Green Home Projects

By Megan Holley

These days when you walk down the aisles of your local grocery store, there are hundreds of chemicals and synthetic materials available for a variety of uses. Most of us use these chemicals and synthetics everyday without giving a second thought about their effect on our health or the environment. Believe it or not, many of these compounds can be very harmful and take generations to dissolve in landfills.

There are many green alternatives to the harsh chemicals used every day in businesses and private residences. Best of all, these natural cleaners can be cheaper and smell a lot nicer than chemicals!
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by C. Greene

The problem with many ‘money-saving’ environmental tips is that they save money only in the long run: you often have to spend quite a bit of money up front before you begin to earn it back in savings. But one of the best things you can do for the planet is also one of the easiest on your wallet: stop buying bottled water! The cost of energy, use of oil and the pollution from the production of plastic bottles and the addition of so much plastic to landfills is a huge, unnecessary drain on our natural resources. What’s more there is evidence that plastic bottles can release residues which have unknown health consequences. To top it all off, many water companies simply bottle tap water–so you are often paying money for resources you have literally ‘on tap’ at home.

Now that you’ve stopped adding so many plastic bottles to your trash, what about plastic bags? Using reusable cloth bags instead of paper or plastic will make a big difference. But what if you can’t remember or don’t want to go that far? Well, you could simply recycle your plastic bags when you’re done. Or, stop buying plastic trash bags! Use your grocery bags as garbage liners. That way you save money and reuse your grocery bags at the same time.

Another simple, money-saving tip: use less paper. Instead of buying paper books, buy e-books. If you hate to read on the computer, consider investing in a kindle from amazon or another e-book reader. The newer ones are well designed to have the look and feel of a real book and to be easy on the eyes. Sign up for paper-less billing and keep your records permanently on discs or hard drives. Use single-ply, unbleached toilet paper and cloth rather than paper towels.

Weather-stripping your doors and windows is another way to save energy – and money. Weather-stripping is inexpensive and easy to install. You can find it any home-improvement store. Such stores may also offer instruction if you’re not handy and are uncertain how to work with the materials they sell.

Finally, save water by putting aerators on all your faucets. These are easy to attach and mix air with water. It saves water, but doesn’t change the water pressure. Just this one small change can save you up to 280 gallons of water per month.

To read more green living tips, visit http://www.greenenergyhowto.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=C._Greene

by Jenny Antelli

Global climate change has become a matter of increased significance among many companies. As a result, products and activities have started to turn “green.” The world of cleaning products is no exception to this trend. “Green cleaning” is a term used to describe the use of cleaning materials that contain environmentally friendly ingredients and chemicals for industrial, manufacturing, and household cleaning. The reason that many people are “going green” is to deal with the human illnesses and environmental damage that result from exposure to and disposal of certain products. Toxic chemicals that can cause personal and environmental damage are eliminated with green cleaning techniques, protecting both the environment and the health of individuals. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits the amount of human exposure and the release of toxic chemicals into the environment, but still allows some of these chemicals to be used. Green cleaning aims to eliminate use of these toxic chemicals entirely. Advancements in chemical technology have made it possible to create equally effective cleaning products without these harsh chemicals.
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Thanks to Brighter Planet we are able to offer you a full day of carbon-neutral living! Just click on the badge and a full day of carbon offsets will be donated in your name.

Green roofs have been used for thousands of years in different parts of the world, from Scandinavia to the ’soddies’ of the treeless American plains. In their traditional form they are simply houses with sod roofs. Sometimes the entire house is made of blocks of thick sod, as they were in the American west, and sometimes it is only the roof that is of that material. In either case, a thick layer of living sod provided excellent insulation. So good, in fact, that it is still sometimes used today.

For the most part, however, green roofs today are not simply a layer of sod on the roof. They are made up of manufactured layers, which usually include waterproofing, drainage and growing mediums.

The intensive type of green roofing allows for traditional gardens, including vegetables and other large plants, but requires considerable maintenance. By contrast, what’s called extensive green roofing consists of relative thin layers of roofing materials and requires little to no maintenance.

Both types of green roofs offer considerable advantages, especially in cities, where they are valuable in combating water run-off problems and the problem of the concentrating heat that occurs when large areas of green are paved over. They also offer considerable savings on heating and cooling costs and the intensive type can become wonderful restful retreats for harried office workers and executives. Finally, green roofs help improve air quality, taking a number of pollutants out of the air and provide a good habitat for plants and wildlife.

What about green roofs for single family homes? Well, according to researchers at Columbia University’s Center for Climate Systems Research, green roofs cost about twice as much as regular roofs, but last at least twice as long. If you are considering a green roof, you might want to start with a smaller project, such as putting a green roof on a garden shed. You can find plans for several sheds at LivingRoofs.org.

I am working my way through several books on solar energy, trying to find the best one to recommend to readers. Thanks to a friend who is interested in racing and has investigated biodisel, however, I can make this recommendation for those who are interested in learning how to make their own biofuel. Biodiesel Basics and Beyond by William Kemp is his personal choice among the books he has studied, covering, as he says, both sides of the sometimes controversial issues around home-brewing of biofuel.

Author: Kimberley Ward

What is “grey water” and why should it be captured? Wouldn’t that be unsafe? What are the benefits? This article will try to answer these questions in our first of several “Focus on Green Homes” articles.

First, grey water is not actually grey-colored. After being filtered it looks just like regular water. However, it is not potable water and should never be used as such.
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Let’s face it, many of the recommendations to lower your carbon footprint or otherwise lessen your impact on the environment are hard or expensive or uncomfortable– and some are all three. But there are also many that are easy, pleasant — and save you bunches of money as well.

