Category Archives: Environmentally Friendly Ideas

Backyard Fun, Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Outdoor Lighting Ideas

Outdoor Solar Lighting Can Light Up Your Spring Nights

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With Spring in full swing, my family and I are spending longer hours enjoying our backyard. The warm, clear nights provide a fantastic setting for family relaxation and fun. What better way to enjoy Spring nights than with outdoor solar lights. They provide the convenience of bright nights without adding cost to your electric bill! They are by far the easiest and most inexpensive way to light your outdoor activities.

Solar lights are perfect for your backyard because they use the sun’s direct energy to charge all day and then release that stored energy at night. No expensive wiring or outside electrical outlets are required! They are weather resistant and require no maintenance. Your family will be able to enjoy countless nights frolicking outside with their every step lit by solar power. Can’t you just picture it now? Chasing fireflys and watching the stars appear in the Spring sky? That sounds like something my family and I will be doing tonight!

 

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Garden Tools & Tips

Autumn Leaves a Hassle? Compost Them!

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Ecomposter Compost Bin

What do you do with all of those pesky leaves once you’ve raked them from your lawn?  This situation creates a yearly dilemma for many people because yard waste, including autumn leaves, makes up for about 20 percent of what is dumped into our landfills.  Tossing those leaves into the trash is not something that most homeowners wish to do.  Some communities, mine included, allow homeowners to burn yard waste.  This is neither a healthy or environmentally safe option.  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Burning leaves and other yard wastes pollutes the air and can lead to uncontrolled fires. Leaf smoke can make breathing difficult for people who suffer from asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or allergies.”

Alternatively, some communities offer yard waste recycling, which is the best option, but it is not always ideal.  In my own community, we are only permitted to put out two yard waste bags each week for pick up.  We don’t have a forest of trees in our yard, but the few that we do have shed enough leaves to fill at least six or eight yard waste bags.  The challenge is finding space in our garage to store the full bags until the next time yard waste is picked up.

Another way to recycle those fallen leaves is to compost them.  Composting leaves, along with other yard waste and kitchen scraps, not only helps to get rid of a messy problem, but provides valuable mulch — for free — that can be used to cover and protect garden beds over the winter months.  Many compost bins can be used year-round, too, so over the winter, you can “stock up” on mulch to use when spring comes around again.

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Garden Tools & Tips

Yard Clippings are Going to Waste

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Did you know that nearly 20% of all waste in an average landfill is yard waste?  If you are throwing away your grass clippings, then you are missing out on a valuable resource.

A compost bin decomposes grass clippings and plant material to produce compost in just a few weeks.  This process allows you to reap the benefits of recycling from your own backyard with very little effort.

“Compost” is the rich black soil-like substance created when organic materials like shredded leaves and yard waste are fully decomposed. Mulching with compost prevents weeds, feeds your garden, fights disease and doesn’t starve plants or stain your house with fungal spores like wood mulches.

The rewards from composting are numerous and having access to your own “mulch” is a big one.  Tell your neighbors and friends how easy it is to use a composter.  They will thank you later.

compost bin illustration for your backyard

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Innovative Solutions, Shade Solutions

Green Windows — Solar Window Shades Save Energy and Money

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Solar Outdoor Window Shade

Outdoor Solar Shade

Saving the planet may seem like a daunting task, but when we take small steps to reduce our carbon footprint, we can move closer to our goal.  One easy way we can do our part to reduce greenhouse gasses, while simultaneously cutting home energy costs, is to install solar shades on the windows and doors of our home.  Ideally, the windows or doors in question would be those in which the sun shines directly at some point during the day, but even windows or doors that do not receive direct sunlight can benefit from solar shades, also known as sun shades.  Outfitting our home with sun shades will keep inside temperatures down, reducing the need for air conditioning.

According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), “Energy consumption for home air conditioning accounts for almost 5% of all the electricity produced in the U.S. for all purposes at a cost to homeowners of over $15 billion. This translates to roughly 140 million tons of carbon dioxide” (http://www.aceee.org/consumer/cooling).  That’s a lot of “green” going out the window, so to speak.

Solar shades are a practical solution because, for one, they are not black out shades; they do not darken a home and keep out all light.  Solar shades allow light and air to filter through, but, at the same time, they can reduce a room’s temperature by up to 25%.  Cooler temperatures inside mean more “green” — in other words, more money in our pockets and a healthier environment.

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Garden Tools & Tips

Composting Is Not a Dirty Word

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Earthmaker Composter

The word compost sometimes scares people.  We often think of smelly trash, worms, and spoiled food when we think of composting. Actually, it is a simple way you can “Go Green” in your own home in addition to the avid recycling you already participate in.

Composting benefits us in at the very least two ways.  It reduces waste and the more we compost the less we eventually send to our landfills.  And it also helps improve the quality of our soil when it is re-introduced to our gardens, shrubs and other landscape.

A great product for composting that never stinks because it uses the process of aerobic oxidation is the the Earthmaker Aerobic Composter. It is for busy people wanting an easy, green way to deal with organic waste or gardeners who want an easy, fast way of making compost.  This is how it works. In the top chamber of the composter the water, oxygen, and heat help micro-organisms (fungi and bacteria) break down the raw material. In the cooler middle and bottom chambers, macro-organisms (worms and invertebrates) work to further break down material to mulch and, finally, compost. The Earthmaker Aerobic Composter has a 123 gallon capacity and is the first continuous cycle compost bin that can produce 10 gallons of compost every month. Independent trials have proven the Earthmaker processes kitchen and garden waste at twice the speed of traditional compost bins.

Start composting today and do your part to live a “Green” life.