• Mowing � Consider using a manual push reel mover instead of gas or electric mower. Manual push powers don’t pollute the air with carbon emissions and don’t contribute to noise pollution. Also, there is less need for watering because of the grass clippings that are left behind help retain moisture in the lawn.
  If you are unable to use a manual push mower due to physical limitations or the immense size of your lawn, you can still be environmentally friendly with a motorized mower by mowing less frequently and setting the height of your mower higher. When your grass is a little higher, it shades out some of the weeds and less watering is needed as the roots grow deeper.
• Healthy Soil � If starting your lawn anew, you can prepare the soil by mixing in 1 to 3 inches of compost. You can buy it at stores in bulk or make it at home from kitchen scraps, leaves, plant material, and lawn clippings. Also, once the grass is growing you can add mulch from grass clippings or shredded leaves to keep the lawn growing strong. Use slow release organic fertilizers as needed.
• Seeds � Choose the grass seed that is best suited for your region, taking into account sun, water and soil conditions. Check with your local grow center or the Internet for advice.
• Pesticides � Think twice about using pesticides for killing weeds. There are many beneficial insects that are killed by pesticides and the runoff is damaging to waterways. As stated earlier, grow your grass longer to shade out weeds. If weeds do become a problem, pull them out manually or use a less toxic solution made of soap or horticultural oils.
• Watering � If your lawn does need moisture, water deeply but infrequently. This strengthens the root zone of the grass. As stated earlier, retain moisture in your lawn with the use of mulch.

For learning more about pursuing a career in landscape design, click here.

Sources

Permaculture Articles (2012)

King County: Department of Natural Resources and Parks: Solid Waste Division (2012)

Yahoo (2009)

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• Cut Your Utility Bill, Now!

Sometimes, it is disheartening.

And so I started looking for ways to save money.  We started with all of the “usual suspects” : I dropped the data plan on my phone, we quite going to the movie theatre, we dropped cable and got Netflix instead, we quit eating out as much and I started taking lunch with me to work .  In fact, I haven’t bought a Starbucks in over 3 months! (If you knew me, you would realize that is the biggest sacrifice.)

And all of these pennies do add up and make a difference.

However, I am now looking for ways to save even more money: trimming the utility bill.

Perhaps it is a more audacious goal then some of the other ones we have accomplished, but I’m pretty excited.  Not only is it a great way to save money, but also it benefits the environment by reducing pollution.

So, without any further ado, let me share with you some of the changes we are making to save money on our monthly utilities. We’ll start with the cheapest ideas first.

How To Cut Your Energy Bill!

Habits – This one is the hardest! Do you turn the lights out when you leave the room?  If you are a tad chilly, do you turn up the thermostat or throw on a sweater and a beanie?  My wife likes it a lot colder in the house than I do, but if I can bundle up and stand the 2-degree discomfort, it makes all the difference in our heating bill. And, we have yet to kick on the air conditioning this spring, choosing instead to go with a couple of $10 box fans we picked up last fall (and, yes, twice we have hit 80-degrees in the house.  Drink more water!)

Lighting – This was another cheap way to make a difference.  Now, I realize that the initial investment in fluorescent lighting is high enough that  it really takes a few years before the savings difference pays for itself (A 60 watt fluorescent replacement typically only saves about $40.50 in electricity costs over its lifetime.  Here is a light bulb efficiency calculator if you want to run some numbers).  However, these light bulbs are an extremely effective way to slowly transition to a greener home.

Appliances - Now we are getting to the more expensive suggestions.  Think about it.  How much do you run your washer and dryer and refrigerator?  If you are like us, you run them quite a bit.  The trick here is to weigh out the numbers.  It is easy to get carried away buying the “newest” front load washing machine, but a $2,000 front load washer had better be saving you a lot more money on energy, soap and water, to best the $600 top load washing machine it is sitting next to.  And don’t forget items like you heater and air conditioner.  Sometimes you can even get efficiency rebates from your local utility company by upgrading appliances or heating and cooling systems.

Attic Vents – I recently had a roofing contractor come over and give me a quote on my 1960′s house.  The roof is okay, but it only has 4 vents for about 1,000 square feet.  Since each vent is about half a foot of ventilation,  we need to double our venting.  The cost? $350.  It seems to be a great price in order to create a cooler attic that our air conditioning unit that won’t have to constantly struggle with.

Insulation – It’s a similar story with our insulation. We only have R-13 and, for our location, R-30 is the recommended value.  Once again, for only $300 (and a hot Saturday spent in the attic) we can blow in enough insulation to raise the R-value to current standards and drastically cut the amount of heat we loose in the wintertime.

Solar and Renewable Energy – I am including these here because I know a lot of people are looking for extreme ways to save money on their monthly bill.  And, if you have enough money to fund the initial installation costs, these renewable energy forms can be one of the best ways to truly create “free electricity”.  However, before starting a major renewable energy project, I would recommend that you get a home energy audit and find ways to save the most energy possible.  After all, even “free” electricity gets pricey if its wasted.

Jonathon Henly is the writer and webmaster for a Solar Energy site.

Green Living

• Solutions for Renewable Energy for our Future
• Cutting your Energy Bill is as easy as 1, 2, 3…4.
• Solar Power = One of the most effective and popular forms of alternative energy
• Getting a Solar Energy System For Your Home Without Going Broke
• Ways you can use solar energy at home….and why you should

The most notable uses of bio oil products for the skin are to treat acne; moisturize dry skin removes dark spots, blemishes and scars and lighten stretch marks. However, through time, research and further development of the oil, new applications became known to the public. These are the following:

• As a face cream, bio oil can also prevent the development of wrinkles. It does this by making sure that the skin is nourished better so as to provide extra stretch. Through this, the skin becomes more elastic and flexible to change without having to resort to unattractive wrinkles.
• Through regular use of bio oil, the calluses on the hands and feet can be minimized until they are softer and smoother. This is due to the moisturizing effect of the oil. If you are fond of foot and hand spa treatments, bio oil can help in maintaining the softness of the skin.
• Dark circles and puffiness of the eyes can also be lightened and treated through nightly routine use of the oil. Just by applying a small amount of the oil on the eye area before going to bed, the improvement can be noticed after about 2 weeks.
• The healing properties of the oil can help in minor skin problems like eczema, burns and abrasions. It can offer relief and can improve the rate of healing of these problems.
• Bio Oil can also be used as a natural bath oil. The oil acts as a lotion which can prevent dry skin.
• The oil can also be a moisturizer for the hair. It penetrates the hair shaft as well as the follicles so as to improve hair growth and repair damages.

It is Bio Oil’s promise to serve as a natural product for skin improvement. Despite the growth of commercially available products, bio oil is still among the best home remedies for skin and hair problems. Not only is it eco-friendly, it is also cost effective because with just a 200 ml bottle of Bio Oil, you can already improve your skin problems and hair issues for months.

Other green posts you might be interested in:

• Washing Your Car Without Water and Other Tips to Green Your Outdoor Spaces
• Vertical Vegetables: Building a Garden in the Air
• The Importance of Trees and Tips on how to Conserve Them
• Green grout cleaning – Cleaning your tile the environmental way!
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The past years have brought in a resurgence of these creepy crawlies in homes and hotels which has alerted both the private and public sectors alike. Despite their miniscule size, these persistent and tiny critters can wreak havoc and nasty bites on anyone who is unfortunate enough to rest in their domain.

One of the biggest problems in fending off these bugs lies in the fact that they can easily spread. From the most luxurious hotels in New York to the smallest community in Alaska, no mattress is safe from these tiny crawlers.

Tracking down and eliminating these bed creepers is not easy. Given their size and numbers, fending off these insects requires skill and dedication. Rather than resort to costly and risky chemical pesticides, we are listing the most effective steps to eradicate these bugs sans the use of any toxic chemicals.

Step 1: Inspection

Check your home for any sign of bed bug infestation by going on all fours and closely inspecting your mattress and side tables to look for these cunning creatures. Make sure to look through every fold and crack where they could be hiding.

Step 2: Boric Acid

Buy some powdered boric acid and spread them around your bed. Completely safe for your loved ones and pets, boric acid is very potent in killing bed bugs that prey on you and your family.

Step 3: Black Walnut Leaf Tea

Go to the store and buy yourself some black walnut leaf tea, a powerful insecticide that is sure to give your unwanted house guests an early demise. The best way to use it is to pour it on a dropper and apply it directly to these bugs as you go over your bed, mattress, bedding and the like. Alternately, you can also pour it on a sprayer and light squirt it along your bed.

Step 4: Hot Water

When laundering your bed sheets and pillowcases, make sure to wash them with hot water to eliminate these sturdy crawlers. The hot water also does a great job at disinfecting them and removing tiny stains that these blood suckers may have left behind on your bedding.

