by Zsuzsa Oren

Created on: December 10, 2006   Last Updated: February 15, 2010

Living in Florida and actualy owning a back yard made me realize two things. One is that I am not the gardener type, two is that my love for bugs is extremely limited to the interest in the televison programs about them.

I cannot tell you how freaked out I am about mosquitoes, bugs, spiders, roaches and all the rest of that so important part of nature. I know several wonderful tips on how to turn a yard into nature's heaven. Howevr, I am not the one who will ever do these things. And I have a feeling that I might not be alone with my feelings about this subject.

But that doesn't mean that I cannot protect my environment. Starting with my own yard doesn't have to mean only the actual back yard of my house. As I see it, no matter where and what type of home we are living in, we all can think of it as the little "yard" we are responsible of.

And the rules are nothing new. Using recycled and recycable products is a good start. Get paper bags in stead of plastic in the store, or get the cartons instead of the plastic when you buy your food. Look for products that were not tested on animals, and are safe for the ozone as well.

Try to reduce littering and sort your garbidge in the recycle containers. Each state has different recycling, but it is mostly the paper, plastic, cans and some times glass as well.

And when it comes to cleaning your "yard" you can save a lot of money by refusing to use those poisoning wonder prodicts that you can get in stores. Vinegar, limon juice and salt can do all the house work, kill all the bacterials, and shine all your kitchen supplies! You can get a steam cleaner to get the thoughest dirt arounf your house without killing all living creatures around you.

A quick tip to clean your micro is to get a heatable bowl with some water and a whole limon cut in half in it, and broil it in the micro. When you open the micro, you can easily wipe off all the dried, burned food and oils off of the walls just by the help of the limon acid and the hot steam. Your micro will be shiny and it will smell good too!

Ideas like this one are all over the "green" web sites of the net!

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