If you think of wind chimes as pleasant decorations that sound and look pretty but don’t have much practical value, think again.
There are 3 ways wind chimes offer real solutions to everyday concerns:
Helping the blind to navigate around campus.
People who are visually impaired use their sharp auditory senses to help them find their way around public spaces. Sound is especially important because it indicates when people or vehicles are approaching. Noises specific to certain areas provide additional clues to help blind people navigate.
One school in India is using wind chimes as auditory pathways to help their visually-impaired students make their way around buildings. They are testing a system of wind chimes they’ve placed at strategic junctions to let the students know where they are on campus. Using input from the blind students’ experiences with the chimes, they hope to refine the system to make it easier for all students to find their way to classes and events.
At least one school in the U.S. is planning to try the wind chime approach. Wind chimes as auditory “signs” for the visually impaired are a good idea at home or in public since they require no electricity, and they can be placed nearly anywhere outdoors.
Offering a meaningful sympathy gift to share.
Friends and family today want unique and personalized sympathy gifts to share with those who have recently lost loved ones. Funeral flowers are beautiful, but they don’t last long and won’t provide comfort in the future.
A personalized sympathy wind chime set is the perfect solution when you know you want to give something special but you aren’t sure what will be most appreciated by your grieving loved one.
You can pick wind chimes with themes that honor the recently departed and carry on their memory. A natural-looking set of wind chimes honors the outdoors person. A sea-themed wind chime will recall memories of a beloved avid boater. Wind chimes featuring dogs or other critters will be gentle reminders of animal lovers who’ve passed.
Saving birds from window collisions.
Birds often fly straight into shiny windows, which is hard on your windows and even harder on your feathered friends. This phenomenon increases during migration times when birds are distracted and tired from their long journeys.
Some locations are asking people to dim house lights during migration months in order to reduce the birds’ confusion. They also recommend using flashy mylar ribbon and CDs on strings to repel birds from porches and house windows.
But wind chimes make a more attractive solution. Wind chimes hung in front of vulnerable glass keep the birds from colliding with your sliding glass doors and other windows. Birds can hear and see the wind chimes in contrast to the shiny glass, making it less likely they’ll fly into a reflection.
Wind chimes are some of life’s most soothing treasures, but they also solve some very serious problems with their grace and music.