1/13/14

Ever open a desk drawer or the ubiquitous junk drawer to find a mangled mess of abandoned or broken cords for things like digital cameras, printers, computers and cellphones? Instead of throwing them away, take them to Best Buy. The electronic store makes it easy to recycle them: It has free recycling bins at the front of the store into which you can deposit the old cords. Best Buy sends them off to be recycled -- the plastic and metal parts are stripped and separated and made into new consumer products. Learn more at bestbuy.com.

1/12/14

Ever wonder what to do with a metal cookie sheet when it’s time to replace it? If it’s aluminum, the easiest way to dispose of it is to simply toss it in your curbside recycling bin. Just like aluminum soda cans, the cookie sheet will be melted down and made into new aluminum products. If you feel like doing something crafty, try this upcycling idea: Paint a few layers of chalkboard paint on the sheet, and turn it into a message board. It’s quick, quirky and fun way to keep messages and to-do lists handy in the kitchen.

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.