3/30/14

Buying vintage or antique furniture, like dressers, bedside tables or freestanding wardrobes, is a great way to reuse items and add character to your home. But many drawers inside of these pieces can have a musky smell that may seem impossible to remove. An easy way to neutralize the smell is to line the inside with several layers of newspaper and bags of dry green tea leaves. The newspaper is porous and will absorb odors, and the green tea leaves will absorb additional odor while leaving a pleasant scent behind. Let this sit for at least a week for maximum results.

3/29/14

Bar soap is a far more environmentally friendly choice to use in the shower than liquid body wash since it does not come packaged in plastic bottles and is often made with less harsh chemicals. But bar soap can disintegrate quickly if it's left in a soap dish that collects water. Try this old-fashioned but totally useful tip to make your soaps last longer. Use a metal bottle cap from a soda or beer bottle and twist it firmly on one end of the bar soap so it's almost perfectly embedded. Glue a small magnet to the tile wall of the shower. When you're not using the soap, simply attach the bottle cap side to the magnet on the wall. It will allow excess water to drip, keep it dry and significantly extend the life of the soap.

3/28/14

Most curbside recycling programs accept plastics marked with a No. 1 or 2 resin code on the bottle. These are plastics like soda bottles, laundry detergent containers and clamshells from foods like prerinsed salad mixes. Many common food items like yogurt containers and water filters are made with plastics marked with a No. 5, making them nearly impossible to recycle. The company Preserve Products has an easy and free in-store recycling program called Gimme 5, which collects any type of No. 5 plastics to be recycled. You can find the bins in Whole Foods stores. Learn more at preserveproducts.com.