Greener Living #39 and 40

Greener Living #39 Recycle Your Newspaper: There are 63 million newspapers printed each day in the US; 44 million, or about 69%, of these will be thrown away. Recycling just the Sunday papers would save more than half a million trees every week.

The next tip is a bit odd in my opinion, primarily because it may cause more problems such as snakes, wasps, and toads on your property, but here we go.

Greener Living #40 Avoid Pesticides: Use natural methods of pest control. Form a log pile--dead wood provides a habitat for many kinds of wildlife, such as snakes and ground beetles. Both are natural predators for snails and slugs. If you create a small pond to encourage frogs and toads, they will help mop up the rest of your slug life. In the short term you can get rid of slugs using beer traps (slugs are attracted to yeast). To get rid of whiteflies, buy Encarsia formosa, small parasitic wasps that eat whiteflies. Grow flowers such as marigolds to attract lady bugs, hoverflies, and lacewings, all of which protect against aphids.