DIY Vase

Sure there are plenty of vases you can buy out there, but you can easily make a beautiful one by reusing some items instead of buying one. All the materials used in this project can be found at home.

Follow these easy steps:

1) Find an empty water bottle (any size will do but gallon or liter ones work best); make sure it doesn’t have any holes on the bottom.

2) Cut off half the top using sturdy scissors. You can cut off more or less depending on how tall or short you want your vase to be.

3) Cut some used fabric (such as from old clothes, tablecloths, etc), old wrapping paper, or construction paper that will be used to wrap around the bottle. Glue the edges to the bottle.

4) Decorate the vase further with ribbons, buttons, jewels, and other items that can be glued on. You can even use heavy duty wrapping paper as well.

5) Fill up with water and stick some freshly cut flowers in there and voila!! See the picture (above) of the one we made ourselves.

Extra tips:

-use rocks/stones on bottom to make it more colorful and to make sure the bottle doesn’t tip.

-for a twist, paint tin cans in any design you want

Shopping Ideas: Visit a Local Farmer's Market

Ever heard of “Buy Fresh, Buy Local”?

If you’ve never visited a farmers market, then it’s definitely time to check one out. The fun part is walking outdoors and having all the fresh produce, breads, food, and flowers at your convenience direct from the farmers/producers. Farmer’s markets are also great for the environment because they offer organic fruits/vegetables and they offer products that are seasonally grown and come from close by which minimizes fossil fuels used for transportation. Some places even have petting zoos so it's definitely a great place for the whole family. Check out some of these local ones below or visit http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-farmersmarketlist,0,2141302.htmlstory for more locations. So start discovering your local areas and what they have to offer.

Northridge Mall 9301 Tampa Ave Northridge, CA 91324 Mar-Nov Every Wednesday from 5-9pm (between Macys & Borders

Americana at Glendale 100 Caruso Ave Glendale, CA 91210 Sat 10am-2pm

Pasadena Victory Park N Sierra Madre Blvd at Paloma St Pasadena, CA 91107 Sat 8:30am-1pm

Santa Monica 2nd St & Arizona Ave Santa Monica Wed &

Sat 8:30am-1:30pm 2640 Main Street Sun 9:30-1pm

Landscaping Ideas: Solar Lighting

More and more homes nowadays are catching onto the trend of using solar lights for lawns, walkways, driveways, and outdoor seating areas. These lights can be purchased from home improvement stores such as The Home Depot, Lowe’s, or your neighborhood gardening store. For about $3, you can get the basic ones or spend a little more money for more elegant finishes. These are also eco-friendly because they are powered by the sun, economical, and easy to install with no wiring needed whatsoever. We've tried out some of these already and they are great.

How to bring green to your lunch in a few simple ways

We all eat lunch everyday but what we don’t realize is how much waste we produce in a single meal. The amount of paper and plastic we use every day for sandwiches, cookies, water, etc can be wasteful. Fortunately, there are plenty of products out there that offer simple, cheap ways to cut back and don’t require more effort or time. Start using a tote bag or lunch box to bring food for work and/or school. They range from bold prints to soft colors and even cute animal ones for kids!

Don't forget the containers to pack your food. One good thing about the containers is you can easily bring pasta, soups, fruit, and liquid items as well as sandwiches or even chips instead of using plastic baggies. You can also choose from stainless steel, glass, or plastic. Some containers even come with utensils built in them.

As for water, use eco-friendly bottles such as plastic or aluminum bottles from Nalgene or Sigg; they are BPA free and come in a variety of colors. Be sure to use filtered water from a Brita filter or other purification system. We all need to drink lots of water to stay hydrated, so why not use a reusable bottle while we are at it?

Start switching to some of these and you'll be making your way to a greener lunch in no time. Remember, a little goes a long way!

Save Green by Going Green

It is not a secret that many businesses are trying to save money. It’s a recession, who doesn’t want to save money? So here are a few ways Going Green can save your business some money:

ELECTRICTY

1. Switch to Energy Efficient Lights such as Halogen Incandescent, Light-Emitting Diode (LED) or Compact Fluorescent (CFL). These lights can be found anywhere from Target to Home Depot.

Do you already have Energy Efficient Lights? Or does this is pose an inconvenience to change all your light bulbs? Well here’s the answer to help you save money on your electricity bill. Turn off the lights! When no one is in the room, turn off the lights. Do you need all the lights to be turned on during a bright sunny day? Turn the lights on when it’s dark.

- Suggestion: Install Sky Lights, have the Sun light your office during the day.

- Install Motion Sensored Lights. The Lights turns on automatically when someone enters the room. Lights will turn off automatically after minutes of inactivity in a room.

2. Turn off the computers every night. If you’re leaving your desk during a lunch break, set your computer to sleep.

HEATING AND COOLING

3. Keeping an office area cool/ warm can eat up a lot of money. At night turn your Thermostat down and raise it a little during the day. Lowering your Thermostat 3 to 4 degrees makes a difference in your heating/cooling bill. For optimal heating and cooling, consider installing insulation into the walls. Insulation prevents air from leaking from a room.

OFFICE SUPPLIES

4. Buy recycled paper and ink cartridge. Set your printer to print documents on both sides of paper.

5. Use scratch paper take notes. If not then recycle the paper. You can also use programs such as OneNote or Microsoft Word to take notes on your computer lap top.

6. Use services like Ring Central to have faxes sent to your email. Only print faxed documents when necessary. When faxes come in, they are sent directly to your email.

7. If you don’t mind holes in your paper, buy a staple-less stapler. Yes it does exist. The Staple-less Stapler works by cutting out a tab of the paper, wrapping it around and tucking it back into a small slot. It only works on a few sheets of paper and doesn’t work too well if you handle that document numerous times. But you can try it out for yourself.

8. Cut down on envelopes and postage by paying bills online. You can also contact customers and vendors via email or skype. Almost everyone has a smart phone; it seems more practical to receive documents instantly though email than to receive a document/notice a week later.