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Articles Lawn & Garden Recycling

Turning Your Backyard Into a Green-Living Haven

No home is complete without a spruced up backyard. Even if this outdoor area is rather small, with the right touch, it can look better than ever before, and more importantly, it can be used as a versatile form of living space. From outdoor kitchens to in-ground swimming pools, there are many ways to make use of a backyard. And best of all, there are many green-friendly techniques you can follow to ensure you turn your backyard into a green-living haven.

Revamp Your Used Furniture

Your current outdoor patio furniture may seem a bit worn out, but by upcycling these pieces, you’ll be well on your way to revamping them into completely new pieces. From adding a fresh coat of paint to replacing the cushions, there are many affordable and eco-friendly methods for sprucing up old furniture and extending its longevity.

Be Cautious with the Way You Plant Flowers and Trees

If your backyard is spotted with plants, flowers and trees that require lots of water, you’ll at least want to group these together. In doing so, it will be easier to water these areas on a more consistent basis than you do other areas of the yard. Not only does this help conserve water, but it will do wonders for your water bill.

Do the Work Yourself

One of the best ways to create a backyard haven in a green-friendly way is by doing the work yourself. From raking the yard to digging holes to planting flowers, when you do things yourself, this allows you to accomplish your tasks in the greenest manners possible. And in addition to taking lots of pride in the end-product, you’ll also save a ton of money by doing the work yourself. Do keep in mind, though, that maintaining your backyard will take lots of work; it will need your attention all year long.

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Articles Eco Eats Uncategorized

Go Italian for Meatless Monday with Stuffed Shells

Meatless Mondays, and other food-themed days of the week, were invented to help stave off the boredom of having the same dishes over and over again. Even within those parameters, though, you could find yourself falling into a rut when it comes to the meatless dishes that grace your table each Monday. Stuffed shells is a classic Italian dish that lends itself to a variety of different versions, making it easy for you to customize it to suit your palate.

Modern Twist on an Old Favorite Embraces Versatility

While you start this recipe the same way regardless of which version you make – by boiling water to cook the typical large shells that can easily be stuffed – there the similarities end. You can tweak the filling for the shells to suit your dietary restrictions. For example, you can use soy ricotta cheese if you are dairy free or an egg substitute if you are also a vegan, to make the filling for the shells.

It is All in The Sauce

The sauce that you use in this recipe is another avenue that allows for plenty of adaptation and customization. A good marinara sauce – store-bought or homemade from ingredients from your garden – provides a delicious and light taste that allows you to savor each of the individual flavors equally. Adding chopped vegetables – spinach, zucchini and carrots are just a few ideas – while the sauce is simmering increase the healthy quotient of this meal. Additions, such as tofu or textured vegetable protein (TVP), add a significant dollop of protein.

Basic Stuffed Shells Recipe

12 large pasta shells

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic or 2 cloves of fresh garlic

1-1/4 cups finely chopped onion

1-1/2 cups ricotta cheese or substitute

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Seasonings to taste (black pepper, Italian seasoning, etc.)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1-1/2 cups of sauce

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1. Generously grease a 9 inch baking dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Stirring often, cook pasta shells according to the directions on the package just until tender. Drain, rinse under cold water and set aside.

3. Heat oil in large skillet and add the onion and garlic, cooking until translucent.

4. Mix ricotta, egg and parmesan cheese, seasoning it to taste. Add cooked onion and garlic before mixing well.

5. Using about two tablespoons, generously stuff each cooked shell before arranging them in the dish.

6. Top with sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Makes about 4 servings.

 

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Articles Eco Eats Eco Tips Uncategorized

Ways to Preserve Summer’s Bounty

It might be hard to believe, but the end of the growing this summer’s growing season is right around the corner. Many of the fruits and vegetables are reaching their peak and must be picked now before they begin to wither on their vines or stalks. In order to enjoy the benefits of summer’s bounty, there are a few tricks and tips to implement now.

Freeze

One of the best ways to extend your enjoyment of summertime foods is to freeze them. Quick and easy, freezing foods at the peak of their freshness helps retain their vibrant colors and superior nutritional value. To freeze berries, gently wash them in cool water before patting them dry and lay them on wax paper-lined cookie sheets in a single layer. After they are frozen, place in a freezer safe container or bag, making sure to remove all the air first, before closing it securely. This method works for all berries except for blueberries. Washing them before freezing makes their skins tough so avoid doing so. Just be sure to do so before using them later.

Zucchini and other vegetables can be shredded so they can easily be added to baked goods and savory sauces before being placed in freezer safe bags. Be sure to label storage containers and bags with the type of food and the date.

