DIY Life

Here at DIY Life, Earth-friendly ideas are always a popular topic. So, when we heard that our sister site Green Daily is running a fantastic giveaway from Gardener's Supply Company, we couldn't wait to tell our readers about it!

One lucky reader will win a complete composting kit, featuring more than US $300 in supplies. The centerpiece of the prize is the Earthmaker Composter (a $225 value), but there are also plenty of accessories in the package, including a nifty odor-busting crock in which you can collect your kitchen scraps before putting them in the compost bin.

To learn more, and enter, please visit the giveaway post at Green Daily and follow the instructions: all you have to do is leave a comment telling them what you would compost if you were the winner. If you've never commented before, the system will require you to confirm the comment with a legitimate email address. Good luck!

If you don't win, a few great DIY composting ideas may come in handy. Check out the following posts:

• Bethany's Start your own worm composting bin
• Create a compost pile in your back yard, also by Bethany
• Francesca's Make a compost bin from shipping pallets
• Anna's 163 items to add to your compost

When he first learned that leaving mowed grass right on a newly cut lawn is healthier for your grass, my husband was thrilled. We have a large yard and he was so tired of raking.

The leftover cuttings act like mulch for your lawn, helping it retain moisture and giving it valuable nutrients. It's just one of eight things you can do to have a healthy, eco-friendly lawn.

Other tips include:

• setting your mower to cut the grass no shorter than 3 inches
• using a reel lawnmower
• watering early in the day, only when needed
• putting up a bird feeder to reduce pests
• growing the right type of grass for your region
• aerating the soil regularly

At our house, we are nothing if not cheap and lazy (though I prefer the terms frugal and laid-back), which is why I also like this very detailed tutorial from richsoil.com on how to have a nice organic lawn the cheap and lazy way. Finally, if weeds are the only thing that stand between you and a chemical-free lawn, try a few of our own tricks for handling weeds without chemical herbicides.

This is Part I of a five part series detailing the rehabilitation of a "plain Jane" back yard into a really nice landscape. My son and his wife live in a cool little town adjacent to West Palm Beach, Florida. Their home is somewhat akin to a "shotgun" style, with a similarly shaped back yard.

Over the course of a week, I helped my son with the latter stages of the plan that he and his wife had begun to implement shortly after they moved into their home. The back yard is now a very welcoming part of their home, complete with paver patios and walkways, a water feature, new sod and plantings, and provisions for the future expansion of irrigation and landscape lighting.

For all things neat about your yard, don't miss Diane Rixon's Avant Yard, here on DIY Life. Additionally, if you want to consider something other than pavers, take a minute and look at my feature on some of the options.

Check out the gallery for the process involved in the initial stages of the construction and, after the jump, we'll get into the fun stuff.

Having stumbled upon the concept (which seems to be gathering momentum) of ecofeminist organizations, well, I just had to look. The world is either getting more confusing or more cohesive; it depends on how you look at it. Like the chicken or the egg, I'm not quite sure which came first, feminism or the ecological movement.

It seems the motivation for ecofeminism is that Al Gore just isn't cutting the cake - what the green movement needs is some good old-fashioned maternal care. So how exactly do they do it? Well, one thing they do is get together, have a bit of frivolity, and then learn about all the bad chemicals in commercial cleaning products.

The Women's Voices for the Earth organization shows how to host green cleaning parties. Since this is an international organization, you might want to call it a Fiesta de Eco-Limpieza! They'll send you a kit for the party that educates your guests about chemical hazards and gives recipes for eco-friendly alternatives. So, let's get this party started!

At last, the fifth of the five articles I promised! I have previously written about walls of natural stone, engineered wall blocks, cultured stone, and pressure-treated timbers.

Mortared stone is technically not the most difficult, but it is the most labor intensive; essentially you're taking big rocks and making them into little ones. Done correctly, mortared stone is, in my mind, the nicest looking work you will ever see. I think that you'll agree when you see some of the gallery photos.

That said, take a gander at the gallery and we'll move on to the fun stuff.

I live north of Atlanta, Georgia, an area currently under homeowner outdoor watering restrictions. Not much is allowed because of a lingering drought. In addition to trying to do my part to conserve water, I want to be able to water my plants, without waiting for Mother Nature to send the rain. I liked Dan Chilton's article on rain barrels, but I wanted to do something a bit different. I built my barrel in about two hours and it's now the repository for all my recycled water and rainfall, such as it is.

Peruse the gallery, follow the construction steps, and you can be the proud owner of your very own rain barrel and, might I say, the envy of your neighbors.

Eco-friendly. Go green. Environmentally aware. Call it whatever you want, we love it when the DIY tips we give you are also good for the environment. As we celebrate Earth Day today, let's take a look at some of the ideas we've shared in in the past that can help you get green.

Nothing says "I'm helping save the Earth" more than a compost pile filled with leftover food scraps and grass clippings. Here's everything you need to know to start your own compost heap, including what kind of organic materials you can toss in (egg shells) and what you can't (meat scraps).

This long list of ideas on how to make your home eco-friendly covers everything from programmable thermostats to spark igniter pilot light systems. Even if you already practice green living, you might find one or two ideas on here that you never thought of.

Make spring cleaning a little less onerous this year by tossing out the harsh chemicals you usually use and cleaning up with essential oils instead. Find recipes for bathroom cleanser, dish soap, glass cleaner, and more.

Many people like to celebrate Earth Day each year by planting seeds and flowers in the yard. Before you haul out the hoe and shovel, consider making seed bombs. Let 'er rip!

Have you pledged to your family and your wallet to cut down on fuel consumption and pedal around on your bike instead? Pull that forlorn bicycle out from the corner of the garage, dust it off, and then use these handy tips to give it a tune-up.

Weed killer and other pesticides can be bad for the environment and terrible for your health. Try this approach that uses a common household ingredient that you probably have leftover from Easter.