5/3/14

The greenest way to enjoy a soda pop? Using a reusable cup and a soda fountain. While plastic, glass and aluminum containers are all recyclable, they all have their pros and cons when choosing the fizzy stuff. Oil is used to make plastic bottles, and the resins are not infinitely recyclable. While glass is infinitely recyclable, it's heavier, so the carbon footprint to ship glass bottles is higher than plastic; plus, only 25 percent of glass bottles are actually recycled. And aluminum? While 50 percent of the can is recycled, the other half is virgin aluminum that comes from destructive mining practices. So using a reusable glass at a restaurant's soda fountain is the lightest and least destructive way to go.

5/2/14

Over 18,000 tons of plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles end up in landfills every single year. And it's a shame: The plastics used to make these bottles are easily and commonly recyclable, and most community recycling programs accept them. And with new recycling technology, even the caps (which are made from a different grade of plastic) can be kept on without being sorted first. To make recycling easy for you and your family, just designate a small recycling bin for empty plastic packaging. When it's full, transfer to the recycling bin.

5/1/14

LED bulbs are becoming more commonplace as the energy-efficient bulb of choice, since they use a fraction of the energy of CFL bulbs and are long-lasting. But LED bulbs can also be problem solvers for older homes. If you have a bathroom that does not have great ventilation, over time the steamy showers can lead to a damp room that grows mold and mildew. By using an LED bulb embedded with an ultraviolet light, you can help inhibit growth of mold and mildew with the simple flick of a light switch. The same bulbs are often used to keep hospitals healthy.