I love magazines. I loathe subscription cards. It’s just that simple. Every magazine is crammed with these things trying to tempt me into buying a subscription to their magazine. I can appreciate the concept as a business model, but it doesn’t make me any less annoyed.

Today, as I flip through WIRED, I do very much like the idea that their cards are nicely slipped in. This means I don’t have to tear them out leaving that annoying stub in the binding that makes it impossible to hold a page while reading. The counterpoint to this lovely feature is that they go flying out all over the place. In a busy airport this means that as I sprint from one gate to another to catch my inevitably late connection that I have two choices.  Choice A is to be a  jerk and leave a trail of garbage throughout the terminal.  Choice B is to be a friendly little twit and run around like a spaztic 4 year old calmoring for my trash.  I’ll take A in a feeble attempt to actually make my connection.

Everyone is trying to do their part to be more green these days.  It is the hot new thing everywhere you look.  Save on gas, save on water, save on waste, save on everything.   Certainly all of this is great for the planet and it’s inhabitants.  There are limits to how far some people will go.  I imagine one of these limits for most people in the great steamy state of North Carolina is the use of home air conditioning.  In case anyone missed out, its been hot.

There is something that you can do to beat the heat and stay green!  A local Raleigh resident has started collecting the condensation runoff from their air conditioning in standard 55 gallon rain barrels.  Certainly not fit for human consumption but plants and lawns should love it.  I contacted the resident of the home while snapping a few photos and he indicated that during the heat wave over the past week or so he is collecting fifteen gallons of condensation a day.  Not going to water the lawn, but more than enough to take care of flower beds and small plants.