Home Living | Greener Living Today

Fall Tips for Improving Your Backyard

October 12, 2012 By cgray Leave a Comment

Fall is here and that means cool nights, short days, warm apple cider and falling leaves. However, fall is also the ideal time to work on your backyard. Spending some time on your lawn’s health and preparing your property for the winter can make for a healthier, more vibrant spread of grass in the spring. Follow these simple fall tips to improve your backyard and save your joints in the spring.

Rake and clean

Mostly everyone has experienced the joy of jumping into a pile of leaves, but there’s more than just fun and games to that chore. Raking leaves, twigs and other refuse can save your lawn from thin and bald spots in the spring. Leaves that are left under snow can smother your lawn, leaving it discolored, thin and bald in the spring thaw. Use either a rake and garbage bags or a mulching lawn mower to remove those clumps that can damage your lawn. The same goes for pet waste—either scoop it or hire a neighborhood child to remove any “presents” left by Fido. Keeping pet waste removed will not only save your lawn but keep it looking nice when that deceptive blanket of snow melts away.

Fertilize

It may seem surprising, but early autumn is the perfect time to fertilize your lawn. Using delayed-release feed will help your lawn recover from a hot, difficult summer. Slowly feeding your grass over the winter and keeping it packed with nutrients for a bright and full spring growth will help protect it from insect eggs and the cold.

Chop wood

Chopping wood for your fireplace can be a difficult task, but the time invested before the first snowfall will save even more of a headache. Consider saving your back (and legs) by using a wheel loader to haul your cords of wood back to your home. Taking care of this intensive chore in the fall will also give the wood time to dry out, making it easier to burn and reducing smoke when you cuddle up in the winter time.

Plant bulbs

There’s nothing quite as encouraging as seeing the first spring growth peeking through rapidly melting piles of snow. Fall is the ideal time to plant flower bulbs like tulips and crocuses. Be sure to avoid areas where water collects or else the bulbs may be drowned in the spring thaw. Also be careful to correctly identify the pointed ends of the bulb so the plant can grow correctly.

Fall is the ideal time to undertake home improvement projects and prepare your home for the winter. While you put up new weather stripping, replace your air filters and insulate your water pipes, don’t neglect your lawn’s health. Putting in some time on your lawn’s health and preparing for the coming snow will reduce your work catching up in the spring and keep your lawn brighter and healthier.

Filed Under: Green Gardening, Green Living, Home Living Tagged With: backyard, fall, landscaping

5 steps toward a healthier, greener lifestyle

September 11, 2012 By Felicia Baratz-Savage Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of The Forum News

Living a green lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to make radical changes. In many cases, the steps you take to reduce your carbon footprint can have additional benefits, such as saving money or improving your health.

The following tips can help you transition to an environmentally friendly lifestyle with relative ease.

1. Start your own vegetable garden

Even in small spaces, a vegetable garden can have a big impact on your home’s carbon footprint and overall health. Growing your own produce is a great way to learn about the foods you eat and ensure high-quality, healthy food for your family. But the act of gardening itself is also a great way to get regular exercise. Experiment with different vegetables and reap the benefits when the plants grow to maturity.

2. Use green transportation

One of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint is also beneficial for your health. Consider walking or riding a bike instead of driving. You’ll burn extra calories, save money on gas and boost your metabolism. You may also want to consider using public transportation, which is still an eco-friendly alternative to driving.

3. Choose filtered water, not bottles

Many modern refrigerators are equipped with a water filtration system. Using a refrigerator water filter ensures clean, high-quality water every time you fill your glass. Filters are also inexpensive and can last for up to six months before needing to be replaced. Considering the cost savings and lessened dependency on plastic bottles gained by giving up bottled water, filters should be a no-brainer.

4. Fill your home with house plants

Indoor air pollution is an often-overlooked hazard to your health. Dust, dander and other particulates floating through the air can get into your respiratory system and lead to infections and other health problems. There are several things you can do to improve air quality and continually filter unwanted materials out of the air, but one fool-proof approach is to put house plants in your home. House plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen and can also filter unwanted materials out of the air. The presence of house plants will ultimately reduce your carbon footprint, allowing for more eco-friendly living.

