ArcaMax

If you’re fastidious about mowing your lawn, this tip might be challenging, but try it anyway: Let the last few weeks of the mowing season pass without that 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 ...Read more

It’s common knowledge that houseplants can help clean your indoor air. But did you know they can also “signal” for help? Aloe is an easy-care plant that can help purify the air inside your home, and it’s a powerhouse: It absorbs formaldehyde, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. However, when the toxicity of the air in your home is ...Read more

Modern-day paper shredders do an excellent job of finely cutting, dicing and obliterating important documents so they are impossible to piece back together. While these shredders are great for protecting your privacy, they are terrible for the environment. When paper is cut into small pieces, the fiber sizes are reduced to the point of being non...Read more

Are you a tea drinker? Your used tea leaves can give your plants a boost, too. Rip open tea bags and mix the leaves into potted and outdoor plants. They have nutrition like nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Plus, they help aerate the soil, improve the pH balance and can even deter pests like slugs and snails from eating away at your plants.

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When it’s prom season in your community, you might remember some gowns, shoes and tuxedos that are stashed in your home. There are a lot of nonprofits that collect these items and distribute them to teenagers who otherwise could not afford them; search online to find them. You could also sell them online on sites like Poshmark for a reasonable...Read more

It can be hard to detect air leaks where cold air is blasting inside during the winter months, but the United States Department of Energy has two easy tips to find out if there are leaks in your house. First, turn off all the indoor and outdoor lights, and shine a flashlight on potential gaps inside the house. Have someone outside to observe the...Read more

Have you heard of “dark sky” outdoor light bulbs? This is a new way to keep your outdoor lights on without creating light pollution that can confuse migratory birds and sea turtles, who depend on the natural night sky to thrive. These LED bulbs emit a soft amber glow instead of a bright white light, so they're less disrupting but still ...Read more

Millions of car seats for children are thrown away every year in the United States; they cannot be donated, due to safety recalls, wear and tear and laws that prevent them from being resold or reused. The good news is that the hard plastic, foam and metal used in their manufacture is recyclable. To recycle a car seat, visit recycleyourcarseat....Read more

Do you start your car and let it idle when it's freezing cold outside, to allow the engine to "warm up"? While there is some valid reasoning around doing this, especially during the coldest temps, you don't need to do it for more than 30 seconds. Modern cars have improved fuel-injected engines that work perfectly well without idling your car for...Read more

If you must use disposable paper plates, go with the most boring, uncoated, unprinted kinds. Party plates that come in bright colors with shiny coatings are not compostable or recyclable and can be expensive to purchase. Generic white paper plates or durable "Classic White" Chinet plates get the job done and can be tossed into the compost bin at...Read more

If you love fragrances and want your perfumes to last longer, keep them out of the room where most of us display our bottles: the bathroom. Fragrances are susceptible to two things: light and temperature shifts. A bathroom heats up and cools down quickly when it's used (imagine hot shower steam filling the room), which warms up the perfume and ...Read more

The best way to make sure your clothes last as long as possible (and look their best) is to treat stains immediately so they don’t set. The best pre-treat product is natural dish soap, which can lift grease and other stubborn stains without wearing out the fibers. Apply dish soap to the stain and let the clothing sit for at least 15 minutes, ...Read more

Activewear designed to wick away moisture can help avid runners stay cool when they're moving, but these garments can be very difficult to clean. Over time, synthetic fibers can harbor odor-causing bacteria that normal laundering can't really get clean. One way to make sure frequently worn clothes (like workout gear) get clean is to pretreat ...Read more

During the cold winter months, a steaming-hot shower may feel like the best thing to warm up. But it can actually create problems for your skin, because hot water strips away the natural oils that keep it moisturized. The result is typically dryness, itchiness and irritation. The key is to take shorter warm showers instead, which also saves ...Read more

Have you seen the viral hack where influencers take acetone (also known as nail polish remover) and pour it on Styrofoam, making it magically disappear? While it might appear to be a smart way to dispose of the packing material, it’s actually toxic -- harmful fumes are emitted as the Styrofoam dissolves. The best solution when you find ...Read more

If you're having a party for a large group of people and you rent glassware, dishes and flatware from a rental company, it may seem rude to send them back dirty, but it isn't. The reality is, even if you do a thorough job in washing your rentals, the companies are required to use a commercial-grade dishwasher to fully clean and sanitize them ...Read more

When squirrels start overtaking your attic or get stuck in your house, one of the easiest ways to remedy the problem is to use a humane trap. The trap, which is typically baited with peanut butter, allows the squirrel inside, then a trigger shuts the door behind it. When it's time to release the squirrel outside, don't relocate it far away from ...Read more

If you buy only one organic fruit or vegetable, make sure it's apples. Year after year, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group has listed apples as the No. 1 most contaminated produce. Eighty percent of apples sampled by the USDA tested positive for a chemical called DPA (diphenylamine), which farmers use to prevent the skin from darkening. ...Read more

When you’re shopping for flowers to make an arrangement, it’s always best to buy locally grown. But if you live in an area where there aren’t abundant flower farms, do the next best thing: Choose California-grown. Eighty percent of the flowers grown in the U.S. are from California, so looking for their mark is a way to ensure your blooms ...Read more

Did you know nearly 2 billion plastic gift cards are purchased every year and given away as gifts? While they're a convenient and useful gift for many people to choose exactly what they need, you might wonder: Are these cards recyclable? While the PVC plastic technically is recyclable, it's hard to find a recycler to turn old cards into new ...Read more