Home & Garden

«««« Click here for FINANCIAL CRISIS ASSISTANCE »»»»

General

After a Disaster - Advice on what to do after floods, hurricanes, winter storms blackouts, and other disasters. Covers food safety, water treatment, thawing frozen pipes, cleaning, and more. For what to do before disaster hits, see Get Prepared (American Red Cross). See also Basic Emergency Preparedness (Office of Senator Barbara Boxer), Really Ready (Federation of American Scientists), Ready NJ new , Floods: What You Should Know (U.S. Centers for Disease Control), and FloodSmart (FEMA).

Appraiser Search - Links to online directories of certified appraisers who can estimate the value of your real estate and personal property such as jewelry, art, antiques, etc., plus a helpful Consumer's Guide to Appraisal and Selecting an Appraiser. (Appraisal Foundation)

BBC Lifestyle - Articles from the UK TV network on food, home decor, gardening, parenting, and more. Some information is specific to the UK.

Consumer Reports Home & Garden Blog - Consumer Reports' staff offers tips and news on home and garden maintenance, appliances & other home products, energy conservation, and more; RSS feed available.

Good Housekeeping: Helpful Tools - A variety of home- and lifestyle-related tools and tips, including a recipe finder, virtual model, paint & preview rooms tool, stain buster, cleaning and clutter guides, air conditioner BTU calculator, exercise calorie burner, toddler to teen party planner, and more.(Commercial site)

Google Home Links - A directory of links covering home maintenance, gardening, cooking, entertaining, do-it-yourself, moving & relocating, and more.

Green Tips - Answers to thorny questions for those who want to tread lightly on the planet. Paper or plastic, cloth or disposable diapers, microwave vs conventional ovens, and practical solutions to other common quandaries (Union of Concerned Scientists). For more practical advice on greener living, see This Green Life (Natural Resources Defense Council), Green Tips (Green America, formerly Co-op America), Sustainable Consumption (Sierra Club), Ask Umbra [UPDATED LINK!] (Grist Magazine), Green Home Guide (U.S. Green Building Council), and Green Home (Sierra Club) offer lots more advice on living, buying, and investing greenly. See also South Plainfield Public Library's Home Energy & Water Conservation links, below, and our Green Shopping links. Our Garden & Landscape section includes links to information on eco-friendly landscaping/yard care, organic gardening, composting, and more. Our Food section includes resources on locally-grown food and vegetarian food. For information on recycling, see Recycling in South Plainfield listing, below.

HGTV - Articles and short videos on home decorating, remodeling, gardening, crafts, and more, from Home & Garden TV network. (Commercial site, aggressive advertising)

Monkey See: Home & Garden - 'Free access to a large collection of professionally-produced and user-generated how-to videos.' Presenters' credentials are clearly provided for each resource. (Commercial site)

Mother Earth News - How-to articles on gardening, renewable energy, natural health, and sustainable living, from the Granny of back-to-the-land publications. Includes an online discussion forum.

Old Farmer's Almanac - North America's oldest continuously published periodical offers home and garden information, recipes, and more. Does not work correctly in Internet Explorer 6 (Commercial site: Yankee Publishing Inc.). See also Farmers' Almanac (Commercial site: Almanac Publishing Co).

Recycling in South Plainfield - Information for local residents on drop-off and curbside pickup, including yard waste and electronics. The South Plainfield Public Library accepts household batteries for recycling, as well as cell phones, and empty ink and toner cartridges from computer printers or copiers. For information about where and how to recycle electronic products, see our E-Cycling links. For tips on how to reduce all kinds of waste, see Reduce.org: 'When you avoid making garbage in the first place, you don't have to worry about disposing of waste or recycling it later.' (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency). For more recycling resources, see Earth 911 (search by product & zip code) and Rodale's 'Recycling A to Z'. Another recycling resource is Throwplace, where you can list excess goods to give to charities, individuals, and businesses to reuse, recycle & refurbish. Freecycle Network is a similar organization with thousands of local groups run by local volunteer moderators. Nike collects used athletic shoes (any brand) at all its U.S. retail locations through the Reuse-A-Shoe Program.

Rental Decorating Digest - Articles on home decorating for apartment dwellers and others in temporary quarters. Covers the basics of interior design, dorm decorating and college decor, budget decorating ideas, and organizing for small space living. Now includes a new audio series. (Commercial site)

Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service - A large collection of printable guides offering tips on home maintenance, gardening, landscaping, financial management, nutrition, and more. OhioLine (Ohio State University) and Urban Programs Resource Network (University of Illinois) are two more excellent Cooperative Extension Service websites.

