5/10/11

If you're lucky enough to live near a body of water -- a stream, lake or river -- take advantage of it the next time you're entertaining. By placing bottles of wine, beer and soda in a sturdy wire basket and submerging it into the icy water, you're eliminating the need for extra refrigeration for your drinks. Guests can help themselves and take a stroll down to the water. Just remind folks not to leave empty bottles in the basket and to always bring bottle caps up to the house for proper disposal.

5/9/11

While the most energy-efficient way to dry your hair is to air-dry it, sometimes that's not convenient in the morning. Do the next greenest thing: use a lower heat setting on your hair dryer. By switching to a cooler setting, you're not only protecting your hair from damage, you're also cutting down on your dryer's overall energy use.

5/8/11

If you're planning to take a vacation or want to find an extraordinary gift for someone, why not buy something that also supports a worthwhile charity, too? Charitybuzz.com works with nonprofit organizations to put together amazing prize packages that it auctions off online, raising money for the charities. Prizes can be anything from vacations around the world to meet-and-greets with some of Hollywood's biggest stars. While some prizes end up selling for thousands of dollars, it's not rare to see lots sell for very affordable prices.