10/28 green.yahoo.com

Please add updates@feedmyinbox.com to your address book to make sure you receive these messages in the future. green.yahoo.com Sleep better in your own bed October 27, 2009 at 6:37 pm (Photo: Getty Images) You don't have to spend a fortune on bedding to get a good night's sleep. Taking good care of the pillows, comforters, and sheets you already own will help you sleep like a baby and also save you money because you won't have to replace them as often.   Prolonging the life of bedding is also a plus for the planet. Fewer resources are needed to make and ship replacements and it will also put less strain on landfills. Below are some tips for making the most of what you have: Pillows: Cover your pillow in two layers to protect it from dust, dirt, and body oils. The first layer should be a case with a zipper and then put a traditional pillowcase over the zippered cover. You can throw polyester, feather, and down pillows into your washing machine. Use the delicate cycle. Be sure to check the seams on down pillows first so that feathers don't leak out. Good Housekeeping columnist Heloise suggests washing two at a time for balance. Pillows can go in the dryer on a low setting. Fluff often. You should add tennis balls in with down or feather pillows to help plump them up. They'll take a long time to dry. Hand-wash foam pillows and let them air dry to prevent foam from breaking apart in the dryer. Sleep experts recommend replacing pillows every one to three years, but you can hold onto your pillows as long as they are in good shape. How do you know when it's time to make a trip to the store? If your pillow is lumpy, bumpy, has to be fluffed up for support, or stays folded when you fold it in half, then it's time to invest in a new one, says Heloise. Use old pillows as bedding for pets instead of sending them to the dump. Check with your local animal shelter to see if they can use old pillows. Comforters: Use a duvet cover to protect your comforter and wash it regularly. Shake out your down comforter once a week to keep the down from bunching up. Airing it outside occasionally will keep it fresh. Goose down can lose some of its airiness when you wash or dry clean, so spot clean whenever possible. You can wash most down comforters, but double-check the label to make sure it doesn't need to be dry-cleaned. Plan on washing it or getting it professionally cleaned every one to five years. Wash your comforter in an oversized washing machine at a laundromat instead of stuffing it into a residential washer. Don't forget to check the seams first so you don't lose a bunch of feathers. Use a low dryer setting and place some tennis balls in with your down comforter so that the fill moves and doesn't bunch up. Sheets: Stay away from laundry sheets and fabric softeners. Why? They dull colors, and it's difficult to get rid of the residue they leave behind. (They'll also make your towels less absorbent.) Don't use bleaches or detergents with optical brightens because they can weaken and discolor your sheets. Using a delicate detergent and rinsing well will keep your sheets soft. Heat weakens fiber so don't wash in hot water or use a super hot dryer. Washing sheets and towels together leads to pilling, so remember to separate them. Get special tips for laundering silk sheets. Cut up old sheets (and towels) to use for rags instead of throwing out. When you do replace and what should you buy? Plan ahead and keep your eye out for sales. Try buying the best quality products that you can afford so they last longer. Affordable organic cotton bedding is getting easier to find. Check our Consumer Reports' sheet ratings and learn about different kinds of fabric and thread counts. Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green's users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com. Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook. Dell plants solar trees in the parking lot October 27, 2009 at 6:27 pm Dell is doing it again, this time on-site, with a series of solar trees that will not only help power its headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, but also serve to charge electric vehicles parked there. Of course, there aren't currently any electric vehicles parking in the Dell lot, but hopefully that will change in the next few years. The solar trees were put in place by Envision Solar, who's work we've seen at Google headquarters previously. The Dell installation will provide 130,000 kW/h per year and shades the parking spots of the 56 employees who get to the lot first. Everyone else gets punished for being late by having to park in the sun. The project uses more than Envision's technology though. The charging points are provided by Coulomb Technologies while the solar panels themselves were manufactured by BP Solar. All together, they made themselves (and Dell) a pretty sexy-looking parking lot. Hopefully we'll see a lot more of these in the future. Via Jetson Green Study: Halloween face paint laced with lead October 27, 2009 at 3:37 pm (Photo: FDA) Some children's face paints are laced with undisclosed heavy metals that are known to be both acutely poisonous and to cause long-term health problems, ranging from skin sensitivity and brain damage. The testing, by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of health and environmental groups, found that many face paints -- including those used in Halloween costume makeup -- often contain lead, nickel, cobalt and chromium. None of those