Recycling is one of the simplest things you can do to help the planet. But do you know there are some things you should never, ever recycle? And some you always should, no matter what?

And most importantly, do you know the difference? What is accepted for recycling varies state to state and even community to community, which means you get to throw just about everything in the recycling bin while your BFF a few blocks away but in a different town might be able to recycle paper, maybe.

This episode of MomEd: Green Living on CafeMom Studios YouTube Channel has a handy little quiz that will take you through what usually can get recycled and what can't, and even more importantly, some recycling no-nos you should absolutely never commit.

It's absolutely inevitable that as soon as kids enter the picture, so does an avalanche of plastics. Bottles, toys, snack containers, sippy cups...it's a plastic jungle out there!

With concerns about bisphenol-A (BPA) and its estrogenic effects on the body, not to mention fears over lead paint and just general environmental worries, it's hard to figure out how to keep your kids safe from harmful plastics and know which ones are OK.

Enter Mom-Ed: Green Living on CafeMom Studios YouTube channel to break it down for you.

Last week, in honor of Earth Day (and because I want to lose 10-15 pounds), I decided to challenge myself to a few days without my car. Living right outside of Boston, Massachusetts in a very large city that is also very bike friendly, I knew how I could do it. There are bike lanes everywhere, signs and a bike store on every other corner, it seems.

When my husband and I were first married, I was an avid cyclist who rode my bike almost everywhere. I commuted to work by bike in snow, ice, high winds and every kind of weather condition a person can imagine. But once my kids came along all that stopped.

Simply put: It seemed impossible.

It's gardening season! That means it's time to think about how to make your garden grow. Most people are throwing out the best stuff money can't buy ... kitchen scraps. Those banana peels magically transform into rich, vital compost that will have your plants thriving -- with the help of time and a little worm poop, of course.

Think it's not for you? Hold on there, sister. In this episode of Mom-Ed: Green Living on CafeMom Studios YouTube Channel, you'll get the 411 on how to make composting work.

If you want to test out your green thumb but don't have a lot of ground space, check out this inventive container garden Linsey and her family made out of wooden wine boxes for their patio in downtown Houston. I love their creativity in crafting a working garden for their urban lifestyle by re-purposing a common item and making it function inside their space. 

See a few more images of this clever little garden project below:

Ok, I have kind of an embarrassing (and somewhat shameful) confession to make. Even though I know it's a huge faux pas, I'm really behind the times when it comes to the whole going green thing. I run the air conditioning six months out of the year even though I live in the Northeast. I use plastic bags and containers and anything else that makes life a bit more convenient. And as far as recycling goes? Yeah, I try to do it. (Sometimes.)

But thanks to CafeMom's new YouTube show, Mom-Ed: Green Living, there may be hope for people like me who are kinda clueless in the green department. The new show is hosted by Kristen Eykel, and it aims to teach moms the ropes of adopting an eco-conscious lifestyle. For the first episode, Kristen was joined by eco-consultant Alexandra Zissu, and she gave 10 easy tips on how moms can make their daily lives a little bit greener.

Is your home a toxic trap? I'm not just talking about whether or not you've got dishes piled high or you've got in-laws in the guest bedroom outstaying their welcome. So many of us just stick to the home products and appliances we're accustomed to -- that our parents used or that we're convinced (likely thanks to advertising) are "state-of-the-art." But filling our cabinets with certain cleaners and our kitchens with rooms with various materials may be making us sick! That's the topic Suzanne Somers explored in her latest episode of the CafeMom Studios YouTube channel show Suzanne Somers Breaking Through.

Suzanne sat down with mom and green home expert who writes RaisingNaturalKids.com, Dawn Lorenz, who says that when she got pregnant for the first time, really started to take notice of hazardous items in her home.

One builder in Ohio is taking the idea of constructing a green home to a whole new level, by using straw instead of regular building materials. Straw. As in hay. As in "The Three Little Pigs."

But wait a minute -- I thought that the Big Bad Wolf destroyed the straw house, which forced that little pig to move in with the one who used bricks instead? I'm confused. How can a straw house actually stand up against rain, wind, snow, and whatever else Mother Nature may throw at it?

According to the builder, there is nothing to fear, as there is some kind of mud used to effectively pack the straw into the house. He calls it "earth plaster." Yeah -- ok.