Happy Earth Day, everyone! Here at Roozt, we are sipping our free Earth Day Starbucks coffee from reusable mugs and enjoying the lovely sunshine. We know that it is the small changes in our lifestyle that can make all the difference! So we invite you to join us in Earth Day celebrations.

Here are some basic tips to get your started… But think outside the (recyclable) box!

1. Fill a bowl with cold water and wash fruit and vegetables this way, instead of letting water from a faucet run over them.

2. Arrange furniture to take advantage of natural light from windows. Place desks and reading chairs next to windows to cut down on the need and use of supplemental, artificial light during the day.

3. Configure your printer to print on both sides of the paper!

4. Bring your own bags to the supermarket. Not only are you saving plastic, but reusable grocery bags are usually bigger and sturdier, anyway.

5. Hit the light switch when you walk out of the room!

6. Turn off the oven ten to fifteen minutes before cooking time runs out; don’t worry, food will continue to cook without using the extra electricity.

7. Pay as many bills as possible online to reduce paper use.

8. Fix those leaky faucets.

9. Limit the time you spend in the shower to just a few minutes.

10. Turn off your computer when you’re not using it (even setting it to “sleep” mode still uses power).

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ROOZT EARTH DAY PROMO – tell us how you’re celebrating Earth Day!

1. Go to facebook.com/rooztdeals and post on our wall what you’re doing for Earth Day. No action is too big or too small: be creative, have fun, and be green! (Bonus points for uploaded pictures and/or tagging “@Roozt.com” on your own Facebook wall)

2. As a reward, we will be giving away (1) $40 Roozt.com gift card for the most impressive action, as well as (3) $10 Roozt.com gift cards for the top 3 people with the most voted “likes” on their Earth Day posts or pictures!

3. So spread the word, tell your friends to help you win, and get green! We’ll be accepting posts through next Friday the 29th.

The weather’s warming, the sun’s shining, and it’s time to have some fun! Get your Egg Hunt on, this week only.

How it works: we’re going to post 1 trivia question on our Facebook page (Facebook.com/RooztDeals) on M, W, F. Each question has to do with the current deal, and the answer can be found on our homepage at www.Roozt.com.

Send your answer, along with your mailing address, to promo@roozt.com. Next week, 5 lucky winners will receive a “golden egg” in the mail with a Roozt.com gift card inside! Gift card values range from $10-$40, good for any Roozt.com purchase. Even better than the chocolate-filled eggs you got as a kid, huh?

5 different gift card values, 5 chances to win!

As children, we are all taught about photosynthesis: the process by which leaves convert sunlight and water into energy. This almost-magical process is the reason we have beautiful fields of flowers, lush forests… It is the foundation of all things natural.

Photo courtesy of Deshow.net

Yet, scientists have found a way to replicate this natural process and create artificial “leaves” that use the same ingredients to create electricity.

In the developed world, one of the things we often take for granted is electricity. It powers our homes, phones, laptops… just about everything! It is hard to imagine life without it.

Unfortunately, over a quarter of the world’s population lives without any source of electricity.  This staggering statistic hinders the economic development of many people around the world.

Can you imagine how limiting it is to not have electricity? Children are unable to read books after sunset, entire communities have no means of communication, and even necessities like water must be fetched from far-away places as there is no electricity to pump it out of the ground.

Are artificial leaves the solution to these problems?

This exciting discovery can be used to generate electricity for homes in developing countries, even in remote areas that are not on the electric grid. This is great news for places that get sunlight year round!

So how exactly do these artificial leaves work? While they don’t exactly resemble a real leaf, the process through which they create energy is very similar to the naturally occurring process of photosynthesis. They are about the size of a playing card, and can be placed in a bucket of water and left out in the sun.

Photo courtesy of EarthEasy

This means that virtually anyone with access to water can use it to create electricity! And you might be wondering, just how much electricity can these leaves make… Each one can generate enough electricity to power an entire home for a day!

Here at Roozt, we are very excited about all the possibilities that people in the developing world could have with access to a cheap, clean source of power! Who knows, maybe one day we will all be using artificial leaves to power our own homes…

-GB with Roozt.com