Monday, Monday

So, Monday got ya down?

Want to waste time?

Want to waste time and save the planet?

When you need a brain break today, I've got your green interweb roundup, organized from least-time consuming to "my boss is on maternity leave and nobody will be checking up on me for 5 more weeks" time-consuming.

5 Minute Brain Break

• On the LA Times' Environment page, you can catch up on green news from Cali and around the world. I discovered it while looking for free crosswords. The New York Times also has an Environment page, although they put it under the heading of "Science", which seems to deny the socio-cultural-political-stylical-entertainmental aspects of the greening of our culture.
• The Sierra Club's Hey, Mr. Green column addresses all of those green dilemmas that the average person doesn't have time to research. Want to know what kind of cups will be most environmentally-friendly at your next kegger? Mr. Green can tell you!

15 Minute "Fresh Air" Break

My sister had a friend who was irritated that smokers got to take more breaks during the day than your average non-smoker. So she started taking "fresh air breaks", equivalent to those smoke breaks. Wanna rebel against the system and start taking fresh air breaks? Here are some websites to fill the time.

• Dooce, aka Heather Armstrong, has started a community on her website. The participants are fun, the question-and-answer format allows for a lot of information sharing, and if you click on the "Environment" category, your time wastage can serve a purpose. If you're not familiar with Dooce, she's a mega-blogger and author who writes about photography, motherhood, and washing machines. Always good for a laugh, followed by an aw-shucks moment, Dooce is an internet star who's totally relatable.
• Want to know what chemicals are lurking in your shampoo? How many bunnies died for your mascara? On the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database, you can check out the hazard level on your beauty products. But be forewarned - you might not like what you find out.

Break? What break? I'm trying to get fired

• Head over to Hulu and watch the latest episode of Bones. What does a forensic TV show have to do with the environment, you might ask? Well, on this particular episode, a dead body connected to a poultry plant leads the entire murder-solvin' gang to consider the ethics of eating meat. In fact, Bones consistently has an undercurrent of environmentalism, with bodies found at recycling plants, a household wind turbine serving as motive for murder, environmental activists popping up as suspects or victims ... it might seem trivial, but on this show, the greening of the American culture is ever-present, and the disparate personalities and politics allow the writers to explore a multitude of points of view.

Hope this roundup has provided you with some ways to abuse your corporate internet service while still loving Mama Earth. Enjoy your Monday!