theft deterrent en-US How to Prevent Plant Theft <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-blog-image"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/how-to-prevent-plant-theft" class="imagecache imagecache-250w imagecache-linked imagecache-250w_linked"><img src="" alt="Potted plants" title="Potted plants" class="imagecache imagecache-250w" width="250" height="166" /></a> </div> </div> </div> <p>As the weather heats up and your garden reaches the height of its beauty, have you considered how to prevent plant theft? Yes indeed, the theft of plants. Believe it or not, there are unscrupulous people out there who will steal your potted flowers, uproot your tomato plants, pluck the fruit from your trees, and run off with valuable perennials from your yard.</p> <p>My mother-in-law experienced plant theft a few years ago. She was standing at her kitchen window looking out at the lovely flowering bulbs in her front yard when a car pulled up. A man jumped out with a pair of clippers, swiftly clipped her flowers, and drove away. It happened in just seconds, as my mother-in-law gazed speechlessly at her now-bald bulbs. I kid you not. It was an obviously premeditated drive-by flower robbery!</p> <p>From the stories of people who have had their plants stolen, I&rsquo;ve garnered a few tips that will help you to prevent plant theft. (See also: <a href="">Disguise Your Stuff to Prevent Car Break-ins</a>)</p> <h3>1. Use Big Heavy Planters</h3> <p>To prevent people from stealing potted plants, pot and all, go for big, heavy planters that aren&rsquo;t easy to move. While heavy planters won&rsquo;t necessarily prevent a determined criminal from taking your plants, they can be a deterrent to the casual thief. Better yet, chain or bolt the planter to the ground. That way, even if thieves dig up your plants, at least you won&rsquo;t lose that expensive planter!</p> <h3>2. Choose Flowers Wisely</h3> <p><a href="">Apartment Therapy</a> had this great tip &mdash; don&rsquo;t plant those rare bulbs in plain view in your front yard. Actually, don&rsquo;t plant any expensive flowers where thieves might see them and be tempted. In the front yard, stick to low-growing flowers that are pretty but aren&rsquo;t tall enough for cut flower arrangements.</p> <h3>3. Harvest Your Fruit</h3> <p>A fruit tree loaded with ripe fruit is very tempting to people who pass by. My husband&rsquo;s grandparents had an entire tree stripped of ripe grapefruit. Somehow the thieves had managed to pick every single grapefruit, several hundred pounds' worth, and cart it off without being noticed. Harvesting ripe fruit in a timely fashion shows potential thieves that you care about your fruit tree and are keeping an eye on it.</p> <h3>4. Chain Plants Down</h3> <p>If you&rsquo;re in the process of putting in some landscaping, and your neighborhood is known for plant thieves, consider weaving chain or cable through the roots of your trees as you plant them, and then connecting them either to other trees or to something immovable. Determined thieves might bring cutters, but chaining your plants down might discourage them a bit.</p> <h3>5. Get It on Tape</h3> <p>Catch thieves on tape &mdash; or at least fake it. Placing a fake security camera near your plants (but high up where thieves can&rsquo;t reach) can be an effective deterrent. Alternatively, place a nanny-cam in your front window. Some people have also installed motion-sensor lights to good effect. Putting a few deterrents around your home can make your plants less appealing to thieves, who may then choose to look elsewhere for their loot.</p> <h3>6. Keep Ornaments Out of Sight</h3> <p>Flowers and plants are not the only targets for thieves. If you have a pretty dish, unique ornaments, lanterns, or candles sitting around on your front patio, you can be sure that these small items are tempting to unscrupulous pilferers. Keep them inside the house until you are ready to use them.</p> <h3>7. Put a Lock on Your Gate</h3> <p>If your backyard is fenced in, you might want to consider installing a lock on your gate to protect not only your backyard plants, but also your patio set and <a href="">barbecue</a>. Believe it or not, people have had plants stolen right off their back patios.</p> <p><em>Have you ever had plants stolen? What tips would you recommend to prevent plant theft?</em></p> <a href="" class="sharethis-link" title="How to Prevent Plant Theft" rel="nofollow">ShareThis</a><br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">Written by <a href="">Camilla Cheung</a> and published on <a href="">Wise Bread</a>. Read more <a href=""> articles from Wise Bread</a>.</div></div> Home Lifestyle gardening theft deterrent yard Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:48:26 +0000 Camilla Cheung 602845 at Disguise Your Stuff to Prevent Car Break-ins <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-blog-image"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/disguise-your-stuff-to-prevent-car-break-ins" class="imagecache imagecache-250w imagecache-linked imagecache-250w_linked"><img src="" alt="Car with a broken window" title="Car with a broken window" class="imagecache imagecache-250w" width="250" height="188" /></a> </div> </div> </div> <p>When my truck was broken into this winter, I decided to get a little savvier about the way I store my essential belongings and a little craftier at discouraging future break-ins. I&rsquo;ve always tried to practice common-sense when leaving my vehicle unattended for long stretches of time; I never leave obviously valuable items in plain sight, I don&rsquo;t have a deluxe car stereo system or other tempting electronics, and I try to park in well-lit areas. But pickups and hatchbacks are unique because without a trunk, nearly all the contents are visible from the outside, and this creates a veritable display case for would-be thieves. (See also: <a href="">How to Get Your Car Stolen</a>)</p> <p>Since my truck has a canopy, I decided to embrace the &quot;fishbowl effect&quot; by creating a secret hiding place in plain sight. I took an old cardboard box that was about 18&rdquo; wide and 22&rdquo; tall and created a false top for it. I cut the false top from another piece of sturdy flat cardboard and made it roughly the same dimensions as the top opening of the box. Next I took miscellaneous scrap cardboard pieces from other boxes, folded them vertically, and stapled them to each other using a heavy-duty staple gun. I then attached the stapled pieces to the false top with hot glue.