5. Make smarter meat choices

There’s nothing wrong with including meat in your diet. But if you consume large quantities of this food source on a regular basis, you could be putting yourself at risk of high cholesterol and other cardiovascular conditions. Not only that, but you’re also likely doing the environment a disservice. Many kinds of meat are produced at the expense of putting high amounts of emissions into the air. When you do eat meat, seek out options that are sustainable and eco-friendly, such as fish or beef from locally raised cattle. And try to limit your daily meat consumption to stay healthy and fit.

Even if you don’t kick off a green revolution in your home, even a few modest steps can have a big impact. And if you’re struggling to find motivation to adopt any new lifestyle changes, it might be helpful to learn that some changes can carry multiple benefits. Start off by keying in on the changes that most interest you and implement those gradually. Don’t overwhelm yourself early on; it can take up to six months before a new practice becomes habit. In the meantime, focus on the ways in which these changes will last and will ultimately be rewarding.

Filed Under: Green Gardening, Green Health, Green Living, Home Living Tagged With: eco-friendly living, gardening, green shopping, recycling, water filters

Be loud… just not TOO loud

July 28, 2012 By Felicia Baratz-Savage Leave a Comment

There’s nothing like getting the music pumping to enjoy a good party, but it’s important to know the limits of what is healthy. In addition to having the potential to cause temporary and even permanent hearing loss, loud music can also cause related adverse health issues. Prolonged exposure can make people feel stressed and angry, cause a loss of sleep and even lead to high blood pressure. It’s your responsibility to do what you can to be part of an effort to reduce noise pollution in your neighborhood. There are several things you can do to enjoy your music in a way that doesn’t result in noise pollution. Here are some suggestions.

Play music at a reasonable volume. As great as your favorite song is, your neighbors shouldn’t be able to hear it as if it were coming from their house – especially when they’re inside with their windows and doors closed. If you live in an apartment building, you need to be especially conscious about the volume because the insulation between units often isn’t great. If possible, set up your receiver and speakers near your exterior wall, not the ones you share with others in the same building.

Lower the bass on your speakers so they don’t rattle your whole house and the surrounding area. Bass is the wavelength of sound that travels most easily, particularly through the ground, so it’s the area to be most careful with. After calibrating the bass, turn the music to your intended volume, go outside and see what you can hear. If the bass is noticeable in a way that you think may bother others, turn it down a little more and test it again.
Turn down the volume of your music after 10:00 p.m. each night or whenever the noise ordinances shift to their stricter guidelines in your city. Nothing puts a damper on a nighttime dance party faster than a citation for playing music that’s too loud. Remember that you can capture the memory of dancing at the club at a lower volume than you might think. Sometimes lowering the volume even helps people to better hear the nuances of the music and enjoy it better.
Although you’ll need to be careful you don’t damage your hearing, consider eliminating noise pollution for your neighbors entirely by listening to your music through headphones. You’ll be able to listen to music as late at night – or early in the morning – as you’d like without worrying that the neighbors will complain. Living in close quarters can be frustrating. Footsteps overhead, car alarms that seem to perpetually sound, dogs that bark incessantly and the delighted squeal of children playing are all forms of noise pollution. Just as you’re mindful of your music, do your part to be courteous to your neighbors and control these noises as much as you are able.

The important thing to remember with noise pollution is that it’s something that affects everyone who lives around you. Pay special attention to keeping noise pollution to a minimum after dark so your neighbors and their kids can sleep peacefully. With a concerted neighborhood effort, you and the people you live around can do a lot to make your area a better place to live for everyone. Your efforts in this area can help you model appropriate behavior to everyone else and change the dynamics of your whole area.

Filed Under: Green Health, Green Living, Home Living

Green Moving is Possible!

June 5, 2012 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Whether you move across town or across the country, you can make your move a green experience. Do not give up your environmentally friendly lifestyle just to move your stuff from point A to point B. Incorporate green moving techniques and arrive at your new home without adding to your carbon footprint.

Downsize

The moving process can be time consuming and physically exhausting as you sort, pack, transport, unload and unpack rooms full of accumulated possessions. Do you really want to waste time and resources carrying 24 suitcases of clothing or boxes of unopened wedding presents to your new home? Will you have room to display all your stuff in your smaller, more efficient home? Start with a clean slate when you fill your new house with the furniture, décor, household items and clothing you really want.

Before the movers arrive to help you relocate, simplify your job and theirs by downsizing. Room by room, look for items you can live without. If you do not use it, love it or want it, do not move it. Donate gently used furniture, clothing and household goods to charity, sell them on Craigslist or host a garage sale. Make money and reduce the amount of time, energy and resources required to move items you do not need.

The downsizing process will require physical effort as you sort through everything you own. It also may be an emotionally taxing process. Surround yourself with friends who support your efforts and help you say no when packing.

Pack

After you have eliminated unnecessary items, everything you plan to keep has to be packed, wrapped and stored. In preparation for your move, utilize green packing solutions. Instead of buying Styrofoam packing peanuts or bubble wrap, secure Grandma’s china or your impressive collection of wine in towels, sheets, T-shirts or newspaper. By using these packaging materials, you save money and the environment while protecting your valuable collectibles.

Boxes remain an invaluable moving tool. Instead of buying new cardboard boxes, rent packing crates or purchase used boxes or boxes made from recycled cardboard. For greater efficiency, use dresser or curio cabinet drawers, suitcases and plastic bins as an alternative to cardboard boxes. Sturdy and reliable, these packaging options protect your household goods without adding waste to the environment. Grocery stores and other business that receive frequent shipments have tons of extra boxes and will be happy to hand them over.

Consolidate

Even after downsizing and using green packing solutions, you must find a way to transport your furniture and boxes to your new home. Making multiple trips wastes fuel and time and large moving trucks might be too spacious for your needs. After you sort and organize your possessions, rent the appropriately sized van from a rental company close to your home. Ask for a moving vehicle that uses bio-diesel and is emissions-tested. With a fuel-efficient moving van, you can efficiently take one trip instead of several trips, save fuel and maximize your resources.

While moving is hard work, it’s also a rewarding experience. With green moving techniques like downsizing, packing and consolidating, you save the environment and simplify the job. Be willing to let go of stuff you do not love, use alternative packing solutions and make fewer trips to maximize the green of your next move and prepare yourself for your new home.

Filed Under: Green Living, Home Living Tagged With: eco-friendly moving, green moving, green relocation

Eco-Friendly Home Improvement

May 15, 2012 By Guest Author 1 Comment

Even if you use green practices when running your home on a day-to-day basis, it’s easy to forget about these when it comes time for a big home improvement project. And because green can sometimes mean more expensive as well, it can be tempting to cut corners on home remodeling and go with the conventional methods, even if they’re not very good for the environment. Let’s look at some of the easy ways to improve your home without damaging the environment in the process.

Paints: Putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls is a great way to give your home a quick and inexpensive facelift. But most types of paints emit volatile organic compounds, or VOC, over time. These will fill your home’s air with toxic substances, and often the same ones you’re trying to cut out of your cleaning products. When you’re painting, choose a paint formulated with low or no VOC levels. Most major manufacturers have at least one line in this category, and their prices aren’t bad. Plus, they have a very low odor level, so you won’t have to deal with a house that smells like new paint.

Building Materials: The materials you use in your projects are important, so look at where everything comes from. Consider shopping at salvage yards, where you can get reclaimed materials. If you’re going new, wood is generally better than plastic because it doesn’t require oil to use. Cork and bamboo are even better because they grow more quickly, and therefore, are more renewable. If you don’t want wood flooring, prioritize linoleum over vinyl, or even better, go with natural tile. In addition to using green materials, also consider what to do with anything you take out of your home. If possible, reuse, sell or donate materials you take out of your home rather than sending them right to the landfill. Many interior materials can be repurposed in your yard as garden paths, flowerbeds or other items.

Eco-Friendly Remodelers: The contractors you hire have a big impact on what your project does to the environment. If you choose contractors who don’t have much experience with green remodeling and improvement projects, you’ll have to ask them to specifically use green materials and procedures, which they may not be very familiar with. On the other hand, if you choose a contractor who has extensive experience with green projects, he’ll be able to provide expertise and fill in your knowledge gaps. The contractor’s recommendations and policies can go a long way in making your project a greener one.

Interior Decorations: Improving your home goes beyond the big projects and into the little details you use to decorate and spruce up your space. These components can either hurt or harm the environment as well, so it’s important to make informed choices. For example, when choosing fabrics and fills for seats and cushions, opt for bamboo, hemp, wool, cotton, silk and feathers rather than synthetic alternatives. Include live plants in your decor to help purify your air. Install a mirror on the wall perpendicular to a window so you can reflect light into the room and save on electricity. The options are countless for going green in decorations.

The most important thing in all of this is to stop and think before embarking on any project in your home or garden. Consider how you can reuse materials or opt for natural materials at each step. The choices you make now will have a big impact on the future of the environment.

Filed Under: Home Living Tagged With: ecofriendly decorating, ecofriendly home improvement, green home improvement

How to Keep Your Kitchen Clean and Guilt Free

April 30, 2012 By Guest Author 1 Comment

Have you ever experienced “green guilt”? I’m guessing you have, unless you live under a rock (which would actually be an excellent example of green living, now that I think of it). Green guilt occurs when you do something for enjoyment, convenience or necessity that is potentially damaging to the environment. You know, like when you toss that Coke can in the trash because the nearest recycling bin is next to your creepy uncle Bob at the family picnic. Green guilt can overtake you anywhere, but in your home, it’s most likely to hit you in the kitchen. Luckily there are ways to combat this, and maybe even save a few bucks in the process.

Greener Appliances

In greening your kitchen, the first thing you want to look at is your appliances. If they’re more than 10 years old, you may do more good for your wallet and the environment in the long run by replacing them. Modern appliances are tremendously energy efficient, and upgrading an energy waster like an old refrigerator can be a major savings on your electric bill. Another tip, as suggested in an online article from Food Service Warehouse, is to use a griddle instead of a broiler. Griddles use much less energy, particularly when they are kept clean. There are even special green stoves and griddles that use resources like steam or infra-red burners to save energy. Using alternative energy like residential solar to power your appliances can also save money and carbon emissions.

Green Tips and Tricks

According to an article on treehugger.com, preheating is a major waste of energy. Modern ovens heat up quickly and maintain heat well, so you can just put your food in the oven right away and then actually shut the oven off five or ten minutes before the time is up, letting the heat already in the oven finish the cooking for you. Cooking two things simultaneously in an oven is another great energy saver. Make sure that lids fit tightly on cooking pans and dishes and avoid Teflon pans. They don’t last as long as stainless steel or cast iron and will be occupying a landfill just a few years after you purchase them.

Eat Your “Greens”

To eat truly “green” food, your best bet is to buy local. Ideally, this would mean picking your own apples and buying your tomatoes off the back of a truck from a guy named Cletus, but for most of us, the best we can do is to look for the labels in the store that tell us that something came from a local farm. If you think about the environmental cost of flying in star fruit from the Amazon basin in January, those canned peaches from the next town over don’t sound so bad anymore. Another way to be green when buying food is to buy in bulk, which saves you some green and also reduces the amount of packaging you have to throw away when the food is gone.

Doing what you can to keep your kitchen from wasting too much energy can help to keep you from wasting too much money, too. With a few minor adjustments, you can keep your kitchen green and guilt free.

Filed Under: Home Living Tagged With: ecofriendly cooking, ecofriendly food, ecofriendly kitchen, green kitchen

Insulation Tips For Your Home

March 22, 2012 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

A great way to save on energy bills and to have a more eco-friendly home is to make sure that said home is well insulated. The better the insulation, the less energy you will waste resulting in lower heating and cooling bills. This article discusses some handy tips with which you can improve your home’s insulation.

The majority of heat and energy is lost through a home’s windows, but you can also use windows to your advantage by making the most out of your access to natural light. To improve your windows’ insulation, check what kind of glazing you have. Double or triple glazings are two of the most energy-efficient glazings out there. With double glazing there are two glass sheets which are separated by an approximately 16 mm gap. Triple simply means that there are three sheets of glass. The extra sheet of glass ensures an extra barrier for insulation. As installing these types of glazing can be expensive, there is also the option of secondary glazing, where an extra sheet of glass is added to the existing one. The seal is not as strong as with a double glazed window, but it is still better for your insulation than just a single sheet of glass.

You should also check your window frames for draughts or damages. If heat is escaping through a damaged window frame, then this can be easily fixed with some wood filler. Another great way to add some improved insulation is through your window treatment. Thick curtains can do a good job, but wooden blinds do a better one. Their close proximity to the glass and sturdy material prevents heat from escaping, and as they have adjustable slates you can make the most out of natural light, too.

Your walls are probably the second most important part of your home, which need better insulation, and here again you have several options. If you have a cavity wall, then there are two layers of brick with a gap or cavity between them. This gap can be filled, but unfortunately you cannot do this yourself and will need to employ a registered installer. Once the gap has been filled, you can expect a carbon dioxide saving of around 550kg per year.

If you have a solid wall, meaning that you have two slayers of bricks that have been slotted together in an alternating pattern so that there is no gap, then you need to use a different type of insulation. With solid walls you can opt for internal or external insulation. Internal insulation entails fitting rigid insulation boards to the wall. Alternatively you can build a stud wall filled with mineral wood fibre. The external walls are fitted with insulation material, which is then covered with a special type of render/ plasterwork or cladding. With internal wall insulation you can save 1.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, while external provides you with 1.9 tonnes saved. The main difference between the two is their cost. External is a lot more expensive then internal, but on the other hand it is less disruptive to the household. Both options have different pros and cons.

Filed Under: Green Living, Home Living Tagged With: Insulation Tips For Your Home

Tips for Becoming Eco-Friendly

March 18, 2012 By Alison Wood Leave a Comment

Choosing an environmentally-conscious lifestyle and creating a greener home is the best way to become more energy efficient and Eco-friendly. Below are some tips toward a more efficient lifestyle.

Change Habits

Habits can be hard to break, but modifying daily activities is essential to the greening process. In the home, this could mean washing clothes only when a full load is present and skipping the dryer. Line-drying clothes and drying dishes by hand are two easy ways to cut energy usage.

Speaking of dishes, in the kitchen, a bit of design can be incredibly helpful. Refrigerators should be housed in an area of the kitchen which is out of the sun and away from any other heat-producing appliances such as the oven or dishwasher.

Also, keep an eye on the thermostat, as this solar-power-your-home.com post notes, “if you really like to wake up to and come home to a warm house, putting the thermostat on a timer so it comes on just before wake up or get home is a far better option than leaving the heating on all day.”

Increase Sustainability of Items

Habits can go a long way; help appliances go longer by using some elbow grease and incorporating those habits to ensure appliances and other home items become more sustainable.

Appliance parts are easy to find on the internet; click here for more information on finding spare appliance parts. Use replacement parts and simple repair to fix small problems around the home and keep items and appliances in prime condition. Better conditioned machines operate in a smoother and more efficient fashion; plus keeping things in your home longer keeps them out of the landfill.

Upgrade to Energy Efficient and Shop Smart

Even the most sustainable appliances have a lifespan. When this happens, choose models with energy efficient labels such as Energy Star. According to Energy Star.gov, “products can earn the Energy Star label by meeting the energy efficiency requirements set forth in Energy Star product specifications. EPA establishes these specifications based on the following set of key guiding principles” related to measured levels of lessened energy usage.

Energy Star provides labels for appliances, lighting sources, building materials, heating and cooling units, water systems, and more.

Use Less

Conservation is key. Low flow faucets will help conserve water whereas LED lighting options will use less energy to light the home. Utilize appliances with smaller engines; counter top appliances have smaller engines and burn energy only when being directly used.

Katie Cranford is a writer and conservationist who enjoys sharing ways she saves energy in her home.

