Ten Ways to Slash Your Energy and Water Use – Without Really Changing the Way You Live

I’ve done lots of research and writing on energy efficiency and have tried to incorporate much of what I’ve learned in my life. It’s a work in progress; I still use my fuel-efficient car (48 mpg on the highway) more than I’d like, though the brief surge in gasoline prices certainly became a motivating factor to drive less. And frankly, the price of all our resources should be a lot higher because a) they’re precious and finite and b) it’s the only realistic way most people will be motivated to take action.

Whether you believe in global warming, and humanity’s contribution to it, it’s impossible to dispute North American society is shamefully wasteful of our energy and water. Unfortunately, shame is unlikely to spur most folks to change their profligate ways. So I’ve come up with a top-10 list of things you can do to significantly cut your energy/resource use, without really having to change the way you live. For example, if you bought resource-efficient toilets, showerheads and a front-loading washing machine, you’d practically cut your indoor water use in half, without noticing anything more than a short-term dent in your wallet. Click here for more.

Best Songs of 2008

My best choices of pop, rock and folkish songs from the past year, which was not as strong as 2007 but certainly had its highlights. The emphasis here is on melody, stirring harmonies and driving percussion – just what you need to brighten your day. The order of each listing is performer, tune and CD/EP (where available).

Beast – Finger Prints (Beast) My revelation of the year. This Montreal trip-hop duo features the stirring vocals of Betty Bonifassi and the pounding percussion of Jean-Phi Goncalves. Nearly all the songs on this release are topnotch. http://www.myspace.com/beastsound

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The Best Music of 2007:

In this era of downloadable MP3s, the idea of albums as the barometer of musical excellence seems rather antiquated. I hardly listen to entire CDs anymore and rarely want to download more than one or tunes from any particular CD; indeed, there’s only one 2007 CD from which I downloaded most of the tracks – Lily Allen’s Alright, Still, and it only technically qualified as a 2007 album, since that’s the year it was released in North America.  Click here for more.

Single Malt Scotches For Less Than $50:

My grandmother used to say skill at cards was the sign of a misspent youth. Well, she failed to warn me about a man’s misspent middle age, which is no longer restricted to buying sports cars and chasing younger women. There’s now the equally ruinous habit – for the wallet and liver – of imbibing single-malt scotch.  Click here for more.