</p> <p>The goal was to create a &quot;cap&quot; that looked as if the box was packed with scrap cardboard and paper destined for the recycling bin. The top sits about 3&rdquo; deep inside the box and fits tightly enough to not shake off during normal travel. Finally, I labeled the box &ldquo;Recycle&rdquo; just to drive the point home.</p> <p>Under the false top, I store my camping gear, a first aid kit, and a few car-repair tools. Once closed, it just looks like a box of old scrap paper and isn&rsquo;t the least bit tempting to the suspicious passer-by.</p> <p><img alt="Fake Recycling" width="605" height="301" src="" /></p> <p>The same idea would work by stacking newspapers on the false top and securing them in place with twine. I decided to not use aluminum recycling materials because aluminum might be more tempting to hardcore recyclers or potentially harder to identify as &quot;junk&quot; in the dark. The key is to make the box clearly identifiable as recycling without your efforts appearing too studied or deliberate. Expect the would-be thief to be peering in the window, and don&rsquo;t give him a reason to be curious or to second-guess the contents of the box.</p> <p>Of course, nothing can completely prevent car break-ins, but with a little planning and an afternoon project, maybe you can make your car the <a href="">least attractive</a> one on the block and skip the window-replacement bill.</p> <a href="" class="sharethis-link" title="Disguise Your Stuff to Prevent Car Break-ins" rel="nofollow">ShareThis</a><br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">Written by <a href="">Kentin Waits</a> and published on <a href="">Wise Bread</a>. Read more <a href="">General Tips articles from Wise Bread</a>.</div></div> Cars and Transportation General Tips preventing car break-ins safety theft deterrent Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:36:10 +0000 Kentin Waits 499023 at Turning a cold war spy secret into a cheap anti-theft device <p><img src="/files/fruganomics/wisebread_imce/17936318_f057fc95c1.jpg" alt="shhh" title="shhh" width="387" height="290" /></p> <p>In the days of old, when spies passed messages to each other, they used many hidden messages. One of these methods was to hide the information in a dot of plastic or microfilm about the size of a pin head, and then end a sentence with it. </p> <p>To the spy in the know, they could scan the page for the dot, pick up the tiny information and magnify it. Since the emergence of more sophisticated technology these methods had all but vanished. But now they&#39;ve found a new use...marking your valuables.</p> <p>These little gadgets are called <a href="">DataDots</a> . And they&#39;re tiny. About the size of a grain of sand, made of a polyster substrate and laser etched with a unique code. A code that can be traced right back to you, the owner.</p> <p><img src="/files/fruganomics/wisebread_imce/magnifieddatadot.jpg" alt="DataDot" title="DataDot" width="200" height="210" /></p> <p><strong>HOW ARE THEY USED? </strong><br />Simple. The dots come pre-mixed in a UV adhesive and can be applied anywhere on any product or valuable. It can be as big as a car or as small as a piece of jewelry. From an earring to a truck, you now have peace of mind knowing that your unique tag is almost invisble to the naked eye. </p> <p>When you receive a kit from DataDot you register the code in a database that can be accessed by national law enforcement agencies. That way it can be traced straight back to you. </p> <p><strong>BUT HOW DO THEY PREVENT THEFT?</strong><br />The following information comes straight from the source of the Datadots...</p> <p><em> DataDots have been tested by insurance and Government agencies world-wide as to their theft deterrent capabilities. Theft deterrence is established by:</em> </p> <ul> <li><em>The dot size and quantum applied with 1,000&#39;s of dots often applied to assets</em></li> <li><em>Use of warning stickers to highlight that an item is marked</em></li> <li><em>National registration</em></li> <li><em>Police awareness and ease of reading any dot</em></li> </ul> <p class="fullp"><em>These factors combine to ensure that the chance of a thief stealing your items and either being caught re-handed with those items or having on-sold those items, escalates considerably. By simply escalating the chance of being caught, drives the theft deterrence. Police need to find only 1 dot to prove ownership and make an arrest.</em></p> <p class="fullp">When an independent study looked into Datadots and theft, they found a 60% reduction in professional theft on cars including BMWs and Subarus. I also suspect it will be a way to get a reduction on your auto and home property insurance. </p> <p><strong>WHAT&#39;S THE COST? </strong><br />For such great technology, I was surprised to find a <a href=";Product_Code=HMDD002&amp;Category_Code=DK">home starter kit is under $25</a> . Some car manufacturers are also planning to apply Datadots on the production line, which is great news for consumers everywhere. </p> <p>I think perhaps the most impressive thing about this whole story is the recycling of an outdated idea into something tangible and beneficial to modern-day life. No need to reinvent the wheel, just find a new use for it. Great stuff.</p> <p>Photo by <a href="">Spike55151</a> </p> <p><strong>A note to my readers: </strong><br />I will be on vacation until March 5th, so please excuse my absense from Wisebread for the next week. Fortunately, there&#39;s always a stellar amount of great stories available every day from the other top writers. So, you won&#39;t miss me. I promise. </p> <a href="" class="sharethis-link" title="Turning a cold war spy secret into a cheap anti-theft device" rel="nofollow">ShareThis</a><br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">Written by <a href="">Paul Michael</a> and published on <a href="">Wise Bread</a>. Read more <a href=""> articles from Wise Bread</a>.</div></div> Life Hacks Datadots DNA home security law enforcement PIN property registration secret codes theft deterrent Fri, 27 Apr 2007 22:57:35 +0000 Paul Michael 570 at