July 2015 - Our Daily Green

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Five ways to keep animals from harming your lawn

backyard pests
image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Taking good care of a lawn or yard makes your property both beautiful looking and inviting. The trouble is the property might end up being inviting to animals. Even those who love our four-legged friends do not want to see the creatures ruin a lawn. To keep such a disaster scenario from occurring, here are five tips to protecting a lawn or yard from animals.


  • Fence off a yard or lawn.

  • Putting a fence around the lawn or yard is going to make it a bit tough for animals to easily traverse on your property. While it is true that certain animals can jump or climb over the fence, not every beastie is going to be inclined to do so. If the animal smells rotting garbage (i.e. food) elsewhere, then walking past your fence to another home is going to be its plan. Of course, if the animal smells food on the other side of your fence, the barrier is not going to necessarily be all that effective. This brings us to the next point.


  • Rake the lawn of all debris that might attract animals.

  • Simply keeping a yard "mostly" clean and throwing away all garbage is really not advisable. A soda can that rolls out of the recycling bin and under a hedge has enough sugar inside of it to draw in curious animals. Those animals just might end up causing a lot of havoc and damage to the yard.
    As often as possible, get out your rake and clean up anything that might attract animals. Your furry neighbors cannot do damage to the lawn or yard if they choose to skip it and visit a debris strewn neighbor's place. You may even wish to get into the habit of disposing trash as far away from your property as possible. Again, give the creatures no incentive to visit.


  • Add a Repellent

  • To spray effective natural repellent products on the lawn is a humane way to keep animals at bay. The minute a domestic or wild animal comes across an unfamiliar scent, he/she probably is going to choose to stay far away from the property. Similarly, you do not want to add any scents to the lawn that draws these animals in.



  • Set up motion detector lights.

  • Yes, those same lights that are used to scare away burglars might prove to be effective in chasing away some animals. Perhaps a deer or a raccoon that wanders onto your property is going to be spooked the second a light turns on out of the blue. Animals are always fearful of predators, which is why they prefer to move at night and under the cover of darkness.
    The mysterious and unexpected appearance of a flashing light could lead an unwanted visitor to depart the scene. Honestly, you cannot rely exclusively on the lights to chase animals away just as you could not rely solely on them to chase away burglars.


  • Do not grow natural food sources.

  • Perform a little research into what type of plants and flowers are a major part of the diet of animals living in your area. Then, simply do not grow them. If such plants and flowers are on your lawn, perhaps it may be best to dig them up and offer a less inviting replacement.

    Our Daily Green wants to thank today's sponsor for their responsible tips to living in harmony with nature. 

    Saturday, July 18, 2015

    Safe and all-natural solutions for bed bugs

    It is understandable that the environment has become a major concern for a large percentage of the population. Companies are trying to come up with eco-friendly solutions for just about anything. This includes the pest control industry. Standard pesticides are not good for the environment. As a result of the concern about the harm that pesticides are doing to the world around us, there have been many companies that have developed pest control formulas that are made from all-natural substances. This means that they will kill the insects they are supposed to target, without harming the environment in the process. Here are some advantages to using pesticides that will not harm the environment.

    1. Pets will be safe

    One of the biggest fears of pet owners is that their pets will get sick from licking a surface that has been coated with a harmful pesticide. However, when a natural bed bug killer or other natural pesticide is used, it will not cause any harm to animals that might happen to ingest it. These pesticides are specially formulated to only harm the insects they are designed to kill, not any other animals.

    2. Plants will not be harmed

    Trees and gardens are often the victim of pesticides. These chemicals can cause a great deal of damage to fragile plant life. If you have a garden that you will be planting vegetables in, you do not want to be eating your vegetables after they have been covered with regular pesticides. If all-natural pesticides are used, these will allow plants to grow as they are supposed to. It will also not cause humans any harm, although you should always wash off any vegetable before you eat it.

    3. More effective than traditional pesticides

    It is no secret that many species of insects are developing a strong resistance to traditional pesticides. If the same types of chemicals are used repeatedly during the extermination process, it will become harder to kill these insects. This is why bio-insecticides are being used by both consumers and professional exterminators. Insects have not had time to develop a resistance to these all-natural products. This means that people will not have to spend a lot of money hiring exterminating services to come out to their house again and again because the insects have returned. Bio-insecticides are much more likely to eliminate an insect infestation once and for all when they are used.




    Thursday, July 9, 2015

    How is corrugated cardboard recycled?

    photo courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons
    As more and more consumers and businesses begin to utilize mail order shopping, the market for corrugated cardboard continues to increase. The good news from an environmental viewpoint is that cardboard is easily recycled and reused, in a simple process. So how do cardboard boxes get recycled?

    The corrugated cardboard is separated and then bundled with equipment such as the QCR balers. Baling the cardboard allows for efficient and space-saving transportation, saving valuable resources.

    Once the cardboard is put into a bale, it is sent back to the paper mill to be reprocessed.

    photo courtesy of:
    Chris 73 / Wikimedia Commons
    At the mill, the corrugated cardboard bale is broken open and the cardboard is put into a vat with water and an agitator, somewhat like a big blender. The resulting pulp is then strained for contaminants, such as metal staples, ropes, or plastic straps.

    The fiber solution then is pressed between rollers to remove additional water. It heads to a dryer where it is rolled onto spools weighing up to 60 tons. Those spools of pressed fiber then are separated into individual rolls weighing up to 3 tons, and the paper rolls are ready to be turned into the 3 layer product we know as corrugated cardboard.

    We'd like to thank today's post sponsor for ongoing work towards
     environmentally responsible waste management and recycling. 


    Wednesday, July 8, 2015

    Three improvement strategies your cleaning company should implement

    These days, many cleaning companies are interested in optimizing their businesses. Whether this optimization is conceptualized in terms of increased conversion or an expanded sphere of influence, there are numerous ways to put the growth process in motion. Here are three:

    1. Buy supplies online.

    Although most business owners understand that time is money, not all of them capitalize on this reality by saving time however they can. Don't make this mistake. By learning how to save time now, you can increase your company's daily efficacy and improve your bottom line. One effective way to save money is by buying your cleaning supplies online. Companies such as Empacs provide clients with a wide range of janitor supplies that will make the cleaning process simple and effective.

    2. Advertise via internet

    In addition to purchasing your supplies online, it's a good idea to advertise your cleaning company's services via internet. These days, more and more consumers are going online to access the goods and services they need. This includes cleaning services. By finding a top notch digital marketing agency, you can attain the assistance necessary to build a strong online campaign. Typically, a good online advertising agency will be able to provide you with a plethora of services, including but not limited to web design and development, search engine optimization (SEO), social media optimization (SMO), and online reputation management (ORM).

    3. Focus on employee development.

    One final strategy you should consider deploying to keep your cleaning company in a state of perpetual growth is placing emphasis on employee development. This strategy is important and effective because of the primary role that employees play in determining how efficacious a company's daily operations turn out to be. In recognizing the fact that employees play an integral role in determining the success of a company, it's important that you focus on helping them optimize their personal and professional potential. One of the simplest and most effective ways to do this is to offer them ongoing educational opportunities.

    Conclusion

    If you're serious about ensuring that your cleaning company reaches its full potential, it's important for you to access success strategies that work. By purchasing your supplies online, investing in internet advertising, and focusing on employee development, you can extend your company's sphere of influence and attain the optimal conversion rates you desire.

    Thank you to today's sponsor for their suggestions for improving your cleaning business. 

    Monday, July 6, 2015

    Week #4: Community Supported Agriculture - featuring Rainbow Swiss Chard

    The past few weeks, our CSA has consistently provided Swiss Chard. I absolutely love Swiss Chard, to me it's like spinach with a backbone.

    Chard in the Victory Garden
    By mercedesfromtheeighties
    (Chard in the Victory Garden) via Wikimedia Commons
    As I mentioned last week, my spouse's Lebanese sitto (grandma), always used Swiss chard instead of spinach in her fatayer. What I didn't mention is that the leftover filling once you run out of the pastry is called (I cannot quite spell it phonetically, but I'll try...) Salee.

    I want to share our salee recipe. I combined the kale and Swiss chard. To prepare the kale, you need to chop it, boil it and then squeeze the water out. That keeps it from being too tough and bitter. The Swiss chard doesn't require the same treatment. Cooking with CSA ingredients requires flexibility. You don't know what you're going to get, but the benefits of cooking with fresh seasonal ingredients is well worth the surprise!

    • 8 cups greens (spinach, Swiss chard, kale, etc.)
    • 1 ½ cups yellow onion, finely diced
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon allspice


    I chopped the chard and prepared kale and sprinkled it with the salt. While the greens and salt are resting, I chopped my fresh onion that also came with my CSA. Mix the onion with the pepper, lemon juice, and cinnamon & allspice. Combine with greens and then put into microwave safe dish. Microwave on medium power until onions are soft, about 3-5 minutes.

    Enjoy!

    This week's box included:

    • Summer squash
    • Zucchini
    • Chard
    • Head lettuce
    • Cucumber
    • Onion
    • Cauliflower
    • Kale
    • Radishes
    • Blueberries