Of these, the top of the list is certainly to stop drinking bottled water. Plastic bottles take an enormous amount of energy and oil to produce, are rarely recycled, and may leave residues in drinking water– with unknown health effects. Transporting the water also adds tons of carbon to the atmosphere. To top it all off, much of the bottled water sold is nothing but tap water to begin with. The water on tap in the US is almost without exception completely safe to drink. For added certainty you can put a filter on your faucet or buy a filtering pitcher.

Other easy, pleasant, and cheap tips to make your life greener:

• Exchange incandescent bulbs for compact florescent bulbs. They cost a little more (ask for them for Christmas!) but save you up to 50% on your electric bill.

• Instead of buying sparkling water (in plastic bottles), buy a home seltzer water charger! You can also buy flavoring– or use your own recipe– and make your own flavored sodas this way. You’ll save lots of money this way, not to mention keeping all those bottles out of the landfills.

• Saving on heating can be hard if you want to stay comfortable. One easy way to do it, however, is to keep the thermostat down low at night when you go to bed and during the day when you are at work. If you have trouble remembering to do this, investing in a programmable thermostat which will do it for you automatically can pay for itself many times over. This has the advantage that it can be set to turn itself on before you get up in the morning or home at night, so that your house is always at a comfortable temperature when you want it to be.

• If you don’t already have a low-flow toilet that uses less water to flush you can make your regular toilet more water-efficient — and planet friendly — by adding a 1- gallon jug filled with sand or gravel to the tank. You won’t notice the difference in the bathroom– but you will on your water bill!

• Don’t buy dry-clean only clothes! Most methods of dry-cleaning use cancer-causing chemicals. Some may remain on your clothes, but more leach into the ground water when the chemicals are disposed of. If you already have dry-clean only clothes that you love, consider finding a dry-cleaner that uses non-toxic cleaning methods. Or simply hand wash the clothes yourself with a gentle cleaner. Most ‘dry-clean only’ respond well to gentle hand washing.

• Use a washable mug for your morning coffee. If that means forgoing Starbucks, all the better! Making your own coffee at home instead of buying it at a coffee house can save you hundreds of dollars a month!

• When you’re making that morning coffee, use a reusable coffee filter. You’ll save the cost of paper filters– and also more than a few trees.

• Use rechargeable batteries. You’ll save the cost of 30 or more regular batteries for each rechargeable battery you buy– and also keep a fair amount of toxic materials out of landfills.

• Buy a solar charger for your rechargeable batteries. You’ll save on both the cost of batteries and on your electric bill.

• Wrap gifts the old-fashioned way– in fabric, tied with real ribbon. Your pretty wrapping can then be made into something else — which may last far longer than the gift it was wrapping! If the person who received the gift doesn’t like to sew, collect the fabric and ribbon afterward and give it to someone who does.

• Clean the coils on the back of your refrigerator. Dusty coils can increase energy use by up to 30%.

• Donate, don’t dump! Instead of putting something out for trash pickup, give it to someone who needs it. If it’s not in good enough shape for Goodwill or another charity, check on-line with your local free-cycle group. People in these groups are often willing to take things that may need some refurbishing.

• Don’t leave the water running while you’re brushing your teeth. Turn it on briefly to wet the toothbrush and then again to clean it when you’re done.

• Read your newspaper on line. You’ll save both the subscription cost and the lives of several trees. If you can’t do without your morning paper in paper form, at least make sure you recycle it!

• Turn off and unplug your computer equipment when you’re not using it. Better yet, get a laptop to use as your regular computer. Laptops are designed to save money and run on batteries– which can be recharged with a solar charger for even more savings.

* Visit Green Christmas Gifts or The Green Home Store for products discussed on this page.

By Henry Allpas

Believe it or not, there are many alternatives to flush toilets. For anyone doing research on the topic there is a plethora of information on the internet detailing alternatives to flush toilets, septic systems, and sewer hookup. The main reasons people would do this sort of research is to either save a few dollars or help preserve our environment, or both. Here is a list of flush toilet alternatives that you can do some further research on.

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by Charles Koty, A.I.A.
Source: Sustainable Living Articles

The popular word today is GREEN, meaning protecting our environment, enhancing our ecology, conserving our energy and, also, fighting global warming, pollution and waste.

Utilizing the solar system, instead of fuel, for space heating is part of GREEN. And that’s where solar homes come in.

The Traditional Way: Active Solar Homes
Early on, architects learned to harness the sun to heat our homes and minimize our dependence on imported oil. South-facing solar panels on the roof, with circulating water, can produce free domestic hot water. This system is still popular and is cost-effective.

Multiple such panels, with anti-freeze liquid instead of water, and with elaborate pumps and insulated storage tanks have been used for space heating. This system is called “active solar,” due to the hardware involved in the system, and it is not cost-effective.

Another upcoming system, born out of the space age, is “photovoltaic.” Photovoltaic roof panels use sun power to run the house’s entire electrical system. This option is clean, efficient and almost care-free, but very costly to install. However, it does have future potentials as costs come down.

The Practical Way: Passive Solar Homes

“Passive solar” is an old concept with a new shine. Energy-saving passive solar does away with costly panels and mechanical devices and taps directly into the sun’s energy and house orientation to heat the home. The advancement of technology and available materials has further enhanced the system.

So what’s in a passive solar home? A typical one has the major rooms facing south, or nearly-south. The house is constructed with thick insulation in walls and ceilings to keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer. Window and door glazing is double-paned for better insulation (in colder climates, triple-glazing is recommended). A wood-burning stove is selected over a fireplace to optimize heat efficiency.

Most windows and glass doors are on the south side for solar gain. Roof overhangs shade the house from high summer sun. Strategically placed clerestory windows create air circulation by convection for summer cooling.
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