12/24/13

Chemical deicers and rock salt are useful in keeping wintery roads safe for driving, but they can wreck havoc on trees. One way to help protect trees is to be proactive: Apply salt to your driveway before winter weather strikes. When you throw deicing products on top of snow-covered driveways, the chance it can slide and spread to trees is greater. If you plan on planting new trees in the spring, consider salt-tolerant species like ashes, ginkgo, Norway maple, red oak and pines like Austrian pitch and Japanese black. They can thrive well without much damage from salt and chemical deicers. As always, simple sand is a safe bet to protect trees and make your driveway less slick.

12/23/13

Some of the most-needed items for soup kitchens and food banks are fresh fruits. So what if the next time you purchase a fruit basket as a gift, your purchase is matched to help feed people in need? The e-commerce site donatefruit.com lets you do just that: Order from a selection of handpicked, high-quality fruits like French butter pears and pinata apples, and with every purchase, the company will match your order pound for pound with a donation to food bank networks across America. Plus, your gift recipient will know that your purchase helped others in need -- each basket comes with a card that explains how the program works.

12/22/13

If you collect your household recyclables outside of the home, be sure to place them inside a container with a tight-fitting lid. Glass and plastic jars that still have the residual smell of foods like peanut butter, yogurt and jams can become death traps to wild animals. The just-wide-enough mouths on the containers can be too tempting for animals that find their heads stuck inside with no way to remove the container. If you don’t have a recycling bin with a lid, consider storing these types of recyclables inside the house until collection day to help our furry friends.