[In his ongoing but sporadic series Don't Throw That Away!, the Green Cheapskate shows you how to repurpose just about anything, saving money and the environment in the process. Send him your repurposing ideas and challenges, but whatever you do, Don't Throw That Away!]

Ever since the mandatory conversion to digital TV -- the proverbial death knell to rabbit ear television antennas -- I've wondered if aluminum foil sales have plummeted.

If you grew up with rabbit ears, you know what I'm talking about. Who didn't fashion aluminum foil into a homemade antennae appendage in hope of enhancing the reception of their rabbit ears? I was never convinced that it worked, but at least it gave us something to do, since we couldn't see what was happening on the screen.

Even with the demise of rabbit ears, aluminum foil sales are still big business. Over 1.3 billion pounds of aluminum foil is produced every year in the U.S. -- that's a heck of a lot of leftovers. While aluminum foil is just as recyclable as aluminum cans, many curbside recycling programs won't accept it for sanitary reasons (check with your local recycling program for their foil policy). That's a shame, because recycling aluminum uses only about 5% of the energy that it takes to produce aluminum from raw materials.

Alas, until aluminum foil recycling becomes more commonplace, here are some ways to get the most mileage -- and most value for your money -- from your aluminum foil by using it more than once:

* Wash it and use it again (and again): I swear my mother is still reusing foil from the time of Christ for wrapping and rewrapping leftovers in the fridge. Just wash it in soap and water, flatten it out with a rolling pin on the kitchen counter, and it's good as new. (Caution: Foil that has come in contact with raw meat should not be reused for other food purposes.)

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I sometimes think the greenest technology has already been invented. We just forgot about it, or it fell out of vogue. In fact, you probably already own some of the greenest gadgets ever invented. But, if you're like most people, you have them tucked away in a closet at home and haven't used them for years.

It's time to go back to the future and break out some of these oldies but goodies. Pull them out and start saving money at home, now. They're easier on the environment, and they'll save you a bunch of greenbacks, too.

Slow-Cooker and Fondue Pot
If you don't already have a 70's era slow-cooker ("aka "Crock Pot") collecting dust in your kitchen cupboard, you can buy a new energy sipping model for about $30. I call mine my "mean, green, recession fighting machine," because it costs only a few cents to operate and turns inexpensive ingredients into the comfort food we crave to get us through these tough economic times.

And, talk about a money-saving throwback to the 1970's: I challenge you to go into any thrift store in America and not find at least one or two virtually unused fondue pots (usually in mustard yellow or avocado green) priced at just a couple of dollars. I sometimes wonder if any of us who bought new fondue sets during the Nixon administration actually used them. The great thing is, fondue is truly fun, delicious, and cheap. In fact, fondue was originally invented as a way of using up leftover bits of cheese, wine, meat, and stale bread. Pickup a used fondue pot at a thrift store and give it a try. Who knows; if fondue pots make a comeback, maybe key parties will, too....

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When you write about money and the environment for a living, you're constantly bombarded by related facts, figures and other interesting stuff. It seems like a day doesn't pass without someone emailing me a press release about how much CO2 is released via cow flatulence every year, or how much money you could save by heating your home with cow chips. Come to think of it, maybe I'm just on some type of All Bovine News list serve.

Last year I decided to keep track of some of the most interesting eco-facts (as in ecological as well as economical) I ran across, and start a new annual tradition: The Green Cheapskate's Top 10 Shocking Eco Stats of the Year. Here goes:

10. The organization Environmental Defense says that U.S. cars and trucks emit 314 metric tons of CO2 every year, and -- in case you were wondering -- that's equivalent to burning as much coal as would fit in a 50,000 mile long freight train. Gosh, I'd hate to be stuck at a railroad crossing waiting for that one to pass.

9. Remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill? Thank God something like that hasn't happened again. Sorry, but according to the National Academy of Sciences, on average there are 27 oil spills every day somewhere in the waters of the worlds, and the Valdez spill doesn't even make the list of the top 30 all-time largest.

8. But now for some good news about oil: The American Petroleum Institute (API) tells us that if the government would lift those silly environmental restrictions and allow the petrol industry to drill everywhere, there's enough oil right here in the U.S. to fuel 60 million cars and trucks for 60 years! Unfortunately, API seems to forget to mention that there are already more than 250 million cars and trucks in the U.S. Somehow "drill baby drill" doesn't sound like the lifesaver API claims it is when you know all the fossil fuel facts.

7. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men, "Credit cards? You can't handle the credit cards!" Apparently that's true for most Americans. BankRate.com says that people who pay for fast food using a credit card spend approximately 50% more than those who buy their burgers with cash. And the average purchase on a credit card ends up costing 112% more (that's right, more than double) because most people fail to pay off their cards monthly. So according to Bankrate, a $1,000 charge on an average card will take almost 22 years to pay, and will cost more than $2,300 in interest ($3,300 total) -- if only 2% minimum payments are made.

6. Man, have weekly allowances ever increased since I was a kid. According to an Associated Press article, American kids between the ages of 12 and 19 now spend about $179 billion annually. That translates into more than $100 per teen per week.

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I've been a sporadic birdwatcher -- or "birder," as they say -- ever since I was a teenager. But my interest in the hobby was recently piqued when I read a tremendously funny and informative book about birding by Luke Dempsey, titled A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All. Among other fascinating observations and factoids about birds and birders, Dempsey points out that an inordinate number of avid birdwatchers have "bird names" themselves, including John Flicker, President of the National Audubon Society. Coincidence or, perhaps in Flicker's case, a job requirement -- you decide.

Taking it one step further, as I've spent more time hanging out with serious birders this past year, I've noticed that many of them have physical characteristics similar to those of their favorite bird species. For example, my birding friend Ted is wild for wood ducks, and he has a shock of jet black hair that gives him a strikingly similar profile to one. On the other end of the spectrum, Brad is a self-proclaimed bald eagle junky. And yes, you guessed it, he has a shiny chrome dome himself to prove it. Then there's Susan, a warbler fanatic, and you'd know it from half a mile away if you ever heard her laugh.

The fact is I'm now more a watcher of birders, than of actual birds. And I expect the "birder-watching" -- not to mention the bird watching -- to be in full zenith next week when the 110th Audubon Christmas Bird Count ("CBC") kicks off.

This year's CBC runs from December 14, 2009 through January 5, 2010. Every year, tens of thousands of volunteers (aka "citizen scientists") throughout the U.S., Canada and 19 other countries in the Western Hemisphere break out their binoculars to compile a comprehensive census of bird populations during specified 24-hour periods. Volunteers are organized into groups -- or "field parties" -- to conduct counts in predetermined 15-mile diameter circles. Other volunteers may have the option of counting birds at their own backyard bird feeders, depending on where they live.

Best of all, you don't need to be an experienced birdwatcher to participate, since coordinators pair experienced birders with those less experienced when assembling field parties. It's a great family experience, since kids can participate too. There's a modest $5 fee (per field participant, per count), but people 18 and under can participate for free, as can backyard "feeder counters." Check out Audubon's website for schedules, registration and other information.

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[In his ongoing but sporadic series Don't Throw That Away!, the Green Cheapskate shows you how to repurpose just about anything, saving money and the environment in the process. Send him your repurposing ideas and challenges, but whatever you do, Don't Throw That Away!]

Since nearly half of all marriages in the U.S. now end in divorce -- and those that do last less than eight years on average -- I suppose it's a matrimonial miracle that after more than 25 years of wedded bliss, my wife and I have only one major dispute.

I'm referring, of course, to fabric softener sheets. She swears by them, and I swear about them, every time she buys them at the supermarket or I find one clinging to the inside of my boxer shorts. (Trust me, at my age you don't need softening sheets in your shorts.)

Rather than argue with my truly wonderful wife about whether fabric softener sheets are worth the money, I decided to instead go for the Guinness Book of World Records for lengthy marriages and keep ours intact by finding some creative ways to reuse spent fabric softener sheets. Here's what I found:

* Use them more than once. Although my wife disagrees, I've found that the same softener sheet can be used up to three or four times in the dryer and still get the job done.

* Anti-static dust wipes: The anti-cling chemicals in dryer sheets make them perfect for dusting television and computer screens and other electronic dust-magnets.

* Lint brush in a pinch: Used fabric softener sheets can be used to remove pet hair and lint from clothing and upholstery.

* Pot scrubbers: The softening chemicals in dryer sheets help loosen food particles stuck on pots and baking dishes; place a used sheet in the dish, cover with hot water, and let soak overnight. Rinse thoroughly after cleaning. (Editor's Note: this one may not be for the chemically squeamish.)

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I'm thinking about starting a movement to decriminalize drunk driving, reinstate smoking in all public places, and repeal laws that require parents to use child safety seats for their toddlers in the car.

After all, if it's still legal in most states to operate a motor vehicle while talking on a cell phone, shouldn't we have a "fair is fair" policy when it comes to allowing people to do stupid things that endanger the health and wellbeing of others? Maybe we could have a cap and trade system for jackass behavior. For example, if you don't talk on the phone while you drive, then you'd have the choice of either driving drunk or smoking in hospitals, day care centers and other public spaces.

With all of the public concern and ongoing scientific debate over the possibly harmful effects of cell phone radiation, why isn't there more public outrage over the documented public safety hazard of cell use while driving? Even here at The Daily Green, I've counted at least a dozen recent articles about the yet-to-be-proven harmful effects of cell phone radiation, but not a single article (up until now) about the more than 2,500 deaths and 330,000+ injuries every year in the U.S. attributed to the use of cell phones will driving (according to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis).

Could it be that it's easier for people to get up in arms about forcing cell phone companies to take responsibility for producing radiation-free devices than it is for us to take responsibility for our own actions and hang up the *&#@^ cell phone when we drive?

Numerous studies have shown that cell phone use (including hands-free phones) seriously impede our ability to drive safely. Several studies, including a 2006 study by the University of Utah, show that use of both hand held and hands free cell phones while driving is considerably more dangerous than driving while intoxicated, making it roughly four times more likely that we'll be involved in a crash. It's also widely accepted that the role cell phones play in causing auto accidents is grossly under reported. Up until just recently, police in most states were not even required to ask about or investigate cell phone usage in connection with auto accidents.

And yet, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, only six states totally prohibit the use of cell phones while driving, and that's only for hand-held phones (no state currently prohibits the use of hands-free phones). Ironically, six other states have "preemption laws," prohibiting local jurisdictions from enacting their own restrictions limiting cell phone use by drivers. Man, my cap and trade system for jackasses is looking more reasonable all the time.

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Given that Christmas has become a $400 billion annual spending spree here in the U.S., sometimes I think Scrooge had a point during his "bah humbug" period. Certainly a little spending moderation can't hurt this holiday season, and it might even put us back in touch with the true spirit and ideals of the season. Here's how to enjoy the holidays and avoid a financial hangover come New Years Day:

* Agree on a sensible gift exchange plan with family and friends: Don't be shy about broaching the subject of having a scaled-back gift exchange with family and friends. Many times, others will thank you for having the courage to bring it up. Consider setting a spending limit -- and sticking to it -- and adopting a "secret Santa" plan, whereby each person in the family draws a name and buys a gift only for that person rather than for everyone in the family. Or consider an alternative gift exchange plan, like only giving homemade items, re-gifted items, gifts of your time, or just exchanging cards instead of gifts. Remember, it's the thought that counts.

* Make entertaining more about special people and activities than about expensive food and drink: Celebrating with family and friends need not leave your bank account as empty as Santa's workshop after the holidays are over. Put the focus of holiday entertaining back where it belongs -- on enjoying good times with good people. Make meal events a potluck or progressive dinner, so that everyone can share their favorite recipes (and some of the cost). Host a brunch rather than a dinner party; brunch-foods like egg dishes, breads, and salads tend to cost less than dinner fare. And deemphasize food and drink by planning fun group activities, like an old fashioned caroling party or playing games instead of having a traditional - and costly - cocktail party.

* Decorate with creativity, not credit cards: It's easy to overspend when it comes to decking the halls, but simple elegance usually trumps glitzy glamour when decorating for the holidays. Take an inventory of decorations you have on hand before you shop for more; it's easy to forget about items you have in storage or bought last year at after-Christmas sales. Incorporate inexpensive greenery and other natural materials as much as possible, including those you might collect from your own yard or swap with neighbors. If you buy a real Christmas tree, buy the largest one you can find for the price and cut off unneeded lower branches to use in wreaths and garland. Or consider buying a truly "live" tree -- one with the root ball still intact -- and plant it in your yard after the holidays; according to the U.S. Department of Energy, as few as three strategically planted trees in your yard can significantly reduce household heating and cooling expenses.

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Editor's note: We were delighted by Lauren Weber's new book In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue, and we weren't just flattered that she mentioned The Daily Green, or Jeff Yeager's own book The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches. Weber writes with style and humor about a topic dear to us: getting more out of life with less impact on the planet. We noticed some similarities in suggestions and outlook between these two thrifty authors, and also noted amusing ways in which they diverge in their habits.

So we put them to a Cheap Off of sorts, volleying the following questions their way. Weber's answers are in regular text and Jeff's are in italics.

Gloria Dawson, The Daily Green: What do you splurge on?

Is health insurance a “splurge”? Probably not, but it sure feels like it every month when I write that $360 check. I’m lucky to be very healthy (knock on wood, throw salt over the shoulder), so in purely monetary terms, I don’t get a lot for my money. However, the peace of mind is ultimately worth it.

Aside from that, I buy some insanely expensive skin-care products (see below). And I love to travel, so I’ll fork over big dollars to fly to India, Vietnam, Turkey or France. Once I’m there, though, I get around on public transportation, eat street food, stay in hostels or inexpensive motels and try to focus on having great experiences rather than buying a lot of souvenirs.

I agree with Lauren -- a true Sister of the Cheaphood -- when it comes to health care. We need to radically reform our system and catch up with the rest of the civilized world. But until then, readers can rest assured that I’ll continue the groundbreaking work I’ve been doing here in the Ultimate Cheapskate Lab to make do-it-yourself home surgery a practical alternative. Why am I guessing that if I could get a couple of politicians under my homemade scalpel, our health care system would be fixed overnight?

My splurges? It’s all relative. A cheapskate neighbor of mine is aghast that I pay a service $85 every couple of years to clean out my septic tank. To him, that’s a splurge. He cleans his septic tank out himself, by the bucketful. (And he wonders why we never have him over for dinner).

*********

Lately there has been lots of chatter around eating on $10 a day. Is it really possible? How?

Absolutely! In fact, $10 seems extravagant to me -- that would include at least one meal out for me. On most days, I probably feed myself for around $3 to $5. I eat lots of lentils and beans, two of the healthiest and cheapest foods imaginable. And I hardly ever cook meat at home. Instead, I hold my diet mostly to legumes, vegetables, eggs, tofu and pasta. For a treat, I’ll get a $2 taco at the Mexican food stands under the elevated train in my New York City neighborhood.

That’s not to say I don’t like a pricey meal now and then. I once took a friend out for a $200 sushi dinner, and it was worth every penny.

Are we talking $10 a person?! If so, that’s a further indication of how out of touch many people (including many self-proclaimed personal finance gurus) are with money: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American currently spends only about $4 a day on food. Yet, particularly with the recession, we have people writing articles about the “challenge” of spending ONLY $10 a day on food? Okay, so maybe it’s $10 for a household? If so, the average household is about 2.5 people, so that’s still not a “challenge,” just the national average. $10 for a family of four or more, maybe, but it’s still easily doable.

Be all that as it may, I try to buy mostly foods that cost under $1 a pound, primarily because those are often the healthiest foods (e.g. whole grains, legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables). My “under $1 a pound” approach channels you toward eating lower on the food chain, which is better for your health, the environment, and your bank account.

If you’re a smart shopper and plan your menus around the “loss leaders” advertised at the grocery store, you can have an extremely healthy, enjoyable diet for (generally) under $1 a pound. Many people don’t believe this, but I’ve proven it time and again -- all around the country -- on TV challenges and elsewhere. Also, FYI, I live in the Washington, DC metro area, with one of the highest costs of living in the country, and this is how I shop and eat.

Give it a try: “Under $1 a pound, year round.” (Of course, as my long-suffering wife likes to say, “If you are what you eat, my husband should be reduced-for-quick-sale.”)

********

Describe your ultimate cheap vacation (and you can't stay at home!). Where would you go? What hotels do you like? How would you get there?

My boyfriend and I have been thinking about taking the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Beijing, via Mongolia. We’d hop off at cities along the way and spend our days as tourists, then get back on the trains at night, using them as both transportation and lodging. That would save us the cost of hotels every night. And if the TSR trains are anything like the ones in India, there will probably be food-sellers at every stop, plying inexpensive fruit, snacks and local specialties through the windows to locals and tourists alike. Of course, the expensive part is airfares to and from home. But I don’t mind suffering through a couple of layovers if it means saving a few hundred bucks.

I write a lot about how travel is a responsibility, not a luxury -- to get out and meet the people of the world and see where and how they live. The thing is, if you spend a lot on luxury travel or tour groups, you defeat the whole purpose of travel: You’ll be staying in American-style hotels, eating American food, and associating only with American tourists, even though you’re half way around the world. Why not just stay home? Only by traveling on the cheap can you truly capture a sense of place and the people who live there.

Yes, so for me, it’s a lot of bicycling, hiking, public transport; youth hostels, CouchSurfing.com, and local/cheap hotels (you know, the kind of places where they ask for a $10 deposit to turn OFF the porno movies in your room); and street food and self-cooked meals along the way.

By stretching our travel dollars in this fashion, my wife and I travel both in the U.S. and abroad for about four months out of every year. Not a bad life, living on the cheap.

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[In his ongoing but sporadic series Don't Throw That Away!, the Green Cheapskate shows you how to repurpose just about anything, saving money and the environment in the process. Send him your repurposing ideas and challenges, but whatever you do, Don't Throw That Away!]

I was a bank robber, the first Halloween I can remember. That involved carrying a burlap bag filled with stacks of newsprint "loot" over my shoulder, wearing a black turtleneck sweater like Illya Kuryakin wore in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and -- most memorably -- sliding one of my grandmother's worn out silk stockings over my head.

That memory (the last part, in particular) is etched upon my mind. And, my therapist says, no amount of counseling is ever likely to erase it.

Silk stockings are of course as long gone as my dear grandmother; truly sad to say, in both cases. But here are 20 creative ways to repurpose today's worn out nylon pantyhose, even if you're not planning to rob a bank:

• Gift wrap storage: Keep rolls of gift paper neat and tatter-free by storing them in old pantyhose -- one roll per leg -- and hanging them in the closet.
• Green Cheapskate soap on a rope: Put bath soap slivers in the foot of a pair of pantyhose to get every last bit of suds out of them in the shower. Rub-a-dub-dub, there's a cheapskate in my tub. (See more "Recycling Oddities.")
• Plant ties: Use lengths of pantyhose to stake up tomatoes and other plants in the garden; because of its elasticity, it's easier on tender plants than string.
• Mold and mildew stoppers: Partially fill pantyhose with kitty litter and place in shoes, luggage, closets, dressers, etc. to absorb moisture and reduce mold and mildew.
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tags: reuse, stockings, panty hose, socks, pantyhose, thrifty, organizing

Other writers ponder questions like the meaning of life, but what I've been wondering about lately is this: Why it is that people who drive Hummers and other big-ass SUVs always drive slower over those little speed bumps in parking lots than everyone else? I mean, isn't that probably the closest they'll ever get in their lifetimes to an "off-road experience," the only logical reason why they bought a tank instead of a car in the first place?

I'll confess upfront that I don't understand why people drive big vehicles, particularly Hummers. It seems to me to be a tremendous -- and, in my opinion, obnoxious -- waste of the Earth's resources as well as one's personal financial resources.

