills or polluting our land, people can reuse these containers and decrease the amount of energy that would otherwise be used to produce more plastic containers. It’s also brilliant that the people have to put down a deposit to get the container because it makes them less likely to keep the container once they have it home. No one wants to leave their deposit unclaimed! Maybe if it’s a success in Singapore the U.S. will adopt some aspect of this idea.