Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Do the squirrels dig up your bulbs and cause your dogs to bark all day long? Put their chaotic behaviors to rest by making a special spot just for them in your backyard.

This Recycled Squirrel Jar Feeder from All Season Wild Bird Store has interesting features, and it’s a cute addition to any tree in your yard. The large glass jars enables squirrels to feed peacefully and safely high up in a tree. Surprisingly, there is enough room for two squirrels to munch away happily on sunflower seeds or corn.

Since the feeder is made from recycled plastic, it’s more durable and eco-friendly. The material is also weather resistant, and the screws are stainless steel. The entire feeder weighs 9 pounds.

If you enjoy supporting your local wildlife in your backyard, check out the various bird feed mixes that this store has to offer. There are also a few other squirrel feeder designs.

In Japan, bamboo has been used as fencing for centuries, and this material has only recently become popular in the U.S. for flooring. This eco-friendly material has a serene presence, and it can be constructed into beautiful designs.

Bamboo has a natural color and texture that can be elegant yet simple enough to compliment any type of landscaping. Similar to wood and chain fencing, bamboo can bring privacy to your yard. However, this material is more environmentally friendly, and it can set a peaceful ambiance in your yard.

Bamboo fencing comes in either rolls or panels, and it can be constructed in the following ways:

• Misu is a screening fence with horizontal slats and vertical posts support the slats.
• Kenninji is a more classic style, which uses half-round rails and dark twine to close up gaps.
• Twig fence is a more casual look that looks like bundles of bamboo twigs.
• Yotsume is made up of horizontal rails, which are held up by pickets.
• Royanji is a short fence designed for gardens, and it’s made from narrow bamboo shoots.

Setting up a composting bin with your family can be a fun and educational experience. Plus, you will be instilling important values in your children at an early age. If they know how to make and use a compost bin when they are young, they will most likely keep one when they have their own home.

So what can be put in a compost bin? Well, almost any food scraps (except meat, bones and fatty foods like cheese if you don’t want to create odors that attract pests) and waste from your yard such as grass clippings and leaves can be added. Instead of putting these items in the trash can, put them in a compost bin instead. Day after day the materials in the bin will start breaking down. Eventually the material can be used as compost, which can be applied to gardens and flowerbeds. After the harsh winter, you can replenish the soil so your landscaping flourishes.

It seems as though Halloween is a ways away, but Thanksgiving will be fast approaching. During the holiday season, it’s tempting to cut corners but that usually means you become more wasteful and less eco-friendly. Hosting a green Thanksgiving dinner takes some planning ahead, but it’s well worth it in the end.

Decorations and cute nametags for the table are nice but not practical. Instead of investing extra money into these items and wasting paper and plastic, create your own natural decorations. A cornucopia filled with fresh fruit can make a great centerpiece for your table. Just be sure to let your guests know that the fruit is edible. You can also use any fall leaves and pinecones from outside to construct your own wreath. Another tip is to limit your light use and make your dinner atmosphere more relaxing with spice scented soy candles.

CDs and DVDs have become a part of our daily lives. You probably listen to music in your car or on your computer, and you most likely watch movies on your HD widescreen television. Much of our entertainment is packaged on CDs or DVDs, and we also use CDs to transfer and backup data. However, many of them are tossed away and end up in landfills, but Home Run Software Services, Inc. has created an eco-friendly way to deal with this type of media.

Home Run Software Services, Inc. has launched a Go-Green CD/DVD Program, which is a two-fold program. They have an eco-friendly product line, and they have a CD/DVD recycle center. The product line is packaged with 100% biodegradable packaging, which includes potato starch trays, recycled board stock and soy inks. The company says that they have reduced their carbon footprint by more than 85-90%. Now you can clear out those old music CDs that you have saved to your computer and jump drive.

When decorating your house for a ghostly party, purchase pumpkins, gourds and other food from local farms and markets. Make sure they are organic and pesticide-free, especially if you are having an apple-bobbing contest. Try to be creative by making wreaths and placemats out of fall leaves and berries from your yard. Use bed sheets for ghosts and tree branches and invent spooky scenes for the entrance of your party location.

Candy will be one of your highest expenses along with the food and drinks, so pinch your pennies by baking goodies for your guests. Bake simple sugar cookies but add creepy touches by putting a scary face on them using different types of sprinkles. Another option is to make dirt in a cup with gummy worms or bake cupcakes and use red icing.

Limit your outside lighting to set the mood, but make sure that there is enough lighting for guests and trick-or-treaters to get to your door. For example, only keep the front door light on and a light on your sidewalk.

A patio set can improve your backyard dramatically, and it’s convenient so you and your friends or family can hang outside. The Parrot Baby Palmero Outdoor Patio Set is eco-friendly, and it has many other benefits too.

It’s made from tropical wood called Selunsar that has a Teak look, but it doesn’t require much maintenance. Because of its rich color and texture, your patio will look luxurious and more finished in an instant.

The set includes various pieces such as the dining table, umbrella hole (the umbrella is sold separately), four Captain’s chairs, outdoor storage bench, lazy Susan and an all-weather patio cover. You’re going to want to spend most of your time outside, because you can keep necessities right in the bench or lazy Susan. For example, you can store games, toys, blankets, reusable plates right within reach. The bench can also be the perfect dinner seat for children.

Need a side table that is versatile and can stand on its own in a room? Sometimes you need color, functionality and some eco-friendliness, and this Recycled Side Table won’t let you down.

Although the side table is shown upright, you can also put it on its side if that suits your seating better. Designer Matt Gagnon created this table from 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper board. Other materials used include bolts and linseed oil and pigment for the finish. The dimensions are 15” long x 13” wide x 20” tall, and it has an industrial feel to it with the bold grey and red tones.

The slots and openings can just be admired, or you can use these areas to store items such as the television remote, coasters, etc. If you’re planning on putting this in your family, make sure you have coasters available for guests, because the table is uncoated and vulnerable to dampness.

Sometimes a bright colored mug filled with warm coffee or tea is the only thing that brings a smile to your face at 6 am. Maybe your special mug has a sarcastic saying or a picture of your family, either way it’s something that brings a smile to your face before you start your day. Collecting mugs can become an addictive habit. Before you know it, your cabinet is chock-full of printed mugs, colored mugs, vacation mugs, name mugs, motto mugs, etc. While this lovely collection cheers you up in the morning, eventually they will end up in a landfill, and that doesn’t bring a smile to anyone’s face. So what about stocking your cabinet with corn plastic mugs instead?

Corn plastic is made when the corn kernels are taken off of the cob and then soaked in a mixture of sulfur dioxide and water. This process enables the corn to release starch, which is then made into sugar. Finally, the sugar is fermented into lactic acid, which is the key ingredient used to make plastic. Corn plastic is being used for many items such as eating utensils, T-shirts, food packaging, plastic wrap and plastic dinnerware.

Winter’s snowstorms and bitter cold winds don’t have to intimidate you into abandoning your green lifestyle. A California-based company, FireCrystals, has created an environmentally friendly product for your fireplace. This product prevents you from having to burn wood or fake logs, which emit ash, soot and carbon toxins. FireCrystals don’t contribute to pollution, and they are odorless so your furniture won’t smell like wood smoke. In addition, this product is made from glass, which can be recycled.

Burning wood is detrimental to the environment and your health, so this alternative provides a cleaner option for everyone and everything involved. Wood smoke can agitate allergies and affect your respiratory system in other ways due to the emission of different gases and particles.

In order to use FireCrystals, your fireplace must have a natural gas outlet or it can be an outdoor fireplace. It costs between $350 and $700 but one set was said to have lasted five years (product’s life will vary).