1. Turn off the Water
In certain places, people keep sprinkler systems on year-round. In other areas, sprinkler systems need to be shut off when temperatures begin dropping. Once winter arrives, plants, grass, and other shrubbery do not require as much water. However, many people may continue watering when it is not needed.

• Reduce the amount of water you use in your backyard.
• Even if you do not use a sprinkler system, reduce the amount of water you use in your backyard.
• Instead of watering your lawn and other greenery every day, only water it when it is needed.

Turning off your sprinkler system as temperatures become cooler can also help prevent wasted water. Cold temperatures can cause pipes to burst in sprinkler systems, which causes water waste.

2. Create Animal-Friendly Areas

An Eco-friendly backyard should have plenty of animal-friendly areas. When you want to create an animal-friendly backyard, you can set up a few areas where animals will feel safe and happy.

• Hang a few bird-feeders from the trees in your backyard or off your back porch.
• Scatter bird food around the bottom of the tree trunks, as well as underneath other bird-feeders. The food on the ground will attract non-flying birds, as well as scavenger birds.
• Use recycled materials to create bird-feeders.

3. Winterize Your Lawn in an Eco-Friendly Way

All lawns need to be winterized before the temperatures drop. However, if you want to keep your backyard eco-friendly, you should consider using organic or eco-friendly fertilizer on your grass and plants.

• Prepare your lawn before winter with eco-friendly fertilizers.
• Plant grass and plants that are intended for the area you live.
• When you use the right type of grass and plants in your yard, there is not as much need for fertilizer or water.

4. Pesticides are a Bad Idea

Pesticides can harm your pets, as well as any outdoor animals that visit your yard. When you want to deter certain animals, or lawn killers, consider using natural methods.

5. Trade Your Current Furniture for Eco-Friendly Items

Use eco-friendly outdoor lighting and furniture. You can still enjoy your backyard in the winter by using eco-friendly lighting and furniture.

• Enjoy the cooler weather by placing an environmentally friendly outside wood burning stove in your yard.
• Use eco-friendly yard lighting and holiday lights.
• Use outdoor furniture made from recycled materials outside on your porch or in your yard.

Just because the weather is cooler does not mean you cannot enjoy your yard. With bird feeders, outdoor wood stoves, and recyclable furniture, you can have fun outdoors, even in winter. When you make an effort to have a greener yard, it can be more enjoyable for you, and the environment.

Photo credits: Bird Feeder – Cardinal by Marni-/flickr; Solar Lights in backyard
by shidairyproduct/flickr

Author Casey Stevens owns his own landscape business and writes for truckertotrucker.com, a site where you can find a dump trailer for your renovation project or a flatbed trailer to haul all your heavy equipment.

I wished there was a way to store compostable fruit and vegetables in the kitchen until I was ready to take all the scraps out to the main compost heap!

I was given this perfect solution by my Mother and Father in law for my birthday and it makes the routine of collecting compostable food waste so easy… It is a counter top kitchen compost bin with a built in odor filter and it works great.

Counter Top Compost Bin

My 3.5 Litre Kitchen Composter

The kitchen composter that i was given has a 3.5 liter capacity so I can cram it full off vegetable peel, fruit waste, coffee grounds, tea bags and egg shells! The picture on the packaging shows the bin full to the top but I will be taking my compostables out every couple of days to the main outdoor compost heap so I doubt it will ever get completely filled.

If I ever fill my kitchen composter then I know a visit to the outdoor compost heap is called for!

This counter top compost bin features a built in odor filter, basically a carbon filter, and it works very well indeed.

The bright red ceramic finish matched our kitchen colors perfectly, I suspect my mother and father in law had taken notes during their last visit to the house!

So it looks good, but does the built in odor filter work?

I have already partially filled my new countertop composter with orange peels, several tea bags (I drink a cup of tea each day!), a few pots worth of coffee grounds, five egg shells and some waste bell pepper cores. Needless to say, this mixture of kitchen waste is pretty stinky but the odor filter cuts out all of the smell.

