Guest Blogger: Simples Ideas for Going Green in Your Own Backyard

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Guest Blogger: Simples Ideas for Going Green in Your Own Backyard

Jan 31, 2012 06:30 am

Guest Blogger #352, Entry #930, January 31, 2012

It’s no secret that more people are incorporating green living into their lives than ever. If you’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump in on the green movement, your backyard might be the place to start. When you look out your window today and see an average backyard with everyday features, there’s no reason why you can’t transform it into a green haven that leads to bigger and better things. There’s lots of opportunity for any type of backyard whether it’s relatively bare or already filled with fantastic trendy features. And it’s not just about saving the earth or preserving resources, there are practical reasons for going green that can help you to save money as well. Best of all, it might just turn into a project that results in a tremendous source of pride for your entire family. Here are some simple ideas that can help you to get started with a greener backyard.

How do you green your backyard?

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Re-Size Your Grass Space

Watering a lawn and backyard grass space takes a tremendous toll on our most precious natural resource. It’s not uncommon for particularly hot areas to put a ban on watering during the summer. And even when there is no such ban in place, you have to wonder about exactly how much water you’re using every year to keep all that grass looking healthy. You might want to think about scaling down the amount of grass you have in your backyard and possibly replacing it with something that uses up less resources. You might think that it’s strange to “go green” by actually eliminating the vegetation, but the world will do just fine without your bigger backyard. It’s far better to find a better purpose for all that water it uses up.

A Recycling Station

It’s amazing to think that some parts of North America aren’t totally on board with recycling yet. Hopefully you live in a community where there are incentives to recycle all manner of everyday household items. Even if you don’t, there’s no reason why you can’t start separating normal garbage from things that can be used again. Recycling is a great way to get the kids on the action since they can help out as well. You can create a full-fledged station design for education, and there’s no reason why he can’t be fun at the same time.

Compost

Along the lines of setting up a recycling station, you can do the same thing for organic waste. One of the major objections to forming a compost bin is the perceived mess. But imagine what happens when all that extra garbage gets put into landfills. Separating organic garbage and dealing with it in your own backyard helps to reduce the stress on landfills and the environment. Even if you don’t use the resulting fertilizer yourself, there are plenty of places that will happily accept it.

Consider more paving than greenery

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A Green Garden

There are many benefits to starting up a garden of your own even if you don’t have green thumbs quite yet. For many people, they discover that it’s a relaxing activity where they can progress at their own pace. Even better, when you put enough time into the project you’ll end up with produce you can use in your own kitchen. There are heavy transportation and environmental costs associated with traditional farming, and simply getting all that progress to your grocery store uses up a lot of energy. You can take a little bit of the stress off the situation by using your own vegetables that will also serve as a fun alternative for your daily menu.

Energy Saving

a lot of people ignore daily energy-saving habits in their backyard. And yet people make sure to turn off all the lights in their own home or reduce water usage while brushing their teeth. You should have the same diligent attitude when it comes to your own backyard and make sure that any patio lights, outdoor heating, toolshed sources, or water hoses are turned off when not in use. You might also want to put aside your old traditional charcoal grill and opt for a natural gas model instead. There are plenty of gas grills on the market that can easily use a backyard line to save you money while giving you enough power to cook awesome feasts as well. And as you implement a few simple energy-saving matters, you might look into the future to see if wind and solar power might be reasonable options as well.

Consider a 'green' backyard for water conservation

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This article about green backyards comes to us from our friends at gasgrillsandbbq.com where you can find reviews on natural gas grills that would fit the green model. Or if you’re not quite ready to make the transition yet, you can also find information on buying a hybrid charcoal grill that offers you the best of both worlds.
For more green living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.