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If you live in the suburbs, like I do, the yard around your home is the closest you come to the natural environment on a day to day basis. This begs the question - Is your yard a natural environment? Author Douglas Tallamy suggests that the average suburban yard is an artificial collection of exotic plants which creates an unnatural zone unsuitable to native wildlife. In his book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens Mr.

Cordless and cell phones, laptops, digital cameras and camcorders, remote control cars and cordless power tools. Each of these devices rely on rechargeable batteries, which given enough time and use fail to hold a charge. What do you do with the formerly-rechargeable Nickel Cadmium, Nickel Metal Hydride, Lithium Ion, and Sealed Lead batteries? Recycle them, of course!

Step outside and take a long, deep breath. Was the air clean and fresh or are you hacking up a lung? Check the American Lung Association's 2007 State of the Air Report and see how the air in your town ranks against the rest of the United States. The report ranks cities' air quality based on ozone (O3) and Particle Pollution (Soot). In the 2007 State of the Air report Santa Fe, New Mexico ranked as the second cleanest city in the U.S. for Long-term Particle Pollution and 21st for Short-term Particle Pollution.

Opponents of oil and gas drilling in Santa Fe county can breathe a sigh of relief. A press release from the Santa Fe County Board of Commissioners dated February 26, 2008 states:

'The Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners has passed an emergency interim development ordinance that temporarily suspends the processing and granting of applications for permits to drill for oil and natural gas within the Galisteo Basin until February 28, 2009. The ordinance also empowers the Board to extend the prohibition for an additional 6 months, if necessary.'

Fresh water is a precious, highly valuable resource, doubly so in the American Southwest. The last thing in the world we should do with it is to pour it down the drain. But outdated plumbing fixtures do just that by wasting many gallons of water when only one or two are needed. If you don't have low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures in your house yet, then now is the time to swap them out.