You may have pooh-poohed the notion of trying to create and maintain an eco-friendly garden largely because your wee patch of grass is so, well, wee.

Don’t let size dictate your decision to use genetically modified seeds or harmful lawn chemicals. Remember that every little bit helps. Your efforts will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and encourage the absorption of carbon dioxide by soils and plants which lessens the effects of global warming.

With that in mind, let’s address the old concept of recycling. Yes, you can recycle and reuse a host of items that will make your outdoors look like it came from the pages of a magazine. Here’s how:

Everything old is new again

You’ll need a little time and ingenuity with this point, but the pay-off will be well worth it. Scour antique and junk stores, out-of-town flea markets and garage sales for old tin laundry buckets, terra cotta pots and hand-made bricks. These items will add a distinctive ambiance to your gardens, infusing your outdoor space with colour, interest and charm.

Check your kitchen

As one of the most-used rooms in our homes, the kitchen also contains a lot of stuff. Look here to recycle and reuse materials for your lawn and garden.  Reuse your recycled egg cartons to create seedling starters. Their shallow depth makes them the perfect vehicle to start plants from seed.  Try to place in a south-facing window. The same effect can also be done with plastic lemonade containers that are recyclable.

Use old wine and beer bottles, especially the prettier blue and green ones, to make water planters.  Place water in the bottle then a cut stem and you’ll eventually see roots growing in the water. You can also try wine bottles planted upside down as an edging material. Warning: you will need a lot of bottles.

Outdoor furniture

Tired of that patio set you’ve had for years? If it’s metal and you still like its shape, why not consider a fresh coat of paint. That can definitely breathe new life into something old. But if that won’t do try selling it or giving it away. If your furniture is plastic, you may have a harder time recycling it. Check to see what type of plastic it is.  It’s unlikely your curbside recycling will accepts the furniture, though a larger recycling facility might.

Old wood materials

Try building a compost bin from old pallets. Simply arrange the pallets on their sides and attach four of them together with ropes or wire. The gaps in the pallets are okay as a compost pile needs air to develop.

The other neat thing you can do with pallets and old wood such as scaffolding planks is build a raised garden bed. As we age bending over to tend to gardens can become difficult so installing a raised bed on sawhorses is ideal. Don’t make them super large as the soil will make them too heavy. These raised beds are ideal for plants with shallow roots such as lettuces and herbs.

There are plenty of ways to employ the 3 Rs outdoors this summer. Use your imagination and get your family in on the plan. Eventually you’ll attract more bees and butterflies to your outdoor space and you’ll wonder why you didn’t consider the 3 Rs sooner.

Sources: www.earth911.com, www.growveg.com