Recycle tank tops, t-shirts or sweaters into cool, reusable shopping bags. With minimal sewing and just a pair of scissors, a needle and thread, yarn or string, you can create a shopping bag to be used every day. In fact, why not make several? Keep a few at home, at work and in the car so that you’re always prepared. They are so quick and easy to make, you could even give them away while out shopping!
T-Shirt or Tank Top Shopping Bag
Making a shopping bag from a t-shirt or tank top is easy! Just turn the shirt inside out and sew completely across the bottom, either by hand or by machine. For added durability, sew across the bottom again a time or two. Then turn the shirt right side out. If you’re using a tank top, your bag is finished! If a t-shirt has been used, you must now cut off the sleeves right next to the seams and cut the neck opening to the desired size. Voila! A cool, reusable shopping bag! (more…)
You never known when a natural disaster or other crisis may occur that could adversely affect the safety of your drinking water supply. Be prepared. Know where the closest water source is located and how to purify water for your family in the event of an emergency. Please Note: Never use floodwater for drinking, even if it has been treated.
Boiling water for drinking is the preferred way to destroy harmful organisms. If needed, water should be filtered and settled to remove as many impurities as possible prior to boiling. Filtering can be done through clean pieces of cloth. Once settled, the clear water should be boiled vigorously for a full minute in most areas and three minutes at high altitudes. (more…)
Keeping houseplants healthy is not difficult. In fact, houseplants are more likely to suffer from too much kindness than from neglect. To ensure that your houseplants live a long and healthy life, follow these simple care guidelines.
Optimal Growing Conditions
For each plant, try to mimic the natural environment as closely as possible. For instance, place plants that come from a tropical environment in a humid area such as the bathroom. Conversely, a cactus will thrive in low humidity.
Proper Watering
Over-watering of houseplants is a common problem. Each plant variety has specific watering needs. Avoid watering all plants on the same schedule. As a general rule, water plants thoroughly once the top of the soil is dry and never let pots sit in standing water. (more…)
Hard water is a widespread problem in the UK that affects over 60% of British homes. The term hard water simply refers to water that contains minerals. There are three possible solutions to the problem of hard water – chemical cleaners, a conventional water softening system and an electronic or magnetic descaler.
Chemical Cleaners
Various chemical cleaning products are available to deal with the problem after it occurs. Designed to dissolve the residue that hard water leaves behind, these products must be used regularly. Not only are chemical cleaners a lot of work, requiring frequent scrubbing, they also cause wastewater pollution. (more…)
The year has ended and for many people January is the time for summerizing stuff. That’s why we have decided to remember 5 posts that you have liked the most on our blog in 2009. The subject: eco tips and water.
All plants need water and a Christmas tree is no exception. Whether pot grown or fresh cut, a Christmas tree needs adequate water to stay fresh through the holiday season. To ensure the freshness of your tree and avoid the mess of dropped needles, supply your tree with sufficient water.
Fresh Cut Christmas Trees
Always display a cut Christmas tree in a stand with a reservoir that holds sufficient water for the size of the tree. Just before placing the tree in the stand, cut another 1cm straight across the base of the trunk to allow for the maximum uptake of water. If the tree cannot be placed immediately into a stand, store it in a cool place with the trunk submerged in a bucket of water. Display the tree away from any heat source. Check the water level at least daily and ensure that the base of the tree stays continuously submerged. (more…)
Every house-owner at least once encountered a roof problem. Imagine this: it’s summertime, hot outside and you only wish for something to cool off. Yet, even in the sanctuary of your home it is not granted, as the sun shines upon your dark roof which absorbs all the heat… And the wisest thing to do would of course be to switch color to as light as possible. But then, after few months the winter comes and suddenly you’re glad that you didn’t go with the roof painting, as the same sun that bothered you during the summer now helps you lower your bills by increasing the temperature. Obviously, re-painting the roof every two seasons is not the best solution. And the problem remains. (more…)
With Christmas fast approaching, an assortment of cards will soon be arriving by mail. With the coming new year, a new calendar will be needed. Old greeting cards and calendars can be recycled in a number of cute and clever ways. Instead of discarding these items, recycle them into postcards, envelopes and gift boxes.
Postcards
Cute postcards can be made from old greeting cards. Just cut the fronts to the size required for mailing. On the reverse, draw a line vertically down the centre. Write a message to the left of the line and the address to the right. Heavyweight cards are best. Avoid cards that are thin or flimsy. (more…)
The idea of earning a few pounds on your own garbage was first introduced by Georgia Tech. A small income of money is supposed to support the recycling process and its development. The secret lies in this inconspicuous, yet smart rubbish bin.
The integrated system made up of a garbage container and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), which is supposed to read information and tags from incoming waste. It is probable that the device will be sending statistics and other information about what we throw out to the nearest base, where the collected data will be calculated into an average market price of our “treasures”, minus a fee for the next bill.
It is worth mentioning that RFID radio identification system is becoming more popular each passing day. In a few years all products available in the market will have the tiny chip inserted. All necessary data about the product, its producer, suppliers, service and much more will be saved and stored in it to be available for its users at all times.
One of the components will also be a wireless connection with the local garbage collecting company. This will allow to send important information about the quality and type of our garbage, a pre-selection of sorts. The head office will know what they will be able to find in the next garbage transport way before the actual collecting. Thanks to that preparations for sorting process will be made, enabling sorting more waste of specific type. It might be bottles, paper, electronics and many more.
Some people are not optimistic, when thinking about the system. They are afraid that the RFID will be difficult to be found anywhere – there aren’t many products supported by the system sold and with help of the eco-bin we can get money only for these. And only whole, possibly undamaged. On the other hand, at some point the chip will probably food the market, pushed forcefully into everything, either we want it, or not. These skeptics are silenced easily. If you really care for the environment, you start with the small things, and RFID helps with that. The whole point of undamaged garbage is to lower the costs of recycling. All that money can go to improving and modernizing the process, thus helping cleaning Earth, at least a little. The money is the upside as well. Who wouldn’t want to get money only for taking out their trash? This might be like every small child’s dream, to be rewarded for cleaning.
Rainwater harvesting is a hot topic these days. Collecting rainwater falling freely from the sky and using it to reduce the amount of water needed from other sources is certainly a good idea. The question is, however, How practical is harvesting rainwater for the average person? Unfortunately, household rainwater-harvesting systems are expensive, difficult to install and not cost effective on a small scale.
The average person can do a lot on an individual level to reduce the amount of water used each day. While implementing various water conservation measures within the home is still the most effective strategy, there is a simple, affordable way that almost anyone can harvest rainwater. All that is needed is to connect a downpipe from the roof to a water butt. (more…)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1e4aa894-55c4-4af5-8cbf-e0b5d923524a)
