1/12/09

Soy what? When burning candles around the house, be sure to choose clean-burning soy candles. Traditional candles are paraffin-based, which is made from non-renewable petroleum; when burned, it emits soot and smoke into the air, polluting your indoor air. Yuck! Soy candles are a much cleaner choice and made from -- yep, you guessed it -- soybeans! They're easy to find and here's the best part: They burn longer than paraffin candles, so you get more soothing scents for your cents.

1/10/09

Java Scrub: The next time you brew a cup of fresh, shade-grown, organic coffee right at home, don't toss the used coffee grinds into the trash. First, spoon some warm grinds into your hands and mix it with your favorite hand soap. Now scrub away. The grinds will exfoliate dead skin off your hands and the soap will keep everything squeaky clean. Scatter the remaining grinds around your evergreen shrubs and trees; it's an energizing fertilizer for them!

1/9/09

Wine Not? Time to pull out all those extra champagne and wine corks from the holiday festivities. If you only have a few corks, shave off slivers and glue them to the bottom of an uneven chair or table legs. It'll keep them steady and -- since cork is soft and springy -- it will protect the floors, too. If you have a bunch of corks, combine them together inside of a large pipe clamp (available from the hardware store plumbing department). Screw the clamp tight around the corks and you've made an instant trivet! Use it in the kitchen to keep surfaces protected from hot pots.