My Collection of Countertop Compost!

This wonderful little counter top composter has made my life easier and it encourages me to compost AS MUCH of my kitchen waste as possible… I now have an easy place to store waste fruit and vegetables when preparing meals, I have an easy place to throw used tea bags and coffee grounds.

This simple device just makes my life simpler and greener at the same time.

The kitchen composter has a convenient metal carry handle and this means visits outside to the large compost heap can include the kitchen composter in one hand and any other compostables in the other.

So, the all important question, where can you buy yourself one of these awesome counter top composters?
Buy on Amazon.com:


I hope you enjoyed reading about my new “green” kitchen addition, please let me know if you have any kitchen composting stories to share…

In the beginning

We have a small area in our side yard that we are going to turn into a garden spot. We had a couple of tomato bushes and some onions last year, but the roses around the area did not allow for much sun. So we have moved the roses and made a space around 8 x 8. We would like to grow tomatoes, oni0ns, and put a trellis for zucchini and squash. I also have some strawberry plants I would like to put in the center in a raised bed, still working on that idea. We have put a four foot fence around it with a gate to keep out the dogs, rabbits, etc. This was made out of left over cedar pieces that our contractor friend had. We now have to put in the boards to keep in the soil and then add organic soil. Come spring, we will plant our little garden. I can already visualize the paintings from the produce and the good tasting homegrown veggies on the table.  We’ll see how that works out. I’ll keep you posted.

New fence out of cedar scraps

Number 1: Recycled Mother Board Ornaments

These ornaments are made from recycled computer circuit boards and they’re some of our favorites, a top pick for any green geeks!
Avialable from MotherBoardGifts.net

Recycled Christmas Tree Ornaments from Used Motherboards!

Number 2: Fabulous Recycled Beer Bottle Holly Leaves

These beautiful holly ornaments are made from recycled beer bottles, there has been a lot of skill and time put into each one of these ornaments;
Recycled Beer Bottle Ornaments

Recycled Beer Bottle Ornament

Number 3: Recycled Old Lightbulbs Made into Ornaments

These cute ornaments are made by the “bulb-painter” and are a cool re-use of old lights bulbs as ornaments;
Available from the Bulb Painters Etsy Store

Recycled Light Bulb Ornament

Number 4: Eco-Fi Polyester Felt and Recycled Plastic

Made from eco fabrics and recycled plastic these fabulous ornament stockings are a green choice.
Buy these Eco-Fi Ornaments at Etsy

Eco-Fi Polyester Felt Ornaments

Number 5: Recycled Bike Chain Decorations

These gorgeous ornaments are made from recycled bicycle chains!
Available online from the Animal Rescue Site – Recycled Bike Chain Ornaments

Recycled Bicycle Chain Ornaments

Number 6: Those Old Tree Lights Can Hang Around a Little Longer

The ultimate in full circle recycling! Recycled tree lights made into a tree ornament;
Buy these recycled tree light ornaments here

Recycled Tree Light Ornaments

Number 7: Recycled Glass Infused Ornaments, Expensive Looks but Eco-Friendly

Made with recycled glass these classy ornaments look great whilst being eco friendly;
Buy Online at PalomaPottery.com

Recycled Glass Infused Christmas Tree Ornaments

Number 8: Last Years Tree Can Now Hang on This Years Tree!

Most Christmas trees get hauled off to a landfill but these wonderful ornaments are made from last years tree!
Buy These from Vintage Indie – Last Years Tree Ornaments

Made From Last Years Christmas Tree!

