Natural Perspectives:

Judging by all the displays of backyard furniture at local home improvement centers, we assume people are preparing to vacation at home this summer. With gasoline prices skyrocketing to the moon, that sounded like a good plan to us.

Back in the day, outdoor furniture meant stackable plastic or folding chairs with aluminum frames and multicolored webbing. Now outdoor furniture is beautiful. People are decorating their yards with shade canopies, furniture with big cushions, and glass-topped tables. There are even outdoor rugs and outdoor floor and table lamps.

Cooking outdoors has changed, too. Grilling outdoors used to mean a simple Weber charcoal grill. Now there are elaborate outdoor kitchens, complete with little refrigerators, and even plumbed sinks. We switched from a Weber charcoal grill to a three-burner Kenmore gas grill a few years ago and will never go back. We cook many different veggies on the grill, as well as chicken, chops and steaks. I’ve even baked on the grill, making brownies in a cast iron Dutch oven and corn bread in a cast iron skillet. Since we don’t have air conditioning, it beats heating up an indoor oven on a hot day.

We thought we had this outdoor living thing down pretty well. But after touring some of the Hearthside model homes at the Brightwater development next to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Vic and I saw new possibilities of what outdoor living could be like. While the posh outdoor entertainment centers of those models were beyond our means, we thought we could make our backyard more inviting and livable.

The impetus was really the collapse of my 16-year-old backyard pond. Unlike my in-ground pond in the front yard, this one was not a plastic-lined hole in the ground. It was a wood and tile structure that sat on the deck. It had served us well for all those years, but age and the elements had taken their toll. It was rapidly losing structural integrity. It was only a matter of time before the sides collapsed and 50 gallons of water sloshed out over the decking.

Vic and I searched all of the local home improvement stores and nurseries, looking for a suitable replacement. I finally found the perfect fountain for us at Lowe’s. It was an Aztec-themed fountain with water pouring out of a carved Aztec figure’s mouth into a large basin. I potted some water plants from my old pond and put them into the new fountain. Then I used lava rocks to build up a waterfall so that the water would cascade down in trickles and rivulets.

At OSH Hardware, Vic and I bought a beautiful little bistro table made of inlaid slate, with two matching wicker-weave chairs. At improvementscatalog.com, I found an outdoor polypropylene braided rug made of recycled plastic drink bottles. I ordered an 8-foot-diameter round rug in terra cotta that would coordinate with all of my potted plants. I also bought a black wrought iron baker’s rack on which to put my potted plants. For several days, I repotted plants and worked on the new fountain.

Finally, our new outdoor area was ready for use. Vic and I began eating breakfast on the patio. We had lunch out there too. And afternoons on the patio were perfect for relaxing with a glass of wine before dinner. We sit and look out over our growing garden of veggies and fruit trees. We read the newspapers. We listen to the birds sing. Of course we also hear the neighborhood cacophony of barking dogs, rushing cars, roaring leaf blowers, banging jackhammers and buzzing chain saws, but no getaway is perfect. Those noises were there before, but now we have a nice little oasis where we can forget about such things. We really enjoy our new and improved backyard.

The downside is that many of these things came from China. We try to buy locally made things whenever we can. I searched and searched, but I could find nothing made in this country. The rug, at least, was from Mexico, which is reasonably close.

Now we have mountains of packaging to deal with. Some of the packing was Styrofoam. That has to go into the brown trash can. But the cardboard and non-Styrofoam plastics can be recycled. Those are getting put into the blue recycle bin as we find room.

Our outdoor patio and deck renovation was only the start of our current home improvement craze. We made a list of all the home improvements we’d to make, and it was appalling in price. I decided to see what I could do to avoid a kitchen remodel.

Instead of tearing out the old tile, I simply cleaned it and applied new grout coating. The countertop looks like new. Then instead of tearing out our existing cabinets, I refurbished them with orange oil and very fine steel wool.

The improvement is remarkable. With only a few days work and an investment of only a few dollars, I saved us thousands of dollars and prevented a lot of material from going into the landfill.

This summer, see what you can do to make your house and yard more livable while being kind to the environment.

Get away from it all in your own backyard. It will save you a lot of money, and fewer greenhouse gases will be pouring into the atmosphere.

VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.