Put some spark into your health
SparkPeople has a new place specifically for people in Southeast Michigan to hang out, as part of the site's new emphasis on local communities.
SparkPeople is a great online collection of diet, exercise and health tools, with loads of SparkTeams that focus on every topic under the sun for people who want an extra boost from friends while they're trying to get healthy.
The site -- www.sparkdetroit.com -- is based on the old Metro Detroit Sparks team, but includes a lot more tools, including places for people to identify and review parks and trails, healthy restaurants, fitness clubs and so on. There's also a bit of healthy inter-city competition, based on the fitness minutes that people log and the SparkPoints they amass.
Heather Newman
Green garden products
TerraCycle Inc. is recycling Kendall-Jackson wine barrels into composters and rain barrels. The oak barrels are clean and safe for outdoor use, the winemaker says.
The rotary composter holds grass clippings, leaves and other yard waste while they decompose. A roller system makes it easy to load and rotate the barrel, speeding up the process.
The TerraCycle rain barrel captures roof runoff for use in the garden.
Each product has a suggested retail price of $99. They're sold at some Sam's Clubs and some garden centers.
Free Press news services
Advice for keeping cool
As the temperature outdoors goes up, so too does the cost of cooling the home.
This advice from the U.S. Department of Energy and Alliance to Save Energy can help you stay cool and save money:
• Clean or replace air conditioning filters monthly or as needed.
• Keep your house closed tight in the daytime.
• Turn off your computer and monitor when it is not in use; activate the sleep feature so the machine powers down when on but not in use for a while.
• Move lamps or television away from the air conditioner thermostat.
Find more tips at www.ase.org.
Free Press news services
Movie box office
Estimated weekend ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters:
1. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," $35.9 million.
2. "Hancock," $33 million.
3. "Journey to the Center of the Earth," $20.6 million.
4. "WALL-E," $18.5 million.
5. "Wanted," $11.6 million.
6. "Get Smart," $7.1 million.
7. "Meet Dave," $5.3 million.
8. "Kung Fu Panda," $4.3 million.
9. "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl," $2.5 million.
10. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," $2.3 million.