A rule of thumb often cited by personal finance experts is that your monthly car payment should be no more than 15% of your monthly take-home pay, and that's assuming that you're not already overburdened with other debt. That means that in order to afford a Hummer H2 priced at say $63,000, you should probably be earning at least $200,000 per year. Remember, that's not household income either. Assuming that your family owns more than one vehicle (as most American families do), your total car payments for all vehicles owned should be under 15% of your household take home pay.

Since I've never understood why anyone would chose to buy a Hummer, I was fascinated by a research study recently published by the Journal of Consumer Research that shed some light on the issue. I guess I assumed that Hummer owners were oblivious to the moral implications of over-consumption, or at least they couldn't care less.

But surprisingly, through a series of in-depth interviews with Americans who own Hummers, the researchers found that Hummer owners "consider Hummer driving a highly moral consumption choice. For Hummer owners it is possible to claim the moral high ground." What the fu_ _? (I mean "fuel," BTW.)

According to the study, "Hummer owners [or I'm assuming, more accurately, people who are at least making their $1,200 monthly payments on a Hummer] adopt the role of the moral protagonist who defends American national ideals." That's right. From the perspective of a Hummer owner, they're the good guys, standing strong against environmentalists and others who dare question the sanctity of traditional American ideals like the "rugged individualist" and the "boundless frontier." The more Hummer owners are criticized, the more they feel vindicated as righteous crusaders, battling to preserve the American way of life (or, at least, the American way of spending).

To each his own I suppose. But in a nation that spends more than $200,000 per minute, 24/7, buying foreign oil, it seems a stretch to frame ownership of a gas guzzler as an act of American patriotism. It also seems like an unwise financial decision for most people.

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[In his ongoing but sporadic series Don't Throw That Away!, the Green Cheapskate shows you how to repurpose just about anything, saving money and the environment in the process. Send him your repurposing ideas and challenges, but whatever you do, Don't Throw That Away!]

"Jeff, can't we at least celebrate the holiday before you eat the decorations?" I've heard that more than once from my long-suffering wife during our 26-year marriage.

You see, cheapskates like to celebrate Halloween and other holidays just like everyone else. But we grimace at wasteful rituals like throwing away a perfectly good pumpkin after using it for only a few days as a decoration. Americans buy more than one billion pounds of pumpkins at Halloween, and the vast majority of those end up in the trash. But at the Green Cheapskate's house, we eat our jack-o-lantern, every last bit of it.

While some particularly meaty varieties of pumpkins are specifically grown to be eaten (including Sweet Jack-be-Littles, Cheese Pumpkins, Sugar Pumpkins and some delicious heirloom varieties), any commonly available pumpkin is perfectly edible. Best of all, at Halloween (and immediately after Halloween) you can usually buy pumpkins for less than half a buck a pound. At that price, why not pick up a couple extra just to eat?

Pumpkins are a true American vegetable, a favorite of the Aztec, Inca and Mayan people before becoming a staple of early European explorers and settlers in the New World. Pumpkins belong to the same family (Cucurbitacae) as gourds, melons and cucumbers. And, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research, pumpkins are packed with beta carotene, a powerful antioxidant that fights cancer.

If you're buying a pumpkin specifically for eating, the smaller ones are usually the best. If you're going to use it as a jack-o'-lantern as well, you can eat or freeze some of the pumpkin when you carve it, and then pickle the remaining rind when Halloween is over, provided that it's still in good shape. So, here's how to eat your jack-o-lantern:

Seeds First

Toasted pumpkin seeds are a healthy snack filled with zinc, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper and protein. They're also great in salads, muffins, bread, and in other recipes as a nut substitute.

Remove the seeds, rinse them in water to get rid of the stringy inner membrane, and dry them out a little on a towel. Flavor with coarse salt for a traditional taste, or let your imagination and spice rack run wild. Some options for flavoring designer seeds include: pumpkin pie spice; Cajun seasonings; ginger powder; garlic salt; curry powder; Tabasco; cinnamon; vinegar and salt. Once seasoned, bake the seeds on a lightly oiled cookie sheet (single layer thick) in a 250-degree oven for about an hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Or, my preferred method is to cook them in a spray-oiled skillet over medium heat on the stove top, stirring and shaking (the skillet, not your booty) constantly. On the stove top, they'll be toasted nicely brown in only about five minutes. Store in air-tight containers.

