From Guest Blogger Emma Joyce: How to Stay in Trend with an Eco-Friendly Backyard

Having a huge backyard is amazing, but it’s quite useless unless you’re ready to invest time and money into it. Just because most people don’t utilize such a great asset fully doesn’t mean you should do the same as well, so think outside the box for a moment and figure out several ways to make the most of your backyard. You can do basically anything you want, from turning it into an open-air cinema to planting a garden and everything in between, but trying to keep it as eco-friendly as possible is paramount because sustainability is the only way to introduce a positive change to your local eco-system. If you’re lacking ideas, here are a few that might inspire and help you.

Eco-friendly furniture

If you decide to turn your backyard into a seating area where you’ll be able not only to relax and recuperate after a long day at the office, but also eat your breakfast, drink your morning coffee and throw garden parties, you need proper furniture. Depending on the amount of free space you have, there’ll be lots of options available, but choosing bamboo furniture over everything else makes most sense when it comes to saving the environment. Made from natural and renewable resources that include no artificial chemicals, this furniture has a number of benefits – strength, durability, sustainability and appearance are just some of them – that make it perfect for an environmentally-aware backyard.

An eco-friendly garden

Dedicating a part of your backyard to a small garden where you can grow vegetables, flowers and herbs is one of the smartest ideas in the world. Growing your own veggies in a totally organic and sustainable way means you’ll always have fresh ingredients for your favorite meals, as well as make sure your kids are eating only the healthiest food every single day. However, before you can start enjoying these benefits, you need to think ahead and plan everything out carefully. Instead of setting the garden up just anywhere in the backyard, take the amount of natural light and the soil quality into consideration before making the final decision. Of course, you can do this on your own, but leaving it to the experts might make more sense in the long run. If you too are searching for the best spot for your new garden, rely on companies like Manna Landscapes to help you make the best decision.

Eco-friendly compost

Although it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, composting is one of the most efficient ways to ensure your garden is 100% eco-friendly. You can easily turn a bunch of table scraps left behind after cooking and eating your lunch into useful compost that’s much better than anything you can buy at a store. Understandably, you could come up with a sufficient amount of compost using other techniques as well – all you need to do is learn how to create it on your own and you’re good to go. Natural compost will ultimately bring lots of new things into your garden and those beneficial microorganisms found in food can help your soil in more ways than one: from aerating it to preventing the spread of potentially dangerous diseases.

Eco-friendly lights

When it comes to lighting your backyard, don’t make the same mistake as the millions of people around the world – instead of installing lots of powerful light bulbs that use a ton of energy day after day, simply go with solar-powered lights. These are easy to install and much cheaper to maintain, yet just as efficient as any other kind on the market. Moreover, they bring a dose of elegance and coziness into your backyard, which is quite important if you love throwing garden parties or barbecuing with your friends all summer long.

Other eco-friendly ideas

These suggestions might be quite enough for most people, but if you’re a true fan of eco-friendliness, you should explore a few additional ideas. Some of the most efficient and useful ones include painting a water heater you’re no longer using black and turning it into an outdoor shower, watering your plants and vegetables with rainwater, installing a small wind turbine or two, as well as recycling everything you don’t need around the house and finding it a new use in the backyard instead of throwing it away.