Product Ratings in your home

Ever wonder if the products you use in your home are good for the environment? Or whether or not there are lots of toxic chemicals in the food you buy? Well, then your next question probably is, “how can I find products that are non-toxic and good for the environment?”

There’s one simple answer to that question: goodguide.com. Goodguide.com is an online site that posts reviews and “rates” over 65,000 consumer products. They base their ratings on a slew of factors, including their safety to the environment, toxicity to the body, and safety and social records of the companies producing the products.  They rate products from personal care needs, to food, household cleaning products, and toys—just about anything you buy and use daily in your home.

For example, let’s say you wanted to find out more information about healthy and safe laundry detergents. You can first search for the current detergent you use (whether it’s name brand, like Tide, or just the generic kind). You will find that the average Tide powder detergent is given a 4.6 out of 10 rating by Goodguide.com. You can then also search for all of the best and worst laundry detergents. One of the top rated laundry detergents, you will see, is Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent. On the flip side, one of the worst-rated laundry detergents is OxiClean.

Now what happens if you can’t find the exact brand of the products you use on this site? Well, Goodguide.com also has a section that includes the common “red flag” ingredients that you should be wary about in a certain product category.

For example, for laundry detergent, the “redflag” ingredients to watch out for are: acetic acid, hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, sorbic acid, phosphorous, and sodium hydroxide. You can compare what you have in your house to other products featured on the site to determine which is better.

You can even filter the ratings, so if one of the three rating criterias are more important to you individually, you can alter those settings. You can choose between the Health, Environment, and Society sections so you can view the products with the best ranking with either all three of those standards, or also if there is one that you feel is more important than the other.

Goodguide.com also lets you compare brands, so maybe if you’re on a budget and can’t necessarily afford all the expensive products, you can still find comparably priced products that may score better than what you are currently using. Most of the name brand products will include user reviews, along with typical pricing for those products.

Now that you’ve found the products you want to switch to, how will you find where to buy them? Goodguide.com has a solution for that, as well. All the products can be found by clicking the link on the product page that says “Buy this product online.” This takes you to Thefind.com, a site that hosts dozens of online merchants that sell that product—so you can still be a choosy shopper and find which site has the best deals. With the ease and information that this site offers, it should be a breeze finding products that you can not only afford, but enjoy and feel good about, as well. Happy shopping!

From the DIY network, the first step is to define a style for your back yard. Your back yard should be about you—not some cookie cutter defined lifestyle. Think about the styles and themes that you already use in your home, and implement them into you back yard. Your home will also have a more fluid feel to it when the back yard compliments the interior of your home.

Secondly, start dividing your space into sections. For general entertaining purposes, DIY’s Scott Cohen says that when people socialize, they tend to split off into groups of four. So don’t cram everything into one giant entertaining space, but instead create many smaller spaces for a better design.

To help set off each of these areas, design one main focal point in each section, says Cohen. Each area should have functionality, whether it’s for eating, cooking, swimming, relaxing, etc., and using a focal point along each space will help tie up loose ends in those areas.

Once you’ve decided how to split up the yard into your sections, now you have to decide what to fill them with. Cohen recommends a couple of hot design tips, starting with making your back yard a vacation area. He calls this, “Vacation at Home” and theorizes that if you spruce up your outdoor living to make it more luxurious and leisurely, it can mimic the feel of vacation. That way, if you’re strapped for

cash this summer and can’t take a real vacation, you can at least enjoy the benefits of relaxation right at home. Another hot design must is mixing fire and water elements. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to build an entire fire place and swimming pool in your back yard, but just simply adding a small water feature or portable fire pit can help bring about some great summer combinations.

However, if adding a pool is what you’re aiming for, Cohen also has some great tips for what kinds of pools are in right now. The typical kidney-shaped pool is out, he says, and now the hottest pool trend is the spa-pool experience. Think of adding features to the pool such as water shoulder massage or vanishing edge pools.

Using your outdoor living space for cooking in another fun and summer must-have, says Cohen. However, remember that cooking takes space. It’s just like your kitchen, so be sure to include room for all your outdoor cooking appliances and make sure everything’s not shoved together in a corner.

Adding color and texture will also help boost your back yard’s “backside curb appeal”. Cohen says, don’t be afraid to add in some more vibrant colors than you would normally use indoors, and he definitely recommends spending the extra money for quality patio furniture. You want to be comfortable when you’re outside enjoying all your hard work.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to use unique materials. Or better yet—the back yard could be the perfect place for that eyesore of a vase that your mother-in-law gave you for Christmas last year. Remember, you want your back yard to reflect your tastes, but it is one area where you can expand and branch out from your typical décor.