1/4/13

More than 20 billion paper catalogs are mailed every year in the United States. Many often go unread, unrecycled and straight from the mailbox to the trash can. If there are some catalogs you enjoy receiving and browsing, think digital instead. Many major retailers are now offering free downloadable versions of their catalogs to tablet devices like the iPad. You can subscribe to the catalogs just like magazines. When new items are available, it will be updated automatically and ready to browse. It's paperless and one more way technology is helping to green our lives.

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.