Step 5: Neem Oil

Spraying neem oil on your bed is also highly effective in getting rid of bed bugs and head lice. Approved by the US FDA for home use, neem oil is taken from the leaves of a tree in India and can be bought in local stores.

Step 6: Thyme

Thyme can also help drive out bed bugs as they give off a specific odor that bed bugs cannot stand.

Step 7: Replace

If, after all these steps, you still feel that you have these critters around, then invest in a new mattress or clean it out from top to bottom to thoroughly rid your home of these bed bugs.

Consider these alternatives to chemical treatments before moving to the hard stuff. Your family and the environment will thank you.

Carla writes for BedBugs.org, where she educates homeowners on their bedbugs spray options, as well as the many other detection and bed bug control products available today.

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• Solar Power = One of the most effective and popular forms of alternative energy
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• Solar Panel Leasing For Small Businesses

The pale and yellow liquid called castor oil is not a new discovery; nevertheless, time and technology allowed this oil to be used in different applications. Since time immemorial, the oil which is extracted from castor seeds has proven to have effective uses for the health aside from its industrial uses. This organic product maintains its natural essential properties without undergoing further processing because the further breakdown of the properties will not ensure effectiveness to produce the necessary effects or outcomes a person want. It is helpful to know what the castor oil benefits are so that everyone can find his or her own uses for the oil.

Health Benefits of Castor Oil:

1. Digestive Problem—the oil is well-known in the field of medicine as a natural laxative. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration of the US categorized the oil as “generally recognized as safe and effective” or GRASE due to the success of the oil to aid in constipation. However, the oil can also cause diarrhea and subsequently, dehydration.
2. Skin Problems—due to the ricinoleic acid content of the oil, minor abrasions and burns can be treated since ricinoleic acid is known to have an anti-inflammatory nature. Acne and eczema are also included in the problems that can be treated by castor. Aside from the anti-inflammatory property, the oil is also antifungal and can prevent fungal growth (such as ringworm) that can be very uncomfortable and unsightly for the skin. As a natural emollient, the oil is also considered to moisturize the skin and this can be very beneficial for those who are suffering from dry skin. The skin can also be stimulated so as to produce collagen to make the skin more hydrated. Some women also prefer using the oil as compared to other creams to lighten the appearance of wrinkles. The dark bags under the eyes can also be prevented through the use of the oil.
3. Labor Problems—due to the properties of the oil to aid in constipation, the theory permits pregnant women to use the oil since the idea is that the uterus can also be stimulated so as to start contraction. Again, the oil can cause diarrhea and dehydration and it is important to consult with a health care physician first before taking the oil to induce labor.
4. Hair Problems—whether you have hair loss issues, hair damages or scalp problems, castor oil can be used to prevent and treat these problems. Through maintaining a good regimen of castor oil, more hair loss can be prevented and growth can start. Damages like breakage, split ends and dry hair can also be treated. The scalp can have issues that can be related to hair loss and other issues like dandruff and through the use of the oil, these concerns can be resolved. Castor oil for hair growth and hair treatments is not a recent breakthrough since the oil is an ingredient in hair products.
5. Other Health Problems—some say that the oil can also be a good alternative medication for tumors (through the use of castor oil packs), Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.

If organic product castor oil can be used to solve or treat the aforementioned problems, then it is clear that everyday problems as well as serious ones can benefit through using castor oil.

Other green posts you might be interested in:

• Saving Money With Sustainable Homes
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• 6 Ways Investing In the Environment is Investing In the Future
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And the good news is that no matter where you live, you can probably grow more than herbs. Using vertical space as well as horizontal space can open up a whole raft of options for growing plants.

The term vertical garden can mean several things. It could mean a garden of plants that grow up a wall, or a garden of plants that hangs down from the top of a wall, or a garden of plants that’s grown on a trellis. It could mean using the vertical space in a small garden, or using a balcony or even window space most efficiently. Whatever picture the phrase may conjure up in your mind, the main idea is build a garden that stands above the ground and occupies vertical space rather than horizontal space. Building a vegetable garden in the air is a great idea if you don’t have space on the ground. In addition to supplementing your vegetable needs, it also adds aesthetic appeal to your home if done properly.

If you sit down and research the internet for just a few minutes, you will be astounded by the number of vertical garden ideas on offer. Many of them are based on patented systems that will cost you money. Other’s are DIY systems made from recycled rain gutters or plastic bottles.  No matter what or whose idea you decide to adopt, always make sure that it will work for you and that you can actually implement it; otherwise it will just be a waste of time and money.

Hydroponic garden and other ideas

Below is an idea for a simple vertical wall garden that you can build. Some of the other methods of growing a vertical garden include a hydroponic garden, Grow Wall, Zipgrow towers and Arista Case, to name a few. Hydroponics is a method in which plants are grown in a container using only water and mineral nutrients. This method of growing plants without soil has been in use for over a hundred years. Other traditional methods include growing plants on an arched trellis, on windows sill and balconies and even on rooftops.

Building a vertical wall garden

This idea is one of the easiest to implement. The usual method is to fix several rows of planters against the wall with nails or screws. You may also use rain gutters or open-top fixtures that are 8 to 12 inches deep instead of planters. Another idea would be to fix several rows of wooden planks or metal racks against the wall and place planters on them. Just make sure that the lowest row is at least 3 feet above the ground, so you can also place pots or planters directly on the ground under it, and all the successive rows are 3 feet apart so as allow enough vertical space for the plants to grow.

Don’t forget to drill drainage holes at the bottom of planters or whatever you have used in their place, if they don’t have them. Stagger the placement of the holes in each row, so that the planters will drip water down to the next row, without it going straight through. Fill them up with good garden soil, add compost or organic fertilizers as required, and sow the seeds or transplant saplings. Don’t forget to water the plants regularly. In no time at all, you will have a beautiful and healthy garden in the air.

There are lots of other ways to build a vertical garden, and lots of different plants to grow. Try trailing cucumbers or vining tomatoes. Try herbs or salad vegies in pots on your window sill or fixed to the wall. For more ideas, see the new website, AContainerGarden.com, or do a google image search on ‘vertical gardens’.

Other green posts you might be interested in:

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• Home Made Energy Generation – Really?
• A Few Reasons Why Hydroponics Is Better Than Geoponic Gardening
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• Solutions for Renewable Energy for our Future

Many kids and school-leavers are asking what they should study to work in the field of sustainable energies. The good news is: This branch is as interdisciplinary as it gets and you have very good opportunities with a wide range of qualifications.

Geosciences

The geosciences are a broad field dealing with all processes that take place naturally on our earth. While there are many job opportunities that are not so green like oil exploration for example, there is a big demand for professionals that work in the environmental field.

Pollutions of every kind play a huge role in our industrial environment and the goal of many geoscientists is the reduction and prevention of these pollutions. Other fields include groundwater management, climatic research and waste management.

Engineering

The same rules that apply for the geosciences apply for engineering. You carefully need to evaluate the job opportunity you take, because while there are many green jobs, there are even more jobs that will harm our environment.

Work for a company that produces wind turbines, not for the nuclear plant. Invent new ways to build small scale wind turbines for the home and don’t construct the next 20l car. The keyword here is environmental engineering. Environmental engineers apply the concepts of engineering to minimize pollution and to ensure that our water, air and land remains clean or gets clean again.

Besides, there are many products that can be invented which make a small step in the right direction. Think about water saving shower heads for example. While one of them doesn’t make a big difference, we can conserve incredible amounts of water if everybody uses them.

Chemistry

There are many branches where chemists can work in a green way.

They support the engineers and geoscientists with chemical analysis and laboratory work. They detect pollutants, develop methods to clean water and soil, and research new possibilities for a greener use of our resources. They also develop new eco-friendly materials to lower our waste output.

Consulting

Consulting is getting more and more important in our technical times.

While most people don’t care about the environment at all, everybody loves to know how to save energy at home when you show them the huge saving potential. Energy consultants help companies and home owners to reduce their energy consumption. For me it doesn’t matter if they want to save their money or the environment, the result is what matters.

As you can see, there are many branches that offer great opportunities for a green job. Apply today and do your part for an eco-friendly future.

Other green posts you might be interested in:

• Chemical Free Bed Bug Treatments You Can Perform Yourself
• Pour Over Coffee – Save Money, Electricity, and Look Awesome
• Where Is Our Energy Coming From And Why Should We Look For Alternatives?
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• Solar Panels — The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

With conservation in mind, let me introduce you to a simple and easy way to go green at work with a cool new gadget known as the stapleless stapler.  You might be wondering exactly what a stapleless stapler is when the name it’s self is a contradiction.  A stapleless stapler works like an ordinary stapler but does not use metal staples at all.  Also known as a staple free stapler, these new Eco-friendly gadgets are inexpensive, practical, and believe it or not – even fun!

