Got Weeds? Get a Goat

Google uses them. So does Yahoo! and the Vanderbilt Mansion. (See video above.) Now a growing number of eco-conscious homeowners do too to clear their landscaping of difficult to reach brush and weeds.

We're talking about goats and they eat most vegetation (including poison ivy and oak) and are good employees for navigating tricky, steep terrain, as we talk about it this WSJ story. While towns and some livestock owners have used them for years, consumers and companies angling to cut back on pesticide usage as well as their dependency on fossil-fuel powered machinery are increasingly renting goats.

Not surprisingly, there's a cottage industry of rental operations springing up to meet their needs - with names like rent-a-goat.com, rent-a-ruminant.com and the Goat Lady LLC.

Water Filter Wars: Does Your Home Need One?

Filtered water bottles. Shower filters that promise "anti-aging" properties. A $1595 dehumidifier/purifier that makes drinking water from air moisture.

Manufacturers are rolling out new water treatment products for every corner of the home, as we discuss in today's WSJ. They're banking on consumers' renewed appetite for "free" tap water and concerns about the health contaminants that might be coming from their tap - such as arsenic, mercury and lead.

Check out a few of the latest gadgets in this video as well as a pitcher-tasting "showdown." We also explore the topic more on ABC News' show, "Good Money."

ABC News Video: "Winter-Proofing" Your Home

There are good tax incentives available now for "winter-proofing" your home now through 2010. Among them, a 30% federal tax credit up to $1500 for certain energy efficient home improvements including:

Windows and Doors
Insulation
Roofs (Metal and Asphalt)
HVAC (heating and cooling equipment)
Water Heaters (non-solar)
Biomass Stove (wood stoves, pellet stoves)

For more details, we explore this on ABC News. Get the details and find out what qualifies at the government's Energy Star Web site.

Testing "Natural" Pest Control Methods

This summer, I've been waging war against carpenter ants, wasps and cabbageworms by testing a new lineup of "natural" pest control products as chronicled in a recent Wall Street Journal story. Increasingly, well-known insecticide manufacturers, retailers and even professional pest-control services are rolling out solutions whose active ingredients are derived from materials like animals, plants, bacteria and minerals, many of them considered potentially safer to humans, pets and the environment than their synthetic-chemical counterparts.

Here's a list of common ingredients you'll find on the labels of natural products and the types of pests they target.

Should There Be a Universal "Eco-Label?"

With the proliferation of products being pitched as "green," there's been a surge in the number of third parties offering eco-labels as validation, as I discuss in yesterday's WSJ story. By one count, more than 300 labels exist putting their seal on everything from coffee and wood to cosmetics.

As such, some are exploring whether there should be an "Eco-Label" run by the federal government, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. Meantime, the free market isn't waiting around and retailers are adopting their own label programs.

Drawing by Michael Witte for The Wall Street Journal.