1/3/13

According to the Humane Society of the United States, one of the best ways to help wildlife thrive in the cold winter months is to lay off doing any cleanups in your garden. Dead flower stalks, leaves and seed heads are food to birds and other small critters. Dead flowers like black-eyed Susans, marigolds, cosmos, phlox and sunflowers are delicious food to birds -- especially when blankets of snow have covered everything on the ground.

1/2/13

When you layer organic matter like dead leaves, grass clippings and vegetable waste in a compost heap, it "warms up" as the items degrade into beneficial mulch. In the cold winter months, anything warm is a potential shelter for wild animals. If you are flipping the compost with a rake in the winter months, do it with caution: Frogs, toads and other small animals may be living inside. Better yet, wait until the spring to flip the compost -- the warmer weather means the animals will find shelter elsewhere.

1/1/13

Some of the most commonly recycled items are corrugated cardboard boxes, with around 77 percent of all boxes recovered and recycled into new products. When recycling cardboard boxes, there is no need to remove labels and tape from them -- those remnants are removed easily at the recycling facility and properly disposed of. Keep in mind that you should keep nonrecyclable boxes like pizza and shoeboxes out of the recycling bin. Those are often coated in waxy materials that make them nearly impossible to recycle.