Canning

Canning allows you to turn the berries, cucumbers and peppers you pick this summer into delicious, fresh-tasting condiments that can be enjoyed by your whole family, even when the season is over. Today, there is an array of different methods you can use to can different foods. Whether you want to go the traditional route and can foods using a pressure cooker or you want to try one of the newer no-cook methods, be sure to follow the directions carefully in order to ensure optimal results.

Be sure to have fun experimenting with the best ways to preserve summertime crops. Taking the time to do this now will ensure that you can enjoy the taste of fresh foods, even in the dead of winter.

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Articles Lawn & Garden Uncategorized

Getting Your Yard to Look Marvelous In a Budget-Friendly Manner

A large number of homeowners take a great deal of pride in their lawns. If you happen to be one of these people, there’s no need to stress about taking care of your lawn even if you’re on a budget. Let’s take a quick look at a few budget-friendly tips you can follow to keep your lawn looking its best all year long.

Swap out your services

If you have time to mow your own lawn, then by all means you should. If, however, time doesn’t permit, then you’ll need to hire someone to mow it for you. Unfortunately, paying for lawn mowing services can get quite expensive. Think about it, if you hire someone to mow your lawn for $50 a week, that’s still $200 a month, sometimes $250.

To avoid having to pay for lawn care, you could swap out your services. For example, if your lawn care guy has kids, you could offer to babysit one to two days/nights a week in exchange for mowing your lawn. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Make sure your lawn is mowed in the right manner

When mowing your lawn, it’s best to leave the mower blades high. In doing this, the grass will grow deeper roots, which means your grass will not only be thicker but healthier too.

Quit wasting time picking up any clippings

After your lawn gets mowed, it may be tempting to pick up any loose clippings. In all actuality, though, it’s best to leave them sitting as they are because they will eventually start to breakdown, which means they’ll be contributing nitrogen to your lawn and serve as a free form of grass fertilizer.

Plant your own flowers

Instead of paying a landscape specialist thousands of dollars to plant shrubs, trees and flowers, consider doing the work yourself. There are many free, online tutorials that you can use to walk you through all involved planting steps, and best of all, you’ll be able to take much pride in your yard once the work is done.

Water your lawn in the morning

According to Keypointapp, it’s best to water your lawn in the morning. The grass will soak up the water, and any excess water will evaporate before the day ends, meaning it’ll be less likely that fungus will form on your lawn.

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Articles Eco Tips Home Improvement Uncategorized

Tips for Adding Beauty and Value to Your Home the Eco-Friendly Way

When people go about remodeling or adding onto their homes, they often think the involved processes will be overly expensive. Don’t be fooled by this false belief. There are many affordable ways that you can give your home a makeover, and best of all, you can be eco-friendly at the same time. Here are some great tips for adding both beauty and value to your home, while at the same time being mother nature’s best friend.

Replacing Your Roof

Yes, replacing your roof can be a bit costly at first, but if you cover it in shingles or metal that are light in color, this can greatly reduce the temperature in your attic. As a result, you’ll likely reap the benefit of cooler temperatures in your home, which means you can save a considerable amount of money on your cooling expenses.

Decorating with Pallet Racks

Pallet racks are often given away for free from both large and small businesses. By gathering several of them, you can easily recycle them by constructing shelves, indoor and outdoor furniture and lots more. You can paint or stain these racks any color of your choosing, which is an excellent way to add lots of character to your home.

Swap Out Your Showerheads

Being friendly to mother nature involves reducing your water usage. A great way to do this is by switching out the showerheads in your bathrooms to ones that support the low flow of water.

Install Extra Ceiling Fans

Fans can go a long way in adding flair to any room, and better yet, they make it easier to cool your home during the warmer months of the year. Mother nature will truly appreciate it when you turn off the AC and crank up the fans.

Insulate Your Water Heater

There’s a good chance that your hot water heater is already insulated, but if you add extra insulation, this will make it easier to heat your water, and it could save you up to 15 percent or more on the expense of heating your water.

Tint Your Windows

Just the same as you can tint the windows on your car, your home’s windows can be tinted too. In doing this, you’ll be reflecting the sun’s glare, which will make it easier to cool your home.

The Takeaway

Giving your home an eco-friendly makeover doesn’t mean you have to empty your bank account. And even though you’ll be spending money to carry out the projects, you can rest assured that you’ll be saving money at the same time on several of your utility bills.

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Articles Home Decor Recycling

How to Upcycle Old Wooden Furniture

Looking to add some fun and unique furniture pieces to your home? If so, then you might want to look at what you already have or even check out a local antique shop. You might be surprised at just what kinds of furniture you may be able to upcycle and use to add one-of-a-kind style to your space. Old wooden furniture, such as dressers and end tables, can be upcycled and restored with just a little bit of creativity and elbow grease. Read on to learn how to restore and upcycle old wooden furniture for your home.

