~~~~Savvy Solutions~~~~ Work smarter, not harder.

• GUM: Apply ice,scrape with a dull knife
• BLOOD: Soak in cold salted water,launder
• LIPSTICK: Soak in warm soapy water
• Coffee,Soda,Wine: Sponge with cool   

        water,pretreat with detergent

• Chocolate: Pretreat with warm water &  

        detergent,launder

• Grass: Pretreat with a detergent containing

         enzymes

• Water-Based paint: Rinse in warm water

         while stain is wet,launder

 More Green Tips and Facts

 

Tips on what you can do in your home to help save the earth and big bucks too. Click on each tip for more information.

 

 

Hot water heater settings

Set your hot water heater no higher than 120 degrees.

Turn off the tap

Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.

Use a cloth bag

Paper or plastic? Neither! Take a cloth bag with you to the grocery store.

Plant trees

Trees help reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that 100 billion metric tons of carbon over the next 50 years could be sequestered through forest preservation, tree planting and improved agricultural management.

Ditch your car

Avoiding 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year, according to climatecrisis.net. The majority of car trips people make are under two miles, so that should be easy to swap driving for a bike or public transit, said Rob Sadowksy, executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.

Green your baby

It doesn't have to be a choice between plastic diapers that pile up in landfills and cloth diapers that require frequent laundering.

Get a water bottle

Americans buy 28 billion single-serving plastic water bottles every year, and 80% of those end up in landfills, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Meeting the nation's demand for bottle water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year, the Earth Policy Institute estimates.

Unplug electronics

Cell phone chargers, TVs, DVD players, stereos, microwaves and other electronics with transformers continue to draw power, even when they're off or not charging anything, as long as they're plugged in. In the U.S., such "phantom electricity" emits about 12 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere a year, according to Conservation International.

Pay for your carbon emissions

You can offset the carbon footprint of your car, home and air travel by funding renewable energy projects.

Drive Responsibly

Every gallon of gas burned emits 20 pounts of carbon dioxide, so make the most of your tank.

Nix the junk mail

The Postal Service delivers 17.8 tons of bulk mail each year, 44% of which goes unopened, according to the EPA. Just 22% of bulk mail is recycled. To stop the flow, visit the Direct Marketing Association, the leading global trade association of business and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques, at www.dmachoice.org, and get put on the "do not mail" list. It costs one dollar, but it'll remove your name from the lists for five years.

Rethink your laundry

Washing your clothes in cold or warm water instead of hot saves 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, according to climatecrisis.net. Drying your clothes on a clothesline six months out of the year would save another 700 pounds.

Maintain your home

Cleaning a dirty air filter, wrapping your hot water heater in an insulation blanket, properly insulating your walls and windows, and caulking and weather stripping can save a total of 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, according to climatecrisis.net, the web site for "An Inconvenient Truth."

Pay your bills online

For every 38,000 bills paid online, 5,058 pounds of greenhouse gases are avoided and two tons of trees are preserved, according to NACHA -- The Electronic Payments Association, a non-profit. Using direct payment also saves a person about $150 annually in stamp and check costs and late fees, NACHA estimates.

Change your light bulbs

If every Chicago resident replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of more than 20,000 cars, according to the city's Department of Environment. If every home in the country did the same, it would be like ditching 800,000 cars and would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year, according to Energy Star, a joint program between the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy.