September 29, 2009

5 Creative Uses for: Vinegar

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Next up in our series on clever alternative uses for surplus stuff: vinegar. Reuse fans, this is a good one. The acidic liquid cleans, heals, and deskunks, not to mention its salad dressing potential. Here are just five of its myriad (thanks AltUse.com) uses:

1. Kill a wart: Soak a small piece of cotton wool (end of a q-tip works well) in cider vinegar. Fasten the cotton wool over the wart with medical tape or a band-aid. Reapply as needed.

2. Unclog drains: Use 3-4 tablespoons of baking soda and one cup of white vinegar to keep bathroom sink drains clear without damaging your pipes.

3. Heal a bruise: Apply white vinegar for one hour to a bruise. The vinegar will reduce the discoloration and aid healing.

4. Brighten tiki torches: Soak the torches’ wicks in distilled vinegar for a few hours, then let dry. When lit, the flames will burn longer and brighter.

5. Remove skunk odor: Rub vinegar full strength into your pet’s fur and then rinse with cool water. Pat dry with a clean towel.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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