Food

All Recipes - More than 20,000 recipes posted by a community of home cooks; users offer ratings and reviews for each recipes, sometimes with suggested alterations. You can browse recipes by category or search by keyword. Another good recipe site is Recipe Source, a huge archive of recipes which you can search by keyword, browse by regional / ethnic cuisines, or browse by type of dish (main course, dessert, etc.). RecipeZaar offers still more user-contributed recipes. You can browse recipes by course, ingredient, cuisine, occasion, diet, or preparation, then apply various filters to the resulting list; or you can search by keywords, then sort the results by users ratings or preparation time. RecipeZaar may be slow to load and navigate due to flash ads and popups. (Commercial sites)

America's Test Kitchen - Recipes and how-tos. Companion website for the TV show. Free registration required for full access. (Cook's Illustrated Magazine; commercial site)

Cheap Cooking - 'Tips for cutting back on your grocery bill, cheap recipes and shopping hints, and a downloadable grocery list and price book' (personal / commercial site). See also Stretching Your Food Dollar. NOTE: the links within this page are broken, but most of the linked documents it refers to may be found at the Food and Nutrition Resources page. (University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension)

CHOW - User-friendly recipe site. Keyword search results are conveniently divided into recipes, stories, blog posts, and more. Also offers how-to videos on cooking techniques, plus articles and discussion boards. (CBS Interactive, Inc.; commercial site)

Conversion Calculators - Several handy kitchen calculators to convert measurements of solids and liquids, with charts for equivalent measures (commercial site). See also Cooking Conversions (Gourmet Sleuth, commercial site). Conversion Maestro is a quick calculator to convert grams to ounces or liters to pints (University of Washington).

Cook it Quick - Lots of tips and recipes to help you reduce the time you spend in the kitchen. (University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension)

Cooking By Numbers - Check off the ingredients you have on hand, and Cooking By Numbers will give you dozens of recipes for dishes you can make with them. The resulting list of recipes starts with the simplest dishes (only one or two ingredients needed) and gets progessively more complex. (Personal site)

Cook's Thesaurus - 'A cooking encyclopedia that covers thousands of ingredients and kitchen tools. Entries include pictures, descriptions, synonyms, pronunciations, and suggested substitutions.' No nutrition data. (Commercial site)

Epicurious - Over 13,000 recipes, searchable by keyword, plus other food & cooking-related resources, including videos. (CondéNet Inc.; commercial site)

Food & Wine - Companion website for the popular 'Food & Wine' magazine offers recipes, wine guide, travel articles, and videos/podcasts. (Commercial site)

Food Safety [UPDATED LINK!] - Advice for consumers on proper food handling and storage. Additional food safety resources may be found on the South Plainfield Public Library's Health & Fitness - NUTRITION and FOOD SAFETY page.

Food TV - Companion website for the cable Food Network. (Commercial site)

Gourmet Sleuth - Articles and useful information on food, cooking & eating (including a Cooking Dictionary with Ingredients Substitutions and Equivalents and Conversions Calculator), plus recipes, culinary links directory, and more. (Commercial site)

Ingredient Substitutions - If you're cooking and don't have a needed ingredient on hand, or you need to alter a recipe because of dietary restrictions, this site will tell you the appropriate substitute ingredients and quantities to use. (University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension)

JerseyFresh - Find out where you can get fresh local fruits and vegetables in season. This site lists roadside stands, pick-your-own, and urban/suburban farmers markets in the state; arranged by county. Includes seasonal recipes. (NJ Department of Agriculture)

Kitchen Window - Feature articles and radio podcasts about food and cooking, with related recipes. Site is slow to load and navigate. (NPR)

Leite's Culinaria - Sample recipes from a variety of gourmet cookbooks, plus feature articles on food, cooking, and dining.

Local Harvest & Food Routes - Information on where, why, and how to buy locally-grown food. Use the dropdown menus on Eat Local to find out what's in season in your state (and in bordering states) at different times of the year (Natural Resources Defense Council). See also Chefs A'field for gourmet recipes featuring locally-grown ingredients by region; companion to a video series about food and farms (PBS). The Eat Well Guide is a searchable directory of thousands of farms, stores, & restaurants that offer sustainably-raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs in the US & Canada.

Produce Pete - TV personality Produce Pete offers advice on choosing and using fruits and vegetables. Includes recipes and a month by month 'What's in Season' chart. (Commercial site)

Setting the Table - A brief illustrated guide on the basics of how to set your table for different occasions (both formal and informal), including placement of plates, glasses, and utensils. (Winn Dixie Stores)

SlowFood - Home of the international 'Slow Food' movement, founded 'to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.' Website offers food news and reviews from around the world. See also SlowFood USA.

Spice & Herb Encyclopedia [UPDATED LINK!] - Gives pictures, descriptions and uses for 45 herbs and spices from Allspice to Vanilla. (Commercial site)

Vegetarian Resource Group - Extensive collection of vegetarian/vegan articles, recipes, links and other materials (Non-profit organization). See also Meatless Monday (nonprofit organization & Johns Hopkins University), VegWeb (commercial site) and Vegetarian Resources (Loma Linda University). For additional vegetarian (and seasonal) recipes, see the website of popular cookbook author Mollie Katzen. VegCooking is a large, user-friendly website on vegan and vegetarian cooking and lifestyle (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Whole Foods Recipes - Printable recipes for healthy whole foods cookery; nutritional information included (Whole Foods Market & Whole Health MD). Good whole foods recipes are also available from PCC Natural Markets. (Commercial sites)

Garden & Landscape

About Flowers (Cut Flowers) - Tips on how to use plants and flowers for interior decorating, entertaining, gift-giving, and holidays and other special occasions. Includes a flower library with photographs, descriptions, care, and other interesting facts for many common flower and plant varieties. (Society of American Florists)

Backyard Wildlife Habitat - Information on how to landscape your yard to attract birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Includes a Gardeners' Guide to Global Warming [Link opens directly to a PDF document] (National Wildlife Federation). See also Pollinator Planting Guide and Butterfly Gardening, described below.

Bug Review - Descriptions of some common home & garden insect pests, with photographs, habits, potential damage, and non-chemical control recommendations (University of Illinois).

Butterfly Gardening - Helpful tips and links for attracting butterflies to your garden. (TheButterflySite.com, commercial site)

Call Before You Dig - 'Building a deck? Planting a tree? Installing a mailbox? 811 is the new number you should call before you begin any digging project. A new, federally-mandated national 'Call Before You Dig' number, 811 was created to help protect you from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines while working on digging projects. People digging often make risky assumptions about whether or not they should get their utility lines marked due to concerns about project delays, costs and previous calls about other projects. These assumptions can be life-threatening.' (Common Ground Alliance, a member-supported industry association)

Composting for Kids - Good basic instruction in the whys and hows of composting, for kids or adult beginners (Texas Agricultural Extension Service). For more on composting, see Composting for the Homeowner (University of Illinois Extension). See also Grasscycling and Composting Yard Waste, described below.

Container Gardening - Advice on growing ornamental and edible plants in containers or small spaces (Denver County Cooperative Extension). See also Vegetable Gardening in Containers (Texas Agricultural Extension Service).

Cornell Home Gardening - A well-organized website on flower & vegetable gardening and lawn care, from a leading university in agricultural research and education. Rutgers Cooperative Extension also offers a variety of printable Gardening & Landscaping Guides.

Drying Flowers and Foliage for Arrangements - Explains how to select, preserve, and use plant materials for decorative arrangements. (University of Missouri)

Edible Flowers - Basic instructions on growing edible flowers, with a chart listing suitable varieties (North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service).

Environmentally-Friendly Landscaping - Information on how you can protect and conserve natural resources while saving time and money through reduced maintenance requirements. For details, see Greenscaping and Wild Ones Handbook (parts of Handbook are specific to the Great Lakes region) (US Environmental Protection Agency). Less Lawn also provides information and inspiration to help you create a more beautiful, low-maintenance, organic, and wildlife-friendly landscape (by Evelyn J. Hadden; personal site).

Frost Dates - A quick way to look up the average first and last frost dates for your area, from Victory Seeds. See also USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (U.S. National Arboretum) and National Climatic Data Center's Freeze / Frost Maps (US Department of Commerce).

Garden Information - Articles by experts on gardening techniques and garden design (Brooklyn Botanic Garden). The University of Illinois Extension Service Horticulture site also offers expert gardening advice.

