It’s called ClickPayRent.com and as long as your landlord is signed up for the service, you can pay your rent online, which while still painful is at least much more convenient. The service was co-founded by Steven Van Praagh, an environmental entrepreneur who also helped found eco-printer Print Responsibly.

ClickPayRent.com is such an obviously better way to conduct transactions. It simplifies our lives and helps the planet in the process.

The fretting over the decline of the printed word is nothing new; the respective arrivals of radio, film, and television each prompted widespread concern that newspapers and magazines would soon be obsolete at worst or rare at best. But the internet differs from earlier threats to the ink-and-paper culture insomuch as that it promises to evolve the medium rather than eliminate it – and Zinio, a growing firm that offers digital magazines at low subscription rates, is doing its part to hasten the end of what will someday be remembered as the very odd practice of reading and writing our words on dead vegetable matter.

Zinio provides users with the ability to instantly download digital magazines to be read either online or off by way of any number of reader programs, thereby allowing subscribers to enjoy their favorite periodicals on their PC or PDA. Options abound, with Zinio offering quite a bit more variety than you’ll find at your average newsstand or even your above-average one; over 1,000 publications are available for download by the issue or by way of a subscription. As one might expect, the reduction of costs associated with actual printing and shipping allow for bargain rates, and special offers abound. Conveniently enough, Zinio also allows users to search the site’s entire database of available issues by keyword order to find particular articles on a given subject.

The company also offers a small selection of consumer books, but won’t be competing with Amazon and its Kindle reader anytime soon; only a couple dozen are available at the moment, with offerings limited mostly to travel guide. On the other hand, Zinio has partnered with textbook publishers to provide digital versions of their products at rates well below the expensive norm; a downloabable copy of Macroeconomics by Campbell McConnell, for instance, goes for a bit over 60 bucks, half of what a new copy costs over at Amazon.

As wonderful as all of this is for starving students and tree-huggers alike, there’s now another good reason to give Zinio a try: the Read Green Initiative (goreadgreen.com), a program organized by Zinio, offers first-time users a free one-year subscription to a magazine of their choice, with proceeds of any additional subscriptions purchased going towards the planting of trees, this being a welcome reversal for the printed word.

Although everyone secretly loves hitting up those free continental breakfasts at business-class hotels – this being the only manner in which most otherwise staid adults can get their hands on novelty cereals without this being known to one’s peers – sending a dozen branch managers to Dallas or some such place to conduct presentations at one’s corporate mothership has never been a particularly cost-effective business tradition nor a particularly eco-friendly one. Better to pick up some croissants and take advantage of the information age with Great America Networks Conferencing, a fine little firm that lowers the cost and expertise barriers once inherent to video conferencing.

Aside from offering all of the fundamentals that companies have come to expect from such services, GAN’s web-based software also provides users with a wide range of nifty features for use in their webinars (which is either the best or worst neologism to come about in recent years); most of these tools appear to be simple enough that even the most techilliterate (we can make up words, too) presenters can not only conduct face-to-face meetings from thousands of miles apart, but also present documents and other visual aides in a manner far superior to simply sticking a piece of paper up to the camera and asking it it’s in focus. Users can, of course, import Powerpoint presentations; other features include a nifty “whiteboard” with which participants can collaborate via doodle, as well as the ability to annotate videos in real time. The software also allows for easy recording of sessions, the storing of documents online for easy and consistent access, and the use of emoticons (essential for those with inexpressive faces). Better than many of its competitors, GAN enables up to twelve video feeds to run simultaneously on the screen.

GAN also offers a purely audio-based conference system for use on those occasions when visuals aren’t needed or participants are particularly ugly. Among other things, this option provides the services of a human operator who can greet all comers and moderate question-and-answer sessions.

Both the video and audio conferencing systems are available without subscription or other commitments, with charges being based entirely on duration of usage.

The lure of Cheers, the bar in the 1982-1992 “Cheers” the TV show, was that everybody knew your name. And they were always glad you came. But what if Norm had told Woody, “look the brewskis aren’t enough. I think you ought to trick out this bar so it’s eco-friendly.” Most likely Woody would have been confused. Perhaps a more likely scenario, would have been Frasier Crane (remember he was in that show) telling Sam, “Look man, I think a more sustainable but upscale aesthetic is needed to attract more business.” Sam also might have been a little confused, considering it was the 90s, however in a green savvy 2008 this is actually happening.

Putting customer purchasing power to work, a new Amsterdam based eco magazine Strawberry Earth challenged a few of their favorite local bar owners to see what percent of a night’s revenue they’d spend on environmental improvements on their premises. The bars loved the idea, competed in the challenge (even though admittedly, the challenge name Strawberries & Cream doesn’t sound like a bar-challenge at all) and the first winner is the Bar Waldorf. On December 7th, Bar Waldorf has promised 60% of the night’s revenue will go to greening the bar.

Strawberry Earth, a self described, “magazine with lots of good stuff about the environment” features international stories including a regular NYC column by Lazy E team member Margaret.

Let’s say you want to have a party. Whether it is a beer and nachos blow-out to watch the Duke v. Carolina game, a classy wine & cheese soiree to celebrate your friends’ anniversary, or a mad hatter themed tea party for your 6 yr old niece and her friends, the first thing you’ll need is the perfect invite.

And for that, my friends, you need to Pingg.

Pingg.com is an event management site offering customers services like customized invitations, RSVP and guest list management, reminder notices, last-minute changes, and thank-you notes. Since its creation in February of 2008, over 2.5 million electronic invitations have been sent by Pingg.

Just to be clear here, Pingg offers party planners a foolproof way to send beautifully designed, eco-friendly (i.e. paperless, inkless, transportation-less), and super affordable invitations to guests and then track them. Unlike other online invitation services I have tried that are hella confusing, Pingg invitations are so easy to figure out that even a monkey could do it.

Back in late October, the simplicity and class of Pingg caught the attention of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc (MSLO) who decided to invest and and enter a commercial agreement with Pingg. Besides being an unwavering entertaining authority for the longest, MSLO also owns Martha Stewart Radio on Sirius 112, which the Lazy E has hosted a handful of times. That in itself means Martha and her people know a good thing when they see it.

President of Media and Co-CEO of MSLO Wenda Harris Millard says, “Pingg illustrates our commitment to our digital business and our focus on growing our core franchises in new and exciting ways by providing tools and resources that enable our customers to carry out the inspiring ideas they expect from Martha Stewart.”

Adapted from Josh’s next book The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget: Save Money. Save Time. Save the Planet.

Today, you can enjoy the freedom of being in the driver’s seat while eliminating all of the expense of owning — or leasing — and maintaining a car by joining a car-share service. Zipcar is leading the way. Available in more than 40 U.S. cities, Zipcar lets members locate cars conveniently parked at designated spots around the city and reserve them for an hourly fee (typically between $10.50 and $16.50). Members arrive at the parking spot, swipe their membership card over the windshield sensor to unlock the door, hop in, and go. There’s no need to pay for gasoline or insurance; Zipcar has got you covered. You won’t sacrifice your ride either; Zipcar lets you choose from models like the BMW 325, Mini Cooper, Honda Fit, Volkswagen Jetta, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, Volvo S40, Mazda 3, and Subaru Outback. According to the company’s surveys, over time Zipcar members reduce their car usage by as much as 50 percent. They always have access to cars, but also become more inclined to walk, bike, take public transit, or hop in a taxi (it’s okay, you won’t go to hell for taking a taxi). As for the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion, Zipcar estimates that each of its cars removes the equivalent of about 15 privately owned vehicles from the road.

Other car-sharing services are popping up across the country. Check out CommunityCar.com when you’re in Madison, Wisconsin; HourCar.org when visiting Minneapolis, Minnesota; and PhillyCarShare.org when hanging in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Car-sharing is proving so popular with people who appreciate the convenience of having a car constantly accessible — without having to ask Mom or Dad for permission to use it — that Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the largest rental car company in the world, has started WeCar, a car-share service currently available in St. Louis, Missouri. Not to be outdone, Hertz recently announced its own car-share program called Connect by Hertz. Car-sharing not only reduces vehicle carbon emissions, but also overall consumption. And since cars typically weigh thousands of pounds and require loads of natural resources to manufacture, eliminating the demand for so many cars without sacrificing your ride puts you in the environmental driver’s seat.

Now that Vivavi has a Manhattan showroom at the Riverhouse to showcase our green furniture, I

In a super sweet turn of events, The Lazy E’s web hosting company Pair Networks Inc. has gone green. They are now comprehensively recycling everything in-house, offsetting the carbon output of all employee’s cars, using natural and/or organic cleaning products in the office, and balancing all carbon emissions from the companies operations with TerraPass Inc. Pair’s policy shift makes it easier than ever for a blogger to find a sustainable web hosting company to work with.

The Pittsburgh based global Web hosting and domain name registering company, Pair Networks Inc. hosts over 190,000 sites for businesses, artists, schools, musicians, andnon-profit organizations. They decided to make the change because, “(the) new policy is good for the planet, and it’s good for business” says Tim Gaichas, Executive VP of Business Development. Besides The Lazy E, Pair Networks also host eco-sites like Treehugger, Hugg, and GreenMap. It looks like our web hosting company is feeling the green flow.

From the cliche “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” we all know what to do when something is not broken; but what if it is? Lazy-logic says throw it away; charitable-logic says take it to a thrift store; but good-logic says go ahead and fix it. And this is exactly what FixYa empowers people to do. This is a community website where millions of people interact to fix their consumer products as well as share tips on how to better utilize their stuff.

In a world where time is so precious and gadgets are increasingly cheaper, people often throw away malfunctioning products whenever a small problem occurs, simply because it’s time consuming to take it to the repair shop. FixYa allows a quick and simple solution, one that doesn’t even require lifting yourself from the chair in order to keep stuff running.

FixYa was founded in 2005 when Yaniv Ben Saadon attempted to troubleshoot his palm pilot, and couldn’t find the info online. The best help he found was an online question forum, but even the most internet savvy among us have major difficulty finding the right discussion board and then understanding what is said. With that dilemma in mind, Yaniv started FixYa and it has grown to over 3 million users a month, and and fixable solutions for over 700,000 products ranging from baby strollers to computers.

“Fixya,” the folks at the company explain, “is like an organism. Millions of people constantly dedicating energy helping others resolve their problems, most of the time with no reward other than recognition. Our work is simply to keep out – avoid interference and provide easy and better tools of communications.”

As green building and other eco-friendly trends emerge, Modern Green Living enables homeowners and renters to easily design, build, furnish or find a green home.

Brooklyn, NY February 5, 2007 — As green living expands from furniture and everyday household items to green building, remodeling, interior design and real estate, Modern Green Living (www.moderngreenliving.com) is establishing itself as the go-to source for those who wish to build, buy, rent, or remodel an eco-friendly home.

Developed by Josh Dorfman, a prominent figure in the growing fields of green building and green design, Modern Green Living puts green homes at your fingertips. One click gives the user access to hundreds of