More Than Egg-Layers, Poultry Keeps Insects At Bay If your gardens are over-run by pests, but you do not want to use pesticides, what can you do?  Well, if you live in a rural area, whether on a farm or just somewhere with a lot of land, and no nearby neighbors, why not give free-range poultry a try? Chickens, ducks and guinea fowl can supply fresh eggs on a daily basis.  If you allow them the free run of your land, they can also devour the bugs and slugs that would otherwise be devouring your garden produce. Guinea fowl consume ticks (which can carry Lyme disease, besides just being generally gross), fleas, June bugs and Japanese beetles – but they don’t bother with your fruits or vegetables.  Guinea fowl also make good watch animals. The reason guinea fowl are better than chickens for pest patrol is that they do not scratch up the ground.  The guinea fowl is a hardy bird, with few diseases.  One drawback is their droppings will litter the ground.  While it makes for excellent fertilizer, you won’t want you, or your kids, to step in it. However, used properly, chickens can do their part to eliminate unwanted pests as well.  Just ...

Grocery Store Etiquette I don’t think you can go into any grocery store in the country without seeing a rack full of reusable shopping bags – cloth bags with the logo a particular store on it, which usually sells for a dollar. I’ve found that using these bags slows me down, most of the time.  In my local grocery store, there’s a high turnover with clerks.  So just as soon as you get used to one checker, who handles the bags like a pro, affixing them to his or her turnstyle with ease, she leaves and her replacement has no clue how to pack them quickly and efficiently. Then of course there’s the cost.  They only cost a dollar, but chances are the first time you use it, you’ll leave the bag in your house, and the next time you go shopping, you won’t have it with you.  So you buy another one.  Eventually you get smart and buy a bunch of them.  You keep half of them in the trunk of your car, and so if you forget to restore the ones from your last shopping trip, you still have those.  But that’s still a cost you don’t need to pay. Certain stores ...

Many people don’t trust the water that comes out of their tap, and so instead of drinking it, they spend hundreds of dollars a year on bottled water.  Sure, it costs money to drink the water that comes out of the tap, but that’s only a few extra cents on your water bill.  If you drink tap water instead of bottled water, you will save hundreds of dollars a year (depending on how many bottles of water you drink, of course), and you will save hundreds of plastic or glass bottles from the need to be recycled or, worse, go into landfills. All states have water treatment plants that ensure that your tap water is safe to drink.  The problem is what the water picks up as it goes through the pipes to your home.  Some pipes are old and can deposit rust or bacteria in your drinking water. However, that’s where water purifiers come in.  You can purchase water purifiers that fit onto your faucet, or you can purchase refrigerators that have drinking water receptacles, after first purifying that water with filters.  Pitchers and faucet-mount filters must be changed every 1-3 months…and this will cost you about $100 a year or ...

Going green is a phrase that is being tossed about a lot these days.  It seems every day there is a new story about a company going green or about new products that help you to go green.  The idea of going green is something that many people are familiar with, but that they do not know a lot about. Explaining the Concept To go green means to do things that are more environmentally friendly.  The reason why it has become a major concept these days is directly related to the fact that we are becoming more aware of the problems we face by continuing to do things without regards to the environment. There are many examples of how our way of living has started to damage the environment.  There is the fact that natural resources are starting to deplete and one day, possibly in our lifetime, we will run out of the resources that we are so dependent upon.  By going green we are able to learn to live without being dependent, wasteful and without causing further damage to the environment. Simple Green Moves Going green is not even that difficult.  Many manufacturers have made greener versions of their best selling products.  For example, ...

Spring brings with it the hope, anticipation and joy of new lives, sunny days and flowers in abundance.  It is a season to look forward to after the often dark and dreary days of winter.  And because it is spring, then we embark on a spring cleaning tradition.  It is also something to look forward to after living in the enclosed spaces of our homes during the winter.  So, open your windows and let the sunshine in while letting the accumulated dirt, dust and grime of the past season out. But first, you must assemble your cleaning supplies and it should not just be any store-bought cleaning supply either.  Being the eco-friendly individual that you are, only the most eco-friendly cleaning supplies will do.  Don't worry about causing a big dent on your pockets on the first day of spring either.  You can tap into your kitchen pantry and make your own cleaning supplies - organic, affordable and effective, to boot. Let's start with the all-purpose cleaner that, obviously, can be used on almost every surface that needs cleaning from the sinks to the floor.  You just mix equal parts of white vinegar and water, place inside a spray bottle and spray ...