With a stapleless stapler at the office you can eliminate the need for metal staples when it comes to everyday stapling that involves small stacks of paper.  Today’s staple free staplers are capable of handling up to 10 sheets of paper at a time.  If you have ever found yourself removing staples from papers in order to copy, fax, shred, or recycle that paper than you probably already know what a positive difference a staple free stapler can make.  With a stapleless stapler, there are no staples to remove and those pages come apart with nothing more then a firm tug.

There are several different brands and models of stapleless staplers that are available for purchase.  Some are shaped like a traditional stapler while others are tiny.  My personal favorite are the ones that you can see through.  It’s fascinating to watch how the stapleless stapler operates!  In case you are wondering, it joins the pages by creating a small hole and “weaving” the paper in to it’s self to form a bond.  This is surprisingly effective at holding the pages together but at the same time it does not prevent you from taking them apart when you choose to do so.

There are many ways to go green and do your part to help our environment but sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ones.  With a staple free stapler you are conserving metal and making it easier to recycle unwanted paper.  Stapleless staplers can be found at major office supply stores and online and they retail for around $10 each.  Overall, they are a very worthwhile investment and one that you will be glad you made!

Other green posts you might be interested in:

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Graphene is an allotrope of carbon that is only a single atom in depth. It strength arises from the four pi electrons that hold each carbon atom in place in a hexagonal arrangement. Much like graphite which has the same arrangement of atoms but exists as a number of stacked planes, graphene is so strong that a single sheet of it can be held in the hand without breaking. In fact, a sheet of graphene the thickness of food wrap would be so strong that it could support the weight of an elephant sat on top of a pencil. Now, that’s some party trick.

So, with graphene being such a promising material you probably want to know what more about the downside. Every rose has its thorn as they say. Well, one of the biggest problems with graphene is the problem of production. Graphene was first created after an inauspicious experiment involving a block of graphite and scotch tape, but the main industrial production processes involve the use of highly toxic hydrazine vapour. All that promise, and all those claims of environmental friendliness, suddenly vanish in a cloud of poisonous gas. Other production techniques are possible, but none are as economically viable as the hydrazine technique.

At least that was the case until recently. In an about turn, graphene is set to reclaim its rights to being the greenest material known to man . Researchers from Toyahashi University in Japan have discovered a technique to make the miracle material using the bacteria found in river sediment. The natural respiration of the bacteria has been shown to reduce graphene oxide to graphene, making the material a miracle of mother nature.

Furthermore, in another piece of recent research graphene has been shown to be piezoelectric, which means it has the capacity to generate electricity through movement. Bend a piece of graphene and a current is produced, not a bad property for a flexible material. So graphene’s green potential is reasserted, and with more academic papers being published on this substance than on any other the chances of new discoveries is extremely high.

If you are serious about green technology and a greener future then you really can’t afford to remain in the dark about graphene. This one substance is set to change our lives.

Green Living

• Energy Star- A Project Long in the Making
• What are the best ways to start saving energy? By using energy saving light bulbs

When looking at your next car then it is definitely best to make sure that you choose a vehicle which has documented history.  Reliability is the key, and also pay particular attention to whether or not the car has passed all the relevant emissions tests – these will vary from country to country.

Size is Important When it Comes to Your Car

You should also consider the size of the car that you are going to buy. In order to be as green-minded as possible buy as small car as possible for your daily driving needs.  For example, you might think you need a large car because you drive to see relations on the other side of the country… but if this journey only happens twice a year then this should be considered to be actually quite inefficient.  Buy a smaller car for the majority of your driving and then rent a larger vehicle for those longer trips.

You Should Also Try to Car Share

Car sharing is also a hot topic in the green movement, and many people will have informal agreements with friends and neighbors – one of the more popular ways to car share is taking it in turns to take the neighborhood kids to school rather than clogging up the road network with loads of cars with just one child in.  Once you have bought your new car, then there is never a better time to make arrangements about how you are going to share it.

Don’t Buy a New Car – Join a Car Club Instead!

It might be that you take a very radical approach to car sharing which is starting to become popular in some communities.  In essence this takes car sharing to the next levels, with people clubbing together and reducing the amount of actual cars that they own.  These Car-Clubs can be found on the web so search to see if there is one near to you – research states that it could save you anything up to $5,000 Dollars each year if successful.

Author Bio: James McCloud is one of the team who runs the Acura Navigation System Updates website.  They specialize in trying to help drivers save money, and if you own an Acura car you could actually save cash just by buying a new Acura Navi DVD.  Models including are the MDX, RL, TSX, TL, and CL ranges.

Green Living

• Driving Green and SAVE yourself money!