6/27/12

The next time you brew a cup of fresh, shade-grown, organic coffee at home, don’t toss the used coffee grounds into the trash. Spoon some warm grounds into your hands and mix with your favorite hand soap. Now scrub away: The grounds will exfoliate dead skin off your hands, and the soap will keep everything squeaky clean. Scatter the remaining grounds around your evergreen shrubs and trees -- coffee is an energizing fertilizer.

6/26/12

Here's an easy way to freshen up your kitchen and find a use for old citrus rinds: toss them down the kitchen sink. The rind of citrus fruits like oranges and lemons is high in acid, which makes it a great natural antiseptic. Toss the rinds down your kitchen sink, turn on the faucet and start the garbage disposal -- it'll clean up odors and give your kitchen a fresh, citrusy scent.

6/25/12

Did you know the recycling bins for plastic shopping bags you find at supermarkets are good for other types of plastic too? These bins collect old plastic bags to be made into new products, like recycled plastic lumber. You can also add clean, dry sandwich bags, retail bags (from places other than the supermarket), newspaper bags, dry cleaning covers and the shrink-wrap on paper goods.