Comments on: 10 Tips for Greening Your Backyard Paradise

By: Doris Milks

Doris Milks — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:48:52 +0000

Hi,
Great post, excellant way to save energy and money.

Thanks

By: Green Tips

Green Tips — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 06:13:23 +0000

A tropical paradise is complete without a water feature or pond. The most important element that contributes to a tropical environment is moving water. Why? – You can ask for. Water flow over rocks and through the air of negative ions in the surrounding oxygen. Breathing air laden has proved healthy, relieves stress, tension and anxiety. Have you ever felt the smell of cleanliness and freshness in the air just before a storm? You breathe the air negatively charged. You will find the same effect on the beach by the waves breaking on the shore.

By: Jamie Novak

Jamie Novak — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:24:44 +0000

Really enjoyed the green themed post, in an effort to re-use I made a garden bucket organizer using a common household item, thought you might like to see how easy it was
http://wholelivingdaily.wholeliving.com/2010/08/organize-for-free-with-zip-bags.html

By: D. Esther

D. Esther — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:48:57 +0000

I would say this is a great guest post. Indeed, I agreed with most of the points. Thanks Jay for such an interesting blog.

Keep it up.

- D. Esther

By: A Green Garden | Bifurcated Carrots

A Green Garden | Bifurcated Carrots — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:35:05 +0000

[...] been talking about environmentally friendly and/or cheap gardening recently. For example Kenny at Veggie Gardening Tips and Jane at Horticultural. For me these topics are almost one and the same, and I thought I would [...]

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:12:20 +0000

This subject is really important!

While I agree with a lot of what Jay says here, I think he’s missing a very important point. The greenest things are those you don’t buy. This is true for everything he suggests; solar cells, bamboo, water feature, timber, and everything else.

Every time you buy something it has to be manufactured, transported (often from China), stocked in stores and eventually disposed of. Every time you avoid buying something; for example by making due with what you have, recycling garden materials like rocks and wood, using junk you find elsewhere, this is the most green you can possibly be.

The energy that goes into consumer items like these usually far outweigh any potential energy savings. For example, if you already have a water feature in your garden that uses mains electricity, the greenest choice would almost certainly be to keep using it, rather than switch it to solar power.

We all need to buy things sometimes, and when you do the key is to make sure it will last as long as possible — but not too long! You want to use what you buy to be used by yourself for as long as possible, but remember eventually it needs to be disposed of. Many things like oils, chemicals, paints, treated wood, batteries or PVC plastic are very difficult to dispose of or recycle in a useful way. They can also be very toxic; if they are burned they can cause serious air pollution and if they find their way into the ground they can breakdown into toxic and long lasting heavy metals and chemicals.

PVC plastic is a particularly difficult material to dispose of. If burned it decomposes into dioxins and PCBs. There are no effective ways of recycling it. In a landfill it lasts virtually forever. Many of us, including me, use PVC coated fence. It can be a very useful material as it does pretty much last forever. It’s important to think before you use it and consider alternatives first.

By: Growing Tomatoes In Pots

Growing Tomatoes In Pots — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:20:08 +0000

This is a really cool blog post. I would like to add something to it. You could try adding some features that match into the environment. Many seem to think that a veggie garden needs to be just that. But if you grow some in pots they can look just great.

A dwarf fruit tree in a container can look great, and tomatoes large or cherry types look good if they are kept tidy. This can also have a variety of herbs splashed around in pots to help blend this in. I hope this helps? Thanks again for the great article. I learned a lot. See you soon.

Mr Growing Tomatoes In Pots!

By: Kenny Point

Kenny Point — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:10:20 +0000

That was my error Barb; the author’s reference to saving money with a water feature was in relation to using a solar-powered fountain instead of an electrical one. I mistakenly edited that out and will add it back. Thank you.

Also, this article is a guest post but I would not characterize it as an “ad” in the sense that any financial compensation was involved. I open the site here for others to share their experiences, opinions, and ideas freely and will always include an author bio, links, and a mention of the work, books, business, etc. of all contributors if desired.