No need to be too picky when donating clothes to charity. Only about 10 percent of donated clothes ever end up for resale in thrift shops; the rest are sold to textile recyclers. Ripped jeans, way-too-faded t-shirts and other worn-out clothes are recycled into cleaning cloths and other industrial items by these recyclers. They pay charitable organizations like Goodwill and the Salvation Army a fee for the old clothes. This adds up to a significant amount of money for their charitable works. So clear your closets clean and give away.

1/30/10

Ditch the paper towels! Pick up microfiber cloth towels to use all around the house. Thousands of tiny little fibers literally grip and hold onto the dirt and bacteria. The best part? They are machine-washable, so you can use them over and over again. Even if you just use plain tap water, the microfiber towels will pick up germs to help you disinfect countertops and other surfaces. Find some microfiber love at methodhome.com.

1/29/10

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!

1/28/10