ArcaMax

It's time to stop buying tennis balls to play fetch with your dog. Turns out the fuzzy exterior isn't good for them or the environment: The soft coating is made of plastic, and when its threads are shed from the ball, they become microplastics that can end up in waterways and/or ingested by your dog. Plenty of alternatives are available, but ...Read more

They may seem small, but millions of plastic hotel keycards are made and tossed away every year. Hotels are slowly replacing the hard-to-recycle plastic with biodegradables and eco-resins, but until then, try two things. First, always return the keycard to the front desk to be reused. Second, if a hotel participates in a smartphone program, ...Read more

Your expired milk and stale bread and cereal may not taste good, but they are treats your garden will love. Dilute dairy milk with equal parts water and feed it to your plants. The calcium, vitamin D and protein work as a natural fertilizer. You can also pulverize old bread and low-sugar cereals in a blender or coffee grinder and rake the crumbs...Read more

It’s estimated a family of four can save up to $56 a week if they prevent food waste in the home. The trick is to create a list on your phone to help you shop smartly at the grocery store. Start by looking in your fridge, freezer and pantry to know what you already have. Then plan a week’s worth of meals and buy what you need for that. ...Read more

If you love to hike or camp in the great outdoors, healthy snacks like apples, bananas and oranges are easy to pack, and they have enough vitamins and natural sugar to fuel your day. When you get down to the core or peels of these items, it may seem harmless to chuck the biodegradable waste right into the woods. But the reality is, it's not that...Read more

One of the worst ways to waste gas when driving your car is to accelerate quickly when the light turns green. When you drive with a lead foot, all you really gain in time savings is a few seconds. Slowly accelerating to the desired speed saves gas, and you will get to your destination in just about the same amount of time. Also, if you do pass a...Read more

One way to take advantage of fresh produce is to make several casseroles that you can freeze and enjoy later in the year. Many food blogs and home cooks recommend investing in 8-by-8-inch glass Pyrex casserole dishes that have matching lids; these make it easy to bake, cool, cover and freeze meals all in one container. But if your budget is too ...Read more

Here’s another reason to use only ceramic or metal cups for your morning coffee: Even disposable paper cups can leach microplastics into your drink. Paper cups are lined with plastic to prevent liquid from leaking through. And a study by the Indian Institute of Technology found that “just three cups of tea or coffee daily from paper cups can...Read more

If your trusty suitcase has truly seen its last trip and isn’t suitable for donation, consider two alternatives before tossing it in the trash. First, the company TerraCycle offers a program (for a fee) that disassembles and recycles the suitcase’s components, like zippers, nylon fabric and more. While this option can be pricey, there’s a ...Read more

It’s easy to make new plants from existing plants by taking cuttings and transplanting them into soil to grow. When you want to grow a new plant from a cutting, a simple ingredient from your kitchen pantry can help. Cinnamon powder is just as effective as commercial rooting hormone powders and helps stimulate root growth in cuttings. Just dip ...Read more

Now you can use the power of Google to see if your home is a good candidate for solar panels. Simply enter your home address in Google’s Project Sunroof database. The site uses Google Earth imagery to pinpoint your home and gauge your roof shape; it then computes the eligibility of your home using local weather patterns. You get a personal ...Read more

We live in a world where when something breaks, you simply buy a new one to replace it, and hopefully the old one gets recycled. But a movement for repair is growing, and the platform IFixIt is a community with the motto “never take broken as an answer.” With over 119,000 free manuals, 230,000 solutions and 100+ million repairs done, it’s ...Read more

Do you chew gum to help keep your breath fresh? You might want to think again. Almost all gums have something called a “gum base” that makes them chewy, and it turns out it’s a mix of plasticizers, fillers, resins and other unknown chemical substances. This also makes chewing gum nonbiodegradable. To keep your breath fresh naturally, try ...Read more

If you would love to adopt a dog as a companion animal but simply can’t offer the time or proper home for him, do the next best thing: Help train adoptable dogs. Volunteering time at a shelter to train dogs to walk calmly and obey basic commands like “sit” and “stay” helps make them more adoptable to potential families. You'll get your...Read more

Lots of retailers now have convenient recycling bins for plastic shopping bags to be recycled. What many people don't realize is this: You don't have to bring back the specific retailer's bags to recycle; you can bring back any store's bags and deposit them in the bins. Plastic bags have value as a recyclable product (often made into plastic ...Read more

When shopping for clothes, fit and style aren’t the only things to consider: Look at what type of fabric the garment is made with. Polyester is considered the least eco-friendly textile because it’s petroleum-based and nonbiodegradable. And when you wash polyester clothing, it sheds microplastics into the water, which ends up polluting our ...Read more

Do you love radishes? If you love the roots, you will probably love the stems and leaves even more. First, yes: The leafy parts of radishes are totally edible. And they are delicious, with a slightly peppery taste that makes a wonderful addition to all sorts of cooking. They’re healthy, too, with magnesium, calcium and vitamin B6. Instead of ...Read more

When the last dill pickle is eaten, do you just dump the leftover juice down the drain? Here's a clever tip for that remaining pickle juice: Use it as a weed killer! Most pickling brines contain salt, which does an effective job of not only killing weeds, but preventing them, too. Pour your extra pickle juice over pesky weeds where they keep ...Read more

It’s grilling season, and it’s estimated that 46,000 tons of lighter fluid is burned every year to get grills going. That adds up to a lot of volatile organic compounds polluting our atmosphere. Make your next outdoor grilling more eco-friendly by using natural charcoal and a charcoal chimney to get the fire going. Avoid chemical fire-...Read more

When buying kale, choose organic over conventional every time. America's favorite superfood also happens to be very hard to grow, despite its hearty and robust nature. Kale attracts a wide variety of crop-damaging insects, and many farmers use heavy amounts of pesticides to control the infestation, which can lead to a large concentration of ...Read more