Solar lights brighten a garden
Solar lights are both an eco-friendly and easy way to add illumination to your garden or yard. The lights have built-in solar panels that soak up the sun’s rays and illuminate at night using the power of recharged batteries. To maximize their efficiency, be sure to place them where there is full sun during the day. And at night, make sure they are away from lamp posts and other outdoor lights, because any residual lighting can prevent them from turning on.
EDIBLE PETALS
Edible flowers are all the rage in cooking right now, but be wary of the types of bouquets you buy. Many flowers are considered edible — like pansies and lavender — but if they aren’t grown organically, they can be harmful to eat.
When buying edible petals, look for USDA-certified organically grown varieties to use in your salads, drinks and pastries. Or better yet, grow your own. When you grow from seed, you know exactly what was used (or, in this case, not used) to grow them.
CANNED GOODS
During the summer months, storage spaces like closets, pantries and shelves in the garage can get particularly hot. If you use these spaces to store canned food, take a moment to measure how hot the temperature is. When temperatures exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the risk of spoilage jumps significantly for canned products. And when canned food products are exposed to high temperatures for a long period of time, not only is there a greater risk of spoilage, but the nutrient value decreases. This is also the case for canned foods in glass jars. Always store them in a cool, dark place and away from high heat.
STUBBORN ZIPPERS
When it comes to jeans, coats, luggage, tents and other items around the house, a stuck zipper can turn something you need into something unusable. But before you toss the stuck-zippered item away, try this: Rub a candle all over the zipper. The natural wax can help lubricate the zipper and allow a slightly rusty zipper to work like new again. Be sure to choose natural-colored candles to avoid getting colorful stains all over the zipper.
WASP REPELLENT
If your home is a popular spot for wasp nests, try this all-natural remedy before using chemical sprays and expensive repellents. First, wasps are not all bad when it comes to your home and garden; they eat invasive insects like flies. But to keep them far away from your home, try peppermint oil. Just soak cotton balls with peppermint oil and stuff them between cracks and crevices where wasps are prone to build nests. Wasps dislike the scent of mint so much they will avoid those areas. And never squash a wasp; killing one releases a pheromone that invites other wasps to swarm where the scent was released.
NECKTIE QUILTS
Has your workplace gone from business to casual? If you have a closet full of neckties and you’re unsure what to do with them, consider donating them to be made into quilts. The company Prairie Moon Quilts (prairiemoon quilts.com) takes all sorts of ties and sews them into new quilts. The all-volunteer upcycling group is called a “Necktie Social.” These quilts are donated to nonprofit groups to use for fundraisers and charity events to benefit their good works.
PLANT TRAYS
When you buy flowers, shrubs and other outdoor plants, they often come packaged in plastic pots and trays that can be difficult to recycle. Whether you bought the plants from them or not, Lowe’s Home Improvement will take these plastic components and recycle them for free. To date, hundreds of thousands of pounds of plastic containers have been diverted away from landfills and recycled by the home-improvement chain. Since most community recycling programs do not accept these types of plastics, this is an easy way to plant a garden and recycle the containers, too.