TheGoGreenBlog.com

Do you wear glasses? Do you have old ones laying around the house not really sure what to do with them? Why not Donate them. New Eyes For The Needy recycles donated glasses for distribution to indigent people in developing nations worldwide.

All you have to do is mail your old glasses to New Eyes in a padded envelope or box using the least expensive method of shipping (the cost of shipping is tax-deductible) to their office in New Jersey. That’s it!

For some reason I always have extra socks and can’t find the matching pair. Instead of just tossing those extra socks out, I reuse them.

Here are my top 5 ways to reuse socks:
1- Pet Toy: Get creative & make new toys for your dog by turning your old socks into tugging toys.

2- Dusting: Put one sock over your hand, add some eco-friendly cleaner and dust furniture or window blinds.

3- Cold Compress: Cover a bag of ice to make it more comfortable.

4- Hot Compress: Fill sock with rice, heat in microwave & applied to the body to help relieve pain.

5- Sock Monkey: This is a really fun activity for those rainy days.

Are you shopping for a new washing machine? Consider buying the front-loading style. Front-loading washing machines use 40 percent less water, 50 percent less energy, and less detergent than the traditional top-loading washing machines. Plus they spin more water out of the laundry, which means drying time is cut and in turn even less energy is used. So, greenify your wash by buying and using a front-loading washing machine instead of the traditional top-loading machines.

Like soup? What about all those cans? Keep those tin cans out of the landfill by reusing.

Here are the top 5 ways to reuse tin cans:
1- Pots for Plants: Punch a few holes in the bottom for drainage and fill with dirt & a small plant.

2- Tealight Candles Holders: Punch some holes in the sides & place a small soy candle at the bottom. This works best with smaller cans.

3- Pen, Pencil, Marker Holder: Decorate your can holders to match any office or studio decor.

4- Workshop Organizer: Drop all your extra nuts, bolts & screws in different cans and label them for easy finding.

5- Telephone: Punch a hole at the bottom of 2 cans, string together with string & presto! You got yourself a telephone toy.

Gas prices are more expensive today then ever before. By driving sensibly you can save on the amount of fuel your vehicle needs to run, which in turn equals extra money in your pocket.

Avoid aggressive driving, rapid acceleration and hard braking because you are just wasting gas. Quick starts will consume huge amounts of gas because the engine has to work much harder to get the car up to speed.

Also, observing the speed limit can also help with fuel efficiency. While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph.

I don’t know about you…but I receive a new telephone book that is about 4 pounds every couple of months. I never asked for the books & never use them. I just wish I could just stop the waste.

Well now you can!

Yellow Pages Goes Green is this awesome new service that allows consumers to “opt out” of receiving the unsolicited telephone books. The organization will contact the publishers and inform them to stop delivering books to your address. They do this by working with state and local governments on ordinances concerning the delivery of unsolicited telephone books. And best of all…their service is FREE for all consumers.

When defrosting frozen foods, either plan ahead by placing frozen items in the refrigerator overnight or defrost them in the microwave rather then running them under warm water. By doing this, you have the potential to save 50 to 150 gallons of water per month.

Greenify your family’s dinner by planning ahead!

With summer right around the corner, lots of people like to enjoy the warm weather by going out on a boat. This can be great fun, but you need to protect the waters. One way is to use a funnel when refueling your water vehicles. This will help to avoid spills.

Earth Day is this week, April 22 to be exact, which is a perfect time to learn about our planet & how to take care of it. Creating a compost pile in your garden is a great activity for Earth Day.

Composting is basically mixing raw food scraps from your kitchen with leaves & other yard waste, plus water. This will not only reduce your trash sent to the landfill but it will also create one killer fertilizer for all those home grown veggies.

If you don’t already compost at home, go green and start this Tuesday - Earth Day!

When it comes to watering your gardens, flowers or veggies, the eco-gardener choses to use a drip hose over a traditional sprinkler.

Drip hoses work by allowing water to slowly seep out of small holes that target the roots of the plants, where they actually need the water, as opposed to the leaves, flowers, sidewalk, and all passing cars on the street.

Make that green thumb a bit greener this year by using a drip hose to irrigate your gardens instead of those water wasting sprinklers.