Want to cut the sugar in your favorite fruit drink? Here's a quick way to halve it: Dilute it with water in a 1:1 ratio. You can get the same fruit flavor as those expensive "essence" drinks just by taking a fully leaded fruit drink and adding club soda for fizz, or (to save money as well as sugar) tap water. After a few sips, your taste buds adjust to the lightened version.

— Advertiser staff

SAVE THE PLANET

LABELS INDICATE GREENNESS

Go green? It's easy if you read labels, says Linda Mason Hunter, co-author of "Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home" (Melcher Media, 2005). She identifies these magic words on her Web site (www.hunterink.com): biodegradable in three to five days; plant-based; hypoallergenic; nonflammable; contains no phosphates, no chlorine, no petroleum products, no ammonia, acids, alkalis, solvents, nitrates or borates; and formulated without dye or synthetic fragrance.

— Washington Post

FINAL WORD

"Carpooling makes sense for a lot of reasons: It saves you money, it cuts down on traffic and it helps the environment. That said, I'd rather walk than carpool. ... Maybe it's just me, but being in car with the same people every day is like one rung above a hostage situation."