ingredients, however, were listed on product packaging. Makeup brands included Don Post Grease Paint Color Wheel, Alex Face Paint Studio, and Rubie's Silver Metallic. Download the full report (PDF) for complete list. The testing was limited to 10 Halloween face paint products bought at a seasonal store, but disturbing enough: All 10 costume makeups contained detectable amounts of lead, which is such a well-known pollutant that the federal government has banned or severely restricted its use in gasoline, paint, and -- most recently -- toys. Exposure to lead is known to cause permanent brain damage, particularly if children are exposed in the womb or during the first six years of life, and can lead to a lifetime of problems ranging from learning disabilities to violent tendencies. Six of the 10 Halloween face paints tested had nickel, cobalt, and/or chromium, all of which exceeded voluntary industry safety guidelines, and all of which could cause allergic reactions in some people, according to the Campaign fro Safe Cosmetics. At least one Halloween costume makeup labeled "nontoxic" and "hypoallergenic" -- Snazaroo Face Paint -- contained some of the highest levels of lead, nickel, and cobalt detected by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' study. The report also found many hazardous ingredients listed on the labels of Halloween hair-color sprays and makeup products, including butane (persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic), thiram (neurotoxic, possibly carcinogenic, used as a pesticide), alumina (neurotoxic), and propylene glycol (possibly carcinogenic), plus pigment green 7 and pigment blue 15, which are not approved by FDA for use in cosmetics. According to the Campaign, these ingredients aren't listed on Halloween face paints because they aren't main ingredients and the Food and Drug Administration doesn't require the industry to label "contaminants." That doesn't mean they couldn't cause harm, or that parents wouldn't want to know about them before choosing costume makeup for use on their children's face. See these 10 ways to protect your children from toxic face paint, or see the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' DIY face paint recipes. If you feel your child has been exposed to lead, contact your healthcare provider, and make sure the child is getting a diet full of calcium, iron and Vitamin C, which can help counteract lead poisoning. More from The Daily Green Homemade Halloween Costumes: 19 Creative Ideas Latest Toxic Toy Recalls Surprising Superfoods (and How to Cook Them) The Dirty Dozen: 12 Foods to Buy Organic Eight Commandments of Natural Cosmetics Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook. White-nose syndrome haunts bats October 27, 2009 at 2:53 pm Bats are flying ambassadors of Halloween, adding spooky ambience to countless forests, graveyards, and haunted houses. Lately, however, the tables have turned — Halloween and the winter it foreshadows are an increasingly scary time to be a bat in America. (Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) That's because a deadly, cave-dwelling disease is sweeping across the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, killing 90 to 100 percent of bats in some colonies. Hundreds of thousands of bats have died so far, and some estimates put the total at 1 million. Like Freddy Krueger, this killer waits until its victims are asleep, but it's even more mysterious than the sweater-clad Elm Street villain. Three years after first appearing in a single New York bat cave, the fungus has now infected 81 caves in nine states, and scientists still aren't sure where it came from, where it will go next or even how exactly it kills. "We can't directly link the fungus to organ failure or anything like that," says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Susi von Oettingen. "It certainly is ultimately responsible for the death, but we're not sure how." Scientists are sure, however, that it's bad news for millions of American bats, which recover slowly from population loss since many have just one offspring a year. Bat experts are also worried the disease, known as "white-nose syndrome," will soon begin hopping through vast cave networks underneath the Midwest and Southeast, potentially wiping out endangered species like the gray bat and the Indiana bat. And what's bad for bats is often bad for people, too. As a top predator of flying insects, bats regulate the population size of everything from gnats, flies and mosquitoes to costly agricultural pests, and they play key ecological and economic roles throughout the United States — making a batless Halloween even scarier than one swarming with them. A long winter's nap Bats are one of the most successful and diverse mammals on Earth, ranging from 4-inch, sub-Arctic furballs with sonar to tropical "macro-bats" with 6-foot wingspans and primate-like vision. (Bats are not rodents, despite appearances, and are actually more closely related to primates than they are to squirrels or mice.) Many North American bats pay a price for living in colder climates, though. Their frequent flapping uses a lot of energy, and freezing temperatures virtually eliminate the protein-rich insects they eat. Some species migrate south, but the majority of U.S. bats tough it out by hibernating in caves or mines until the bugs come back in spring. (Photo: Kentucky Department of Parks) Surviving a frigid New England winter with no food isn't easy, and bats undergo extreme