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" The big news of the week in green included a sobering report about the sorry state of the world&amp;#039;s oceans (do your part by starting with simple steps to help ocean conservation). In Washington, President Obama released 60 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (we offer alternative ways to cut your gas bill in half). Meanwhile, in Congress, the House proposed a bill to turn the Environmental Protection Agency&amp;#039;s authority of protecting the nation&amp;#039;s rivers and lakes back over to the states, which reminded us of the recently released list of America&amp;#039;s Most Endangered Rivers. Closer to home, though, these were the stories we thought were most important to green consumers: DVR and Cable TV Boxes are Wasting Energy Time to call your cable provider and ask for Energy Star Version 4.0 cable TV boxes, DVR recorders and other &amp;quot;set top&amp;quot; boxes. Otherwise, you&amp;#039;ll be wasting a significant amount of money and energy even when you&amp;#039;re not using these energy-hogging devices, according to a newly released study. It&amp;#039;s National Pollinator Week! National Pollinator week focuses attention on bees, beetles, hummingbirds and other creatures (even bats) that benefit the environment by pollinating flowers. All flower gardens, most vegetable gardens, and overall about one-third of our food supply relies on pollinators, so this is as good a week as any to plant a butterfly garden, hang a hummingbird feeder, or plant bird-friendly landscaping. A New Cheap (or Free) Way to Retrofit Homes for Energy Efficiency Joining smaller programs in Portland, Kansas and parts of the U.S. Southeast, New York approved the nation&amp;#039;s first statewide &amp;quot;on-bill recovery&amp;quot; program, which will allow homeowners to finance energy-efficiency upgrades at almost no cost. Private loans will pay for energy efficiency improvements, and homeowners will make loan payments as part of their monthly utility bills. Because the financed improvements should lower energy bills, there should be little or no increase in the average cost consumers pay. 6 Keys to Reducing Childhood Obesity The Institute of Medicine released a report with statistics about the growing number of obese children aged 0-5, and offered strategies for slimming our children down. Topping the list were tried-and-true natural methods, like breastfeeding for at least the first six months of life; feeding appropriate portions of real nutritious foods, rather than processed junk foods; and encouraging more exercise and limiting &amp;quot;screen time&amp;quot; to fewer than two hours daily. 10th State Moves to Ban BPA Delaware&amp;#039;s legislature moved to make it the 10th state to ban the use of the controversial chemical Bisphenol A in children and baby products like baby bottles and sippy cups. California and Oregon are also considering similar bans this year. Gardeners are Warned: Climate Change is Altering What Will Grow The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration launched a public education campaign in public gardens to demonstrate how the changing climate is shifting hardiness zones northward, altering what vegetables and flowers will grow in our gardens at home. You&amp;#039;ll find lots of other environmentally-related articles \u2014 from green cuisine to green homes to green wedding gifts \u2014 on thedailygreen.com. And be sure to check out the Green Good Housekeeping Seal for more on buying green. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a3263/the-6-biggest-green-consumer-stories-of-the-week/>