Stripping Existing Paint and Varnish
Start by removing any hardware from the furniture that you want to keep intact so that only the wood structure itself remains. Hardware may include knobs, handles, and even metal drawer sliders. From there, you’ll want to apply the remover (using a paint brush or sponge) as directed on the label and give it as much time as needed to work. Attempting to strip the paint or varnish before it’s ready will result in an inconsistent look and will not be fully effective (HowStuffWorks).

Once the remover has been left on as long as is needed, use a scraper and/or steel wool to scoop up the clumps of removed paint or varnish; then, dispose into a safe container to bring to a local hazardous materials facility.

Sanding and Preparing for New Finish
Once you’ve stripped the old paint or finish, you’ll probably want to prepare the bare wood for a new finish. This will involve sanding the wood. The grain of sandpaper you’ll want to use will depend on the condition of the wood; if it needs a lot of sanding, then a coarser grit paper (around 160 grit should do the trick) will be needed. For finer sanding, stick to 240 grit or higher.

Applying the New Finish
Once the furniture is sanded, it’s ready to take on a whole new look. Decide between staining the wood and painting it based on your personal preferences. If you’re looking to achieve a truly rustic and unique look, consider distressing the paint yourself (HGTV). Once the new finish is dry, adorn your new wooden furniture with new hardware if desired to give it even more character.

Save the planet and your pocketbook by upcycling old furniture and giving it new life in your home. You’d be surprised at just how much fun you can have with this project!

~Danielle N. 

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Articles Eco Tips Recycling

A Re-Purposeful Life

New isn’t necessarily better. In fact, repurposing items can create a unique environment filled with pieces that can’t be found in chain stores and can keep articles out of landfills. You can take this a step further when you reclaim materials from a deconstruction site. If you’re building or deconstructing a home or business, consider buying or selling materials to use again.

PlanetReuse connects buyers and sellers to materials for repurposing from deconstruction projects. You can build a home or business with reprocessed items from top to bottom. The PlanetReuse Marketplace features links to roofing materials, ceiling fans, wooden beams, lighting, molding, siding, windows, carpet tiles, and pine flooring. There are kitchen cabinets, bathroom sinks and various types of tables waiting to be recycled. For treasure hunters, stained glass windows, vintage clawfoot bathtubs, and antique sconces are yours for the salvaging. Moreover, if you’re interested in redoing your driveway or garden, you can use reclaimed landscaping rock, edging pavers, bricks, cobblestone or granite to create your own work of landscaping art. It’s all available at PlanetReuse, so check out its Marketplace section to see what’s available online.

Habitat for Humanity ReStores are nonprofit home improvement stores and donation centers throughout North America. Its website features a drop-down menu with filters by zip code and state to find Restores in the U.S. and offers an alternate filter for Canadian Provinces. Not only can you buy new and gently used furniture, appliances, home goods, and building materials, you can buy items far below retail prices. As an added attraction, proceeds go to build homes in communities in need of aid.

The Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA) specializes in finding deconstruction or reuse businesses in your area with its business directory of listings and an interactive map. BMRA works to advance the recovery, reuse, and recycling of building materials by reducing resource consumption and landfill waste.

When it comes to interior decorating, you can adorn your home or business with vintage items from antique stores, yard sales or check out Freecycle.org; it’s an organization dedicated solely to recycling free items. Another option is to conduct online searches for reuse centers and resellers in your area. Lastly, if you see a deconstruction project in your area, contact a project representative or community liaison to see what may be available.

To reprocess an old saying, they don’t make things like they used to, so why not reclaim it? With recycling options at your fingertips, you can make your life a re-purposeful one.

~Maureen F. 

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Articles Eco Tips Home Improvement

4 Easy Ways to Save Energy

For many people, the thought of going green and becoming eco-friendly seems overwhelming and costly. However, one of the easiest ways to make your home more “green” is to cut the amount of energy your home consumes. Not only will learning how to cut your energy use be beneficial for the environment, but it will also help to cut the amount of money you spend each month for energy costs. Here are 4 easy ways to start saving energy.

Kill the Energy Vampires

Energy vampires are the electronics and small appliances in your home that continue to “suck energy” when they aren’t in use. By unplugging all the small appliances and electronics in your home when they are not being used, you can save a few hundred dollars each year on energy costs. Some of the most common energy vampires include; toasters, coffee makers, cell phones, television sets, gaming equipment and computers.

Doing the Dishes

Each time you load the dishwasher you are using a lot of water as well as a lot of energy to heat the water. Whenever possible, wash dishes by hand or wait until the dishwasher is full before running it.