physiological changes so they can conserve enough energy. They slow down their heart rates, suppress their immune systems and drop their body temperatures to within one degree of the ambient air. They enter this low-power, near-death state for up to two months at a time, waking up periodically to stretch, preen, relieve themselves and sometimes mate. These hibernation breaks use up about 90 percent of the energy bats have stored for the winter, so it's critical that they only wake up at the right times. Despite its high stakes and risks, hibernation has worked for millennia. It wasn't until the early 20th century that it began to fail for some bats, and only then because of cavers and scientists who disturbed their hibernation without understanding the consequences. Combined with increased pesticide use, habitat loss and bats' naturally slow reproduction rate, this decimated several U.S. bat species over the decades — Indiana bats, for example, fell by 50 percent from 1967 to 2005, and now half of the species' worldwide population spends winters in just two caves. But today, all 25 U.S. species of hibernating bats face perhaps the greatest threat to their biological business model they've ever seen. The seemingly safe caves and mines where they've always sought refuge are increasingly infected with Geomyces destructans, a previously unknown fungus that's now being implicated in North America's steepest wildlife decline of the past century, and seems to be causing bats to wake up from hibernation too early and then fly outside as if spring arrived. From cave to grave White-nose syndrome doesn't directly damage, or even infect, any of bats' internal organs.  But if bats' vital organs are left untouched, what's killing them? And what possesses them to fly outside? "One of the theories is, because it's invading the skin in winter, it could be an irritant, waking up the bat from hibernation because it itches and causes stress,"  von Oettingen says. "The bat may then leave the cave simply to try to flee the itching." Although the case against Geomyces destructans is still in its infancy, most affected bats seem to die from starvation, having exhausted themselves by flying around — or even just being awake — when no food is available. Their dead bodies often have little or no fat left on them. Other theories range from wing infections, which might disrupt bats' temperature-regulating abilities, to disorientation and confusion, which could be what sends them flapping crazily into the outside world. (Photo: National Park Service) Lights at the end of the tunnel Sometimes natural immunity emerges as a ray of hope during disease outbreaks, but von Oettingen says there's no sign of it yet with white-nose syndrome. Finding a cure, vaccine or treatment won't be easy, either. It would need to be something that can easily be applied to a large number of bats, is safe for bats, is safe for people, and isn't deadly to other, beneficial fungi that also live in the cave. Scientists are still fighting, though, armed with grant money the Fish and Wildlife Service has allocated to white-nose syndrome research. In March, a pair of researchers proposed putting space heaters in bat caves to help sick animals save enough energy to survive the winter. And in mid-October, a team of biologists set up video cameras in a New York mine where white-nose syndrome has been hitting bats heavily, as well as a cave where it's expected to spread this winter. The urgency of white-nose syndrome is driving a flurry of similar research this year, and von Oettingen says it could be a pivotal winter for discovering the disease's secrets, and for planning how to save endangered bat species before it's too late. "This year's going to tell it," she says. "If it spreads even more rapidly than last year, that gives us an indication of how fast this is going to go and how devastating it can be. But if we're able to find at least some short-term treatment, maybe we'll be able to slow the spread, or at least contain it. "I am hopeful this year that we are able to find a treatment," she adds, "or maybe find out the caves in the Southeast just have a different environment, and it stays confined to the Northeast. But most biologists you talk to think it will keep spreading." Russell McLendon is an associate editor at the Mother Nature Network, where a version of this post originally appeared. More from Mother Nature Network Which is better? Rice, hemp, cow, soy, almond or goat milk? Swedes begin labeling food emissions How to roast pumpkin seeds How can I make lunch less of a landfill hazard? Bacon, cheesecake, and Ho Hos turn rats into junk food addicts Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook. Fragrance in orange juice? October 27, 2009 at 2:35 pm (Photo: Getty Images) "Orange juice" That's what it says under the ingredients on the carton of not-from-concentrate orange juice in my refrigerator right now. On the front of the carton it says "100% Orange Juice." So you'd think that all that was in the carton was juice squeezed from oranges. I've known many "fresh" not-from-concentrate orange juices aren't always that fresh. Since oranges don't grow in Florida all year round, at certain points during the year, it's not possible to make juice from fresh Florida oranges. Not-from-concentrate orange juice can sit in storage tanks for months after it's been extracted before it goes to market. I learned a lot of new things about orange juice from the following video. A