When you invite your friends over to watch the big game, be eco-conscious. Here's how:

1. Supply your fellow football fans with eco-friendly beer. There are local companies that have been working to reduce waste and energy. Recycle the bottles after the game.
2. Serve organic snacks. Locally grown, organic snacks are healthy for those eating them. They are also better for the environment due to the lack of pesticides.
3. Keep extra sweaters available. The majority of electricity a house goes to the heating and cooling systems. Keep your heat at a minimum if any party-goers complain, give them a sweater to wear. It can even be a sweater with a team logo on it.
4. Send out your invitations via email. Don't waste paper by snail mailing them.
5. Only use reusable tableware. Go out and buy some cheap matching plates and silverware with party-time! in mind. Only break these out for parties. Clean them after the party and put them away.

Saving water is all about small steps, here are 4 that will help save big:

• Shut off the water while you brush your teeth
• Take showers that are a minute or two shorter
• Only flush the toilet when you need to
• Only run full loads of laundry and dishes

If you don't have the money to buy a hybrid car or convert your house to solar power, you can make a big difference with small changes.

• Buy energy efficient appliances. They may be more expensive, but make up for the increased cost in lower energy bills.
• Unplug chargers when you're not using them. Cell phone and other chargers use up powers even if there’s nothing attached to them.
• Put devices with remotes, like TV’s, VCRs, and stereos, on a power strip and turn it off when you're not using them. These devices use a lot of power to run the remote receiver even when the device is off.
• Walk or ride your bike for short trips.
• Buy local products. It takes energy to transport food and other products across the country. Buying local not only supports your local economy, it helps them use less energy.

An example of mild portable hyperbaric chamber. This 40-inch-diameter (1,000 mm) chamber is one of the larger chambers available for home.

Mild Hyperbaric Therapy is a medical treatment in which a person is exposed to increased atmospheric pressure inside an inflatable chamber. The increase in pressure allows more oxygen to reach the cells of the body which has many healing and therapeutic benefits.

Oxygen is crucial to our body’s healing process.  When the body is under pressure, plasma, cerebral fluid, and synovial fluid will dissolve more oxygen than they would if they were not under pressure. Therefore the quantity of oxygen carried and transferred to the tissue and cells is increased. The extra oxygen helps speed up the body’s healing processes.

Mild Hyperbaric Therapy may alleviate the symptoms of many chronic diseases and conditions including: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Headaches/Migraines, Injury and Surgery Recovery, Brain injury/Stroke, and many other conditions.

The soft chambers are approved by the FDA for the treatment of altitude sickness, but are commonly used for other "off-label" purposes.

For more information visit www.ObispoHyperbaric.com and www.TheOxygenStudio.com.

Transportation. Choose the most fuel-efficient vehicle for your needs. If you own more than one vehicle, use the one that gets the worst mileage only when you can fill it with passengers or cargo.

Drive less. Carpooling two days a week can reduce your annual CO2 emissions by 1,590 pounds. Combining errands into one trip can lower emissions even further.

Energy Use. In general, every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity used in your home generates 2.3 pounds of CO2.

Go digital. Replacing a mechanical thermostat with a digital model allows you to save energy by programming your heat to turn on and off at preset times.

Recycle. Reducing waste in landfills reduces emissions of CO2 and methane (another heat-trapping gas). .

Buy local. Food grown on local farms does not have far to travel, minimizing transportation-related emissions.

Related Links: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/

With Planet Friendly Valentine's Gifts...

Celebrating Valentine's Day can use a huge amount of the earth's resources from trees cut down for cards, carbon emissions for transportation to pesticide laden roses. Valentine's Day that is all about giving love to the earth as well as each other.

Spilled Eggnog?

 The worst part of spilling eggnog is the smell that sets in if it's not properly cleaned. The best way to prevent this is to clean with a vinegar solution that won't soil the carpet or bleach any clothes. Just mix 1 cup of white vinegar with 2 cups of water. Dab (do not rub) and then rinse with water.

How to Clean Up Broken Compact Fluorescent Bulbs...

If a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) breaks, precaution must be taken because these bulbs contain a small amount of mercury which can be toxic when airborne. First, open a window to ventilate the area. Then, use rubber gloves to pick up the large pieces and drop them in a freezer bag. Use double-stick tape to catch the smaller pieces, and finally dab the area with a damp paper towel. Drop the tape, paper towel and gloves in the freezer bag before throwing away

Pine Needle Cleanup?

During the holidays, pine needles seem to appear out of nowhere to take over your floor. The best way to clean up them up is to use a rubber broom, especially on the carpet where the rubber will brush against the fabric creating a static charge to trap the pine needles. If you don't have a rubber broom, it's best to stick with a vacuum and then use a lint roller for the last few needles.

Dripped  Wax From Holiday Candles?

It's no surprise that wax drips, but when it's dripped right down the base of your candlestick and onto the table runner, you might get a shock. Good news is wax is not hard to remove. Let it harden (or rub an ice cube over the area to force it) and then scrape off as much as you can using a knife. Place paper towels over and beneath the stain, and then iron the cloth, heating the wax so it adheres to the towels instead. Laundering normally will remove any left-over residue.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are experimental plants or animals that have been genetically engineered in a laboratory with DNA from other plants, animals, bacteria and viruses. GMOs are designed for two main reasons, either to make plants resistant to the seed producer's pesticide or to modify plants in such a way that they produce built in pesticides.

80% of all packaged foods in the US contain genetically engineered (GE) crops, often present in processed foods such as oils, sweeteners, soy proteins, high fructose corn syrup amino acids, aspartame, vitamin C, natural and artificial flavorings, maltodextrin and more. In the US, 93% of soy, 93% of cotton, 86% of corn, and 90% of canola are genetically modified. The labeling of GMOs is required in forty countries around the world, many of them banning them outright. However, the US and Canada do not require any labeling of such.