Want to get free energy-saving LED lightbulbs, night lights and water-efficient showerhead aerators for your home? A program called My Energy Kit by Duke Energy has a goal to save more than 10 million kilowatt-hours of energy in the 2017 school year. To help reach this goal, the company is offering free energy kits to schools and families. Each kit contains both information on how to conserve at home and the tools needed to do it. To see if you're eligible for a free kit, visit myenergykit.org.

The majority of plastic cutting boards are made from a plastic resin known as HDPE, or high-density polyethylene. HDPE is the same No. 2-marked plastic as items like laundry detergent bottles. When it comes to cutting boards, HDPE boards are the preferred choice because they can be sanitized and used to keep food prep healthy. But what you may not know is that HDPE is also recyclable. When it's time to replace your plastic cutting board, toss it into the recycling bin. Because it's a No. 2 recyclable plastic, it can be recycled and turned into new products.

There are so many promises found on the side of beauty and personal-care products, it can be confusing what's legit and what's pure marketing. Two marks worth looking for are the USDA certified-organic mark, which means at least 95 percent of the ingredients used in the product are made from organic ingredients and the rest are nontoxic or all natural. The other one is NSF certification, which means that at least 70 percent of the ingredients used are certified organic.