I have been a lifelong newspaper reader and although I have shuffled through many different periodicals depending on where I was living at during the time, there has always been one constant: Parade Magazine. Because of its status as a national magazine insert in more than 700 of America’s newspapers, I have never subscribed to a newspaper that didn’t carry it.

For tonight’s blog post I thought I would relate three items I learned from yesterday’s Parade Magazine (April 17, 2021) that I didn’t know before reading the issue.

Tonight I bring you three things I learned from the April 18, 2021, issue of Parade Magazine.

1. Toilet Paper Waste – I thought last year’s toilet paper shortage was the craziest thing I would ever hear about TP. But that changed yesterday when I was reading an article about how we can all go a little greener. It turns out that 27,000 trees are cut down per day to supply the world with toilet paper. That’s a lot of trees for a single use product. If we want to be more eco-friendly, we can reference the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Toiler Paper Scorecard to see which companies are using a higher percentage of postconsumer recycled fiber to produce their product. One bonus tidbit on trees in general: Each year we cut down 15 billion trees while only planting 4 billion.

2. Honey Never Goes Bad – I have referenced Marilyn vos Savant’s Parade Magazine column in this blog multiple times over the past 10 years. Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the world’s highest IQ, I never doubt the answers she dishes out to readers. A fellow from Kansas City asked her yesterday if the rumor is true that honey never spoils. Well, according to vos Savant, it isn’t a rumor. Believe it or not, honey is not susceptible to bacterial growth. In general, most of honey’s water is evaporated and the low H20 content dehydrates bacteria. Furthermore, honey contains acid including a hydrogen peroxide which inhibits bacterial growth. Turns out the honey I received six years ago from a co-worker to help remedy my terrible South Carolina allergies would still be good!

3. Burps vs. Hiccups – Although burps and hiccups can both be caused by eating or drinking too fast, a burp comes from air expelled from your stomach and a hiccup is created from a contraction or spasm in the diaphragm. If you are interested (and I really was not) an entire article was devoted to burps. In fact, I learned that the length of the longest burp on record was 73 seconds.

Did you learn something tonight? If you did, you’re welcome. Don’t Blink.