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Green Living
How to keep cool and cut home energy costs
The warm weather and long days of summer can give us a free and easy feeling - that is, until it's time to pay the utility bill. Utility costs can add up fast with increased use of the air conditioner, appliances and other household items during peak times. Yet it's easy to cut energy bills if you take simple steps to ad...
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Greening your home: Start at the tap
In today's environmentally conscious times, it seems we're surrounded by the need to shop, act and live "green." Some of our choices are easy and small, while others can be big and costly. But one thing is for sure - each choice can make a significant difference.
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Green up your home for health and savings
Did you know we spend as much as 90 percent of our lives indoors and that indoor pollutant levels are often two to five times higher than outdoors? Using the principles of green design will significantly improve your home's indoor environment, leading to better health and well-being for your family.
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Cool weather crops are hot this fall
The growing season isn't over with the arrival of cool weather. Until the first hard frost hits, you have plenty of time to plant, pick and plate cool-weather crops. You'll save yourself some money in the grocery's produce aisle, too.
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Grow beautiful landscapes with less water
Hot and dry weather provides reason enough to think about simple ways to save water while still enjoying beautiful yards and gardens. You may even find that your efforts to be water smart may improve the health and appearance of your plants.
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Getting roots wet without waste
Water is one of the most important and precious natural resources necessary for garden and lawn health. Now that planting is in full swing, getting plants established while using water wisely is essential for a successful growing season.
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The heat is on outside, keep cool inside
As summer heats up, air conditioning bills can rapidly rise. As homeowners feel the heat, many are looking for ways to save and stay cool. One way to help lower utility bills in the summer and year-round is to replace drafty or leaky old windows with new, energy-efficient products.
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Lower summer energy costs and get a facelift for your home
During summer, many of us look forward to fun-filled days at the pool or beach, but we definitely don't look forward to exorbitantly high cooling bills during the heat of the season. There are a number of ways you can improve the energy-efficient aspects of your home and save on electricity costs.
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Family-friendly tips to save energy at home
Saving money and reducing your home's energy usage are a priority for many homeowners these days. Some energy-saving actions such as switching off lights when leaving a room and turning off the water while brushing your teeth or washing your hands are simple and cost effective. This summer, try a few energy saving tips to save your family some money while keeping the environment in mind.
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Five tips for conserving water during warm-weather months
Water and the summer months tend to go hand-in-hand - water skiing or fishing at a lake, taking a dip in a swimming pool and watering home-grown plants with a garden hose are among the season's most popular activities. Recent summers have also been some of the driest on record, prompting grass fires, drastically low lake...
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Three tips for extreme home energy savings
Three tips for extreme home energy savings
(ARA) - Homeowners expect to get a bill from their utility company each month, but opening one for a particularly expensive month can be a real shocker. If your bills seem consistently higher than what they should be, it's time to look for hidden energy drains and consider some...
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of people living in poverty in U.S. suburbs surpassed the number of poor in cities over the past decade, driven by strong growth in overall suburban populations, according to an analysis released on Monday. The change is posing a challenge to some traditional U.S. approaches to fighting poverty, which were aimed primarily at poverty in urban settings, the Brookings Institution study found. The number of poor people living in suburbs rose 64 percent between 2000 and 2011, reaching 16.4 million, it showed. ...
By Chris Francescani (Reuters) - A massive storm front swept north through the central United States on Sunday, hammering the region with fist-sized hail, blinding rain and tornadoes, including a half-mile wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City. News reports said at least one person had died. By 9:30 p.m. Central Standard Time, more than two dozen tornadoes had been spotted in parts of Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and local news reports. ...