If you’re like me, you may have a ton of old electronics taking up space in the closet, garage, etc… So often these gadgets will end up in a landfill when it comes time to make more room. There are options to give new life to unused electronics. You can always have a garage sale, sell them on eBay or Craigslist, but for an especially easy way to find a new home for them – try Gazelle

The service is easy to use – search for the item you wish to sell, answer a few questions about the condition of the item, and you will get a quote. If you want to sell the item, Gazelle provides the shipping label free, all you have to do it pack your item up and drop it off at the post office.

Another neat feature of the service is Gazelle for Good – you can create a gadget drive webpage and raise money for charity by collecting donations of gadgets.

For more information, visit the Gazelle website.

When it comes to gift wrapping – why not use bags that can be reused? We always keep gift bags we receive and reuse them later on. One idea to encourage your gift recipient to reuse the bag, is to make your own out of fabric. It’s a fun way to personalize your wrapping and help the environment too. Look for fabric scraps from local businesses or friends.

On the topic of gifts, it’s a great idea to give gifts which are durable and can replace disposable and highly polluting items. Things like electric shavers, reusable bags, refillable pens, cloth napkins are all great ideas. Another neat gift would be a backyard composter or perhaps a bicycle or rollerblades to promote alternate transportation.

When shipping items, be sure to use biodegradable starch packing peanuts, or better yet, reuse old packing materials if you have them. We like to keep a big box full of this items in our storage room. If you need to get rid of packing peanuts, try contacting local shipping companies, as many will take them for reuse.

When hosting or attending parties, try to use reusable items and recycle all you can afterwords. During the party, set up bins for recyclables and make then easily accessible. You can usually rent supplies (instead of using disposable items), such as plates, cups, etc…for party stores if you need a lot of them. For food items, try to shop for locally grown/produced items. This can be fun for out of town guests too, especially if your region has a unique item. Here in New Mexico, chile peppers are the big thing, so dishes with green and red chile are perfect for parties (assuming our guests enjoy a little heat in their food). Speaking of heat, why not setup a dance floor for your party? All those happy people dancing means you can turn down the heat in your house. Sounds like a plan to me.

We hope everyone has a fun, safe and green holiday season!

Use an LCD monitor
If you are still using an older CRT model (i.e. the kind that takes up half your desk space), consider replacing it with a new flat panel display. LCD monitors use one third less energy than CRT monitors.

Look for Energy Star peripherals
The same program which is popular for home appliances is available for products such as printers, scanners and fax machines. Energy Star is a program by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy which sets standards for energy-efficient products. By using an Energy Star compliant scanner or printer, you can use as much as 50-60% percent less energy.

Put your computer to sleep
Both PCs and Macs have power saving features built into the system. Basically, this will put your computer into “sleep” mode when not in use. This results in big drop in energy use.

Turn everything off at night
As long as you don’t use your computer as a server, or need to access it remotely, you can simply turn it off at night, or when you’re done for the day.

Stop residual power waste
Did you know that chargers for cell phones, iPods and other gadgets will suck power from the wall even when a device is not plugged in? I had no idea that idle chargers still used power. It is a pain to unplug devices, let alone a monitor or computer (which may be hidden behind your desk). One option is to use a SmartStrip. These devices monitor power use and can tell when items are turned off, or not charging. It then stops sending residual power to the device.

Recycle or donate
Since technology is always changing, you may find yourself with older products lying around after you upgrade to the latest and greatest. Computers and electronics contain many toxic materials, such as lead and mercury, which can leech into groundwater if dumped into a landfill. So, instead of trashing your old computers and electronics, looks for recycling programs in your area, or donate to local schools or charities. Earth 911 has an excellent directory of recycling programs, so do a search for your area.