9/28/13

USB flash drives have become ubiquitous in offices and at home as a convenient way to carry lots of data on a small device. For many people, flash drives have become a common staple in the junk drawer. Next time you're organizing, instead of throwing them away, recycle them. RecycleUSB (recycleusb.com) has partnered with Sugar Labs to collect used flash drives and reprogram them into free portable and interactive learning environments called Sugar on a Stick. The goal: Create a fully functioning mobile classroom on an easy-to-carry thumb drive. All you have to do is send the organization your old flash drives -- RecycleUSB will do the rest.

9/27/13

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the average American throws away about 70 pounds of textiles every year. While many of us know lightly worn clothes can be donated to charities like Goodwill and the Salvation Army, what do you do with old bath towels, worn sheets and blankets? Give them a good wash and donate them to your local animal shelter. Since many pound puppies and kittens have to sleep on concrete floors or cold metal cages, any warmth from old bedding, blankets and towels will be put to good use. And while you’re at it, pick up some meat-based baby food at the supermarket: Shelters use this food to feed malnourished animals in an effort to nurse them back to health.

9/26/13

A flurry of fruit flies in the kitchen can be annoying and hard to get rid of. Instead of reaching for chemical insecticides to spray around the kitchen -- spraying poison where you prepare food is not a good idea -- head to your medicine cabinet. Reuse a plastic misting bottle and fill it with rubbing alcohol. Mist the air where the fruit flies are flying. The drying effects of the alcohol will kill them on the spot.