Your school may be green, but is it the greenest? If not, you still have time to make your school America's Greenest School.

America's Greenest School is a nationwide essay competition sponsored by IC Bus, a leading manufacturer of hybrid and traditional school busses. And even if your school isn't as green as it can be yet, that doesn't mean you can't get the green ball rolling before April 30, 2009 (the last day to submit your essays).

So if your school has implemented an insanely organized recycling program, insists on all students composting food, or saves energy by switching to CFLs, you could have a chance at winning the title of America's Greenest School. Well, that and a very nice prize package including a $200,000 IC Hybrid School Bus for your school.

Think your school is green enough?

More Information:

• America's Greenest School Exclusive
• Competition Official Rules

Heads up for those of you that don’t know - eco-friendly living extends to animals too. And even though the best thing you can do for the polar bears and penguins right now is cut your carbon offsets, you can do even more when it comes to caring for your pets.

And by pets I don’t mean just dogs and cats. You can even green horses. Really.

How? By greening their grooming, creating an eco-friendly living environment, and managing manure appropriately.

Need more ideas? From greener pastures to pest control, Katherine Blocksdorf, About.com’s Guide to Horses, has you covered.

Scientists have been studying the effects of secondhand smoke for more than 20 years, and there's no doubt that being around cigarette smoke is almost as bad as smoking itself. But what about being around someone who's been around secondhand smoke?

Believe it or not, secondhand smoke can be deposited in hair, fabric and even on glass, meaning that individuals kept out of the vicinity of secondhand smoke can still feel its effects.

So what's this newly discovered transfer of secondhand smoke called? Third-hand smoke.

The big question is what does this mean for you? Nothing. That is, if you keep your distance from secondhand smoke. But if you do frequent locales that are tainted with shrouds of secondhand smoke, you may be unknowingly exposing your coworkers, friends, and even family to the dangers of third-hand smoke.

So besides being bad for you and the environment, cigarette smoke is much farther-reaching than anyone could have thought. Does anyone really need a fouth reason that cigarettes are bad? I hope not.

Via The New York Times

^{Photograph © Alex Cao / Getty Images}

Christmas is officially over, but that doesn't mean Christmas shopping has come to a grinding halt. With all the returns, exchanges and gift cards retailers can expect to see, we're hoping they'll notice a greener attitude too.

So what can you do to shop greener? Well, there's always the tried and true method of bringing your own reusable bags when returning items and buying new. But can you do more? Of course.

One idea is to start staying away from brands that have negative environmental records. Sarah Scrafford has come up with a list of 100 companies to avoid, and has even gone so far as categorize them. That way, whether you're shopping for beauty products or a great new gadget, you can be sure whatever you buy is coming from green(er) sources.

You can also think about using your store credit to purchase something you need as opposed to something you want. How often have you absolutely had to have something and found out later that it was really something you could do without? The greener choice is, of course, to go for what you need.

Those are just a few ways to get started shopping green, but the list goes on and on. What do you do to shop green? Sound off in our comments section below!