Soapnuts, also known as soap berries, have been used as a natural detergent for centuries.  Soapnuts come from the fruit of the trees of the sapindus genus, from the family Sapindacea.  There are approximately a dozen species; native to India, China, Southern Asia, parts of north and Central America. Soapnuts are considered a fruit and are a yellow brown color with a diameter of around 1-2 cm and have a black seed.  The shells hold a substance called saponin, usually present in quantities of around ten to fifteen percent.  Saponin dissolves in water to form suds that dissolve fats and oils and help to lift grime out of an object. Oddly enough, just two to three teaspoons or one cotton bag of soapnut powder can substitute your regular laundry detergent and fabric softener.  A cotton bag that has a few shells in it will last for up to three to four washes and you save up to fifty percent on normal laundry detergent.  So replacing your regular laundry detergent for soapnuts is a great way to save money.  Soapnuts do not have any sort of order and are used a lot in some countries for wool and delicate clothing. Soapnut powder may also ...

Dads do a whole lot in our lives, and on Father's Day, we come together and celebrate how awesome dad really is.  Of course, this Father's Day, you may be looking for fun ideas and great gift options for dad, while still going green.  You can make this special time a green time too.  Here are some great green ideas for Dad that you can use this year. If you are looking for something to do on Father's Day, outdoor games with dad can be a whole lot of fun.  This allows everyone to enjoy the outdoors together and everyone, no matter their age, can get involved.  Consider fun games like boccie ball, croquet, and other yard games that everyone can get in on.  If your family is more active, fun outdoor games like football, volleyball, softball, and soccer are wonderful ideas as well. When it comes to green gifts, why not buy dad some great plants and some gardening tools for this Father's day.  Does dad love working in the yard making it look great?  If so, a great green gift option is a nice tree that he can enjoy for the years to come.  Grape vines or berry plants also ...

You may have heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is the collective term for the Western Pacific Garbage Patch between Japan and Hawaii as well as the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch between Hawaii and California.  As the term suggest, it is the largest landfill in the world but it is not on land - it floats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And if the Great Pacific Garbage Patch wasn't enough bad news in a sea of earthquakes, plane crashes and oil spills, the Great Atlantic Garbage Patch has just been recently discovered.  Just like its Pacific counterpart, it is a floating landfill of human garbage, mainly plastic products. Its specific location has been pinpointed as the area between Bermuda and the Azores Islands, both of which are in the area known as the Sargasso Sea.  If the name sounds familiar, it is because the Sargasso Sea is where the legend of the Bermuda Triangle takes place.  So now, not only is the Sargasso Sea the graveyard for lost ships and airplanes, it is also the graveyard of our garbage.  Call it ironic, indeed. The Great Atlantic Garbage Patch was discovered by Anna Cummins and Markus Eriksen during their trip ...

As any car fanatic knows, the Kelley Blue Book is the United State's largest automotive vehicle valuation company.  For 2010, it has just announced the top green car picks with the Toyota Prius leading the pack. Toyota Prius The Prius offers a special powertrain combined with a hybrid electric motor and gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine.  Because of these advanced features, the Prius delivers on higher fuel economy coupled with lower emissions in comparison with regular cars in its size and price range. Honda Insight Hybrid The manufacturers of the Honda Insight envisioned the car as the most cost-effective hybrid car in the market and, so far, it seems to have delivered on that vision.  It has a combined mileage of 41 miles per gallon with a tag price of $20,000 - about $2,000 lower than the Prius. Ford Fusion Hybrid The best thing about the Ford Fusion Hybrid is its adept combination of class-leading fuel efficiency with top-notch cabin technology.  You can have a great ride while knowing that you are also doing great things for the environment in your own commuter way. Volkswagen Golf TDI The Volkswagen Gold TDI uses a fuel injection system combined with an electronically controlled turbocharger, of which the end result is better ...

With the high cost of food these days, you may have wished that you could start growing your own fruits and vegetables, only to be stymied because you don’t have enough land to do so. The solution is to build a garden trellis, for either vegetables or fruits.  This method is called “vertical gardening” or “growing up,” or using a “square in the air.” You can purchase a trellis from a garden store, or build your own.  The trellises sold in stores are two dimensional, and are usually in the shape of a fan or a lattice.  If you build your own, you can really go to town, building a three-dimensional trellis in the shape of a large open rectangle, as high as you like, and running nylon string, or wire, vertically from top to bottom, or in a V-shape.  Each string will support a single plant, of whatever type of plant you wish to grow.  You merely have to train it to grow along the strings. Plans to build such trellises may be found on the internet, or in handyman-type books on gardening. These trellises are like the filing cabinets of your garden.  Instead of having the plant sprawling gracelessly along on the ...