A green home is one that is eco-friendly and is at harmony with the environment. You can help the environment by making your home greener. Here is how you can do so by adopting a more energy-efficient and earth-friendly lifestyle.

Read the following top ways to green your home.

1. Upgrade to greener appliances.
Make your home energy efficient by upgrading to greener appliances. Replace old appliances with energy-efficient models that are Energy Star rated to scale down your energy bill. According to the Energy Star site, use of energy-efficient appliances in just one in 10 homes is equal to planting 1.7 million new acres of trees.

2. Temperature control.
More than 50% of a home’s energy bill is from heating and cooling appliances. Moderating the thermostat according to the weather goes a long way in reducing energy consumption. Other energy saving methods include using a modern furnace, cleaning its air filter every month and the use of ceiling fans instead of air conditioners.

3. Saving water.
There are hundreds of ways one can save water and reduce energy consumption. A few include fitting faucets with aerators and installing water efficient low-flow toilets.

4. Clean with green products.
Buy green household cleaners that are made of natural, non-toxic substances instead of toxic ones. Carpet and window cleaners containing grain alcohol, detergents made of coconut or other plant oils etc. are bio-friendly.

5. Energy-efficient lighting.
Replace incandescent bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs). CFL bulbs use 66% less energy and last 10 times longer.

6. Use recycled paper.
Whenever you buy paper, get 100 % post-consumer recycled paper. These consume less virgin pulp and keep waste paper from ending up in landfills. You can also save more trees by opting out of junk mail lists. Using unbleached paper is more eco-friendly as the bleached paper process results in the creation of harmful byproducts. Also, eschew paper and plastic bags and carry your own cloth bags for shopping.

7. Bamboo floors.
Bamboo floors are more environmental friendly than hardwood floors. Bamboo matures in four to six years while it takes 50 to 100 years for typical hardwoods.

8. Shun plastics.
Plastics are not bio-degradable. They produce harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming when processed, burned or dumped into landfills. The best way is to avoid plastics, the next best thing is to reuse and recycle them.

9. Eco-paint.
Use environmentally safe paints that are organic and solvent-free to paint your home.

10. Green your garden.
Avoid synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Instead use organic manure such as compost and non-chemical pest control methods.

by Real Estate Advisor
About the Author:

Poway Real Estate San Diego Condos Carmel Valley Real Estate

Buy the book: Green This!

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For some, figuring out where you can start composting can be a bit of a challenge. After all, there are a few things you should keep in mind, like how far the compost heap should be from your home, how to keep it hidden away from nosy neighbors and prying eyes, and how to keep rodents and wildlife from digging around in the compost. And while there are a couple options like keeping your compost under wraps in a compost tumbler or bin, there are consumers out there who look for other aesthetically attractive options. One such option is a bench that doubles as a composting bin.

Dual functional furniture is always a plus, and owning a bench that offers a composting bin option is a terrific way to hide your compost in plain sight. You may want to consider this alternative versus a normal compost bin or compost tumbler if you feel that composting out in the open may ruin or distract from your natural landscape. With a composting bench, you can fearlessly hide your compost out in the middle of your garden without it taking away from the landscape.

Some companies offer dual functional composting benches, but it you’re the do it yourself type, you can make a building project out of it. Just be sure to keep about 20 inches of height from the seat to the ground for a good sized composting bin. Another good design feature to keep in mind is to add hinges to the seat so that you can lift it up whenever you need to add water or turn the pile. It’s also important to keep in mind that your compost needs ventilation in order for it to decompose properly, so make sure that there’s plenty of slits all around the bottom bin. Be sure however, to make them small enough so that small animals can’t get in. And don’t worry about any smells coming out from beneath the bench; as long as you’re following the proper carbon to nitrogen ration (green parts to brown parts), and you’re regularly turning and adding water to your compost, it should smell earthy, not icky.

Composting is a fun process for everyone, and keeping it underneath an attractive bench is perfect for even the most discerning gardener. Literally, you can sit back and relax and let the compost do its thing!

by Duong Vicki
About the Author: For a wide selection in compost bins and rain barrels be sure to stop by Composters.com.

Buy the Book: Composting, A Step by Step Guide

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Red worms or red wiggler worms, which are different from earthworms, are the best worms to use for your composting process. You want to stay away from using earthworms because they weren’t made to be composting worms; red worms will take your food scraps, eat and digest them, making worm castings full of nutrients for your soil. Earthworms on the other hand, are burrowing worms; they’ll aerate the soil and take everything on the surface down with it. Therefore, they’ll be absolutely useless for what you want to do, which is compost!

In order to have a successful vermicomposting experience, always remember to feed your worms! Worms need food too, and they love food scraps, another reason why vermicomposting is so easy. Readily available, food scraps like wilted vegetables, fruit rinds, bread and coffee grounds are great sources of food for your worms. Just be sure to never, ever add scraps like meats, fats, oils, or dairy products because the worms will not be able to eat and digest these items properly. Another reason you do not want to put animal products in your compost is because they smell bad and attract rodents and other animals to your compost bin or heap.

Be sure to bury your food scraps in the dirt about a few inches deep underneath the dirt. This will keep the annoying fruit flies away, not to mention leaving some wiggle room for your little worms. It’s always a good idea to bury your food scraps in different areas of your worm bin so that the worms don’t get too used to convening in the same spot and so that all areas of the bin receives its fair share amount of worm castings.

After a few months you’ll notice that in place of the dirt bedding you laid out for the worms earlier, you have what we composters like to call black gold, rich fine worm castings that are ready to go into your garden. After that you’re ready to start over! A fun process that students, young children and adults will surely enjoy, vermicomposting is a terrific and acceptable way to get down and dirty with worms!

Author: Duong Vicki
About the author: For a wide selection in chipper shredders and lawn sweepers, be sure to stop by Composters.com

Buy the Book: Worms Eat My Garbage
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We tend to think of cotton as pure and natural and images of pretty fluffy white seed heads come to mind. It is the most celebrated and popular fabric the world over and due to its enormous commercial value to so many countries is a significant part of foreign exchange earnings.

However there is another side to the coin which consumers may not be so familiar with. Cotton uses more pesticides per plant than almost any other crop in the world. Growing and harvesting 1lb of cotton fiber (which is enough to make the average tee shirt) exacts a deadly cost to the earth’s air, soil, water and ultimately animals, all of which has an dramatic impact on global health. Furthermore policies and routines employed within the industry ranging from crop subsidies from the wealthy nations to sweatshops which cause misery and poverty.

Organic cotton growing aims to work with nature and uses biologically based and not chemically based growing systems to raise crops. Farmers focus on managing rather than eradicating pests and weeds and help maintain an ecological balance. They have options to control weeds which include hoes, crop rotation, intercropping, mulches etc.

Beneficial ants are encouraged which feed on the cotton bollworm by planting sunflowers for example. Because the pesticides used in conventional cotton growing not only kill cotton pests but also eliminate helpful insects the balance of nature is overturned and there is an increased need for toxic chemicals. This has become known as the “pesticide treadmill”.

In California five of the top nine pesticides are carcinogenic (dicofol, naled, cyanazine, propargite and trifluralin).

The World Health Organization estimates that at least three million people are poisoned by pesticides every year and 20-40,000 more are killed.

Apart from problems associated with growing conventional cotton and processes involved in creating the fabric the dyes are further concerns. Toxins in the dyes affect skin and other organs. People with skin conditions such as eczema may be even more affected by chemicals and dyes. It has been suggested that babies have an increased likelihood of being affected because their skin is thinner and their bodies are still growing.

Basically the choice of whether or not to buy organic cotton is a personal one but I believe that there is a strong case to do so.

by Linda Sones
About the Author: Owner of an online shop selling organic cotton baby clothes and baby toiletries + handmade soap

Buy Organic Cotton, From Field to Final Product

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Many folks love the fun process of composting in their home or backyard and even understand the science behind it all. But for the rest of us, composting is like another skill that we have to learn before we can even think about taking it head-on. If you’re thinking about taking on the challenge of composting, congratulations! Not only will you be reducing waste and cost by sending scraps to landfills, you’ll be giving back to the earth.

