According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American family spends about $2,000 a year combined on household heating, cooling and electricity costs. One way to help reduce those costs is to think about how to save money when nobody is in the house. If you turn back your thermostat by seven to 10 degrees for at least eight hours a day, it’s estimated you can reduce your costs by as much as 10 percent. You can save even more if your home is empty for longer periods of time. Over a year, you can reap a few hundred dollars in savings with this one simple switch.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

A staggering amount of marine life like sea turtles, dolphins and even seabirds are often caught in fishing nets and lines. This is known as “bycatch” in the industry, and these animals often die as a result of companies harvesting fish such as tuna. When buying canned seafood, look for brands that use pole-and-line fishing and not nets. Not only does this type of fishing reduce bycatch to nearly zero, it also guarantees juvenile fish and other fish species aren’t also harvested. Nonprofits like Greenpeace list approved seafood brands on their websites.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Do you have tiled kitchen or bathroom countertops? There’s an easier way to keep the grout lines clean without scrubbing or cleaning products: Use leftover soda. Dark-colored sodas (like Coke or Pepsi) have high acidity in them, which makes them an excellent cleaner to disintegrate dirt and grime. When you have leftover soda, just pour the excess right on top and let it sit there for a few minutes (when it stops fizzing, it’s done working). Then wipe away. You’ll be left with clean, gleaming, almost-like-new grout lines.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION