From Guest Blogger Kara Masterson: Five Household Projects That Help the Environment

Every household from ones that have single occupants to ones filled with children and multiple generations can help the environment by participating in projects that can make a difference. You do not have to believe in climate change to see that landfills take up a lot of space that could be used for something else. You do not have to be an environmental activist to appreciate savings on utility bills. Here are five projects you can do at home to make things better for yourself and the environment.

Switch to LED Bulbs

You may have noticed that regular incandescent light bulbs are getting harder to find. The same goes for compact fluorescent bulbs. There is government legislation that has been passed that affects light bulbs that is resulting in incandescent bulbs being phased out in favor of newer technologies that use far less energy. LED light bulbs use the least amount of energy of the available commercial and residential lighting technologies. They cost a little more than incandescent bulbs, but the energy savings is significant. Switching now saves you more money in the long run.

Recycle Everything You Can

If your community provides a recycling container, it is easy to fill it with cans as well as plastic and glass containers. However, you may live in a community that does not offer curbside cardboard recycling. Most of the materials you dispose of can be recycled, but not every community collects every recyclable material.

If you put items in your recycling container that your community does not accept, it will be sorted out at the processing plant, possibly ending up in the landfill anyway. Keep up the effort at recycling what your community accepts for processing, but also inquire about where to take other items they do not accept. There may be a place nearby where you can drop off other recyclables.

Compost and Garden

Even if you have a small yard, you have space to grow some fresh produce and to make a compost pile. All of the skins and parts of vegetables you do not eat should go into the compost pile. Eggshells, coffee and tea grounds, banana peels, corn husks and more can be composted instead of going to the landfill.

Never compost any animal products other than eggshells to avoid attracting any unwanted pests. You can plant a garden anywhere your yard gets some sunlight and then amend the soil with the rich black soil your compost turns into. This way you keep unnecessary refuse out of the landfill, and you prevent wasted food transportation energy for every vegetable you eat from your own garden.

Plant Trees

Here, you can choose decorative, shade or fruit trees. You can keep decorative and fruiting varieties pruned yourself. Shade trees need to grow taller, so they will eventually need professional pruning. The equivalent of a huge forest can be established with every homeowner’s property having unused lawn space replaced with a couple of trees. There are even apple trees that have been grafted to produce different varieties of apples from the same tree. Once established, trees only require pruning to get them to produce abundant fruit and to keep them from getting too big to manage.

If you plan on planting trees, it would probably be a good idea to hire a professional like Schulhoff Tree & Lawn Care, Inc. or someone similar to care for them.

Learn Xeriscaping

Flower beds and other landscaping that promotes things such as lush green lawns requires irrigation with thousands of gallons of water during a typical growing season. If you are a homeowner that plants annual flowers and works diligently to keep your lawn the greenest on the block, you already know it takes money and time to maintain that look.

Xeriscaping is choosing plants and other landscaping features that do not require much water for them to thrive. This includes planting succulents and the decorative use of rocks to replace at least some lawn area. You do not have to have a 100 percent xeriscaped property to benefit the environment. Every little bit you do to reduce water consumption will save you money as well as time and preserve fragile water resources.

The sky is the limit in what you can do and how far you can go for doing your part in helping preserve the delicate balance of the environment. If you are concerned with colony collapse of bees, you can support their comeback by planting flowers they rely on for food. Simply choosing not to use weed killers or synthetic fertilizers halts toxic runoff from your property making it into the waterways that feed your public water service reservoirs. In the end, helping the environment helps you as well.