Those small pink, blue and yellow packets of artificial sweetener may not be in your diet if you prefer to eat food made from natural ingredients, but they can be handy to have on hand. If you come across a few, keep them in your purse or in your desk at work instead of tossing them out, because artificial sweeteners can also serve as a clothes saver. Grease splatters on clothes can be remedied by blotting the stain with artificial sweetener grains. The fine powder absorbs oil without getting sticky; the more sweetener you use, the more it absorbs.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

If you're ditching winter weather to get away and spend a few days at the beach, one green thing you can do is to walk on beach walkovers, which are bridges erected over delicate sand dunes. Using the cross bridges helps avoid erosion and destruction of these sensitive land formations. While it may take an extra minute or two to get to a walkover, they are built to protect dune vegetation and to allow for natural recovery of areas that are damaged or naturally eroded.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Do you have a small collection of gift cards for use at retail stores, national chain restaurants, pharmacies or online shops? Turns out even if you have a small balance left on those cards, you can use those few cents and dollars for good. Many nonprofits work in partnership with companies like Cardcash to help you simply redeem what's left online and give the remainder to the charity. It only takes a few minutes and it can go a long way to support your favorite nonprofit.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION