Laurie Benenson
I've slowly come to the realization that I've accumulated enough old cables, wires, plugs, and various digital gadgets to start a Radio Shack.

The only problem is, they're all obsolete. Take this charger, for example -- from a two-generations-ago cell phone. And what about this dear old Palm Pilot? We sure had some good times together. But now it's time to throw you away, old pal. You've been usurped by my Blackberry. Which will no doubt go on to be replaced by whatever is the next big thing in all-things-to-all-people technology. So the question is: how do I get rid of all this stuff?

Ideally, there should be a special trash container dedicated to recycling electronic waste, which would be emptied along with the other three categories of cans that we have: "regular" garbage, organic waste like grass and leaves, and recyclables like paper, plastic, glass and tin. Those three categories were devised long before the incredible glut of electronic gadgetry that we now have to contend with. So what about adding a fourth category?

It's time to recognize the realities: electronic disposal is a regular part of daily life. Until our municipalities get around to offering a house-to-house service, though, there is an excellent website you can consult to find out the nearest e-waste recycling center...

Laurie Benenson
By now everyone has heard about the fabulous new compact fluorescent lightbulbs, which last about 10,000 hours, ten times longer than an ordinary incandescent lightbulb. We first discovered them at a hotel in New York a few years ago, and thought they gave off a hideous light, and had no desire to use them in our house. But that was then, and this is now.

I tried one in a lamp recently, and I'm not sure what the hell I was thinking -- the light is perfectly fine. Especially if you have a nice lampshade to soften the glow. Besides, the idea of saving $30 or more over the life of the bulb, per bulb, is a beautiful thing.

It's products like these new bulbs that give me hope that we may be able to reverse the tide in greenhouse gas emissions, which, of course, are responsible for global warming. It's the kind of modest change that everyone can afford to make -- in fact, you're wasting a lot of money if you don't make this change.

And there are other individual changes which, if made on a mass scale, could have a huge impact. If you can't drive a hybrid or biodiesel vehicle at this time, at least make sure your tires are properly inflated. You can improve fuel efficiency by 3.3% merely by checking to see that your tires are properly inflated! (Not to mention the fact that your vehicle will be a whole lot safer).

Another modest but highly impactful change that I've made is to reduce the ridiculous amount of energy used by appliances WHILE THE PRODUCTS ARE TURNED OFF! According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is used while the products are in "sleep mode" -- you know, when the little green light is on. You can stop this vampire-like theft of electricity either by unplugging the appliance, or using a power strip, and using the switch on the strip to cut all power to the appliance. And for heaven's sake, unplug your battery chargers when they're not being used.

Like I said, little things. The key is for everyone to enact small changes in their lives -- that's the way to make a difference.

Laurie Benenson

Making sure the food I prepare for my family is healthy and safe is a bigger job than it used to be. It seems that every week there is a new area of concern regarding the food supply.

A few years ago, I felt I was doing a good job if I declared fast food joints off limits (with the possible exception of road-trip refueling) and tried to make sure we had fruits and vegetables every day. Then I added "organic" to my list of prerequisites, especially for those fruits and veggies that seem to retain the most chemical pesticide residues after harvest (for instance, berries). Then other concerns kept popping up: avoiding trans fats, which up until recently were present in most breakfast cereals, crackers, and snack foods; only using hormone and antibiotic-free meat and chicken; and limiting consumption of the types of fish that contain the most mercury (tuna and swordfish).

But with the recent e-coli outbreaks in such healthy foods as spinach, lettuce, and scallions, even buying produce marked "organic" no longer insures that the food is safe. Not when it's grown on gargantuan factory farms and sent out to all parts of the country, with minimal oversight (the use of tainted water was blamed for last year's e-coli episodes, but the spinach itself was supposedly grown using organic guidelines).

So now my new resolution is to try and buy as much of our fruits and vegetables as possible at the weekly farmer's market, which features locally grown produce raised on relatively small farms. (We are lucky enough to live in Santa Monica, California, which has one of the world's greatest open-air markets.)

The people selling their produce at the farmer's market are personally responsible for the safety of their food, and that makes me feel much more confident. Besides, buying local reduces the amount of fuel needed to transport the food -- so it benefits not only our health, but goes easier on the environment as well. It's a win/win situation -- and besides, shopping at the farmers market is community-minded, convivial and fun.