Here are 5 things you should know.
1. Letting your dog sniff on walks is very enriching, interesting, and stimulating for them. Your dog sniffing every little thing in the neighborhood is equivalent to us reading the newspaper; it’s how they absorb information and will give you a calmer dog!
Dogs learn about their surroundings through their noses. What dog has been here? What is this interesting smell emanating from this green bin? Oh is that what snails smell like? There is a great misconception about walking dogs, that owners think the enriching part of the walk is the act of walking itself, when in fact it’s the sniffing your dog gets to do!
Your dog gets the opportunity to think, learn, and satisfy an innate behavior.
Next time you’re out with your dog, try giving them ample sniffing time, you’ll likely end up with a happy, calmer pup!
2. Flushable wipes are NOT good/safe for your plumbing system. It is 100% a lie.
There’s actually no regulation on claims on package such as “Flushable Wipes” (They’re boldly advertised and displayed as such).
Wipes (or excessive TP, paper towels)… really anything except turds, moderate TP or severely eviscerated food waste via garburator… should NOT be flushed down any drains.
If your toilet drains real slow, that’s more than often the reason.
Call a plumber to come snake your drain and immediately stop flushing wipes and other crap besides poop and TP. Provided your plumbing doesn’t suck, you should almost never get clogs or slow draining in a modern plumbing system. If it does suck, getting your piping redone correctly up to your main stack can drastically improve that.
Even if it doesn’t clog your drains it makes it’s way to the water treatment plant and can often clog and impede their pipes and equipment.
Instead, do what old age homes do in their lobby bathrooms: put little trashcans with secure lids with a bag under the sink or some out of the way location and change it often.
Or just get a bidet. Give your brown eyed monster the proper bath it needs.
3. Taking the time to relearn how to properly care for your body while performing our day to day routines will save you money and a lot of pain in the future.
Our bodies have an amazing capacity to heal, but incorrectly handling day to day tasks can cause wear and tear leading to irreparable damage. Sometimes not even surgery can fix the damage.
Check these:
Dental care: There are proper ways to brush your teeth. Brushing your teeth too hard, too long or with a hard brush scrapes off enamel and makes your gums recede. You might not notice because it happens slowly overtime. But one day your roots will be exposed and your teeth will be permanently yellow (the dentin under your enamel is yellowish brown). This is expensive to fix with gum grafts and eventually dentures. Seriously. Get an electric tooth brush or a very soft/soft tooth brush. DO NOT buy a ‘hard’ toothbrush.
Blowing your nose: There is also a proper way to blow your nose. You need to blow gently and NEVER completely compress one nostril. The mucus can’t go out the closed nostril obviously, so all you’re doing is forcing it through your Eustachian tube and your middle ear. This causes ear infections which slowly degrade your hearing overtime. The middle ear is behind your ear drum and can’t be drained through your ear canal (unless your ear drum bursts). Also depending on the pathogen this can potentially be life threatening being near your eyes and brain.
Picking/cleaning your nose: Don’t be too rough ‘picking your nose’ either with your fingers or kleenex. The skin in your nostrils is thin and can be permenently damaged causing frequent nose bleeds.
Posture and muscle instabilities: If you workout or are in a physically taxing job you can build imbalances in your muscles. Now just get into the routine of reminding yourself constantly to correct yourself if you stop holding that position.
Seriously: ONE back injury can ruin your life. From picking up a damn box. This is one of the most important in my opinion. Lift with your legs while your back is arched. If you can’t lift it like that you need a tool or help. It isn’t worth changing the quality of your life potentially long term.
Wear sunscreen especially if you’re exposed to the sun for more than an hour a day… Yes, even if its overcast outside. Its annoying but so is dying from cancer.
Honorable mention: Most people don’t need to shampoo your hair daily. It only wastes money and dries your hair out. If you switch from daily shampooing to once every other day it takes a bit for your scalp to adjust and lower oil production but it is worth it in the long run.
4. Expiration dates on boxed foods with multiple parts/ingredients (hamburger helper, macaroni, etc) usually only refer to the soonest expiring item in the box, and its not all garbage-worthy.
For example, a macaroni and cheese with a liquid/cream sauce packet inside might say it expires in 4 months. The sauce expires then, but the dry pasta is 100% good much longer than that and absolutely doesn’t need to be tossed. Pasta is usually good for a couple years.
If its dry goods, you can likely toss the culprits of the expiration date and keep the rest for future use in something else, and waste less food and money!
Things like salad kits often have individually bagged items that expire way later like almonds, cranberries, dressing, etc. You can toss the lettuce and veggies and keep those for future use.
5. Dirty hummingbird feeder’s kill hummingbirds.
If your hummingbird feeder is cloudy or moldy please take down immediately and clean it as cloudy or moldy feed can cause the hummingbirds tongue to swell called Hummers candidiasis. Once swollen the hummingbird cannot eat causing it to starve to death. You can clean it by mixing a 10% bleach solution to water and soaking for an hour rinse well and let dry.
