Reduce Your Online Risk

Reuse and Recycle Your Web Presence

The Web is the two-edged sword of the 21st century. It's the good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly. It's a wonderful world where helpful information and useful products are shared freely. But, on its dark side, predators lurk in the corners, waiting for an opportunity to rob us. Avoid the bad guys. Be safe, surf smart!

Hello Friends!

Today let's take a different route to recycling and talk about reducing, reusing and recycling our online personalities to make our Web travels as safe and pleasant as possible. I've been on the Internet since 1984 and, over the years, I've noticed some changes that have me concerned. I'd like to share these concerns with you so that we may change the tide and keep the Web a clean, healthy and positive place to gather together.

The Mystery of the Unknown Relative

As my mom found out recently, even an innocent post can wreak havoc on a person. Mom's name and the city in which she lived were listed in an online obituary. Mom wasn't alone in the list, there was a long  list of relatives. That announcement, meant for family members, almost cost my mom several thousand dollars. 

Mom received a phone call from a man claiming to be her nephew, he was in trouble and needed money. She was ready to open her checkbook but decided she needed to be certain of this man's identity. She did the smart thing. The man was an impostor. What if she had given in to her emotions to help someone she had not seen in decades?

How do we protect ourselves from online predators?

The Case for Privacy

Do you have friends that post pictures of their every waking moment? There are people on the Web that I've never met, but yet I've seen every day of their child's life. It's been a virtual tour of the child's first ultrasound, first breath, first time at church, first solid food, first birthday and first Christmas.

How do we protect our right to privacy?

When TMI is Too Much Information

The search engines encourage people to tell their personal stories. Maybe personal isn't the right word. Some writers take this encouragement to a level that is uncomfortable for many readers. I love reading stories about how people overcome challenges and adversities. I feel uncomfortable when these stories shed a bad light on another person. I quit reading stories that only talk about the negative side of the story without showing how the problem was overcome. This negativity is not productive.

How do we protect our integrity?

What Can You Do?

Avoiding predators, safeguarding privacy and promoting integrity are big jobs and these are essential jobs if the Web is to remain a safe, clean and healthy place to play and work. Here's how you can make a difference.

Reduce the Information You Share

Reduce references to your residence, place of work, birthdays and other personal details. Share only details that are essential and necessary. Make it hard for thieves to find you.

Reuse Photographs and Profiles

It's not necessary to flood the Internet with photos of every moment. Sometimes it is much more effective to reuse a few select profile pictures, pictures of family members and other recognizable images. 

Recycle Unproductive Information

Recycle any negative comments or feelings to the trash bin. Nothing is gained from an online rant or complaining session. On the Web, when you say something bad about a person or product, your comment cannot be erased or forgotten.

As a Web writer who shares personal stories in how-to articles, recipes and family tales, I always ask myself a few questions before I click the Publish button.

• Would I share this with an absolute and total stranger? 
• How much of my personal life do I want exposed to the entire world?
• What impact will my story have on the lives of others?
• Does my story share a useful skill or give the reader a positive feeling?

Giving a story or blog post time to sit before I publish has always been my best protector. Before I make a story public, I read every word, sentence and paragraph with a critical eye. Anything that I feel will put me in harm, violate my privacy or tarnish my reputation is tossed in the trash bin.

Until next week, be safe.

Coletta

Posted by Coletta Teske

About This Contributor

Coletta Teske writes reviews on books, business management, writing, crafting, cooking, and gardening. She is also an avid recycler and shares her tips on recycling. She delights in upcycling an old object, recycling or transforming discarded items into a new treasure.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Valentine Upcycle Events and Celebrations

Recycle the Valentine Happiness All Year Long

Valentine's Day is a day to share love, happiness and appreciation. It's a day for which many crafters spend weeks in preparation. Homemade cards, hand crafted gifts and upcycled decorations are all created for this one special moment. Share your love and happiness all year long by recycling the sentiment of Valentine's Day.

Hello Recycling Sweethearts!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and that you were able to spend the day with those people that are special to you. 

Last week, Valentine crafters around the Web were busy preparing for this romantic and caring event. To celebrate their handmade creations, the Recycler hosted an impromptu Hashtag Event. Crafters were invited to share their Valentine creations by Tweeting their stories and pictures using the hashtag #ValentineCrafters.

Almost 200 crafters were seen at the Valentine Crafters 2014 #ValentineCrafts Hashtag Event. Some showed up with just a photo of their hand crafted Valentine present. Others came dressed to the nines with detailed step-by-step instructions to duplicate their sentimental creations.

Vallain was seen Making Homemade Valentines. She saves scraps of paper and greeting cards so that she has a supply of recycled materials from which to choose according to her muse. Her Valentine card ideas can easily be reused to make greeting cards for any holiday.

MSchindel made a splash wearing the jewels she designed during her Romantic "Queen of Hearts" Earrings Project. I love these earrings, I love this earring style and I'd love to make several pairs, all with different beads to complement the different seasons.

It was a ton of fun to host the Valentine Crafters 2014 #ValentineCrafts Hashtag Event. It was so much fun that plans are being made for the Easter Crafters 2014 Hashtag Event. So, get your upcycled, recycled and reused Easter crafts ready. Write a how-to or recipe to show us your creative magic. We'll be announcing the date and sending out invitations in a few weeks.

Until next week, be clean and be green.

Coletta

Posted by Coletta Teske

About This Contributor

Coletta Teske writes reviews on books, business management, writing, crafting, cooking, and gardening. She is also an avid recycler and shares her tips on recycling. She delights in upcycling an old object, recycling or transforming discarded items into a new treasure.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Recycle in the Garden and Grow Gorgeous Plants

Keep Your Garden Growing with Homemade Compost

If you have a yard, it's free and easy to make compost from the yard waste left behind after you've mowed the grass, pruned the shrubs and raked the leaves.

Hello Recycling Fans!

It may still be winter, but it's time to start planning a spring garden. While you're busy thumbing through seed catalogs and polishing the rust off your garden hoe, remember to make space for a compost pile.

There are many ways to approach composting. A couple of weeks ago, I challenged my friends to Review Your Favorite Composting System. There were a variety of tips, tricks and product reviews that came from this challenge.

Here is some of the composting fun that these friends shared. They all approach composting from a different perspective but all of them love having a never-ending supply of home-brewed fertilizer for their garden plants.

Paperfacets is thrilled with her witch's brew pot in the corner of her backyard. She tells us that there are 10 Exciting Reasons Why I Love to Compost. I really enjoyed her excitement over the little critters that grow in her compost pile.

LadyMermaid asks us to reduce our impact on the environment. Her motto is Compost - Go Green. She has some great tips on the kinds of trash to compost and some ideas to help you get started if you've never composted before.

The fun part of composting is that there's no real right way to compost and no real wrong way to compost. As long as you add the right materials and give the pile some air, you can create compost almost anywhere.

If you live in a suburban neighborhood, you may not be able to have an open compost pile. I lived in one of these Deed Restricted communities for a few years. The fashion police were constantly on the lookout for any yard that looked a mess. I hid my unsightly compost pile by Making Beautiful Compost with the Envirocycle Original Composter. If you look in the background of the garden picture above, you'll see just how attractive this closed, barrel-system composter looks.

I hope you've been inspired to recycle in your garden to grow gorgeous plants and that you've learned something new about composting. Don't throw your yard waste away. Use it to fertilize your garden the natural way.

Until next week, may your days be blessed and may your compost pile grow beautiful blooms.

Coletta

Posted by Coletta Teske

About This Contributor

Coletta Teske writes reviews on books, business management, writing, crafting, cooking, and gardening. She is also an avid recycler and shares her tips on recycling. She delights in upcycling an old object, recycling or transforming discarded items into a new treasure.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Take the Upcycle It Challenge

Happy Saturday, Recycling Fans!

I hope you all had a good week and found one new opportunity to reduce, reuse and recycle. Today, I'd like to introduce you to a few of the RocketSquids on Squidoo.

NOTE:  On August 15, 2014, Squidoo announced that it had been acquired by HubPages. This program is no longer available on Squidoo.

The RocketSquid program was Squidoo's web writing bootcamp for new Squidoo members. Each week, RocketSquids were presented with a writing challenge and reading material to help them become successful on the Web. Their completed assignments were reviewed by experienced Squidoo writers who provided RocketSquids with encouraging critiques and helpful tips.

Last week, Squidoo's RocketSquids took the Upcycle It challenge and wrote stories about their adventures in recycling. Their assignment was to spotlight something that they upcycled, recycled or transformed into a new object.

The challenge motivated me to start a project involving pressed flowers from a floral arrangement that has special meaning for my family. My creativity sparkled with an idea to Recycle Memories of Love and Flowers. I gathered the assortment of pressed flowers, then searched for a picture frame and fabric to complement the flowers. Adding a bottle of glue, a precious memory will be forever enjoyed.

As a kid, growing up in the 1960s, we used all kinds of trash to make art. Magazines, Popsicle sticks, tin cans, fabric scraps. Anything with color and anything that would stick to glue. My favorite was to cut up magazines and make collages.

My mom is always recycling old blankets and scraps of fabric. With the best pieces, she makes baby blankets and donates the blankets to a pregnancy aid center for low-income families. These Homemade Organic Baby Wipes are much gentler to a baby's skin than the disposable baby wipes. And, you can use a soap that does not irritate baby's skin.

What do you do with old mattresses? When I bought a new mattress, I wasn't sure how to dispose of the old mattress. A scrapper, making his run through the neighborhood alleys, offered to take the mattress off my hands. It went in the back of his truck, on top of his collection of scrap metal. Away to the recycling center he went.

I hope you enjoyed these Upcycle It stories and found some inspiration to create an upcycled project with stuff you find tucked in a corner of your basement.

Until next week, keep on recycling!

Coletta

Posted by Coletta Teske

About This Contributor

Coletta Teske writes reviews on books, business management, writing, crafting, cooking, and gardening. She is also an avid recycler and shares her tips on recycling. She delights in upcycling an old object, recycling or transforming discarded items into a new treasure.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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