1/11/14

One of the fastest ways to ruin a smartphone can be blamed on Mother Nature. When your phone is exposed to the hot rays of the sun too long, it can overheat and degrade the performance of the battery and melt the internal components, potentially ruining the phone for good. The easiest way to avoid this is to keep the phone out of the sun, and to never leave a phone inside a hot car (including the glove box, which still gets very hot). When charging a phone on a hot day, take off the protective case before charging, which can hold on to heat and cause the phone to overheat, too.

1/10/14

While paper towels may not be the greenest option to clean up spills and messes, sometimes they are a convenient option when rags and cotton towels aren’t available. When buying paper towels, look for 100 percent post-consumer recycled ones, which are usually a brownish color and unbleached. These towels are a great addition to a compost bin after being used. Adding layers of used paper towels creates small air pockets, which help beneficial microorganisms grow and make the compost rich and moist.

1/9/14

Another reason to skip balloons for birthdays and other celebrations: There is a helium shortage. It’s expected that helium gas will be gone by the year 2020 if used at current levels. Why is this important? Helium gas is used for more than just balloons -- in science (especially the science of cryogenics), helium gas is used in high-energy accelerators, arc welding and silicon wafer manufacturing. The high melting and boiling points of helium also make it a unique natural element for scientific research. As the government creates helium reserves to save the precious gas, the easiest thing for consumers to do to help is to simply say no to helium-filled balloons.