new book, Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice by Alissa Hamilton, delves into some of the surprising things that may be found in not-from-concentrate orange juice. Some of the things the author says happens to the juice: Oxygen is taken out of the orange juice before it hits the storage tanks so it doesn't spoil. When the oxygen is taken out, so is a lot of the orange flavor. To replace the flavor fragrance and flavor are added — this is how certain brands can make their juice taste the same with every carton. (I've always wondered why that was.) At the end of the interview, the author says she's not an nutritionist so she can't speak to the health implications of these juices. Neither can I, but it's sure is something to get you thinking, isn't it? Robin Shreeves is a regular contributor to Mother Nature Network, where this post originally appeared. More from Mother Nature Network Which is better? Rice, hemp, cow, soy, almond, or goat milk? Swedes begin labeling food emissions How to roast pumpkin seeds How can I make lunch less of a landfill hazard? Bacon, cheesecake, and Ho Hos turn rats into junk food addicts Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook. Ya gonna eat that? Worms will October 27, 2009 at 1:15 pm The cool thing about vermicomposting (that's composting using worms) is that it doesn't have the smell usually associated with traditional composting, so, you can easily store your worm bin indoors or in your garage. So a worm bin can be an easy and space-saving alternative to a compost. Pre-made worm bins come in various sizes, or you can make your own. Start your worm bin now and in a few months you'll have rich soil perfect for gardening. Step 1 To be honest, I was a bit nervous to set up a worm bin, but with a little bit of learning it was a straightforward and fun process. My worm bin came with easy to follow instructions, both for putting the bin together (just a few components to snap together) as well as for making a comfortable home for the worms. If you want more detailed info about building your own worm bin and worm bin management, take a look at Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof. Step 2 Most worm bins consist of stacked trays that have holes in the bottom. You start the process by using only one tray in your worm bin. Worms live in this tray where you put food scraps for them to eat. The holes at the bottom are initially covered with cardboard so the worms don't fall through. Once the worms have eaten enough food to fill one tray, a second tray is stacked on top of it, and new food scraps are place into this upper tray. The worms will migrate through the holes up to the top tray to eat their new food source. Then the bottom tray is removed and harvested for the rich soil (technically worm castings). This process usually takes several months. Step 3 The initial worm bedding is where the worms will live and your food scraps will be buried. Worm bedding can be made out of many materials -- shredded black-and-white newspaper, decaying leaves, coconut fiber, wood chips, peat moss, etc. My bin came with a compressed block of coir (coconut fiber) that I soaked in a bucket of water where it expanded and broke apart. The material was then laid down evenly in the tray. Step 4 Here comes the fun part! Worms! Even if you buy a pre-made worm bin, you'll probably need to buy your worms separately. You can start off with 1 or 2 lbs. of worms (about 1,000 worms per pound). Worms are a bit pricey at over $25 a pound, but it's a great investment. My worms arrived within two days packaged in some bedding material. The next step is to spread the worms even in the worm bin. Here I am holding a clump of worms (break it up guys!). I was a little squeamish at first, but I got over it. Worms are cool! The process of putting the worms in the bin is done in the sun or under lights. This is because worms do not like light and so within 10 minutes or so they will all bury themselves in the bedding material. Step 5 The next step is to spread some food scraps over the surface of the tray as "starter food." It's important not to overfeed the worms during the first week as they acclimate to their new home. Otherwise, food scraps may become moldy and will need to be removed from the bin. Over time you should be able to feed the worms about 1/2 pound of garbage per day, but they are not picky about being fed every day and the number of worms can be adjusted for your household's needs. One cool thing about vermicomposting, is that when managed properly, the process does not smell because an aerobic process is used (oxygen present). Worm bins can even be kept inside the house. This is opposed to many compost piles that use an anaerobic process (no oxygen) that can give off quite a stench. Step 6 The last step is to cover the tray with moist cover material. I used a few layers of newspaper and sprayed it down with a spray bottle. The paper cover can be replenished if the worms start to eat, which they might! Another cover option are burlap sacks. The cover keeps out flies, allows the food and bedding to retain moisture, and keeps the worms in the darkness they enjoy. Now you are all set to have fun with your new pets and feel good about keeping tons of food waste out of landfills while creating rich new soil in the process. The worm bin featured in this essay is a Wriggly Wranch purchased from a municipal program in San Mateo County, California. Check with your city and county for