Smartware products, a division of F&M Tool and Plastics Inc., is in the business of recycling discarded industrial and consumer waste into useful and beautiful new products.

Utilizing everything from computer monitor cases to discarded water jugs and running shoes, Smartware products reclaims waste plastics and returns them to the product cycle in the form of items such as landscape timbers, speed bumps and landscape containers. Possibly the best part of the whole proposition is that they do it all right here in America, reducing our need for landfill capacity and creating much needed economic stimulation.

For an overview of Smartware products, distributor locations and sales team contacts, please check out the company website. A purchase from this company may prove to be not only an exercise in environmental responsibility but also a show of commitment to national pride. Who knows, your old running shoes may now be someone's patio Rhododendron pot.

More than ever these days, people are rolling up their sleeves and finding ways to help themselves.They're also interested in helping their neighbors, their country and the planet. These attitudes are commendable, compelling and powerful.

That is why today I am bringing to you a few of my favorite responsible living links. The following websites have been created for you with great thought and care. Each of these sites will reward you for the time you spend there reading. Remember, reading equals knowledge and knowledge always pays dividends.

First on my list today is the blog, DIY Life. It's one of my favorites and it's a member of our Weblogs family. The site is a fast paced, informative blog which seeks to deliver to you the "cream of the crop" in do it yourself living. I must disclose that I'm a bit biased towards their blog because my extraordinary wife is a member of their fine writing crew. Check it out if you're into the fix it and make it yourself lifestyle. On their pages you'll find everything from home remodeling and gadget tweaks to jewelry making and unique home furnishings. Their staff is dedicated to bringing you up-to-the-minute do it yourself brain storms. In their capable hands, you can never go wrong.

When I was a little kid, I used to love dryer lint. My mother wasn't too careful about cleaning out the lint trap; when she finally did, the layer of lint would be an inch thick. I loved deciphering the lint, seeing the streaks of colored fabric that made up the pile. Red, green, white, black...I imagined myself as a sort of lint archaeologist, excavating the layers of washing.

Clearly, I had way too much imagination, not to mention free time.

The thing of it is, though, that after I exhausted the archaeological potential of lint, there really wasn't much else to do with the stuff. It was kind of grubby, too fragile to use as fabric, and made a big mess when you played with it. By the age of eight or so, I had turned my back on lint, never to return.

Or so I thought.

What do I know about heating bills? I live in balmy Los Angeles, where winter weather sometimes hits the high '50s and heating your home is more about donning your Ugg boots or finding some socks to wear with your flip-flops.

But even we have to turn on the heat sometimes. And since electricity costs have doubled in the last few years, the ultimate bill can be, well, shocking.

Our sister blog, Green Daily, recently ran an excellent post on ten money saving tips for keeping your electricity bill less shocking this winter.