Gauging soft light vs. daylight in LED bulbs
It’s easy to find energyefficient LED light bulbs almost anywhere now, but it can be difficult to understand what color output an LED “soft light” or “daylight” bulb emits. It may sound like a “daylight” bulb mimics the yellow color of the sun, but in reality it means it’s a clean, white light that’s very bright and suited for when you need as much illumination as possible. For some people, this style of light can feel too sterile or clinical. If you want to mimic the soft, yellow glow that came from incandescent bulbs, go for “soft light” LED bulbs. They cast the golden glow that most people want for their indoor light fixtures.
WINE FOR PLANTS
If you have a little red wine left in your glass, don’t toss it down the drain; instead, give your houseplant a sip. Wine is rich in nitrogen, which is a natural fertilizer plants love to drink up. Just dilute the wine — it doesn’t matter if it’s red or white — with cool water, then give your plant a drink. You can also toss extra wine into the compost bin. The good bacteria that help break down matter in compost bins love wine; adding it to your compost can help re-energize and speed up the decomposition process.
NATURAL DECOR
When you are decorating your home for Halloween, be wary of putting up fake spider webs in your yard. Many craft stores sell synthetic fiber material that can be stretched, pulled and manipulated to look like oversized spider webs on windows, bushes and trees, but this material is problematic for a few reasons. First, it’s not recyclable or biodegradable, so it ends up clogging landfills. But wild animals like birds and owls can get entangled in it, too. If you want to decorate, stick with natural things like gourds, pumpkins and dried corn instead.
HABITAT RESTORES
Did you know that the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity has a network of stores called Habitat ReStores that accept leftover materials from home renovations projects? The stores collect the items and resell them to benefit the work the charity does. If you’re undergoing a home renovation project, consider donating your surplus supplies or lightly used home items you no longer need. The top eight items ReStores love to receive are bathroom items (sinks and bathtubs), kitchen cabinets, working appliances (stoves, refrigerators and dishwashers), doors, windows, lighting fixtures, doorknobs and flooring. (Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga Area has two ReStores: 1201 E. Main St. in Chattanooga and 9408 Apison Pike, Suite 138, in Ooltewah. Both locations are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.)
CLEAN BIRDHOUSES
With fall weather here, now is a good time to take a look at birdhouses in your yard and give them a good cleaning. A used nest is a great thing, but an old bird nest is not. Old bird nests in a nest box can be covered in things like droppings, feather dust and pieces of decaying insects. Remove the old nests, and give the birdhouses a good washing. Then fill them with a variety of dried grasses from the yard to make them attractive to new birds to come and call home.
LET THE GRASS GROW
If you’re fastidious about mowing your lawn, this tip might be challenging for you, but try it anyway: Let the last few weeks of the mowing season pass without that weekly chore. Grasses, wildflowers and even weeds that grow wild produce seed heads, which are essential food for birds in the fall and winter months. When birds are making their annual migrations, they’ll stop to feed on the seed heads of grasses and weeds. When the ground is covered in snow, the tall plants will poke through and provide much-needed sustenance for a variety of birds. If you can’t allow your whole yard to grow wild, even a small section of unmowed lawn can help our feathered friends.
RECYCLE SMOKE DETECTORS
When smoke detectors in the home need to be replaced, don’t toss the old safety devices into the trash: Recycle them. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the majority of smoke detectors in the U.S. contain a minute amount of americium-241, a radioactive element that can take 432 years to decompose safely in the ground. First Alert, the leading manufacturer of all types of detectors, will recycle old ones free of charge. Get an account number by calling toll-free, 800-323-9005, and be sure to write “FOR DISPOSAL ONLY” clearly on the packaging when sending in your detectors. First Alert will recycle the plastic and remove the radioactive material for safe disposal.