Outdoor Adventure in Going Green!

I have blogged about converting items from room to room in the home to a more healthy, non-toxic green atmosphere, but what about outside?  During the summer months our families tend to spend more time outside working the yard, children playing outside, and most fun is friends gathering for family cookouts.

Of course one way to go green is to have a flourishing yard with tree's, shrubbery, plants, flowers and of course a must-have organic garden.  I did touch on the organic garden in a previous blog if you would like some helpful hints.  I love a yard with many tall beautiful tree's, providing homes for many areas of wildlife, but also providing cooling shade for the summer months.  Tree's are vital to our Eco-System and a rule of thumb in our own county is if one is unfortunately cut down, TWO must be planted.  With a flourishing garden, you need rain.  In Florida we have many months of rain, which provides plenty of watering for the flourishing 'green' life.  However, another way to make sure there is extra water left over and not wasted as run-off is to invest in a rain barrell, also called a water butt.  This is a collector for rainwater runoff from the gutters.  This is a wonderful way to have useful water for washing pets, watering plants, and washing the car.  I do this regularly and use the extra water for my plants.  Below is a unique Water Butt for catching Rain Water!

Do you have a deck or fence outback?  We do, and absolutely love in the cooler months sitting outside, enjoying the tree's, wildlife and pond that sits below our home.  If you have a deck that needs repairs, as ours did a couple of years ago, consider using old wood, or reclaimed timber instead of new.  Reclaimed timber is also useful when putting down wood-flooring inside the home, cabinets, stairs etc..  You are being environmentally conscious by reusing old wood, not to mention you may find even more beauty in these historical old pieces!  There are lumber dealers (online and local) who specialize in reclaimed wood. It's not much different than going to your local lumberyard and picking over what they have to offer. However, you will probably find even more beautifully engrained wood pieces that are reclaimed, versus new, and save yourself alot of money! Here are a couple of websites that I have found useful when searching for reclaimed wood:

http://www.igreenbuild.com

http://www.elmwoodreclaimedtimber.com

http://www.trestlewood.com/

http://www.vintagetimber.com/

**If you are going to use 'new' wood, please make sure it is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.  The FSC is an international organization that promotes care of the world's forests.  This certification from the FSC, guarantees that your wood/timber comes from a managed forest.  The FSC is the ONLY program that fulfills all requirements and is recommended by Fauna & Flora International and Friends of the Earth.  Remember too, if you are tearing down a wood door, floors, furniture, or deck, run an ad in the local paper, or on Craigslist and sell it instead of dumping in a landfill.  I am sure there are some folks out there that would love to have some old reclaimed wood to restore and enjoy!

I love barbecue - probabaly too much!  We normally cook-out a couple of times a week, because I love the taste of grilled chicken, steaks, ribs and even vegetables on the grill. It just doesn't get any better than that....yummm!  In todays environment, we need to be conscious of our personal carbon footprint when it comes to grilling.  When I was first married (over 30 years ago), we had a small Weber Charcoal Grill, as that was the standard for most homes back then.  Today, we know these brigquettes release carbon monoxide, particulates, and harmful volatile organic compounds, due to their chemical additives.  My husband is a huge fan of gas grills, which is what we have had for years to grill on.   Propane (liquid petroleum gas) heats and grills quicker than traditional charcoal.  Gas does burn cleaner than charcoal briquettes, meaning less pollution, however it isn't perfect either, as it still is a fossil fuel and a CO2 baddie.  

There are two other options for grilling one is using  'natural wood charcoal'.   However, this again is charcoal grilling which does produce small soot particles that pollute the air and can cause health problems. However, unlike charcoal, the ash from wood can be disposed of in your garden, and is a greener option when obtained from a sustainable source like hickory.  The second is grilling with a FlameDisk - a charcoal alternative made from solid ethanol, a renewable biofuel. Food grilled on the FlameDisk tastes just like it was grilled over charcoal, but using this eco-friendly grill fuel emits 99 percent less carbon monoxide and 91 percent fewer VOCs than grilling with charcoal. Plus the by-products created when ethanol is burned include only water and a modest amount of carbon dioxide.  This is the best way to go!

Beautiful Outdoor Solar Lighting

Do you have outside lighting?  The kind that probably annoys your neighbors?  We used too, but over a year ago did some changing.  In our local community outside border lighting around the driveways, sidewalks and decks has become very popular, or should I say chic?  LOL....... I have to admit, it is pretty when strolling through the neighborhood in the evening.  What makes it even more attractive is the fact that these lights are all solar powered!  They are very inexpensive to purchase from your local Wal-Mart, costing approximately $20.00 for 4 to 6 individual lights.  Also, online there are many suppliers to choose from. They are off automatically during the day, and as the sun goes down these repowered solar lights are lighting up driveways, sidewalks and gardens.  They are a wonderful alternative to using electricity for bright spotlights.  So, save your hard earned money, help the environment, keep your neighbors happy, and buy solar lighting instead!

For more information on us, or awesome Environmentally Safe Products for outdoors, go to http://www.zoelifestyle.com/mspell