4/25/13

Ever wonder what to do with your broken DVD player, GPS device or flat-screen TV? You can recycle them -- for free, regardless of where you bought them -- at any Best Buy store. The store will responsibly recycle your old electronics so they don't end up in a landfill. For heavy items like old refrigerators, washers and dryers, Best Buy has an at-home haul away program. It costs $100 to remove up to two items. Learn more at bestbuy.com.

4/24/13

Bees are necessary for the pollination of flowers to help keep our food supplies robust and the natural world thriving. With the bee population declining, there are small things a backyard gardener can do to help protect the insects. The biggest thing you can do is to make your yard an insecticide-free zone -- employ organic methods to control invasive species whenever possible. Since bees need a safe habitat, bundle twigs and dried brush together and place it in a corner of the yard; the bees will make it home and will pollinate your garden at the same time.

4/23/13

It's easy to "green" your morning cup of java by buying U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified organic coffee beans. When choosing coffee, you may see all sorts of labels proclaiming the beans are "shade grown," "fair trade" or "rainforest-certified." While these are nice statements, the U.S. government regulates none of them. When you choose USDA-certified organic coffee, it has met strict standards -- the coffee plants are grown without any chemical insecticides or fertilizers and are roasted in a factory free of other beans that may have been grown conventionally.