Ever since I bought my first home, my mom has been politely goading me into letting her help spruce up the house with some plants. I’m black-thumbed, but she’s always been great around plants. Here are some of the things I’ve looked into doing:

• Paving the area on the side of the house and decorating it with outdoor planters. I’d love to use cacti but I don’t think our mailman would appreciate it.
• Putting another outddor planter or two on our back patio. There’s a dearth of color back there so I’d want it to be bright — oranges and reds, maybe?
• Inside we’ll have indoor planters with low-maintenance plants. Can I get away with putting cacti in every single indoor planter, even though we don’t live in the Southwest?

I’ve been browsing the online selection at EPlanters and getting a lot of fantastic ideas. I love that they show their planters actually being used; I really need a visual when it comes to making the most of the flowers and plants on our property, so it helps to see what looks good. I especially like the jazzy, modern-designed planters. Also, the colored planters. Time to go shopping!

Environmental issues are at the front of everyone’s minds lately. Everything from green computers to fuel-efficient cars are in the news and making an impact on climate change.

How does heating those cold winter nights affect the environment?

We’ve done a lot of reading and found that gas heating is much more efficient and environmentally friendly than electric heating. Electric heating comes in at only a 33% efficiency, which means that 2/3s of the energy being produced by the electric company, usually via coal burning, when you turn on the heat is actually going up into the atmosphere, not your home. Gas heating, on the other hand, can be as much as 80% efficient, and in most countries is subject to strict government ratings for efficiency.

Browse through a gas heater store like GasHeatersOnline and you will see a great commitment to efficiency and the environment. For example, forced air heaters, which at one time were under intense scrutiny and had a resulting bad reputation, are now government-regulated. As a result, they are some of the most efficient systems around. For heating large areas with a lot of people - workshops, construction sites, etc. - forced air heaters are now one of the best and most efficient heating choices. Read the rest of this entry »