Check it off: Dining outdoors

Another feature from the Check it off column in the SF Chronicle.

As the warmer weather kicks in, thoughts turn to dining in the great outdoors. Whether you're firing up the grill for Father's Day, planning a fancy al fresco buffet or just relaxing out in your garden on a weekend, here are a few things that can make your next outdoor gathering a bit more pleasant.

- Sun tea jar. An easy, cheerful addition to any outdoor party is a tall glass of sun tea. Make it in a large glass jar. Just fill the container with cold water, add three or four tea bags and set it in the sunlight for three to four hours. Pour the tea over ice and serve. Solar power never tasted so good.

- Frozen fruit. If you don't care for watered-down drinks, consider freezing some fruit the night before for use in your beverages the next day. Slices of lemon, grapes, chunks of pineapple, pieces of mango or raspberries can be a refreshing addition to iced tea, lemonade or a simple glass of fizzy water.

Read more at the SF Chronicle website.

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Ditching your lawn? Plan replacement carefully

Estimates vary, but those lush, green turf grass lawns can account for 50 to 80 percent of a household's yearly water usage - adding up to thousands of gallons of water per acre of lawn."

Conserving the copious amounts of water that thirsty lawns suck up has become such a priority that counties from Marin to Santa Clara are offering homeowners rebates for removing their lawns. Even small businesses are offering incentives, such as the Ploughshares Nursery's "Tear Out Your Lawn" challenge in which customers can get 20 percent off drought-tolerant plants through May 31 if they remove 40 percent of their lawns.

Read more at the SF Chronicle website.

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Cheap 'n' easy ways to save money and energy

'Turn off that light!' your parents used to shout.

'Put on a sweater,' they'd say when you complained about the house being cold.

"Wear shorts!" they'd bark if you said you were too hot.

Turns out, Mom and Dad were right, and if you're looking to slim down your energy bills, there are lots of inexpensive or even free things you can do to save money in the long run.

Here are 10 inexpensive things you can do to help save energy and money...

Read more at the SF Gate website.

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Home & Garden: Recycle, reuse, renew

So I started writing for the Home & Garden section of the Chronicle this week. I had a few ideas for helping folks recycle, reuse, renew. Check it out:

"Get a green cart: Potato peels, lobster shells, chicken bones, coffee grounds, even paper napkins and greasy pizza boxes. Once upon a time, those things went into the garbage, but now through urban compost programs, residents in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and other cities in Alameda, San Mateo and Contra Costa counties can chuck their food scraps into a green cart to be turned into black gold and returned to the soil of Bay Area farms. Apartment renters, ask your landlord to get a green cart for the whole building, and they'll even give you individual kitchen pails for each apartment and instructions on what to compost. Contact your city's public works department for more information."

Read more at the SF Chronicle website.

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