Making eco-friendly changes around your house not only helps the environment, but also can save you boatloads of cash. Many households have made adjustments to the amounts of water and electricity they use and have started to recycle aluminum, glass and paper, but a smaller number of people have committed to giving up the popular chemicals used around the house.

Often, the fear is that something that is environmentally friendly won't be as user-friendly or effective as the store-bought chemicals and cleansers that have been kept under the kitchen sinks of generations upon generations of families. This simply isn't the case. In fact, a simple, inexpensive bottle of vinegar can work wonders around your house without harming the environment or being dangerous to your children or pets.

You may already use vinegar to clean out your coffee pot, but that isn't even the tip of the iceberg of what it can do.

Here are some great ways to use vinegar around your house, and some just may surprise you.

Spray vinegar on the grass or weeds between the cracks in your sidewalk or driveway to kill them.

Put two tablespoons of vinegar and one teaspoon of sugar in the vase with your freshly cut flowers to keep them cooking beautiful longer

Dip a washcloth in vinegar and use it to rub away deposits inside your fish tanks.

Spray some vinegar along your window frames, doors and under appliances to keep ants away.

Adding a little vinegar to your dogs' drinking water will keep fleas from thinking they're tasty.

Adding half a cup of vinegar to your laundry's rinse cycle will brighten colors and reduce lint.

Put vinegar on a washcloth and lay it over your kitchen faucet to loosen up and remove hard water stains.

There are many, many more uses for vinegar around your house and your family, wallet and the environment will be better for it.