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[In his ongoing but sporadic series Don't Throw That Away!, the Green Cheapskate shows you how to repurpose just about anything, saving money and the environment in the process. Send him your repurposing ideas and challenges, but whatever you do, Don't Throw That Away!]

I've always hated those foam packing peanuts that fly out of the box and end up everywhere whenever you open a mail order package. They seem to be a product designed more to annoy the recipient than to protect the recipient's cargo.

My disdain for packing peanuts reached its zenith a few years ago when I went to a job interview dressed in my best navy blue pinstriped suit. I thought the interview went well, until I was walking out of the meeting room and happened to catch a reflection of myself in a glass panel. Through the scientific miracle of static cling, half a dozen bright pink packing peanuts had mockingly affixed themselves to the seat of my pants. I didn't get the job, and I still blame packing peanuts for that failure.

In fairness to the packing peanut industry, they have made some strides over the years to at least make some packing peanuts more eco-friendly, if no less annoying. There are even new environmentally friendly packing peanuts on the market that are made out of corn starch, wheat, and other natural materials, so they biodegrade quickly and some even dissolve in water. Shippers will usually put a slip in with your shipment letting you know if they use biodegradable peanuts, in which case you can just add them to your compost pile.

Traditional packing peanuts are made out of polystyrene and are now color coded to indicate the origin of the material they contain. Polystyrene takes hundreds of years to decompose in nature, so recycling it is key. Green colored packing peanuts are made from at least 70% recycled material, while white and pink colored peanuts are composed of at least 70% raw (i.e. non-recycled) materials. Additionally, pink peanuts have been treated with chemicals to prevent static cling -- tell that to those little pink devils who sabotaged my job interview.

And so, my prescriptions for creatively reusing foam packing peanuts are born as much out of a desire for revenge as a desire to save money and save the planet, but here goes:

Reuse: Store packing peanuts in an old pair of pantyhose to keep them from over taking your house until you're ready to ship them off to someone else. Cut a hole in the toe -- if there's not already one there -- and tie it off with a twisty-seal for easy peanut dispensing.

Refuse: If you detest packing peanuts as much as I do, ask mail order companies if they use them before you agree to place an order, and encourage them to use the new biodegradable variety. Sometimes companies, particularly smaller outfits, will agree to ship your order with shredded newspaper or some other more eco-friendly substitute instead.

Recycle: More and more recycling programs are accepting packing peanuts, but make sure you put them in a bag or box so that they don't escape and invade the neighborhood. Also, shipping services like Mailboxes, Etc. will often accept peanut donations, as will many stores and businesses that do a lot of shipping. If nothing else, list them on the Freecycle Network, since someone in your area is bound to be moving or shipping something.

Potted Plant Drainage: Substituting packing peanuts (the non-biodegradable variety) for gravel in the base of potted plants not only provides good drainage, but it makes the containers much lighter and easier to move.

Deck the Halls: String up multi-colored packing peanuts instead of old-fashioned popcorn and cranberries for some festive yuletide decorations. Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like repurposing would-be throwaways.

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As I've written before, ounce for ounce your little plastic charge cards arguably create a larger carbon footprint than any other single item you probably own. Well, maybe "create" is the wrong word; "enable" is more like it.

You see, the production, distribution and consumption of nearly all goods and services result in the emission of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, and thus the creation of a measurable "carbon footprint." And now, according to Bankrate.com, nearly 25% of all goods and services purchased in the U.S are purchased using a credit card.

Of course I'm not saying that all of those purchases are unnecessary, or that we wouldn't still manufacture and consume many of the same things even if we didn't have charge cards. But there's no denying the fact that America's trend toward uber-consumption over the past few generations has been fueled in large part by the widespread availability of consumer credit and, specifically, the skyrocketing use of charge cards. A number of studies in recent years have shown that we do, indeed, buy more stuff when we use a charge card and we're willing to pay more for it. For example, one study showed that people using credit cards at fast food restaurants spend up to 50% more than those paying with cash. Now that's likely to result in both a larger carbon footprint and a larger waistline.

