I am Lamberta the sheep, bringing you today’s tip. Today’s tip is on taking a vacation. Taking your vacation before or after the peak season has many benefits. The busiest times, in the northern hemisphere, are July and August. If you can avoid this busy holiday period, this is what you will find: A warmer welcome from locals; lower airfare, and lodging prices; a wider choice of accommodation; the ability to see more and do more. The weather should still be good, and you can save up to 50% on lodging and transportation, and 30% on food.

I’m Bearnard the bear, happy to bring you today’s tip. There are numerous ways to save water, and today I would like to share with you one way: Switch from liquid detergents to powders. Laundry liquids are mostly water, and it costs energy and packaging to bring this water to the consumer. To save water and energy, use powder detergents to wash clothes. The same goes for dishwashing detergents; when there's a choice, choose powders.

My name is JennyPurrrr and today I would like to share with you a tip to help preserve our beautiful forests. We can do the forests a big favor simply by getting off some companies’ mailing lists. You can contact the firms yourself, or check out online subscription services like greendimes.com or 41pounds.org. For example, 41pounds.org promises to reduce your unwanted mail by 95% in four months. This step not only saves trees but also gallons of water used for cultivating trees. That’s our environmental tip for the day.

Ruff ruff! Ruff ruff! I’m Rufie, presenting you with today’s tip on how to easily clean a microwave. Place a half-cup of water and a tablespoon of vinegar in a bowl and heat it in the microwave for three to five minutes. When the microwave stops, keep the door closed to give the steaming moisture generated from the bowl of water some time to work. Then remove the bowl carefully, and wipe the inside of the microwave with a moist, warm cloth .

Today’s weather tip will bring freshness into you home. For a non-toxic and super refreshing air freshener, mix baking soda and vinegar. Simply stir one part baking soda with one part vinegar and two parts water and then let the mixture settle. After this, spray the mixture in the air. You will be surprised of the effect it has on helping give a fresh smell to your home.

I’m Skippy the rabbit. It’s a joy to be presenting the tip of the day. Compost is one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments, and you can use it instead of commercial fertilizers. Using compost will improve soil structure, texture, aeration and the soil’s water-holding capacity. It’s full of plant-loving minerals like nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. You can feed a compost heap almost anything from nitrogen-rich grass clippings to most of your kitchen refuse, including melon rinds, carrot peelings, tea bags, apple cores, banana peels and any other form of vegetable matter. Wood ash from the fireplace, used moderately, adds potassium to the compost. You can also make good use of your weeds, leaves and old flowers by adding them to the compost. Composting is fun and economical, so why not try it?

I’m Oinky the piglet, happily bringing you the tip of the day. If you are looking for a fabric softener that is environmentally sound, use vinegar. Using water with vinegar instead of fabric conditioner makes clothes soft without contaminating the water with pollutants. Just add one tablespoon of vinegar at the end of the washing process. The vinegar protects the clothing and adds a fresh- smelling scent. Furthermore, when giving faded whites a hot wash, adding a quarter cup of vinegar will leave your clothes surprisingly white and clean. Oink, oink! It has truly been a pleasure sharing this tip with you.

I’m Mooyi the happy cow, sharing with you the tip of the day. For a quick and simple natural air freshener, add some cinnamon, some orange peel, and a little bit of cloves in a small pot of water, then simmer. This natural formula will surely give your home a pleasant fragrance.

I’m Parrot M’Caw with a tip of the day on growing fresh herbs. It’s usually very easy to grow fresh herbs in the garden or in a pot. Some of easiest herbs to grow are basil, parsley, rosemary, sage and mint. Except for mint, which likes shade, most of them just need a lot of sunshine. Make sure the drainage is good, so there’s not too much water in the soil. To get more leaves to grow, you can simply remove the flower buds. It’s that easy! Of course, give your plants a lot of love too.

I’m Lionardo the Lion and today’s tip is on how to lower a common health risk the natural way. According to research, people who increase their magnesium intake can lower their blood pressure significantly. Magnesium is a mineral that relaxes blood vessels. Dr. Elson M. Haas from San Raphael, California recommends “at least 320 mg a day of magnesium for women and 420 mg a day for men.” Food that are rich in magnesium include dark green vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.

Do you know that over 30% of residential water is used for watering the garden's lawn and plants? That’s according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Today’s tip includes some simple techniques that will save water in the garden. If there are areas of your lawn that go unused, consider replacing the grass with less water-intensive plants, such as trees, shrubs, flowers, or low-growing ground covers. For the rest of the lawn, spread drought-resistant varieties of grass seed and allow the grass to grow higher in the summer, so the grass blades provide shade for the soil.

I’m Herrrrman the happy horse, presenting energy tips for today. In the US, the average person’s annual CO2 emission is 25 tons. Most of this comes from home energy usage. By taking a few simple measures, we can easily reduce our energy consumption. Use the dishwasher only when it's full, and install low-flow showerheads. You can also wash your clothes in cold water, turn down the thermostat on the water heater by a few degrees. Another tip that also helps is switching to fluorescent light bulbs. These combined tips, little by little, should help conserve energy.

I’m Cock-a-Doodle Dandy, bringing you the tip of the day. By banking and paying bills online we not only save trees, but also help to reduce fuel consumption. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, “If every US home viewed and paid its bills online, the switch would cut paper waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse-gas emissions by 2.1 million tons a year.” So if you like the idea, why not give it a try?

To be able to give the best of yourself to family and work, it’s important to be happy and balanced. For overall well-being, we need to consider three aspects, body, mind, and spirit. For a healthy body, you might want to do some exercise and consider good nutrition. To cultivate the mind, nurture your creativity and interests. And last but not least, cultivate spiritual development. By living a wholesome life with inner peace through meditation, you can benefit those around you, at home, work or play.

Hallo dear viewers, I’m M’Caw the Parrot. Today’s tip is on how to make a birdhouse out of a coconut. These coconut birdhouses bring small nesting birds like finches into your garden. Here’s how to make one. Find a medium sized coconut and drill a hole at the top of the shell and pour out the milk. Then cut off the top third of the shell with a fine-bladed hacksaw and clean out the coconut. My mum makes a good cake with the inside of the coconut. Mmmm… For the entrance to the birdhouse, drill a 1-1/8-inch hole in the upper half of the coconut. On the opposite side of the entrance, bolt a hinge between parts of the coconut; this will allow you to open and clean the coconut for the following nesting season. For a simple latch, add one screw to the top part of the nut and one to the lower part; then twist some wire between them to hold the coconut shut. And to give the birds some extra protection from the elements you can also add a piece of pliable metal peaked roof. Do this …