November is well underway and another cold winter is looming for most of us, and that means more than just chilly temperatures—it means spending more money. The average American household is spending more than $2,000 a year on energy bills and almost half of that is from heating and cooling. While AC in the summer can be avoidable, depending on where you live, there are many who have no choice but to reach for the thermostat once the temperature starts to plummet.

Making the (small) investment for a programmable thermostat, however, can help you lower your monthly energy bill and reduce the carbon emissions that result from your energy use. One of our favorites is the Clairion Eco-Save Programmable Thermostat, which is truly an easy investment at $48. The Eco-Save Thermostat connects to your gas, oil or electric heating and/or cooling system and can than be programmed to meet your heat needs as they vary. Different settings for weekdays and Saturday and Sunday mean you won’t be blasting the heat while you’re away at the office or going without when you’re stretched out on the couch on Sunday afternoon (all without you having to change the thermostat). Click here to read more

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Ever been negatively effected by a low cellphone battery and an inability to use a friend’s charger because of compatibility issues? You’ll be excited to learn that the International Telecommunication Union (a segment of the United Nations) has finally agreed upon and approved the universal phone charger that they started working on back in February.

Not only will the new universal micro-USB charger mean convenience for users (who will no longer be limited to their specific phone model charger), the environmental benefits are seriously impressive. The Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) estimates that 51,000 metric tons of chargers find their way to landfills annually, primarily when users upgrade to new phones and have no use for their old chargers. Better yet, the ITU has also made the universal phone charger more energy efficient (particularly in standby mode), which could mean a 13.6 million metric ton reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions with widespread use.

Many major cellphone manufacturers—including LG, AT&T, Samsung and Nokia—have already expressed interest in the universal phone charger, which will not be enforced. Sony Ericsson is leading the way with universal chargers expected to be packaged alongside their phones in early 2010. Even Apple, a company initially resistant to the universal charger because of their success with their unique docking system, has come on board, but they’ll likely be adding an additional micro-USB charging port instead of replacing their current charging method. Click here to read more

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Whether you’re setting off for Bangladesh or headed for a weekend camping trip by the lake, you’re probably planning to rehydrate with bottled water because of questionable drinking water or convenience, but just as you’ve cut the plastic bottle-habit out of your daily life (we hope), there are better alternative than buying a bottle every time thirst strikes.

The hand-held SteriPEN Adventurer is small enough to fit inside even the most overstuffed luggage and enables you to purify the water wherever you’re headed with UV light instead of chemicals, so you can skip the bottled water without picking up any funky digestive problems.

Ideal for use on water from clear running streams and questionable municipal facilities, the SteriPEN will rid your water of lurking bacteria and other bad news (although it won’t remove debris or improve taste, so avoid sediment-containing water). All you have to do is hold the SteriPEN in the water you want to purify, press the button and wait while the pen agitates and purifies the water with its UV light. Click here to read more

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Soon a session of reading in the backyard may serve a more practical purpose than just offering a relaxing afternoon. LG has debuted a prototype e-reader in the same vein as the Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader, and the rumored Barnes and Noble e-book (which may feature color), but LG has taken the paperless idea of the e-readers a step greener by attaching a thin film solar cell to their e-book.

Attached opposite the e-book’s main screen, the credit card-thin, super lightweight solar panel soaks up sun and can provide an additional day of power if it receives 4-5 hours of sunlight (a bit tricky for winter reading in rainy and cloudy climates). A battery provides main power to the LG e-reader for conventional recharging and is backed up by the solar panel, which could theoretically support the e-reader for days with consistent solar charging.

The LG e-reader, while still in a prototype stage and unlikely to be available until 2012, could set a new standard in e-readers, which are already hailed for their eco-friendliness because of the reduced impact from not having to create and transport traditional paper books. If LG’s solar e-book proves successful, it could lead e-readers the way of calculators, one of the first devices to switch to full solar power successfully. Click here to read more

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It probably won’t come as much of a shock to many, but new research from the Carnegie Mellon University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Stanford University confirms that in all but a few cases online music will be a much greener choice for consumers, and that the amount of resources and energy saved can be significant.

The August 2009 study assessed the environmental impacts associated with CDs and MP3s and considered the variations between CDs bought in retail stores, CDs bought online and delivered by light-duty truck, CDs bought online and delivered by express air, albums downloaded and used digitally, albums downloaded and burned to disc, and albums downloaded, burned to disc and packaged in jewel cases. While most of us would assume that buying an MP3 and downloading it for digital use would be better for the planet, you might be surprised to find out that doing so could cut energy use and carbon emissions by anywhere from 40 to 80 percent. Click here to read more

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