2/15/10

Stop wasting heat. If your home runs on a central heating system, close the vents in little-used rooms like spare bedrooms or the dining room. By restricting the flow of warm air into unused rooms, it'll be diverted into rooms that need to be heated. The warmer those rooms get, the more you can lower the thermostat.

Rethink your toothbrush. Millions of plastic toothbrushes are disposed of in landfills every year. One company, Preserve, makes its toothbrushes from recycled yogurt cups and even lets you return them, in postage-paid envelopes, to the company to be made into recycled plastic park benches and other useful stuff. Learn more at www.preserveproducts.com.

2/14/10

Germs be gone! When you need to disinfect a kitchen or bathroom countertop of germs and bacteria, don't reach for toxic chlorine bleach. Instead, grab some cotton balls and douse them in rubbing alcohol and rub away. The alcohol will kill the germs and bacteria on contact and will evaporate quickly.

2/13/10