Gardening & Your Health - Facts sheets on garden-related health issues, such as allergies, arthritis, carpal tunnel, power tool safety, sunburn, and ticks, plus other gardening tools & techniques. (Virginia Cooperative Extension)

Gardening By Mail - A directory of thousands of mail-order garden supply companies, with user ratings and comments as well as gardening discussion forums. You can browse company listings alphabetically, geographically, or by category. (Commercial site: Dave's Garden)

Gardens for Everybody - Advice on gardening for people with disabilities, visual impairment, arthritis, or other special considerations (University of Missouri). See also Garden Forever, articles and tips about gardening for people of all ages, abilities and lifestyles (Gardenscape Ltd., commercial site).

Grasscycling and Composting Yard Waste - 'Grasscycling saves time (no more bagging!) and money (because less fertilizer is needed) and encourages a healthier lawn (grass clippings contain valuable nitrogen). Backyard composting yields a rich soil amendment which can be used in gardens and landscaping, while saving homeowners money spent on purchasing soil conditioners and fertilizers.' (California Integrated Waste Management Board)

Heirloom Seed Society (NJ) - Information on gardening with heirloom seeds in New Jersey. Includes articles, links & resources, and discussion forum.

Houseplant Basics - Explains the basics of selecting and caring for indoor plants (University of Illinois Extension). See also Houseplants (University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension), Master Gardener: Houseplants (Colorado Cooperative Extension), Houseplant Health (National Gardening Association), and Houseplants Help Clean Indoor Air (University of Minnesota Extension). Interiorscape Plants offers large color photos (click to enlarge) and basic facts about dozens of houseplants, arranged A to Z (Texas A&M). Still not had enough? Hort on the Internet (North Carolina Cooperative Extension) and Garden Gate's Sunroom offer links to much more houseplant info (by Karen Fletcher, personal site).

Invasive Plants - Invasive plants are introduced species that are characteristically adaptable, aggressive, and can reproduce quickly. This site offers photos and basic information to help you identify invasive species, with links to additional resources. Also offers similar information on invasive animal and insect pests. (USDA)

KinderGarden - How to get kids involved in gardening (Texas Agricultural Extension Service). See also KidsGardening (National Gardening Association), Garden-Based learning activities (Cornell), and My First Garden (University of Illinois Extension).

Landscape Gardening: My Ideal Garden - Explains the basics of landscaping design principles, planning, and tools, with links to additional resources. (By Peter Bochenek & Associates, a landscape architecture firm.)

Machinery Safety: Hand / Power Tools [UPDATED LINK!] - Information on how to safely use tools such as chain saws, table saws, lawn edgers & trimmers, and more (National Ag Safety Database). See also Construction / Power Tool Safety (OSHA).

National Gardening Association - Online gardening magazine presents a variety of articles and resources for gardeners. Enter your zip code for regional information.

Native Gardening and Invasive Plants - Guide to plants native to different regions of the US, plus some of the weedy or invasive plants that are best avoided in the garden. (Commercial site: e-Nature.com)

Organic Gardening Basics - Explains the ABCs of organic gardening. You can also use the menu bar across the top to access additional garden advice, recipes, and more (Rodale). See also Extremely Green's Organic Pest Control Guide. (Commercial sites)

Pest Management in Homes, Gardens, Landscapes, and Turf new - Guidelines for monitoring pests, using pesticides, and non-pesticide alternatives for managing pests. (University of California)

Pesticides - Links to information about choosing and using pesticides safely. You can also call the National Pesticide Information Center toll-free with specific questions at 1-800-858-7378. (Oregon State University)

Plant Finder - Describes the characteristics, cultivation and uses for over 3500 home landscape plants, including herbaceous perennials, shrubs, vines and trees, with a color photo of each. Arranged A to Z; searchable (Missouri Botanical Garden). See also Landscape Plants: Images, Identification, and Information (Oregon State University) and the Monrovia Plant Library (commercial site).

Plant Information Online - Extensive database allows you to search by common or scientific plant names to find book & magazine citations, selected links to info & images online, and nurseries selling plants & seeds. (University of Minnesota)

Plants Database - Searchable database of all kinds of plants, providing standard information (names, checklists, distributional data, characteristics, etc.), plus images, crop information, web links, and references (USDA).