Number 9: Recycled in the UK – Used CD Ornaments

All the way from the UK, these recycled CDs will truly sparkle;
Buy them at Nigels Eco-Store – Recycled CD Ornaments

A Shiny Recycled Compact Disk Ornament

Number 10: Brightly Painted Recycled Incandescent Bulbs

Another painted recycled incandescent bulb but very brightly painted, lots to choose from;
Available on Etsy – Recycled Incandescent Bulbs Brightly Painted

Recycled Incandescent Light Bulb Ornament

Do you have your own recycled Christmas tree ornament ideas to share? Let us know by leaving a comment…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48089670@N00/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Green Thanksgiving - Follow Our Three L's

Buy produce with LESS packaging… Reduce waste before the food even hits the table!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coollibrarian/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Buying bulk foods uses LESS packaging

Checkout this fabulous guide to using bulk foods for your Thanksgiving feast brought to you DiscoverBulk.com;
Using Bulk Foods for Thanksgiving

Save your Turkey and eat the LEFTOVERS! Come up with inventive ways to eat all of that leftover Turkey.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kudzuplanet/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Using all of those LEFTOVERS is super green

The BHG Guide to Using Leftover Turkey

Buy fruit and vegetables from LOCAL producers – find your nearest farmers market and try to buy all of your required fruit and veggies there to support local farms.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/weaselmcfee/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Buy LOCAL produce from farmers markets

Search for a Farmers Market near you

So there you have it, that was our run down of the three L’s for a green Thanksgiving celebration. Let us know if you have any extra tips for an eco friendly Thanksgiving holiday…

This was simply un-acceptable in our eyes. We purchased our current home 2 years ago, it is an older home and needed lots of upgrades to make it more energy efficient.

Our Carbon Footprint Back in March 2009 shown below…

Our Carbon Footprint in March 2009

Back in March when I saw these results I decided to really commit to reducing our household energy consumption and check our progress at the end of the year…

Here are the steps we have taken so far in 2009 to reduce our average ecological impact;

1. When we first bought the house we immediately replaced all of the old incandescent bulbs in the house with  new high efficiency compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs and extremely efficient LED bulbs.
   • Read more about our lighting upgrades here;
   • http://www.oureverydayearth.com/2009/04/12/led-flood-light-a-cool-find-for-energy-savings/
   • 
2. Purchasing recycled materials such as bath tissue and kitchen paper all made from recycled post consumer content is something we have done for a long time but we also switched to using biodegradable trash bags for all of our garbage disposal.
   • Check out our favorite green trash bags here;
   • http://www.oureverydayearth.com/2009/03/22/go-green-biodegradable-kitchen-bags-making-our-trash-greener/
   • 
3. The next big upgrade for us was to replace all of the outdoor lighting with two stage security lights, the new lights run at low power until motion is detected then they switch to high output for a minute or two if motion is detected.
   • 
4. Here in Texas the sprinkler system is a very important part of keeping the yard looking good and maintaining constant moisture in the clay soil. We upgraded our entire sprinkler system to add more efficient zoning as well as a rain and freeze detector. The system knows if it has rained and prevents the system from running for 48 hrs after a good rainfall. This saves lots of water, the system also shuts off when the temperature drops below freezing.
   • 
5. The addition of a compost bin outdoors has helped us greatly reduce the amount of trash we have collected, all of our fruit and vegetable waste goes into the compost bin and we are looking forward to the rich compost in spring 2010.
   • View our compost bin install here;
   • http://www.oureverydayearth.com/2009/07/07/home-compost-bin-a-self-assembled-solution/
   • 
6. The next change was forced upon us! Our antiquated air conditioning system finally broke down and our home was over 100 deg F for several days, we quickly arranged to get a completely new system installed and we noticed an immediate drop in our electricity bill.
   • Check out the air conditioning system upgrades here;
   • http://www.oureverydayearth.com/2009/07/19/our-upgraded-cooling-systems/

   • 
7. I finally purchased a new truck which both increased my miles per gallon and decreased my monthly bills!
   • You can read more about my new vehicle purchase and my green dilemma surrounding it;
   • http://www.oureverydayearth.com/2009/07/28/green-truck-maybe-just-green-thinking/
   • 
8. Our clothes dryer also broke and it gave us another opportunity to upgrade, we purchased an energy star front loading washer and dryer and we hope to see large savings in both water and electricity consumption.
   • Our new washer and dryer should save us water and energy;
   • http://www.oureverydayearth.com/2009/11/15/upgrading-to-a-high-efficiency-washer-and-dryer/

   • 

     Our New High Efficiency Washer and Dryer Installed

9. The most recent change we have made is a new energy star fridge freezer which will again help us cut down on our electricity consumption.

