2/16/10

When shopping for a new laundry basket, head over to the gardening department of your favorite store instead. Wooden bushel baskets are typically used to haul big loads of leaves and other garden debris. But they make for attractive laundry baskets, with two wire handles for easy transport. Since they are free of polyvinyl chloride and made from renewable wood, they are a greener choice, too. They're also inexpensive, so they will save you money!

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