sfharper’s blog

Home improvement has become progressively eco-friendly as home owners seek low cost changes to their lifestyle to support their interest in the economy. Some of these eco-friendly home improvement trends are new, or have added new aspects to old eco-friendly home improvement trends. No matter your budget, some of these trends can easily be added to your lifestyle to reduce your impact on the environment. Find out where to find more information about eco-friendly offerings on the web and meet these new Associated Content green writers: John Ehle, Trisha Newton, Francis Jock, Joshua Jarrott, Thomas H. Forthe, Peter Ruble, Kevin Hagen, Timothy Croy, Eric Loveday, Diane Tegarden, David Fuchs, Ashley Woods, Charlotte Walters, Tamara L. Waters, Bret DesGrollier, plus articles by old-timers Lyn Lomasi, JE Davidson, and C. Jeanne Heida.#1 Technology Companies Stepped up to the Eco-Friendly ChallengeMany technology companies started offering buyback programs for recycling print cartridges and used equipment. Other companies started offering technology products that used solar power or were built on recycled materials. And there are practical uses for your old equipment.For more information read:9 Old Computer Uses: Don't Throw Old Tech Away, Reuse It!How and Where to Recycle Electronics#2 Eco-Friendly Home Improvement Trends Pushed Easy and Attractive Home RecyclingRecycling is big business these days with home owners requested to recycle yard waste, food waste, plastics, glass, metal, hazardous waste. Some companies started offering traditionally hard to recycle products like mattresses, pillows and paint in recyclable form. Additionally, serving containers and carrying bags turned to reusable or edible. For more information read:Recycled Decor: Green Home Fix-UpsHow to Reduce Packaging Waste when Ordering Fast FoodHow to Hide Your Ugly Recycle Bins with a Decorative Fence#3 Recycled Landscaping Offered Alternatives for Toxic Products in 2000-2010

This year hasn't ended very well for Mrs. Tiger Woods. These 2010 New Year's Resolutions might make her New Year happier and help prevent a return to just plain old Elin Nordegren.Dear, Mrs. Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren,I know that 2009 is closing in a really grim way for you. Here's my best suggestions about how to improve your married and love life now that your worst nightmare has come true.#1 Celebrity New Year's Resolution: Stand By Your Man, Mrs. Tiger WoodsThis New Year's Resolution for 2010 might not seem easy right now. Still, if you love him, you ought to be there for him. #2 Celebrity New Year's Resolution: Never let him out of your sight, Elin NordegrenThat's right, the happiest husbands are the ones that have their dearest wife by their side, cheering them on, enjoying their company, listening to their thoughts and making sure they keep their hands on your body. Keep Tiger Woods in your eye and his on yours.#3 Celebrity New Year's Resolution: Get a Financial Planner, Mrs. Tiger WoodsTiger Wood has passed some cash to you; better make sure that you know how to manage it. With the way Tiger Woods is going, he might not have a good financial year next year.#4 Celebrity New Year's Resolution: Make Him Pay, for Everything, Elin NordegrenIt may sound harsh, but now that you know exactly how much he values you, you better make sure that all your expenses are met out of his budget, after all, the recent payment is likely money for your retirement.#5 Celebrity New Year's Resolution: Hire a Nanny, Mrs. Tiger WoodsIn order to stay slim and trim and beautiful and fresh, leave all the child care to a professional that can be there to give the children naps and feed them at the proper time and bring them to you and your husband for quality family time. But be sure to teach them good family values.#6 Celebrity New Year's Resolution: Tend to Tiger's Needs, Elin NordegrenBe sure to be at Tiger's side every moment in order to tend to his needs. A life on the road with ...

I just moved to Florida and although my gardens in my new home are very well designed, they are too formal for my tastes and lack two essentials I adore. I need flowers in my garden and I also need birds and other wildlife coming to visit. In essence, my garden is sterile. Garden design is very much a matter of taste and style. My existing garden is easy to maintain. But I'd like to add a few more plants and move the existing plants around so that I have more color. To do this, I needed to know a great deal more about Florida planting zones and plants. Here's my favorite gardening book finds for the Florida garden.Best Florida Gardening Book for Native PlantsI picked the native plant gardening guide published by the University Press of Florida titled "A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants" by Rufino Osorio because I liked the pictures of plants and descriptions of their growing requirements. There's about 4 or five other books on the Florida native plants with variations in style and content.Best Florida Gardening Advice BookMy real estate agent Joyce Singrossi gave me "Gardening in Florida" by Tom McCubbin as a house warming gift. "Gardening in Florida" is a terrific resource, laying out month by month tasks required to maintain your gardens including watering, fertilizing, planting, and identifying problems. Best Florida Gardening Plant Picture BookSunset's "Florida Top Ten Garden Guide" by Robert E. Bowden and the editors of Sunset is a treasure trove of some of the most useful gardening plants for the Florida Garden. It contains ten pictures of palms, vines, trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, roses, bulbs, ground covers and fruit trees. It provides a chore list and some great examples for how to use them in your Florida garden.Best General Gardening Plant Book for the Southeast Region of the US