Entertaining commercials (1) Dec 10, 2009
DVRs killed advertising because nobody will watch commercials when they can simply skip them altogether.  I see this as an entirely good thing because it means advertisers will need to change their tactics.  They'll do this by either (a) becoming over-the-top, in-your-face, obnoxiously annoying so that no one can possibly ignore them, or (b) by creating more entertaining commercials.  I've seen a little of (a), and those companies are immediately discounted.  But I've been seeing more and more of option (b) lately, which means I've actually been watching more commercials simply for entertainment.  That's the case with the unintentional faces commercial, and pretty much anything with Peyton Manning.  But as with most repeated things, each viewing is less and less enjoyable, until I resort to skipping the commercials again.  The solution to this would be to make many different variations of entertaining commercials.  For example, I might pay attention to one specific Peyton Manning commercial once, but make 10 different Peyton Manning commercials and I'd pay attention a lot more often. #entertainment
Adult braces (2) Dec 10, 2009
I feel bad for adults who decide to get braces.  Most of the rest of us dealt with all that when we were awkward teenagers, when life was messed up to begin with, so the added annoyance of braces was like an inevitable rite of passage.  But adults with braces have to sort of adjust their life temporarily to this new facial contraption that's impossible for people to ignore.  So every conversation includes an explanation of why they decided to get braces, and every picture shows them awkwardly trying not to show their teeth when they smile.  Plus, there's the tendency to associate braces with teenagerhood, which means there's no way anybody will take you seriously. #health
Renewable trees Dec 10, 2009
Trees are a renewable resource*, i.e. if you cut one down, you can simply plant a new one.  Sure, it has to grow to the right size before it can be cut down and used again, but the principle is there.  That's why I don't feel incredibly bad about wasting paper.  It's not that I'm out to waste as much as possible, but I'm not overly concerned about the prospect of running out of trees.  Plus, paper is biodegradable.  So while it may sit in a landfill for a little while (if it's not recycled), it'll eventually break down into some pretty simple components and disappear into nothingness. 

That being said, forests aren't a renewable resource, and that's where the problem lies.  If I cut down a tree, I can plant a new one.  If I cut down a forest, I kill all the inhabitants and destroy the ecosystem, and that's not good for anybody.  So while I'm not concerned about using trees for paper and wood, I am concerned about where those trees come from and how many are left in place.  However, this is all outside my sphere of influence, so I guess I can't really do much by being concerned. 

*I generally don't like linking to user-contributed answer sites, but this one was written intelligently and concisely. #science