Pollinator Planting Guide new - Most plants need birds, bees, butterflies, bats, beetles and other pollinators to reproduce, but declines in the health and population of pollinators pose what could be a significant threat to biodiversity, food production, and human health. At this site you can download a free ecoregional Pollinator Planting Guide (PDF) to help you make your yard more pollinator-friendly. (Non-profit organization: Coevolution Institute)

Rose Garden - An extensive site devoted to growing roses, with information, photos, and links (University of Illinois). See also Rose Magazine (commercial site) and Rose Care [WEBSITE IS UNDER RE-CONSTRUCTION] (American Rose Society).

S.M.A.R.T. Gardening Stretches and S.M.A.R.T. gardening tips [Links open directly to PDF documents] - Warm-up stretches for gardeners to help reduce muscle strain injury and fatigue (Canadian Physiotherapy Association). See also Dig Into Gardening for a Mind-Body Workout (AARP).

Tree Planting - Explains the basics of choosing, planting, and maintaining trees on your property (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service). The SelecTree database will search for specific tree species to match the type of site and desired tree characteristics you specify (Cal Poly State University).

Vegetable Gardening Basics - A good introduction for the beginnner, with sections on planning a garden, planting & transplanting, insect & disease control, composting, harvesting & storing vegetables, and growing herbs. (University of Illinois Extension)

Weekend Gardener Grow Guide - Enter some basic data about your location and the Grow Guide will produce a chart telling you when and what to sow indoors and outdoors, harden off, and transplant. See the home page for helpful seed-starting advice, a small collection of articles, and selected links. (Personal / commercial site)

Wildflower Gardening - Photos and facts about wildflowers, arranged by color, type, region or habitat. (American Meadows seed company)

Yard Care Fact Sheets - Printable fact sheets (PDF) provide tips for maintaining a healthy and beautiful lawn without harming the environment. (University of Wisconsin Extension Service). See also Safer Lawn Care for more fact sheets on how to have a green, healthy lawn which is also safe for kids, pets, and the environment (Beyond Pesticides coalition), and SafeLawns.org for helpful tips & resources, plus dozens of lawn-care how-to videos (non-profit organization).

Home Energy & Water Conservation

Clean Burning Wood Stoves and Fireplaces - Information to help you choose an EPA-certified stove or other cleaner-burning hearth appliance (e.g., gas or pellet stove) and use it efficiently and safely (US EPA). See also Hearth, Patio, & Barbecue Products for printable (PDF) factsheets on selecting and using woodstoves, pellet stoves, fireplaces, and related products (Hearth, Patio, & Barbecue Association).

Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings - Lots of good advice on saving energy in your home, including how to buy the most energy-efficient appliances, heating & cooling systems, lighting, and home electronics, plus a Home Energy Checklist for Action, FAQ, recycling & disposal information, and more. (ACEEE, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy). See also Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling for month-by-month seasonal and holiday conservation tips. (US EPA)

Energy Efficient Housing Rehabilitation - Guidelines, interactive tools, and other resources to help you make your rehab project energy efficient, durable, sustainable and healthy. (U.S. Department of Energy)

Energy Savers - Tips on saving money & energy in your home (U.S. Department of Energy). The DOE also offers an online home energy audit to compute your home's energy use. For still more home energy saving tips, see the DOE's Energy Hog and the Appalachian Mountain Club's Energy Tips, Myths and Facts. The Alliance to Save Energy provides additional tips for saving energy both at home and on the road.

Energy Star Home Improvement Toolbox - Energy-saving solutions to common household problems including mold, mildew, dust, etc., plus remodeling advice and other tips and tools. (U.S. DOE/EPA)

H2Ouse - Find out what you can do to conserve water in your home and garden. Includes a calculator to determine how much water you are using at your home. (California Urban Water Conservation Council)

Heat Pumps - Heat pumps can be a cost-effective alternative for heating and cooling your home. This site explains how to choose a heat pump to meet your needs. NOTE: some details on financing and installation are specific to Tennesee (Tennessee Valley Authority). The U.S. Department of Energy offers additional information on Geothermal Heat Pumps and Air Source Heat Pumps. See also Geothermal Heat Pump FAQ (Michigan Geothermal Energy Association).

Home Energy Do-It-Yourself - A series of articles to help homeowners save energy and money. Covers ducts, roofs, walls & windows, health hazards, and more; includes links to additional information (Home Energy Magazine). For more home energy tips, see PowerHouse [UPDATED LINK!] (Alliant Energy).

Home Energy Efficiency Resources - Basic information, with links to more detailed publications, covering appliances & lighting, home cooling, water efficiency, environmentally friendly building, renewable energy, and more. (Rocky Mountain Institute)

Renewable Energy - New Jersey Homeowner Incentives - This site lists rebates, tax credits, and other incentives offered by state agencies and utility companies to homeowners who invest in renewable energy technologies; links included. See also NJ Clean Energy Program. To find electricity producers using renewable energy, see the green-e website.

Simply Insulate - Information and resources to help you learn about weatherization programs, low-cost loans and financial incentives available in your state for purchasing and installing insulation. Also offers tips on how to lower your energy usage (and save money!) without sacrificing comfort. (North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, in partnership with state and federal energy and environmental agencies)

Tax Credits for Home Energy-Efficiency Improvement - 'You can get a one-time income tax credit of up to $500 in total for installing efficient new windows, insulation, doors, roofs, and heating and cooling equipment in your home.' This site gives the details, and also explains new tax credits for Geothermal Heat Pumps, Solar Energy, and Fuel Cells. (Alliance to Save Energy)

WaterSmart - Brief advice on saving water, time, and money inside and outside your home (Cobb County - Marietta Water Authority). See also Conserve Water (Georgia Department of Natural Resources). Use the National Wildlife Federation's Water Calculator to evaluate your water consumption, then follow the Water Conservation Tips to reduce your water usage. The EPA's new WaterSense Label makes it easy to choose quality, water-efficient products, such as low-flow shower heads and high-efficiency toilets, which can help you save water and protect the environment (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).

Weatherization Assistance - Information about the Weatherization Assistance Program, which enables low-income families to permanently reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. (U.S. Department of Energy)

Winter-Wise Tips - Tips for protecting your family's safety and keeping your home comfortable and safe during the winter. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

Home Maintenance, Repair, & Improvement

After a Disaster - Advice on what to do after floods, hurricanes, winter storms blackouts, and other disasters. Covers food safety, water treatment, thawing frozen pipes, cleaning, and more. For what to do before disaster hits, see Get Prepared (American Red Cross). See also Basic Emergency Preparedness (Office of Senator Barbara Boxer), Really Ready (Federation of American Scientists), Ready NJ, Floods: What You Should Know (U.S. Centers for Disease Control), and FloodSmart (FEMA).

Answers at Ace - Step-by-step home maintenance, repair and improvement how-tos from Ace Hardware. Lowe's and Home Depot also offer free online videos on home maintenance & improvement projects, interactive tools, and other how-to information. (Commercial sites)

Appliance Repair: RepairClinic.com - Helpful information about appliance repair & maintenance. (Commercial site)

Calculate Materials - 'Whether you're cutting or painting, installing carpeting or flooring, or laying tile, use these calculators to check how much you'll need of the materials you'll be installing.' (This Old House; commercial site)

Caring for Heirlooms, Treasures & Collectibles - Online guide to preserving your household valuables, including furniture, silver, musical instruments, documents & photographs, videotapes & sound recordings, works of art, and much more (Canadian Conservation Institute). The Institute of Conservation (ICON) also offers advice on the care and conservation of heritage objects or buildings.

Family Handyman - Popular magazine on do-it-yourself home repair and remodeling (Readers' Digest; commercial site). See also Home Improvement Encyclopedia (Better Homes & Gardens; commercial site).

Fire Safety - Free online publications explaining potential fire hazards in the home, and how to fix them (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission). Home Fires includes links to brief PDF publications on a number of special fire-related topics, such as holiday fire safety, candle safety, cooking fires, smoke alarms, and escape planning (Red Cross). See also Home Fire Prevention and Preparedness (National Safety Council) and Fire Safety Topics (U.S. Fire Administration).

Hazardless Home Handbook [Link opens directly to a PDF document] - An A to Z guide to dozens of common hazardous household products, explaining their proper use, storage, and disposal, and suggesting safer alternatives. (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Metro Regional Government)

Hints from Heloise - Online tips from the queen of housekeeping advice. Heloise offers more do-it-yourself housekeeping recipes and tips on the Simple Home Remedies page.

Historic Preservation - Dozens of illustrated online how-to publications explaining various aspects of maintaining historic properties. (National Park Service)

Home Improvement Fact Sheet for Consumers - Advice on finding a competent and reliable contractor for your home improvement project (Federal Trade Commission). See also N.J. Consumer Protection: Home Improvement Contractors new (New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs).

Home Maintenance and Repair Database [UPDATED LINK!] - Keyword-searchable database of home maintenance and repair instructions. (Michigan State University)

HomeTime - Companion site for the PBS TV program offers how-to articles and videos on a variety of home remodeling and maintenance topics. (Commercial site)

Household Products Safety - 'What's under your kitchen sink, in your garage, in your bathroom, and on the shelves in your laundry room? Learn more about what's in these products, about potential health effects, and about safety and handling.' Also provides first aid instructions for each product, in case of accidental ingestion/exposure. You can browse the site alphabetically or by category, or search by brand name, product, or manufacturer (National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine). The Environmental Working Group also provides information on hazardous household products; choose 'health/toxics' or 'chemical index' from the left-hand menu; site may be slow to load and navigate (nonprofit organization).

Housekeeping Channel - Tips for better, faster, and healthier house housekeeping, from 'cleaning experts, professional executive housekeepers and cleaning services, environmental service professionals, doctors and scientists, and organizational and time-management consultants.' (Commercial site)

Indoor Air Quality - An A-Z index to information on all aspects of indoor air quality, such as air cleaners, ozone generators, asbestos, duct cleaning, radon , mold, carbon monoxide, and more. For an overview of air quality concerns and remedies, see The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality new . (US EPA)

Machinery Safety: Hand/Power Tools - Information on how to safely use tools such as sanders, chain saws, table saws, lawn edgers & trimmers, and more (National Ag Safety Database). See also Construction/Power Tool Safety (OSHA).

Mister Fix-It - Advice on home repair, home improvements and do-it-yourself projects by Tom Feiza, a Milwaukee radio-show host/newspaper columnist.

Mold, Moisture, and Your Home - Online guide explains why mold grows in your home, potential hazards of mold, and how to get rid of it (US EPA). See also Got Mold? (Washington State Department of Health) and Environmental Hazards: Mold (CDC).

Organized Home - Helpful tips on cleaning, organizing, and decluttering your home and your life. Includes links and message board (commercial site). See also Dealing with Clutter (University of Illinois Extension) and Rule Your Stuff (commercial site).

Plumbing 101 - Do-it-yourself articles on plumbing home improvement and repair. (By a California plumbing contractor)

Radon - Information about the health risk from exposure to radon in indoor air, and advice on testing your home to find out if you have a radon problem; links. (National Safety Council)

Rehab Guides - This series on innovative housing technologies was written for housing rehabilitation professionals, but should also be of interest to the expert do-it-yourselfer. 'The Rehab Guide series focuses on building technologies, materials, components, and techniques rather than projects such as adding a new room. Each volume covers a distinct element of housing rehabilitation and features breakthrough materials, labor-saving tools, and cost-cutting practices.' (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)

Security Alarm Systems - Explains different types of security systems and how to choose an alarm company, plus general advice on keeping your home secure. Part of an extensive collection of Home Safety Advice from State Farm Insurance.

Stain Solutions - Instructions for cleaning a wide variety of household stains. You can browse through the A-Z list or use the search box (University of Illinois Extension). See also Stain Buster (Good Housekeeping magazine). Fabric Care Center [UPDATED LINK!] offers stain removal guides, laundry tips, information about fabric labels & laundry products, and related resources (FabricLink). Non-Toxic Home Care provides information on safe cleaning, including cleaning formulas you can make yourself, healthy home cleaning habits, and commercial non-toxic household products (Eartheasy.com; commercial site). See also Green Cleaners (Oregon Metro Regional Government) and Green Spring Cleaning (Center for a New American Dream, nonprofit organization).

This Old House: Homeowner How-To - A collection of instructional articles on repair, maintenance, and remodeling of old houses. Includes an online video library. See also Old House Web's How-To Advice (Commercial sites)

ToolBox - A useful list of basic tools to have on hand for common home maintenance and repair jobs, along with some tips on using tools and keeping them in good condition (Cole's Hardware, commercial site). For more in-depth information on tools, see DIY Home Improvement: Tools and This Old House: Tools & Products (commercial sites). Another good site is the Handy Ma'am Toolbox (PBS).

General

Food

Garden & Landscape

Home Energy & Water Conservation

Home Maintenance, Repair, & Improvement

Homes - Buying, Selling & Renting