Everyone knows that conserving water is important, and many people take steps to save water in their house by doing things such as taking shorter showers or checking for leaks.  While this is a critical step in the process of making our lives more environmentally friendly and protecting a precious resource, it is only part of what you can do.  Did you know that most wasted water is outside your home?  Here are some ideas to help you prevent wasting water in your yard.

With the spring planting season approaching and people pulling out their lawnmowers and getting them ready for the summer, it is important to remember a few simple tips.  Don’t cut your lawn too short or it will dry out quickly and turn brown.  Instead to save water and have healthy-looking, green grass that the neighbors will be jealous of, raise the blade of your mower to three to four inches high.  This allows your grass to have a shaded root system, which allows it to retain more water.  Many people like to fertilize their lawn in the spring but beware!  Fertilizer, because it encourages growth, makes your lawn very thirsty and it is easy to over-fertilize, causing your grass to die rather than thrive.

If you plan on planting around your house, consider native, drought-resistant plants.  Not only are they easier to maintain, they will give your home a more natural atmosphere.  Make sure to mulch your beds and around your plants since mulch helps control weeds and insulates against water loss.  Consider installing drip irrigation, which is a much more efficient way to water since it delivers the moisture directly to the plants roots.  My husband used an old hose with holes punched into it to water my beds of roses last year.  This also kept my flowers from developing mold on the leaves from over-watering.  In the summer, your lawn generally only needs water once a week, and a good soaking rain can extend this period for up to two weeks.  When you do need to water your lawn, it is best to use a sprinkler in the early morning to prevent evaporation and allow the water to soak into the ground.  Remember to only water your lawn for about thirty minutes to avoid oversaturation.

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For more information about water conservation, please visit <a rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank” href=”http://www.centralbasin.org/“>Central Basin</a>
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Many people ask how burning firewood impacts the environment. Usually their biggest concerns are with the ideas of deforestation and climate change. In the short term, we know that burning wood can make things smoky. But for the long term affects on climate change, we can only speculate.

The problem of smoke can be manageable. Much of the smoke problems are caused by inefficient burning. With modern wood stoves you should be able to burn wood with very little or no visible smoke most of the time. This can be accomplished by burning dry wood with small hot burning fires. Using smaller pieces of wood can go a long way here.

In some parts of the world, burning wood does contribute to deforestation. But in first world countries like the USA, Australia and most of Europe, burning wood does not contribute to deforestation in most cases. In most cases when firewood is harvested, trees are replanted or grow back naturally from seed, or with some species new trees sprout back from the stumps after the trees are cut down.

Much of the time firewood is produces from forest wastes that come from harvesting trees for making other products like lumber. Or it is cut from excess trees that were thinned to make the remaining trees grow better. In some cases cutting trees for firewood can actually enhance forest health or utilize material that would go to waste otherwise. Of course there are exceptions and some people will harvest firewood irresponsibly. It all comes down to consumers choosing responsible sources.

For climate change and greenhouse gases, firewood is considered to be carbon neutral. Burning wood is part of the natural carbon cycle. When a tree dies naturally ,the wood decays or gets burned by wildfire. In both these processes, the carbon in the tree is released into the atmosphere as CO2. Since the trees that grow in its place absorb CO2 as they grow, there is no net increase in CO2. This is no different if it happens naturally or if you burn the wood in your stove. So as far as we know, burning wood does not contribute to greenhouse gases the way burning fossil fuels do. Of course this is only when firewood is harvested responsibly.

Learn more about burning firewood logs.

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About the Author:
Talk about firewood and wood heat and get your questions answered in our firewood forum.
Compare different tree species with these BTU of firewood charts.
How Does Burning Firewood Affect the Environment?
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Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

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