So with all of the above changes we implemented what impact did it have? I repeated the impact assessment with the Berkeley Institute of the Environment eco-calculator and here are the results;

Our Current Carbon Footprint is shown below…

Our Improved Carbon Footprint - Still A Long Way to Go!

As you can see, we greatly reduced out housing impact but we’re still not below the U.S. average which got me thinking;

As a family, we’re still consuming too much energy, but we’ve made significant changes and our carbon footprint is rapidly reducing – We’re looking forward to a much greener 2010!

Our plans for next year include upgrading our dishwasher and the other remaining appliances to energy star rated, we also want to improve our homes insulation and install radiant barrier in our attic spaces to reduce heating and cooling energy consumption.

What are your plans for 2010? Let us know by leaving a comment today…

Instead of planting yourself in front of the TV for the day, well maybe just for the Football game, consider getting out some and getting fresh air or play a board game. Take advantage of the time together with family while decreasing your energy usage.

If you are going to someone else’s home for dinner, consider turning down the thermostat and turning off the lights to save energy at home while you are gone.

Don’t forget to recycle. Encourage everyone to pitch in and put the recyclables in bins. Recycling all the packaging from the fixings for the meal, as well as any beverage containers, will significantly reduce the number of times you have to take the trash out, as well as the amount of garbage you send to the landfills.

Using all of those LEFTOVERS is super green

When you decorate that table, use produce, leaves, acorns and branches, bring the outdoors in and use your good dishes instead of paper plates, that of course goes without saying!

We have so much to be thankful for here in Texas. Sharing time with family and being in the company of the ones we love. Hope your Holiday is a wonderful one.

Scotch Brite Scrub Pads

These wonderfully green scrubbing pads can do the work of about 30 rolls of kitchen paper and as it says on the packaging;

“You don’t have to give up cleaning performance to live a greener lifestyle”

These scrub pads have a durable rough side shown above and a smoother wiping side shown below…

The Smoother Side of Green Cleaning

We’ve been using these new biodegradable scrubbing pads on our dishes and for general kitchen cleaning and we can thoroughly recommend them, we won’t be buying regular sponges anymore, we’ve seen the green cleaning future and it is Scotch Brite!

We bought ours at the local grocery store but you can read more about these and other green cleaning products here;

www.scotchbritegreenerclean.com

Piles of E-Waste!

I have noticed a trend of e-waste products starting to hit our local stores in the form of circuit board picture frames etc, but I wanted to find an online store / company that sold them a little cheaper than the big retailers, that’s when I found “Terracycle”. All of Terracycles products are made from recycled items and their waste electronic recycling products are the best…

Waste Electronic Recycling by Terracycle

The Large E-Waste Picture Frame

The Small E-Waste Picture Frame

The picture frames are really nice and the prices are great too, but my favorite e-waste product from Terracycle is their recycled electronic waste desk clock;

Terracycle E-Waste Desk Clock

The Terracycle slogan is to “Outsmart Waste!” and they certainly do that. Big companies have started to notice these great products and Target now sells Terracycles e-waste clocks and picture frames made from circuit boards. So if you are interested in keeping some more electronic waste away from our landfills then check out their site;

http://www.terracycle.net/

If you want to get involved in other ways then make sure you take your own e-waste to a local drop off center, we found a great site where you can find the closest place to drop off your old electronic products;

http://ewaste-dropoff.com/index.html