The first charge card, the Diners Club card, was issued in 1950 to allow businessmen the convenience of charging their meals at 27 restaurants that were individually listed on the back of the card. Today there are more than 20,000 different charge cards available to U.S. consumers, and the average American family owes nearly $8,500 in credit card debt. Since about 60% of all active credit card accounts are not paid off monthly, that typical American family is paying about $1,200 annually just in credit card interest, to say nothing of the $43 billion in other fees collected by the credit card industry last year.

Another shocking credit card fact from Bankrate.com: The typical credit card purchase ends up costing 112% more than if cash were used. That's right, more than twice as much!

Reducing or even eliminating entirely the use of credit cards in your life is likely to make you happier -- or at least less stressed out over being in debt -- and may very well reduce the size of your carbon footprint in the process. Few people need to own more than one credit card, and studies show that if you make it a point to always pay with cash, on average you'll spend about 30% less. It's just harder, psychologically, to part with actual greenbacks. Also, in the case of discretionary purchases, make it a point to wait at least a week between the time you see an item in the store, and when you go back to buy it. I'll bet that most of the time you'll never go back to buy it.

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If you’re old enough to remember the Carter Administration like me, you’re old enough to have witnessed the birth of modern day recycling in the U.S.A. I’m glad – and proud – that we’re now a nation where recycling is as common as an eight track tape player was in an AMC Gremlin back when Jimmy was president. Today, more than 80% of U.S. households have easy access to locally based programs for recycling paper, plastic, glass and aluminum.

But recycling isn't just about everyday household items any more. Nonprofit organizations and specialized businesses are springing up everywhere to recycle almost everything imaginable. Here are 10 recycling oddities that might surprise you. ...

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[In his ongoing but sporadic series Don't Throw That Away!, the Green Cheapskate shows you how to repurpose just about anything, saving money and the environment in the process. Send him your repurposing ideas and challenges, but whatever you do, Don't Throw That Away!]

I love eggs, and not just because I love the way they taste. Of course, part of my eggophilia is also due to the fact that eggs are an affordable, high-quality protein, usually costing less than twenty cents apiece. Despite much publicized cholesterol warnings, more and more research is revealing the many health benefits of eating eggs -- everything from strengthening muscles to improving brain function -- with most research now showing that an egg or two a day is just fine for most people.

Plus, eggs have clever packaging. I hate paying for packaging, but when it comes to the uber-chic engineering marvel known as the eggshell, I don't mind the cost. Madison Avenue marketing gurus or MIT engineering professors could never design packaging as cool and functional as the eggshell. If eggs didn't come in their own shell we'd probably package them in some form of plastic, which might be recyclable, but would never have the multitude of reuses attributable to Mother Nature's own packaging.

Take a crack at these eggshell reuses:

1. Compost for Naturally Fertilized Soil
Eggshells quickly decompose in the compost pile and add valuable calcium and other minerals to the soil in the process.

2. Nontoxic Pest Control in the Garden
Scatter crushed eggshell around your plants and flowers to help deter plant-eating slugs, snails and cutworms without using eco-unfriendly pesticides. Also, deer hate the smell of eggs, so scattering eggshells around the flowerbed will help keep Bambi away from your begonias.

3. Less Bitter Coffee
Add an eggshell to the coffee in the filter, and your morning coffee will be less bitter. The spent coffee grounds, eggshell and bio-degradable filter are then conveniently ready for the compost pile.

4. Splendid Seedling Starters
Fill biodegradable eggshell halves with potting soil instead of using peat pots to start seedlings for the garden. And an egg carton on the windowsill is the perfect way to start a dozen tomato seedlings in shells before transplanting to the garden in the spring.

5. Eco-friendly Household Abrasive
Shake crushed eggshells and a little soapy water to scour hard-to-clean items like thermoses and vases. Crushed eggshells can also be used as a nontoxic abrasive on pots and pans.

6. Eggy, Crafty Projects
"Blow out" the inside of a raw egg and paint/decorate the hollow shell to make your Faberge eggs or other craft projects. Pieces of egg shell (plain or dyed) are also used in mosaic art projects.

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