Indoor Gardens for Decoration and Function (Part 1 of 4)

One aspect of home interior decorating that sometimes goes without thought is the wide world of indoor gardening. Indoor greenery provides for a very pleasant atmosphere with multiple functional benefits. Many people find that the presence of plants in their home will brighten their moods and give them a sense of accomplishment knowing they are enjoying something that was cared for at home with their own two hands.

Growing plants indoors allows the opportunity for you and your family to grow varieties that you could otherwise not enjoy outdoors due to harsh climates, adequate rainfall or lighting conditions. Because you can grow in such a controlled environment indoors, you are allowed much more freedom to grow anything from herbs and vegetables, to lush decorative greenery and flowers.

Before diving into the fun stuff and getting your hands dirty, there are a few things to consider when planning for indoor gardening. Light sources will be your biggest concern, followed by appropriate containers, plant food, and water. Having these few things implemented correctly will make for a much more rewarding and successful experience, as opposed to just jumping in and buying whatever plants happen to catch your fancy.

Lighting is the most important aspect of growing indoors. Obviously natural light is going to be the best source of light for your garden, and unfortunately, unless you happen to live in a glass house, walls tend to restrict the amount of lighting coming in. Many plants, such as Pothos, don’t require copious amounts of light and tend to thrive better when placed under incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs, or almost anywhere that gets ambient lighting. Other plants will require much more natural lighting. Most herbs, such as rosemary, oregano, thyme, and many basil varieties tend to fall into the high lighting category. With these plant types, a big window or sliding glass door that gets decent sunlight for a large portion of the day would be your best bet.

Next time, we’ll talk a little bit more about lighting and cover the importance of planting containers that will supply your home and family with beautiful indoor greenery.

Don’t forget to protect those you love and care for the most with a home security system, which can provide a lifeline in case of medical emergencies, fires, and of course burglaries. I personally recommend ADT home security systems. ADT is the leading provider of home security systems in the U.S., with more than 100 years of experience.

Save Green By Going Green At Home This Spring (Part 4 of 4)

Teaching your family to shut off the water while they are brushing their teeth is another small, helpful change that can be made. Also, make sure to fix any water leaks, faulty weather stripping, or insulation gaps that might be present in your home right away before money and energy are lost to them.

The list of smart, functional changes you can make around your home goes on and on but the important thing is to start incorporating some small changes, a few at a time, as soon as possible. As you start to see the benefits of these changes you will almost certainly be inspired to make more and more changes like them.

If you have a nice sunny spot available on your property, you might want to consider tilling yourself an area for a garden. Not only does it have the potential to provide fresh, organic fruits and vegetables for your family to eat during the year, it will also beautify your property and provide a healthy hobby for you and your family members to pursue.

If you live in an apartment, you might be able to find a small garden spot on a balcony for some tomato and pepper plants or even a spot next to a sunny window for an herb garden. Growing plants indoors will also provide your home with decoration and a more earthy feel. You will get a lot of enjoyment out of using your own fresh foods and herbs in your cooking throughout the year and if you have a surplus, your friends and neighbors might even get a chance to enjoy them too. We’ll talk about this in next time.

Don’t forget to protect those you love and care for the most with a home security system, which can provide a lifeline in case of medical emergencies, fires, and of course burglaries. I personally recommend ADT home security systems. ADT is the leading provider of home security systems in the U.S., with more than 100 years of experience.

Save Green By Going Green At Home This Spring (Part 3 of 4)

Even normal maintenance tasks can work to make your home run cleaner and cheaper if kept up on properly. By cleaning and replacing your furnace and air conditioner filters you will be making it possible for them to consume less energy while serving their purpose, it will also improve your overall heating and cooling affect.

If your home or apartment is older, you may not have a digital thermostat installed. These can help you save money by allowing you to be very specific about the temperature you want it set at. If you do have one of the older types that you program by turning a circular plate or by sliding a lever, you would benefit greatly from updating to a programmable, digital thermostat. And the best part is– you can often get your electric company to come out and install the new one completely free of charge.

Electric companies too are become more savvy about energy conservation and many companies will not only do the installation of your new digital thermostat for free, they will also provide it to you at no cost as well. Having one of the new digital type thermostats will allow you to set your temperature precisely so you can better keep tabs on whether or not you are keeping your heating and cooling at an efficient setting. Having your thermostat set within the recommended guidelines will not only save on energy but will also make you heating and cooling bills more stable and predictable which will help make household budgeting easier.

The best part about all of these money and energy saving modifications is that they can be done gradually. Every little bit helps– even turning your thermostat down a couple degrees during the winter and setting it slightly higher than you otherwise might be accustomed to in the summer will help you spend less on your heating and cooling costs and conserve energy at the same time.

Don’t forget to protect those you love and care for the most with a home security system, which can provide a lifeline in case of medical emergencies, fires, and of course burglaries. I personally recommend ADT home security systems. ADT is the leading provider of home security systems in the U.S., with more than 100 years of experience.

Save Green By Going Green At Home This Spring (Part 2 of 4)

Water consumption is also something to consider when you’re attempting to make your home more ecologically friendly while saving money at the same time. One good place to start saving water is by making sure your toilets are not wasting unnecessary amounts of water when they are flushed. If your toilet was manufactured before 2000 it is likely that it uses approximately three and a half gallons of water every time it is flushed. Since then, government mandates have been put in place that require toilets to use only one or two gallons each time they are flushed. If you find that you have one of the older, more wasteful varieties, there are kits that you can purchase and install that will cut down on the amount of water that it uses.

Installing a low flow shower head is another great way to cut down on your home’s water usage. You might be shocked to find out that a typical shower head puts out around eighty gallons of water every minute! Low flow shower heads can drastically reduce the amount of water that is being wasted through the taking of showers in your house. Similarly, faucet aerators can be installed to decrease the amount of water wasted during tooth brushing, dish rinsing, and other daily household tasks that involve you using your sink.

By making small changes around your home, you will probably start to see other areas that could use improvement and make your home more efficient and eco-sound. Tinting your home’s windows is another minor improvement you could make. Doing so will help you to save energy all year round by blocking the suns rays in the summer months and doing a better job of holding in heat during the cold winters.

Don’t forget to protect those you love and care for the most with a home security system, which can provide a lifeline in case of medical emergencies, fires, and of course burglaries. I personally recommend ADT home security systems. ADT is the leading provider of home security systems in the U.S., with more than 100 years of experience.

Save Green By Going Green At Home This Spring

Pretty much everyone these days understands the importance of protecting our environment and saving energy. With populations continuing to rise around the globe, natural resources dwindling, and entire eco-systems being torn apart, stabilizing our planet needs to be right at the top of every individuals priority list– after all, our future and the future of generations to come depends on it! The biggest obstacles that stand in the way of average person trying to make a difference (or at least trying not to make a negative impact on the planet) are budget constraints and general laziness. Luckily, there are a bunch of ways that you can reduce your home and families eco-print while saving money and energy (which will save you even more money).

You don’t need to install gigantic solar panels on your roof to make your home more energy efficient. There are very minor, low-cost, environmentally sound changes you can gradually make around your house that will really make a difference to your pocketbook and the planet.

Swapping out conventional light bulbs for the compact florescent variety will instantly decrease your lighting’s electricity consumption by 75%. They are significantly more expensive at the time of purchase than regular bulbs but they last much, much longer– years as opposed to months. This makes them a worthwhile change for every household because they don’t need to all be switched over at once. As your normal bulbs burn out, you can replace them with compact florescent ones. Gradually, your lights will get switched over and you will save more and more on your electric bill as well as cutting down on the energy used by your local electric company to generate power.

You can take this one simple step further by purchasing inexpensive timers for your outdoor lights to make sure they aren’t burning power when the lights are not needed. If you do happen to have some room in your budget, and are interested in the benefits of solar panels, they can be bought for significantly less if purchased second-hand.

Don’t forget to protect those you love and care for the most with a home security system, which can provide a lifeline in case of medical emergencies, fires, and of course burglaries. I personally recommend ADT home security systems. ADT is the leading provider of home security systems in the U.S., with more than 100 years of experience.