Protect wild animals living in urban green spaces
Even in major cities full of giant skyscrapers, wild animals live among us in green spaces like parks, and they need our help. If you have a dog, always be sure to keep it on a leash; dogs can kill small animals, destroy birds’ nests and harass other types of wildlife when allowed to roam free. Avoid putting used gum in outdoor trash receptacles because birds can mistake it for food, ingest it and die. Be sure your trash containers are secured and closed, and only put them out the night before trash collection day.
A GREENER HOTEL BOOKING WEBSITE
It’s become easier to find lodging and hotels all over the world that are environmentally and socially responsible. The site bookdifferent. com lists hotels that implement effective, environmentally friendly management systems, work with the community to respect local traditions (a bonus when traveling abroad) and implement fair working conditions for their employees who work at the hotel. The website acts like any other travel booking site, but with a greener, cleaner vibe.
CHOOSE A LOWER RESOLUTION FOR STREAMING
Streaming movies and your favorite TV shows on your phone and laptop is incredibly common, but it also can be a strain for bandwidth and data usage, which in turn consumes a considerable amount of energy (both on your devices and on servers that host the content). The simplest way to reduce energy consumption is to stream at a slightly lower resolution. Instead of opting for high definition (like 1080p or 4K resolution), choose a lower resolution, like 720p. It looks the same and uses less energy!
ENERGY SAVINGS INCREASE HOME VALUE
Sure, it’s great to upgrade your heating and cooling systems at home to be kind to the environment and reduce your utility bills, but did you know those investments can improve the resale value of your home, too? According to the trade magazine Remodeling, for every $1 in annual energy savings your improvements provide, you gain up to $20 in home value at the time of sale. For a typicalsize home of around 2,000 sq. feet, that can be more than $30,000 in added value. The less it costs to operate a home, the more valuable it becomes to potential buyers.
DON’T POUR OUT SPOILED RED WINE
Ever open a bottle of red wine, and just a few days later, it’s turned? There is no need to toss the leftover vino down the drain. Instead, pour it right into your bubble bath. Red wine has natural ingredients called “antioxidant polyphenols,” which have antiaging properties. When you soak in a warm bubble bath with red wine, it helps soften and rejuvenate your skin (and it won’t turn your skin red, either). Spoiled red wine can now equal soft, dewy skin.
TOSS USED HAND WARMERS INTO SHOES
Those little disposable hand warmers may not be recyclable or rechargeable, but there is a reuse for them after they’ve kept your hands toasty. The hand warmers are made with nontoxic ingredients, and one of them is activated carbon, which is a natural deodorizer. Since the mesh pouches let air through (they activate when exposed to cold air), they’ll also absorb other things, such as odor. So toss used hand warmers into smelly shoes to freshen them up.
INSTALL SPAM FILTER SOFTWARE
Did you know that spam email can also lead to the waste of natural resources? According to the internet security firm McAfee, about 62 trillion spam emails are sent annually, and they use enough electricity to power more than 2.4 million homes. All the energy used to power computers and smartphones — including the time wasted from deleting unwanted emails — adds up. One way to prevent this is to install spam filter software to stop unwanted emails from clogging your inbox.