9/10/11

This year, save some trees when shopping for your kids' school supplies. You can do this by looking for pencils made from recycled materials, such as paper fiber and rubber tires. And don't worry about having to go out of your way to find good deals on green supplies: Your nearby office supply store will have plenty of recycled pencils and other eco-friendly products.

9/9/11

Packing your kids' lunches can be a challenge because you want the food items to stay cool so they're still fresh when your little ones are ready to eat. One way to avoid adding ice packs to the lunch box is to freeze yogurt instead. This will keep everything cold and thaw just in time to be a creamy treat for lunch.

9/8/11

Something to think about when using your pool next summer: According to the green living website www.greenyour.com, "pools evaporate water and heat at an uncommon rate. Not using a pool cover has been compared to heating a home with the doors and windows open, or to building a house without a roof." By using a cover, "pool-related energy costs will be much less -- by about 50 to 70 percent if you heat your pool." Not only is it costly to go without the cover, it can be a drain on the water supply and also release harmful chemicals into the environment. So cover up.