  • When washing dishes by hand, wash several pieces and rinse them all at once, instead of leaving the water running to rinse each piece as it is washed.
  • If you use the dishwasher,choose the energy-saving option and/or an air dry option to cut the amount of energy it takes for the dishwasher to heat dry the items.

Is the Attic Insulated?

Many homes, especially older homes, do not have enough insulation in the attic to keep their home at a comfortable temperature, which causes the furnace and/or the air conditioner to work harder than it should. Inspect the attic for areas where air is entering or escaping, such as around windows and in the rafters. For small places, you can use a spray foam, which expands and blocks drafts and if the rafters are bare, it is best to use a rolled insulation to fill them in.

Change the Light Bulbs

One of the easiest and least expensive ways to “go green” and save money on energy costs is to remove traditional bulbs and install LED bulbs. LED bulbs last longer than standard bulbs, so you will save money by not having to replace them as often and they use less energy.

Making the change to have a “greener” home is a process that can’t be done overnight. However, as insignificant as the small changes seem, such as changing light bulbs, each small step you take will have an impact on saving the environment as well as saving money on your home’s energy costs.

~Rene W.

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Articles By Topic Eco Tips Featured

Best of the Best: Green Laundry Detergent

With so many “green” laundry detergents out on the market, how do you know which is the best for the environment and which is the one that is the best for your family? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created a system that allows consumers to find out which laundry detergents live up to their claims. The EPA asks the manufacturers to submit a list of all the active ingredients and if they are using the safest chemicals they will earn the seal of approval (the Design for the Environment Seal to be more specific.)

Even when you know which chemicals are harmful, the manufacturers don’t have to list them. That’s where the Design for the Environment logo becomes extremely helpful. You know that you’re buying the best eco-friendly product. However when you are picking out laundry detergent and the product does not have the seal, be sure to check the label for some of these worrisome ingredients/chemicals:

  • Phosphates– especially nonylphenol ethoxylates
  • Chlorine
  • Petroleum

According to consumersearch.com these are 3 of the best laundry detergents you can buy to help keep your family and yourself safe and help the environment out as well!

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  • Seventh Generation Natural Powdered Detergent (*Est. 36 cents per load). Currently Seventh Generation is waiting for the Design for Environment Seal; however the consumer reviews are very positive.  You can order online at their website here.
  • Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day (*Est. 24 cents per load).  Mrs. Meyer’s Clean day has attained the Design for the Environment Seal and also has a strong fan base.  Consumers that have reviewed the product have mentioned that the variety of scents is not too overpowering and the detergent does what it claims. Go here for more information or to purchase the detergent.
  • Arm & Hammer Essentials Liquid Laundry Detergent (*Est. 37 cents per load). Good housekeeping has ranked this #1 among 9 detergents tested for effectiveness.  Currently this product is only sold as a liquid and does not have the Design for the Environment seal. Click here to read reviews and purchase this product.

Not ready to make the switch just yet? For consumers unwilling to make the switch to green laundry detergent just yet, try purchasing eco-friendly laundry products and avoid buying fragranced products. That may help eliminate some of the worst chemicals in your laundry detergent (from a health perspective).

Sources: consumersearch.com

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Articles Recycling

Recycle Those Batteries

We use batteries to power any number of household items: remote controls, cameras, flashlights and portable power tools, among others. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, each year Americans buy almost 3 billion dry-cell batteries to power these common household items. The average American discards eight batteries each year. Single-use batteries contain materials that are both recyclable and considered hazardous.

If batteries are not recycled, these metals can pollute the environment. Depending on how batteries are discarded, the metals can be released into the air or remain behind in the ash created by incineration. Batteries that are disposed of in landfills can leach into the soil, contaminating water supplies. This is especially true of automotive batteries, which contain lead and acid. Instead you are encouraged to separate batteries from the regular household trash and find a proper place to dispose of the batteries. Rechargeable batteries have reduced the amount of batteries that need to be recycled. However the majority of batteries are still single-use.

Here are some places where you can recycle your old batteries:

Consumer retail stores– A lot of retail stores have begun to recycle batteries. Stores like Best Buy, Office Depot, and Radio Shack (just to name a few), typically have recycling kiosks inside their stores. These kiosks make it easy and quick to recycle your batteries, just drop them off and be on your merry way!

Call your local waste management facility — A lot of cities and towns have implemented a battery recycling program. Be sure to call your local waste management facility to see what options are available to you in your area.

Check online – Check online at websites like http://www.call2recycle.org/ and http://earth911.com/recycling/single-use-batteries/ to find battery recycling drop off locations nearest you!