When you are decorating your home for Halloween, be wary of putting up fake spider webs in your yard. Many craft stores sell synthetic fiber material that can be stretched, pulled and manipulated to look like oversized spider webs on windows, bushes and trees, but this material is problematic for a few reasons. First, it’s not recyclable or biodegradable, so it ends up clogging landfills. But wild animals like birds and owls can get entangled in it, too. If you want to decorate, stick with natural things like gourds, pumpkins and dried corn instead.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

If you have a little red wine left in your glass, don’t toss it down the drain; instead, give your houseplant a sip. Wine is rich in nitrogen, which is a natural fertilizer plants love to drink up. Just dilute the wine -- it doesn’t matter if it’s red or white -- with cool water, then give your plant a drink. You can also toss extra wine into the compost bin. The good bacteria that help break down matter in compost bins love wine; adding it to your compost can help re-energize and speed up the decomposition process.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

It’s easy to find energy-efficient LED lightbulbs almost anywhere now, but it can be difficult to understand what color output an LED “soft light” or “daylight” bulb emits. It may sound like a “daylight” bulb mimics the yellow color of the sun, but in reality it means it’s a clean, white light that’s very bright and suited for when you need as much illumination as possible. For some people, this style of light can feel too sterile or clinical. If you want to mimic the soft, yellow glow that came from incandescent bulbs, go for “soft light” LED bulbs. They cast the golden glow that most people want for their indoor light fixtures.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION