4/18/13

A teakettle is one of those items you never really think about cleaning until your cup of tea tastes a little strange. Cleaning it could not be simpler: Fill the kettle halfway with water, then fill the rest with white vinegar. Bring the contents to a boil and set it aside to soak overnight. The next morning, pour out the vinegar mixture, fill the kettle with water and bring to a boil to remove any trace vinegar smell and taste. An added tip: Use the freshly boiled water to kill weeds so you don't waste any water. The hot water will scald the weeds to death.

4/17/13

Did you know you can grow a new celery plant in your garden from an old celery stalk? All you have to do is cut the bottom portion off the stalk, and plant the celery bottom in a hole in the garden with the freshly cut side up. Cover it, and in about 10 days it will start growing. You'll have a brand-new celery plant you can harvest and enjoy in no time.

4/16/13

With more than 50 percent of Americans using smartphones, one of the biggest environmental hazards comes from the millions of rechargeable batteries that need to be replaced and disposed of every year. One way to help is to conserve battery power whenever possible. According to Blackberry, one mistake most smartphone users make is turn off Wi-Fi when not in use thinking it improves battery life. You should keep it on -- when you do connect to a Wi-Fi network, it offers substantial power savings. Make sure you are adding Wi-Fi networks and hotspots to your phone so you can take advantage of this whenever possible.