ArcaMax

The Humane Society of the United States says prevention is the best way to make sure you don't lose a family pet like a cat or a dog. Start with an inexpensive microchip (your veterinarian or animal shelter can insert it) and register it for free on sites like FindPet.com or FreePetChipRegistry.com. Be sure the tag says "call my owner" with your...Read more

Hot summer weather also means mosquitoes. Rather than using chemical sprays to keep pesky bugs away, reach for something in your medicine cabinet instead: mouthwash. Natural mouthwashes are usually made with food-grade alcohol and eucalyptus oil to freshen breath. By transferring this same mixture into a spray bottle, you can keep mosquitoes at ...Read more

The next time you get a haircut, take the trimmings off the floor and bring them home. Hair is rich in substances plants love, like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. It also retains water, which is especially helpful to your soil during droughts or in more arid climates. All you have to do is sprinkle the hair into the soil and rake it in. ...Read more

A lot of us are giving up shampoo, soap and conditioner packaged in plastic bottles for solid bar soaps that do the same thing. But often these bars can end up sitting in pools of water in the shower, degrading and getting mushy. The solution? Look for a magnetic bar soap holder that keeps the bars out of sitting water, offers ample ventilation ...Read more

If you're choosing plants for your landscaping or garden, there are two purple flowering ones you should avoid. One is called wisteria. It's a beautiful vine with gorgeous flowers, but it's invasive and can kill native plants and trees by choking them to death. Plus, wisteria can live for up to 100 years and is very hard to kill. The second is a...Read more

Did you know the secondhand market for clothes has become a $16 billion industry? With so many resell sites making it easy to sell and cash in, it makes sense to take the extra time to find a new home for the unwanted items in your wardrobe. But a growing industry also means competition, so to maximize your earnings, start with good photos that ...Read more

Did you know it's free to recycle empty containers that all of your favorite beauty products come packaged in? It's a program called BeautyCycle by Nordstrom, and all you do is bring your empties to any Nordstrom or Nordstrom Rack location and simply throw them in a specially marked recycling bin. The retailer aims to recycle 100 tons of beauty ...Read more

Did you know that using the wrong vacuum can actually make your home ... dirtier? When you clean a room with a vacuum that does not have a HEPA filter integrated in its design, you risk stirring up mold spores that can be sucked up and scattered around the room. Vacuums with HEPA filters absorb the spores and other particles that are invisible ...Read more

Are wigs something you can donate to help someone in need? If you have a high-quality human-hair wig you no longer need, give it a good home by donating it to help a woman undergoing cancer treatment. The EBeauty House will take your wig for free and find someone else who can benefit from it; all you have to do is pack it up and send it to them....Read more