I may be the season for snow on the ground, but now is a good time to start saving items we normally discard to use for our spring gardens. Save worn T-shirts and pantyhose, and cut them into strips to tie plants to support stakes. Cardboard egg cartons can be filled with potting soil to start seedlings; when ready to transplant, simply tear and place in the garden soil, carton and all. And used paint stirrers can be plant ID markers; just write the plant name with a permanent ink pen and stick the stirrer in the ground. Looks cool, and it's free!

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

It seems logical that a resale shop like the Salvation Army Store or Goodwill would want any extra wire hangers from the dry cleaner that you have in your home, since those stores sell a lot of used clothes. But they don't want your hangers unless you have lightly used clothes hanging on them to donate as well. Instead, take your wire hangers back to the dry cleaner or bundle them together for recycling. Retail plastic hangers are a bit more difficult, so the next time you buy clothes, leave the hangers at the store for reuse or recycling.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Do the math: There are nearly 250 million cars on the road in the United States, and all of that windshield washer fluid adds up. Turns out the majority of these fluids are made of methanol, which is so toxic that just 2 tablespoons can kill a child if ingested. With so many cars spraying to clean their windshields, the accumulation of droplets on roads ends up in waterways and in our environment. Take the time to buy biodegradable fluid that's methanol-free the next time you refill your car's reservoir.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION