I've been really diligent recycling as much as possible. While cleaning the house, I always run across items that I want to donate but if I don't set it aside immediately, the items wind up collecting dust in a pile somewhere.  So I have three bins set up next to each other in my kitchen: a traditional garbage container, a recycling container and a large donation bin.  Ever since I've set aside the donation bin, I have accumulated and identified a lot more items to donate and give away.  Once the donation bin is close to being filled, I bring it to the local preschool that uses the gently used clothes as emergency clothes for kids and appreciate the gently used functional toys.  I have also found that items that wind up in the donation bin get additional mileage out of them as well.  My kids rediscover the joy of playing with these items and some items wind up back into circulation in my house, which I am okay with, as long as the items are being used.

My child won third place in the Unique category at the Rain Gutter Regatta (cub scout competition in which the scouts design sailboats and race it down a rain gutter using their own breath as a source of wind).  We used a recycled nail polish container as the boat, a straw as the mast and two plastic cups as the sail.  We were very excited to see the interest level in using recycled materials and hope that future cub scout events will leverage and recycle materials as well.  Our cub scout pack already supports eco-friendly efforts by collecting gently used uniforms and books from previous cub scouts and distributing them to the  next group of scouts.  It is exciting to see my children embrace recycling efforts.

I have officially retired and discarded my bath towel of ten years.  The following has been the many uses of my bath towel over the years.
- Used after bath
- Used as a beach towel
- Used as a bathroom floor mat
- Used as a rag (cut in half) to wipe down kitchen counters and dining room table
- Used as a bike rag to clean/wipe down my bike

We recently visited Chicago and participated in a tour of the Smart Home at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.  The home is built using primarily recycled materials (including furniture).  Unfortunately, the tour guide did not allow us to take any photos inside the home.  There was a windmill that was connected to the home (as well as solar panels on the roof).  There were cool features that include bamboo flooring, LED lighting, remote/cellphone controlled temperature and refrigerator systems.  The kitchen contained cabinets salvaged from a chemistry laboratory from a local university.  The kitchen countertop is made of paper, cement and glass.  There is a touchpad tablet on display near the kitchen counter that serves as a family planner.  They also had a cool LCD display/TV that showed the amount of energy used by each major household appliance.  The garage roof contained native plants which helped serve as a natural low maintenance insulator.  There are two bedrooms (a small master bedroom and a boy's bedroom).  The master bedroom contained a bathroom with recycled brick/cement flooring (I don't know whether these floors would be sufficiently waterproof or are just for concept only).  The bathroom also had a cool touchscreen tablet/mirror that allows one to surf the internet while brushing their teeth (I don't understand why you would want to use the same unit as opposed to having a touch tablet next to the mirror; maybe someone thinks it's cool having images overlay on top of their reflection). There was a walkout balcony where the garden contained small vegetable plants (such as red peppers and tomatoes).  The curtains where electronically controlled on the main living room floor.  There was an entire wall of windows that fold out (like an accordion) to increase the outdoor to indoor living space.  

The museum charged an extra $8 per adult and $2 per child for the Smart Home tour.  It is not really worth the admission/tour fee given that the tour itself lasted less than 15 minutes.  Most of the features found in the home can be enjoyed already in the commercial market (e.g. bamboo flooring, recycled furniture, electronic controlled security/major appliance system).  

Hopefully, in the near future, new home constructions will not only feature Energy Star rating but also include some of the eco-friendly features in this Smart Home.

I have come across a great website that promotes public action in support of federal funding for safe bike paths to schools.  We live in a community where a number of middle school students bike to and from middle school.  I didn't grow up with that privilege and hope that our proactive efforts will help ensure that all future generation of children have a bike to school option.

Please visit www.saferoutespartnership.org/home.

The following is a list of the top five most common eco-friendly arts and crafts supplies that most probably you already have in your home that you can leverage to use for endless fun inexpensive kids' craft activities.

1) Paper towel empty rolls / toilet empty rolls
These can easily be turned into rainmakers (add rice, rocks or dried beans; then, seal off each end with duck tape, decorate and use).

2) Paper bags
These items can be easily turned into paper puppets.

3) Cotton balls
Cotton balls can be used as decorative craft additions or dyed into any color.

4) Yogurt containers
These items can either be recycled or repurposed into gardening/flowering pots; great for young kids to decorate/paint.  They can also be converts into pails (just use a hole puncher to insert two holes on opposite ends of the container and use a heavy duty string as a handle).

5) Newspaper/magazines
These items can either be recycled or repurposed.  They can be cut and pasted and used to create collages of all types (themes may include: animals, favorite foods, sports, transportation, clothing, etc.)

Gone are the college days where I washed all of my clothes in coined machines, not caring whether the whites and colors should be separated (I was just glad that the clothes were cleaned).  Now I take great pride in ensuring that my clothes last longer.  I've been using laundry bags for my delicates and also for most of my cotton wear.  These laundry bags come in various sizes.  All you have to do, is place your clothes in the bag, zip it up and throw them in the washer.  Your clothes lasts longer and the colors do not fade away as much.  Having your clothes last longer helps keep them from the landfills.  Also, I never throw out clothes.  My mantra is donate whenever possible.  If not, clothes can always be used as rags for cleaning.

With a shoe laundry bag, you can have your sneakers washed in the washing machine and they come out clean!

For jeans, have them turned inside out before you throw them in the washer so that the color lasts longer, too.

As for the detergent amount, use less than what is recommended (unless your clothes are really soiled).

Hang dry your clothes and avoid using the dryer.  It takes about 15 minutes or less to hang clothes (for those who are really bored, listening to music makes the task go by faster).

In order to reduce paper waste, contact companies that provide services to you on a regular basis such as your phone, cable, internet, utility companies, etc. and have them bill you electronically.  If that is not possible, then, remember you can always setup online banking to pay their bills directly without incurring postage costs.  For those biling statements that come with accompanying envelopes, you can reuse them as envelopes for various functions (regular mail, school notes, school payments, personal receipts storage).  All you need to do is cross out the pre-printed address and use it!

Also, if you are tired of receiving junk mail that you just wind up recycling, you can request to be included in the DO NOT SOLICIT mailing list of most of these companies (including catalog offerings such as LL Bean, JCrew, Landsend, Victoria Secret, EddieBauer, etc.).

Spend ten minutes this month in letting these companies know you do not want to receive junk mail and they legally need to honor your request.  This eliminates tons of materials that need to be recycled each year.

As the winter draws to an end, I have made my list of plants that I plan to grow in my garden this spring/summer.  With the gas prices increasing again, it's important to consider growing some of your own fruit and vegetables (great for the environment and your wallet).  The following is my list of plants that I plan to grow:
- tomatoes (I usually plant at least two different types because depending on the amount of sunlight and rain, some varieties fair better than others)
- red peppers (I plant in pots instead of directly on the ground because I noticed that small pesky animals are less likely to destroy them if they need to climb up a large pot).
- strawberries from hanging pots (don't bother growing them on the ground because most animals destroy them before you are ever able to harvest them)
- basil
- lavender (not edible, not provides a pleasant outdoor scent)
- peppermint (I love this plant, but you must grow in a pot because with the right weather conditions, it can grow like weeds)
- oregano
- thai basil
- cucumbers (wonderful plants to grow! for some reason, appear to be rather pesk resistant)
- eggplants (at least two varieties, similar to tomatoes, very weather and rain dependent)
- broccoli (so easy to grow!, need to plant near lavender, peppermint so that bugs will not chew up the broccoli plant).

Celebrations are a joyous time in our lives.  These various occasions calls for quite a bit of preparation and planning.  The following are simple steps for you to keep your celebrations eco-friendly all year long.  This also saves money as you plan your upcoming home entertainment events as well.

1) Buy and use decorations that can be relevant for various occasions
For example, I have three table clothes (in red, golden yellow and blue) that can be used for various celebrations (Valentine's Day, Christmas, Birthday parties, Fourth of July, etc.).  By keeping to a versatile color scheme, you save on money and time (don't have to shop for new decorations each time you have a planned party).

2) Use the chinaware not paper plates
For some reason, some people equate casual parties with paper plates usage.  Break this trend and use your dinnerware.  The amount of time it takes you to toss the bags of garbage filled with paper plates, you would have already loaded your dishwasher with the dinnerware.  Also, when paper plates are available, individuals tend to use new ones for second servings and generate even more waste.  For some reason, individuals are able to better keep track of actual dinnerware.

3) Have a dozen permanent markers available for marking up the plastic disposable cups so individuals are less likely to use new ones.  For your more sophisticated parties, consider using actual glasses.

4) Lower your thermostat
When there are more people at a home or single location, the crowd generates heat so you can lower your thermostat and people will not notice the five degree difference but you will notice it in your utility bill.

5) Use actual household plants for centerpieces instead of fresh cut flowers or consider displaying various bowls of fruit.

6) Designate a recycle garbage can and label it accordingly.  Instead of having possible recyclable bottles and other recyclable items tossed out, a simple designated recycle garbage can will enable guests to clean up and recycle responsibly.

7) Forget about giving away party favors and if you really feel compelled to give party favors, make them eco-friendly.
I've attended a fair number of kids' birthday parties and don't really want another bag filled with dollar bought plastic toys that break easily and are basically glorified landfill items.   So, avoid giving away party favors and if you really feel compelled to give something away consider giving away one or more of these eco-friendly items: mini-bag of seeds, recycled crayons, homemade mini-journals, BPA free water bottles, recyclable lunch bags, recyclable shopping bags/totes and  cloth made coin pouches.