Firework Safety and Fourth of July

 

    It's time to celebrate our independence in the best way America knows how, fireworks, picnics, community parties, fireworks, BBQs, fireworks, and more fireworks. 

    Although beautiful and the perfect way to show our true patriot love, in the city limits of San Antonio, it is illegal to pop fireworks unless it is an authorized and controlled event brought to production by the city of San Antonio. Most personal shows take place in the hill country of areas on properties. This year, hill country towns are having to cancel and postpone the fireworks celebrations due to the dry weather causing safety issues due to potential fire hazards.

    The city of Boerne has cancelled it's fireworks display because of the lack of rain causing too dry of conditions to safely ignite the sky with a beautiful display. With the burn ban in effect, they do not want to put the city or surrounding areas at risk of fire.

    The city of Fredericksburg has chose a postponed route. The city will reschedule the fireworks display within the next 6 months when it is not so dry and there is more fire, EMS and safety staff to help control the area.

    For more information on firework safety and where to safely watch fireworks, visit your cities website that will provide the best information.

Bexar County Recycling

Have you been receiving yellow warning notices on your recycling containers or noticed the trash bin inspector rolling through your neighborhood checking your bins? Yes, Bexar County is cracking down on recycling and trash. To know in more detail what can and cannot be disposed of in your weekly waste bins, visit the sanantonio.gov website for waste management rules.

What can be recycled? Recycled materials include paper, plastic, metal and glass. These items are limited and have to be thrown in the BLUE recycle bin loose. They cannot be in the blue plastic recycling bags. The recycling bags can be recycled in the bin but cannot contain recycled items. 

What cannot be recycled? Non recycling items include the following and must be disposed of in the black waste bin or the green waste bin: diapers, styrofoam, hard plastics, toys, shredded paper, garden hoses, aluminum foil, clothes hangers, wood or yard waste, etc. for a full list, visit the sanantonio.gov website. 

World Ocean Day

Our Ocean is important to Keep up with as mentioned in previous posts. World ocean day was created to bring awareness by organizations with activities surrounded by encouragement to help educate ways to protect our planet. This global movement is to try to

Safeguard at least 30% of the world’s land, waters and oceans by 2030. (Weforum.org) 

Every year there is a theme this year’s theme is “ Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean” and is the first hybrid event hosted at the UN headquarters and broadcasted live. The event brings up laws, contributions and other important factors and ways to protect the ocean. They also suggest action on how to revitalize and protect the sea life that is responsible for our food and medicines. Without the actions of the UN today, we may continue to see a faster decline in our ocean life.

Continue to do your part to help as much as you can because a little work can go along way for this mission on our ocean. Recycling appropriately, don’t leave trash around the areas, make the switch to more biodegradable household items and reusable containers and straws. We can do this!

Summer Cleaning Can Happen So Fast

  Summer is here and school is out, look no further than your own home to keep the kids busy and your home running in great condition. There are at least ten easy maintenances that can be done around your home and are perfect for the kids to earn money or have a reason to get up on schedule this summer without hearing their cries of boredom.

    Teaching the kids how to clean and replace the air conditioner filter should be one of the most important items they can keep up with. Whether using the every 3 month filters or a monthly filter, changing it out can help prolong the life of your AC unit by avoiding any dust or dirt clogging.

    Going back to dust, showing the kids how to clean the ceiling fans and to reverse the fan to counterclockwise will help keep those pesky allergies at rest and keep the house cool.

    The summer usually calls for some early bright sun and wonderful daily natural light. Why not add window washing to the list of chores? It will also give the kids something fun to do with water and keep cool while they do it!

    Bacteria grows faster in hotter climates, even in the refrigerator, so it's not a bad idea to get the fridge cleaned out. Using an antibacterial soap and water is great for the surfaces, as well as getting all the expired or moldy foods out of the fridge to avoid any salmonella like bacteria from infesting the good food.

    After the fridge, might as well get them to get in the freezer also and it will keep them cool in the process. If there is any ice buildup along the freezer walls, it's a good idea to chip it away with a little hot water and something to scrape it with. Look for any freezer burned items to throw out and clean any ice cube trays.

    In Summer months, food tends to spoil faster and the smells tend to be stronger longer, so moving onto the garbage disposal or drain wouldn't be bad idea. There are good cleaners at the store or use some vinegar and baking soda and let it sit for about 5 minutes and then rinse with boiling hot water. Doing so every two weeks can help keep the disposal and drain clean longer.

    Add sweeping and counter cleaning daily to the list as this will help keep any food searching bugs from posting camp in your house. Cleaning the counters every night and then sweeping the crumbs up right after will be a new found habit that will help keep your home clean and bug free! Mopping once a week can also help keep your floors clean, dust or mud from building up and any bacteria or germs from the outside out.

    If you use a water hose or outdoor faucet during the Summer months, it's the perfect time to have the kids check for leaks. Make it fun with an outdoor splash day and if leaks are discovered, they can be temporarily and easily fixed with water-proof gardening tape.

    Summer doesn't have to be boring for the kids and can give them a chance to earn a little extra money! Teaching them some basic house maintenance can be good for them and you in the long run to keep the house running smoothly and less time and money on costly home repairs.