One of the biggest reasons people choose not to go green is they don’t think it will make an impact. While you might not be able to change the world, we can all do our own part to help the environment. Even if it’s in your own backyard, small changes can add up if we all play our role. And at the very least, you can enjoy your own backyard in a whole new way while a feeling great about green practices. You might just find it affects your overall lifestyle in a way that helps you to do even more in other areas of the home. Here are some tips to turn your backyard into a green living space that you can feel proud about.

Less Lawn – more grass means more water, and that represents a tremendous amount of usage. While everyone loves the look of a big green lawn, you might want to think about decreasing overall grass space in order to conserve water. The numbers are staggering when you look at them objectively and even a moderately sized lawn it takes up a lot of water on a yearly basis. By adding more dry areas in the form of paths or stone space, you can cut down on your overall consumption numbers.

Power Watch – you might be a person who always remembers turn off the lights at home, but what about in your own backyard? There are many times when people unknowingly bleeding wasted energy from power sources in their own backyard. Make sure to double check to ensure that you don’t have outdoor lighting or power sources in a tool shed that are wasting energy when not in use.

Clothes Lines – one great way you can save power in the home while using your backyard effectively is through the implementation of clothes lines. While a dryer might be more efficient, it also happens to use an incredible amount of energy. Rather than tumbling your close through dry cycle, you can set up a simple clothesline that does the job just the same.

Compost – this is a great option that is gaining more attention in one form or another. Some districts in certain countries are implementing separation for organic waste designed for compost heaps in addition to regular garbage collection. You can cut down on the amount of garbage you produce on your own while using organic elements in a compost bin. It’s not hard to set one up at all, and you get a nice fertilizer out of it.

Garden Fun – you don’t necessarily need a green thumb in order to work magic in a backyard garden. Even if it’s something simple like growing a few vegetables, this act alone can take a tremendous amount of pressure off the industry that surrounds farming. If we all took it upon ourselves to grow our own vegetables, we could cut down on the environmental problems associated with transporting and growing produce on a mass scale. This can prove to be a relaxing hobby that has a whole new dynamic to your home cooking routine.

Gas Cooking – more people are looking into natural gas grills than ever thanks to power saving features that still offer you great tasting food. Big barbecue manufacturers like Weber have already come up with natural gas designs that are perfect for backyard use, and all you need is an outdoor line. With more people moving away from environmentally polluting charcoal grills, it’s time to change up tradition of debt and look towards a greener way to enjoy BBQ. Best of all, you can use your outdoor cooking environment to prepare your fresh vegetables from your own garden to really get the most out of your backyard green space.

If you are like most people trying to learn about composting, the amount of information out there can be quite overwhelming.  It can even be contradictory and cause more confusion than help you learn what you want to know.  So how are you supposed to learn how to compost and what to do?   Here is a simple and easy step by step guide in starting your own compost pile.

Composting is a simple process that allows you to create your own fertilizer to be used in your vegetable and herb gardens, or as a nutrient rich topper for potted plants.  It is cheap and easy to do, as long as you are patient and willing to do a little work.

The first step of creating your own compost pile is to determine a location for your pile and the general size of the compost pile/bin you will want to have.  Most gardeners who compost will have their piles in their backyard in an out of the way location.  Keeping it cool and well protected from wind and too much rain is key.  A good place is next to a garage or near a garden under some trees.  The trees or the side of the garage itself will protect your compost pile from winds and from getting too wet from rain.  As far as size, most piles are around 3′ wide by 3′ deep and no more than 18″ tall.   Air will naturally penetrate a compost pile that is this height.  Any higher and the pile itself will eventually start to give off a foul odor that will attract bugs and unwanted animals.

Once you have the location and size determined, you will want to have some sort of containment plan.   Most piles are fenced in using chicken wire.  This acts as an easy means of holding compost materials inside of a contained space while still allowing air to flow into the pile.  If you choose to have a lid (wire or wooden) on top of the pile to keep out critters, make sure it still is easy to open.  You will want to rotate the compost materials from the outside in every week to ten days.  This helps the materials to decompose evenly.

After your bin is constructed, it’s time to start adding materials.  Every compost pile is comprised of greens (grass clippings, vegetable scraps, fruit cores and peels, and other non greasy kitchen scraps), browns (twigs, shredded paper and cardboard, and straw), and moisture (water you put into the pile or rain water).  That’s all it takes for any pile to start.  Keeping your pile moist is key.  You want it to be constantly damp, but not dripping wet.  Too much water will make the compost slimy and start to smell.

After that, it’s just a matter of time, patience and a little bit of maintenance.  Rotating your compost every week from the outside in and keeping it moist is all you need to do.  Bacteria and time will do the rest of the work and break down the materials you add into dark, nutrient rich compost.

Eventually your pile will turn into dark compost that many gardeners call “black gold” because it is a very rich fertilizer.  You can use this as top fertilizer on any potted plant or as fertilizer for your herb and vegetable gardens.  Simple dig up the compost and put a 1″ layer where you choose.

It’s as simple as that and anyone can do it with just a little effort and time.   Just a few easy steps and some time and you too can make progress in your efforts to live off grid. Good luck!