possible worm bin subsidies as well as classes. If they don't have them, encourage them to get it started! Photographer Mike Kahn is passionate about sustainability and happy to be a new worm "wrangler." He runs the Green Stock Media photo agency. All photos by Mike Kahn / Green Stock Media. More from The Daily Green How to Start a Container Garden Organic Gardening Tips How to Make a Bird-Friendly Garden Amazing Wildlife Photos Vertical Gardening Revolution Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc Stunning photos of birds filled with plastic October 27, 2009 at 1:04 pm The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is often referred to as a huge floating island of trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Scientists don't know exactly how big it is, although many estimate that it's the size of the state of Texas or even twice that. But for all the talk about the enormity of this floating trash island and its detrimental affect on marine life, it's not easy to visualize. You can't see the mounds of plastic debris with the naked eye or satellite photos because most of the plastic has broken down into tiny pieces that lie beneath the ocean's surface.  Photographer Chris Jordan, who has captured the essence of American mass consumption and tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina on film, has found a way to document the impact of the vast amounts of discarded plastic on marine life. In the fall of 2009, Jordan visited the Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean and photographed the astounding evidence of human garbage found inside the bellies of albatross chicks. The baby birds are fed plastic debris by their parents who mistake it for food. As a result, hundreds of thousands of albatross babies are poisoned, choked, or suffer from deadly blockages every year.  Jordan says in his blog that his photographs portray the actual stomach contents of the baby birds and that the plastic was not "moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way."     You can see more of these photos, as well as larger versions, in Jordan's "Midway: Message from the Gyre" gallery on his website. All photos used here with permission. Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook. 50 ways to never waste food again October 27, 2009 at 1:00 pm (Photo: seamann / Morguefile) "Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without" is a favorite adage in both frugal and green circles, and it is something I strive to live by. One of the best ways to "use it up" is to think differently about our food and ways to avoid wasting it. The statistics for how much food we waste in the U.S. are, frankly, appalling. On average, we waste 14% of our food purchases per year, and the average American family throws out over $600 of fruit per year. Most of the food we waste is due to spoilage -- we're buying too much and using too little of it. We've all had it happen: Half the loaf of bread goes stale because no one wants to eat sandwiches today, and the grapes we bought as healthy snacks for the kids' lunches languish in the crisper. With a little creativity, and an eye toward vanquishing waste in our lives, we can make use of more of our food before it goes to waste. Here are a few ideas for you. Use up vegetables 1. Leftover mashed potatoes from dinner? Make them into patty shapes the next morning, and cook them in butter for a pretty good "mock hash brown." 2. Don't toss those trimmed ends from onions, carrots, celery, or peppers. Store them in your freezer, and once you have a good amount saved up, add them to a large pot with a few cups of water and make homemade vegetable broth. This is also a great use for cabbage cores and corn cobs. 3. Don't toss broccoli stalks. They can be peeled and sliced, then prepared just like broccoli florets. 4. If you have to dice part of an onion or pepper for a recipe, don't waste the rest of it. Chop it up, and store it in the freezer for the next time you need diced onion or peppers. 5. Roasted root vegetable leftovers can be turned into an easy, simple soup the next day. Add the veggies to a blender, along with broth or water to thin them enough to blend. Heat and enjoy. 6. If you're preparing squash, don't toss the seeds. Rinse and roast them in the oven, just like you would with pumpkin seeds. The taste is pretty much the same. 7. Celery leaves usually get tossed. There's a lot of good flavor in them. Chop them up and add them to meatloaf, soups, or stews. 8. Use up tomatoes before they go bad by drying them in the oven. You can then store them in olive oil in the refrigerator (if you plan on using them within a week) or in the freezer. 9. Canning is always a good option. If you're doing tomatoes, you can use a boiling-water bath. If you're canning any other type of veggie, a pressure canner is necessary for food safety. 10. Before it goes bad, blanch it and toss it in the freezer. This works for peas, beans, corn, carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and leafy greens like spinach and kale. 11. Too many zucchini? Make zucchini bread or muffins. If you don't want to eat the bread now, bake it and freeze it, then defrost when you're ready to eat it. 12. Pickle it. Cucumbers are the first veggie most of us think of pickling, but in reality, just about any vegetable can be preserved through pickling. Cut down on fruit waste 13. Make smoothies with fruit before it goes bad. Berries, bananas, and melons are great candidates for this use-up idea. 14. Jam is really easy to make, and will keep for up to a year if you process the jars in a hot-water bath. If you don't do the water-processing part, you can keep the jam in the refrigerator for a month, which is a lot longer than the fruits would have lasted. 