Lots of great stuff this week on energy use, efficiency, and generation, as well as recycling questions answered and an eco-friendly local store.

• Helping the Hartfords and Finding a Path to More Energy Efficient Homes – Energy Circle. The original New York Times article was focused on the high price of oil, but this response to it was all about efficiency. It’s great to hear that these people have been helped.
• Maine company ready to install tidal power unit – Boston Globe. Who would have thought there was all this good stuff going on in Maine?
• Cleaner Fuels, Cleaner Cars – New York Times. The White House should review the EPA’s recommendation for reducing sulfur in gas.
• Solar Thermal Around Boston – Green Lifestyle Consulting. It’s funny how much goes on around the city that you don’t see.
• Ask Umbra: When should an old refrigerator be replaced? – Grist. I’ve read before that 10 years is the magic number, but Energy Star recommends replacing anything manufactured before 1993.
• The Pizza Box Recycling Mystery – RecycleBank. Cambridge says they’ll now take pizza boxes, but a lot of towns don’t. (Thanks, Laurie!)
• Ask Umbra: Are coffee cups recyclable? – Grist.  Another common recycling question.
• Hatched Owner Liz Vittori Koch on Eco-Friendly Clothes and Toys – JP Patch. It seems like a lot of people start to think organic when they have kids.

That’s all for this week. As always, if you come across anything interesting, send it along.

I’ve done something that I thought impossible: I destroyed a Sigg. I’m just that talented. The metal water bottle lasted years, but I killed it by leaving it in the car over Christmas. It was full of water, and when it froze, it split straight up the side.

So what did I get to replace it? I loved how sturdy the Sigg was, but the top was so tiny that it was a pain to wash without a bottle brush. And since I couldn’t actually see to the bottom of it, I never quite knew if it was clean. So this time I got a Camelbak. They’re now BPA-free #7 plastic (co-polyester rather than polycarbonate, apparently) and even Umbra-approved.

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It’s probably silly to put this much thought into a water bottle, but they last for years, and I use mine a million times a day. Sometimes it’s the little things…

My Negotiation and Conflict Resolution class has been really rewarding so far, but by far the best part of it has been discovering the book Women Don’t Ask by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. It’s been a bit of a revelation for me, making me realize that the world is far more negotiable than I think. However, statistically, women are less likely to ask for what we want, and when we do ask, we tend to get less than what men do. Some reasons for this:

• We’re more anxious about conflict.
• We tend to believe our circumstances are more fixed than they really are.
• We expect other people to treat us fairly.
• We tend to be more satisfied with what we have.
• We think of our incomes in terms of what we need instead of what our work is worth.
• We set our goals lower.
• If we are more forceful in pursuit of our goals, we tend to be viewed more negatively because of it.

The good news? Women tend to have a collaborative negotiating style, which has been shown to result in better outcomes than a competitive style. My professor calls it the enhanced best deal: instead of fighting to get the biggest piece of the pie, you make the pie bigger so everyone gets more. This takes a lot of openness and trust in order to share information and brainstorm creatively together—more like problem-solving than traditional bargaining. This is the strategy that seems to be favored by most negotiation teachers today. The fact that they’re trying to teach people to negotiate more like women is really reassuring to me, and makes me more confident in my own abilities to negotiate well. Preparation goes a long way toward reducing my anxiety about it!

Pardon the newer, girlier cover.

I really don’t think the problem is as gender-specific as the book suggests, though. Jason exhibits most of the characteristics described in the book, as do a lot of other people I know. I think it could be renamed Mainers Don’t Ask without losing anything. We really don’t! We’re just used to making do with what we have. And we’re so focused on what’s fair that we actually fight to give money to each other!

I’m in the middle of buying a new car right now, and I’m keeping the lessons from this book and my negotiating class in mind as I do it. Wish me luck!

We’re planning on replacing our 10-year-old Prius this year, so we’ve started out by looking at our financing options. I was surprised to see that our bank, Metro Credit Union, offers a discounted interest rate on loans for hybrid cars. It’s only 0.25% off, but every little bit helps. Other banks may offer hybrid discounts, too, especially credit unions. If you’re in the market for a hybrid car, it’s worth your while to ask your bank.

I’ll keep my eye out for loan incentives from Toyota, too, but I’m definitely going to get preapproved for a loan by Metro before I approach Toyota.

Just got back from visiting our families in Maine, so not a lot of reading material today. Enjoy!

• Advice for the Busy Urban Locavore, or What I Ate While Writing My Dissertation – Locavore in the City. I don’t think I’ve figured out my system yet, but I’m working on it.
• Using egg shells in the garden – Girl on Bike. I add eggshells to our compost bin because the  worms love curling up inside them and laying eggs.
• Why chefs are confused about what fish they can serve – Boston Globe. I’m confused, too. It’s hard to settle on hard-and-fast rules.
• New England Aquarium’s approved fish list – Boston Globe. This seems very close to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s list.
• A Pot With Benefits – Slate. I’m a little intimidated to use a pressure canner, too, but this may have convinced me to try.
• Even More Eco-Laundry – Green Phone Booth. Another shout-out for soap nuts.
• 21 Important Documentaries to Watch on Netflix Instant – The Good Human. This looks like my good-intentions Netflix list. Unfortunately, my guilty pleasures Netflix list tends to win out.
• Popcorn on the Cob – Farm Share Stories. To go with the movies… Warning: wring the popcorn off the cob first.

That’s all for now. As always, if you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way.