Time to pull out all those extra champagne and wine corks from the holiday festivities. If you only have a few corks, shave off slivers and glue them to the bottom of an uneven chair or table legs. It’ll keep them steady and — since cork is soft and springy — it will protect the floors, too. If you have a bunch of corks, combine them together inside of a large pipe clamp (available from the hardware store plumbing department). Screw the clamp tight around the corks and you’ve made an instant trivet! Use it in the kitchen to keep surfaces protected from hot pots.

-Danny Seo

PS-Got another idea on recycling wine corks? Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!

No need to be too picky when donating clothes to charity. Only about 10 percent of donated clothes ever end up for resale in thrift shops; the rest are sold to textile recyclers. Ripped jeans, way-too-faded t-shirts and other worn-out clothes are recycled into cleaning cloths and other industrial items by these recyclers. They pay charitable organizations like Goodwill and the Salvation Army a fee for the old clothes, which adds up to a significant amount of money for their charitable works. So clear your closets clean and give away.

-Danny Seo

PS- Ever score an amazing find at Goodwill?  Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!

Time to water the plants? As your morning shower heats up, fill a watering can with the cold water before it goes down the drain. Let the water come to room temperature and give your thirsty plants a soaking (plants prefer tepid water to bone-chilling cold H2O). What’s that, you don’t have a houseplant? Then go pick one up, because it can help purify the air in your home by filtering out toxins. Foolproof, hard-to-kill varieties include the spider plant and succulents.

PS- Which houseplant do you think is the easiest to care for? Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!

On laundry day it pays to be lazy. Doing several loads of laundry and then drying them batch after batch saves energy. The residual heat from the first batch will help dry the second one faster. Also, pull heavier items out of the dryer while they’re still damp to air-dry, like towels, jeans and sweaters. Just hang them over chairs or a banister. Your favorite clothes won’t shrink and you’ll save electricity, too.

PS- Do you think line drying your clothes is eco-savvy or an eyesore?  Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!

Smelly garbage disposal? Keep it clean by tossing lemon wedges (use ‘em after you’ve squeezed out the juice for salad dressing or homemade lemonade) and a cup of ice down the drain and flipping on the switch. As it whirls away, the ice will sharpen the blades and the lemons will disinfect. How easy is that?

-Danny Seo

PS- C’mon, I know you have more secret tips on keeping things clean and green. Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!

Germs be gone! When you need to disinfect a kitchen or bathroom countertop of germs and bacteria, don’t reach for toxic chlorine bleach. Instead, grab some cotton balls and douse them in rubbing alcohol and rub away. The alcohol will kill the germs and bacteria on contact and will evaporate quickly.

-Danny Seo

PS-Got a green and natural tip on keeping your home nice and clean?  Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!   I’ll announce the winners on Wednesday, July 1st.

Soy what? When burning candles around the house, be sure to choose clean-burning soy candles. Traditional candles are paraffin-based, which is made from non-renewable petroleum; when burned, it emits soot and smoke into the air, polluting your indoor air. Yuck! Soy candles are a much cleaner choice and made from — yep, you guessed it — soybeans! They’re easy to find and here’s the best part: They burn longer than paraffin candles, so you get more soothing scents for your cents.

Bonus Tip: Place unlit soy candles in your sock drawer to gently scent them.

-Danny Seo

PS-What’s your favorite soy candle and scent? Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!  I’ll announce winner on Thursday, June 25th.

If you need to water the lawn or outdoor plants, do it at sundown. Watering the plants at night is the most ecological method, since there is no sun to evaporate the water immediately. If you have automatic sprinklers, set the timer to water the lawn at night. Not only does this save water, but the plants and lawn will get a proper soaking, too, and will thrive.

-Danny Seo

PS-Got a tip on how to get your green thumb growing better?   Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!

If you can’t afford to go totally organic with your fresh fruit, start with the thin-skinned ones. Fruits such as strawberries, blueberries and raspberries (see a trend here?) are like sponges; they absorb what’s sprayed onto them.

Tip: When you do see organic berries for sale, stock up. Put the excess berries on a sheet of parchment paper and store them in an airtight container in the freezer.    Curious about the photo above?  It’s from my book Simply Green Parties and it shows a simple idea on using a bamboo skewer with organic berries as a garnish for a festive drink; cut out circles from old paint chips and use a binder clip to make individual wine glass ID tags.  So resourceful and so easy!

-Danny Seo

PS-Got a tip on saving money on organic fruits and veggies at the grocery store?  Share it here and you’ll be eligible to win a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!