15. Dry your fruit and store it in the freezer or in airtight containers. 16. Make fruit leather. 17. Make a big fruit salad or "fruit kebabs" for your kids. For some reason, they seem to eat more fruit if it's in these "fancier" forms. 18. Use up the fall bounty of apples by making applesauce or apple butter. 19. Don't throw out those watermelon rinds! Pickled watermelon rind is a pretty tasty treat. 20. Make a fruit crumble out of almost any fruit you have on hand. Assemble and bake it now, or leave it unbaked and store it in the freezer for a quick dessert. Put extra grains to good use 21. Make croutons out of day-old bread. 22. Turn day-old bread into homemade bread crumbs. 23. Freeze leftover bread. This way you'll have day-old on hand whenever you need bread crumbs or croutons rather than using fresh bread. 24. All of those little broken pieces of pasta in the bottom of the box? Collect them and mix with rice and veggies for a simple side dish. 25. A few tablespoons of leftover oatmeal isn't enough for a meal, but it is great sprinkled on top of yogurt. 26. Add chopped bread to a soup. It will dissolve and thicken the soup. 27. Made too many pancakes for breakfast? Put them in the freezer, then toss in the toaster for a fast, tasty weekday breakfast. Ditto waffles. 28. If you make plain white or brown rice with dinner, use leftovers for breakfast the next morning by adding them to oatmeal. This provides extra fiber and allows you to use up that rice. 29. If you or your kids don't like the bread crusts on your sandwiches, save these bits and pieces in the freezer to turn into bread crumbs later. Just throw the crusts into a food processor or coffee grinder to make them into crumbs. Season as you like. 30. If you have just a smidge of baby cereal left in the box, and it's not enough for a full meal, add it to your baby's pureed fruit. It adds bulk and fiber, and keeps baby full longer. Make the most of meat 31. Don't toss those chicken bones after you eat the chicken. Boil them to make chicken stock. 32. Ditto for bones from beef and pork. 33. The fat you trim from beef can be melted down and turned into suet for backyard birds. 34. Turn leftover bits of cooked chicken into chicken salad for sandwiches the next day. 35. Use leftover roast beef or pot roast in an easy vegetable beef soup the next day by adding veggies, water, and the cooking juices from the meat. Use dairy before it expires 36. If you've got a few chunks of different types of cheese sitting around after a party, make macaroni and cheese. 37. Eggs can be frozen. Break them, mix the yolks and whites together, and pour into an ice cube tray. Two frozen egg cubes is the equivalent of one large egg. 38. You can also freeze milk. Leave enough room in the container for expansion, and defrost in the refrigerator. 39. Use cream cheese in mashed potatoes or white sauces to give them thickness and tang. 40. Put Parmesan cheese into the food processor with day-old bread to make Parmesan bread crumbs. This is excellent as a coating for eggplant slices, pork, or chicken. Get the most out of herbs 41. Chop fresh herbs and add them to ice cube trays with just a little water. Drop whole cubes into the pan when a recipe calls for that type of herb. 42. You can also freeze herbs by placing them in plastic containers. Certain herbs, such as basil, will turn black, but the flavor will still be great. 43. Make pesto with extra basil or parsley. 44. Dry herbs by hanging them by their stems in a cool, dry location. Once they're dry, remove them from the stems and store them in airtight containers. Don't waste a drop 45. Leftover coffee in the carafe? Freeze it in ice cube trays. Use the cubes for iced coffee or to cool down too-hot coffee without diluting it. You can do the same with leftover tea. 46. If there's a splash or two of wine left in the bottle, use it to de-glaze pans to add flavor to whatever you're cooking. 47. If you have pickle juice left in a jar, don't pour it down the drain. Use it to make a fresh batch of refrigerator pickles, or add it to salad dressings (or dirty martinis). 48. You can also freeze broth or stock in ice cube trays, and use a cube or two whenever you make a pan sauce or gravy. 49. If there's just a bit of honey left in the bottom of the jar, add a squeeze or two of lemon juice and swish it around. The lemon juice will loosen up the honey, and you have the perfect addition to a cup of tea. Finally... 50. If you can't think of any way to use that food in the kitchen, compost it. Everything except for meat and dairy will work in a compost pile, and at least your extra food can be used for something useful -- such as growing more food! Colleen Vanderlinden is a blogger at Planet Green, where this post originally appeared. More from Planet Green How to Go Green: In the Kitchen  45 Foods You Can Make Yourself (but Never Thought You Could) Are You an Eco-Friendly Eater? (Quiz) Eight Ways to Lose Weight Without Dieting or Exercise Green Basics: Why Organic Food Is Healthier for You and the Planet Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.   This email was sent to topi.ireng@gmail.com.  Create Your Account Don't want to receive this feed any longer? Unsubscribe here.