Filed Under: Green Living, Home Living Tagged With: Tips for Becoming Eco-Friendly

Winterizing Your Home

February 12, 2012 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

There are a number of ways that winterizing your home can benefit you. A well-maintained home will hold heat better; homes with gaps around the windows and doors lose heat quickly, and they require more energy to stay at a comfortable temperature. That’s bad for the environment, but it’s pretty rough on the wallet, too. The Department of Energy states that between 50% and 75% of energy use is directed towards heating and cooling systems.

There are a variety of ways to make your home more energy efficient. Double-glazed windows can keep the house more temperate in both extremely cold and extremely hot weather; skylights and solar rooms can bring more natural light and heat into the home. However, these may take time, money and some expertise to follow through with. Environmentally conscious home-owners may not have the means to make these improvements on their homes, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways they can make their home more efficient.

If you have some money to spend, installing renewable energy generators such as solar panels are a great way to go. But if big budget expenditures aren’t an option, $100 or less can actually go a long way towards winterizing a home. The main focus is on reducing air flow around doors and windows, which can be handled in a variety of ways. Caulk or window foam can be used around windows and doors to fill in cracks and spaces that warm air could escape through. Sweep strips and door gaskets can reduce air circulation around doorways, while plastic film and weather stripping can do the same for windows. Even replacing the filter in the heating or air conditioning system can help – they should be replaced about every three months, because they clog quickly and become less efficient.

For less than $500, someone can come to do an energy audit on the home or clean and maintain the heating and air system. Chimney balloons can prevent cold air from entering through the chimney (or warm air from escaping that way). There are also ceiling fans that redirect warm air towards the floor, which help reduce heating costs.

Many home improvement opportunities are available for very little

This is the kind of environmental awareness that everyone should get behind. Rather than running up our thermostats and bills through the cold winter months, we should be looking for the simpler answer; keeping our homes well-maintained and putting the energy that we do use to good use.

Filed Under: Home Living Tagged With: Winterizing Your Home

Eco-Friendly Feng Shui For You

November 3, 2011 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Feng Shui, which is pronounced Fung Schway, is a Chinese discipline that involve using aesthetics in design and decoration to produce a harmony of energies in a room or building. There are some very deep concepts involved, however most of the surface concepts are simple enough that almost anyone can perform miracles with this discipline.

The base concept is to capture and enhance positive Qi, which is pronounced Chee. The Qi is energy and can be positive or negative. According to this discipline, the wind carries the Qi and it is captured by water. There are certain elements that help a room or building capture the good energy and release the negative.

In order to be Eco-Friendly, slight modifications can be made to the Feng Shui arrangement. Most of these do not essentially alter the Feng Shui, but are rather a choice.

A great example is the choice of water. Most Feng Shui arrangements use an area filled with water, this is where the positive Qi is captured. The only difference when keeping to an Eco-Friendly design is that this water source should be circulating rather than standing.

As opposed to a basin of water, or a standing fountain, you can choose a flowing water source that recirculates itself. Many fountains operate in this manner and still have the same benefits in Feng Shui.

Another example of Eco-Friendly Feng Shui is lighting.Lighting in Feng Shui is supposed to be very soft and not harsh. In order to be kind to the environment, use candles when possible. Candles promote a very nice flow of energy while at the same time use less energy and help your home to be green. If you find that candles and not providing enough light, you can use a mirror to essentially “double” the light of some of the candles. However, keep in mind that in Feng Shui, energy should flow through a room, so make sure that you are not using too many mirrors that reflect toward each other.

Soft and light color choices are perfect for Feng Shui. Many times, when choosing a paint, the ecosystem get forgotten, do not let this happen. There are many paints that do not contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and these are perfect for your home. As far as Feng Shui, keep the colors light and avoid dark little corners.

In the end, a general non-cluttered look is great for Feng Shui and while not directly helping the environment, it helps lend an attitude to people that is good and green. Those that do not clutter their home are less likely to clutter the world. Keep your spaces open and clean, like the world you envision around you. Let good energy flow through your home and you will carry this energy with you throughout your day.

Michael Schnippering is the founder of of Feng Shui at Work. He is committed to the true art and science of Feng Shui. Over the years his Feng Shui practice has taken him to various parts of the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Colombia and Argentina.

Filed Under: Home Living Tagged With: Eco-Friendly Feng Shui For You