At Home With Valerie

Give your home some love this summer. Here are some few tips to make your home look great all summer long.  

(BPT) - One in three consumers say they have increased their efforts to incorporate environmentally friendly practices, and 70% prefer to purchase eco-friendly products, according to a recent Trusted Media Brands survey. Some of the easiest first steps toward a more sustainable lifestyle can be taken right in your own backyard. Create an outdoor oasis with these simple and sustainable tips - minimal green thumb required. Save time - and water - with low-maintenance landscaping. Plant the seed for a hassle-free backyard by planting perennials or shrubs, which require minimal upkeep. Support your local environment by choosing native plants, as they typically require less watering, fertilizer and pesticides, and are beneficial to pollinators. Plus, native plants can store excess carbon dioxide for improved air quality. Collect and reuse rainwater. Conserving rainwater is a simple way to make your outdoor space more sustainable. Install a reusable water drum in your yard below your gutter ...

  (Family Features) While adults may joke about needing to relearn how to be around others in a post-pandemic world, children can also benefit from a refresh of certain soft skills – especially young children who may not remember pre-pandemic life. Building on these skills can also help children prepare for a successful return to school. In fact, data from Mintel shows parents’ top learning priorities for their children prior to entering grade school are how to play well with others (67%) and good manners (66%). “Summertime is a great time for families to help their children focus on social skills that may not have gotten much attention this past year, particularly if families were social distancing or in quarantine,” said Taunya Banta, inclusion services manager for KinderCare Learning Centers. “Parents can set their children up for success when school starts again in the fall by helping them work on these soft skills in relaxed settings like family gatherings and on the neig...

  Restoring Coral Reefs Around the World (Family Features) If the world does nothing, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, scientists estimate 90% of the world's tropical reefs will be gone by 2043, impacting nearly 500 million people who depend on them for food, income and coastal protection. However, there are groups working to restore coral reefs around the globe. For example, the SHEBA® brand started work on the world's largest coral restoration program, which aims to restore more than 185,000 square meters of coral reefs around the world by 2029. Hope Reef, the beginning of this program, has been unveiled off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, and was built to spell out the word “H-O-P-E” on the seabed using restored coral to show the power of positive change and spark action. Since the start of the project two years ago, coral cover increased from 5% to 55%, fish abundance increased and species such as sharks and turtles ha...