The Sun Bay Paper Page 3 January 21, 2022 - January 27, 2022 Do you have a cat? Here’s a useful tip to make double-duty of kitty litter at home. Smelly trash and recycling bins can be hard to clean and deodorize, but you can make the job easy by simply pouring new kitty litter into the bins and letting them sit inside. The porous nature of litter will absorb the odor quickly and make the bins smell much more fresh. When it’s time to refill your cat’s litter box, just use the litter from the bins. Ever wonder why it’s so important to stay on designated hiking trails when visiting parks? It’s simple: Soil compaction has a major impact on the environment. When thousands of people step on the same soil, it compresses the soil and reduces space in between particles. Un-compacted soil is living soil, where microbes thrive and water and nutrients are held for plants. The less compacted the soil, the healthier the environment. So sticking to a trail path helps preserve the biodiversity of whatever park you’re visiting. If you think about it, bath towels are designed to absorb excess water to dry just-washed skin, so they really aren’t dirty when you put them in the washer. The musky smell actually comes from mildew that grows on towels if they are too damp and don’t air-dry quickly enough. To wash towels, use half the amount of laundry detergent you normally would. Too much will linger in the towels and eat away at the fibers. You can even skip using detergent once in a while; the warm water will be enough to freshen the towels and keep them clean. Kitty Kitty Hiking Trails Bath Towels Buying secondhand clothes at thrift stores or consignment shops isn't just good on the wallet, it is also 95 percent more efficient than buying new. The amount of energy used to make new clothes is obviously significantly more than the energy used in reselling clothes. A bonus tip: When you shop at a consignment store and find a pair of pants, a jacket or other tailored item that fits you perfectly, ask the store to hold items for you the next time that seller brings in clothes to sell. This seller is a perfect match for your body size and type, so future items should fit you perfectly, too. Thrift Stores Another reason to ditch wasteful paper towels: They can harbor germs. A study by the Laval University in Quebec City showed that bacteria can thrive even on unused towels! The pulping process itself at factories that make towels can often be contaminated, spreading germs like the Bacillus spore right onto the towels. While no illness has been linked to paper towels, this is just one more reason to skip singleuse towels and go with reusable ones. Who Knew When shopping for pet toys, there are no added health benefits when choosing organic vs. conventional cotton toys. But there is comfort in knowing that no harmful herbicides, fertilizers or pesticides were used to grow the cotton when you do choose organic. One thing to avoid is toys made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which can be harmful to pets if they tear apart the toys and accidentally ingest small pieces. Look for natural rubber or recycled plastic "indestructible" toys Pet Toys Did you know conventional chewing gum is made with a plastic base to keep it chewy? This makes it non-biodegradable and a threat to wildlife who mistake it for food when your chewed-up gum ends up in the trash or on sidewalks. If you like gum, look for a natural alternative instead. More brands are returning to plant-based ingredients like vegetable-based glycerin, chicle (a tree sap) and rice flour to make all-natural and fully biodegradable gum Danny Seo Bubble Gum Bad
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