Generally, composting is an aerobic, or oxygen filled process that combines air, heat and moisture to break down matter, which is why you need to turn your compost heap every few days to maintain a good temperature. Composting is an effort shared by both you and by the many microbes, organisms and bacteria that are going to spring up in your compost pile. After you’ve added all the essential ingredients for composting (food scraps, vegetable stalks, fruit rinds, yard wastes free of diseases and seeds) into your compost bin, the billions of little microbes will take care of the rest. These little guys are responsible for the decomposition and temperature of your compost, which results in rich, ready to use compost. Temperature especially is vital to the composting process.

Here’s how it works and why:

Starting at 55 degrees Fahrenheit little to no breakdown happens; even for humans that’s pretty cold. Once it hits about 70 degrees Fahrenheit things start to heat up. This warm change in temperature is caused by cool temperature bacteria called Psychrophiles; they burn the carbon found in your compost heap, thus releasing heat and goodies in the form of amino acids.

As the temperature increases to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, another set of hard working microbes called Mesophiles eat through EVERYTHING, which can raise the heat to 100 degrees. This then sets the stage for the Thermophiles that can live in the sauna of your compost heap in up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit! These hot guys live for up to a five day period working extra hard to make sure that any diseases or unwanted germs are annihilated. In addition, they generate what’s called humic acid, which is like ambrosia for your plants.

After a few days the temperature in your compost heap will decrease gradually and you’ll be able to sift through the compost and add it to your garden or house plants.

*Special thanks to C. Forrest McDowell, PhD and Tricia Clark-McDowell for their compost guide Home Composting Made Easy, available on Cortesia Press.

by Duong Vicki
About the Author:

For a wide selection in compost bins and rain barrels be sure to stop by Composters.com.

Buy Teaming With Microbes. A Gardeners Guide to the Soil Food Web

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First you will be testing the soil to determine the properties of the soil you have. You need to find the best organic soil possible to plant your garden. Take a sample of the soil where you intend to have your organic garden. The sample could be sent to a lab where all of the different substances in soil are analyzed and checked. Depending on the results, you can make necessary improvements to the soil for you garden. The next step in learning how to grow an organic garden is, finding the right seeds. There are many outlets offering all kinds of seeds where you can find the exact seeds you are looking for.

Maintaining Your Organic Garden
Maintain your garden regularly if you want to achieve the best results. Learning how to do it systematically makes it simpler. Here are some basic things you should do in caring your organic garden.

- You must weed your garden whenever weeds appear.

- The soil should be watered regularly; however it should never be over watered since that could wash away all the nutrients you have been trying so hard to accumulate in the soil. Watering properly is a very important task in caring for your garden.

- Fertilize your garden in a manner prescribed. It is the key to figuring out how to grow and fertilize an garden. All home & garden centers have fertilizer for you to buy or you could prepare your own fertilizer with products from your home or start composting for the best fertilizer. Generally the best times to fertilize are in the spring, and then again during summertime.

What Will You Grow?
As said before, learning how to grow an organic garden is easy. With few tips and good caring your garden will blossom in no time. Deciding on what you will plant is the next step in learning. Some may choose to learn how to grow an organic rose garden, while others may choose to grow herbs or vegetables. Here, use seed guides and you can determine what plants would grow better in your region. You need to pay attention to seed planting times. Some seeds need to be planted at certain times to ensure optimal growth. With a little research and a touch of a green thumb, you can learn exactly how to grow the perfect organic garden.

By Frank
About the Author:vLearn more about Organic Gardening at http://www.organicgardeningworld.com

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Organic lawn fertilizers have brought new options to homeowners who desire both a green lawn and a green lifestyle. Environmental issues continue to be a concern in our society, and good citizens everywhere are doing all they can to preserve the health of our beautiful planet. Using organic fertilizers instead of chemical products is an easy way to make a difference, and many would be surprised at the effectiveness of the organic solutions. Listed below are some of the many proven benefits of natural fertilizers and insecticides.

Organic Lawn Care is Safer for Your Family
The most obvious value to using an organic lawn fertilizer is to preserve the safety of your family members and animals. Commercial lawn treatments are a cocktail of dangerous chemicals and poisons that cling to shoes, skin, and hair. Even the most cautious application can result in an accidental poisoning. And if you can protect your family and pets from exposure, it is often impossible to prevent wildlife and other organisms from ingesting these chemicals.

Bio-Degradable
Scientifically engineered chemicals react with our planet in very unnatural ways. Almost every naturally occurring resource on earth has the capacity to break down and return value to the environment. Man-made chemicals on the other hand are much harder to dissipate, and often form more potent by-products in the process. Every commercial brand chemical fertilizer contains compounds that are not only initially toxic, but ultimately breakdown and multiply into more toxins.

Less Waste
A major flaw with chemical lawn fertilizers is their “kill everything” approach to lawn care. These herbicides and pesticides may indeed kill unwanted nuisances like dandelions and ants, but they also destroy thousands of helpful organisms such as bees, earthworms, and beneficial microorganisms. Even if your lawn was comprised of 50% weeds, then you would still poison the soil in the remaining 50% with unnecessary chemicals. With organic lawn fertilizers, there is no concern for toxic runoffs or harmful integration with other organisms.

Organic lawn care is not only the best choice in terms of safety for your family, but it is also an effective alternative to chemical fertilizers. The proper application of organic fertilizers and pesticides will keep your lawn green and disease free. And as an added benefit to “going green“, organic formulas can save a substantial amount of money. Many effective formulas can be created in your kitchen with inexpensive ingredients found at your local grocery store. For more resources on how to implement an organic lawn treatment schedule, visit http://naturallawnfertilizers.com and http://naturallawnfertilizers.com

Author: Xavier Gallery
About the author: Make your own natural fertilizers and pesticides by using the resources available at Natural Lawn Fertilizers

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Planting your own vegetable garden also allows you to know exactly how healthy or dangerous the foods is that you are eating. Store bought produce for instance, is often grown on farms which use chemical fertilizers and poisonous pest control methods. Plants absorb whatever is put onto them or into their soil as they’re growing, so if you’re eating produce which has had chemicals and toxins used on it, those chemicals are also in the plant itself, and are being fed to your body.

When you grow your own vegetables in a home garden though, you can choose to use organic growing methods which are much safer for both the environment, you and your family.Growing a vegetable garden starts with planning. You’ll need to decide first what vegetables you plan to grow in your garden. If this is the first time you’re growing a vegetable garden, try to start small so you can get a feel for how much of each thing is needed as you become more experienced. A nice way to get started with your first vegetable garden is to select three to five of your families favorite vegetables and plant just those the first season.

Next you’ll need to decide where you will place your vegetable garden. You’ll need both plenty of space and plenty of sunlight to grow vegetables. Vegetables need at least five to six hours of full sunlight each day, so figure out where in your yard that much sun is available, then see if there is enough room there for the number of vegetables you intend to grow. If your vegetable garden will be small, you can probably choose a planting location which is only about three to four feet square.

Once you have chosen your location you can prepare the soil for your vegetable garden. You can create raised garden beds to plant your vegetables in if you’d like, and this will make preparation and care easier. If you’re planting in the ground though, you’ll need to turn the soil, remove all weeds, roots and large rocks, then mix some healthy compost into the soil so your vegetables will have the nutrition they need while growing.

After preparing the soil, you’ll need to make planting rows, or long mounds of soil, to plant your vegetables in. These rows should run east to west so they’ll get the best sun and water exposure. When you start planting seeds or starter plants, be sure to put those that will grow the tallest at the north side of your lot, so they won’t shade the smaller plants too much during the day. The smallest plants should go on the south side of your vegetable garden plot, and progressively taller ones should be planted across.

Author: Adam Fletcher
About the author:
Please visit my great new website Gardening With Adam It is a great resource for enthusiastic gardeners and will guide you through the whole gardening process.

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Very quick video showing the basics of worm composting.

Lots of novice gardeners believe that their plants and vegetables only need plenty of water and sunlight in order to sustain a healthy and fruitful lifespan. However this is not entirely true as plants also need healthy soil rich in nutrients to be able to survive and grow properly. The solution to this dilemma is composting.

Most of us aren’t too sure of what the heck composting is or what it even entails - I know I didn’t! An easy way to explain it is composting is a way for us to give back to the earth by using organic materials such as food scraps, vegetable scraps, grass clippings, leaves and manure from grass eaters like cows, sheep and rabbits. In general, composting is a wonderfully organic process that benefits your garden and the environment tremendously. In today’s article we’ll go ahead and talk about the benefits of composting, what you should and shouldn’t compost, and some composting systems you should consider investing in.

We all know that when anything dies it starts to decompose - humans, animals, plants, it’s all a very natural process. But did you know that in turn, the soil becomes very rich in nutrients and new life starts to grow? That’s the true benefit of composting and that’s what you want for your garden. In addition to improving your soil, composting saves you money, makes for terrific mulch for your garden, and places less burden on landfills.

Before you start undertaking a large composting project, there are a few key things you should keep in mind, like what you can and can’t use for composting. Let’s start with what you shouldn’t compost; this includes weeds full of seeds and/or diseases, pesticide infested plants, wood ashes, lime, barbeque charcoal, meat, grease, bones, dairy products, cat, dog and/or human waste, plastic, metal, glass, branches, wood chunks, anything contaminated, and large loads of soggy matter. Obviously anything in the aforementioned list would have an adverse effect on your compost, or won’t decompose properly, especially the bones, but we’ll go more into that later on in a future article.

With that said, it’s highly recommended that you use grass clippings, leaves, non-diseased and seed sprouting weeds, dead plants, food scraps like fruit and veggie wastes, cow, sheep or llama manure, straw/hay, coffee grounds, and even hair and lint when composting. These items break down quick and easily, giving you the end result that you’re looking for.

The next thing that you need to keep in mind is where you’re going to be doing all of this composting work. While some don’t mind working on their compost heap out in the open, like in the woods or in an open area preferably away from prying eyes (I never said it was a pretty looking process), I suggest looking into a bin or tumbler system. There are a couple of compost bin systems that you should consider: the one bin and multi-bin systems. For the money conscious the one bin system is the preferred method since it is easy and most municipalities even work with manufacturers to make this method available to the public.

In addition, it’s easy to move about, most can hold heat well and is sturdy enough to keep rodents and other wildlife out. The multi-bin system is for households that produce a lot of waste; it generally does the same thing as the one bin method but it allows you to stockpile your materials in one bin and in the other when more materials become ready. Both methods take anywhere from three to eight months in terms of ready to use compost. Another method you can consider is working with a compost tumbler, which isn’t cheap, but it is small if you’re working with limited space. Think of the benefits though: tumblers rotate which keep your compost aerated and generate heat, which in turn means that you’ll have a batch of ready to use compost in about three weeks. The wire collector is another option to weigh. Great for garnering up quick, ready to use composting, it’s cheap and you can even make one yourself out of rabbit wire or field fencing. However, I don’t really recommend it too often because it’s easy for wildlife to break in to and it doesn’t hold in heat very well. But the great thing about it is after your compost is done and ready, all you have to do is just remove the wire covering.

Do keep in mind the laws of your city. You wouldn’t think it, but check with your local government agency to see what your city will let you compost, like food scraps and what not. After all being cited for not composting within the legalities of your city isn’t very green. And when choosing the ideal composting system, think about your needs, how much waste you can you’d regularly add to it, how animal-resistant it is, and whether you can easily remove your ready to use compost. I know it’s a lot to think about before you begin, but trust me, it’s well worth the effort. In our next installment I’ll go ahead and talk about the science and art of composting - stay tuned! *Referenced from Home Composting Made Easy by C. Forrest McDowell, PhD and Tricia Clark-McDowell, 2002.

by Duong Vicki
For a wide selection in compost bins and rain barrels be sure to stop by Composters.com.

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