June 2009

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What is off-grid living?

June 27, 2009 in Green Building, Green Your Home by Jennifer | No comments

Off-grid living is a fairly basic premise. Off-grid indicates that your home is self sufficient. vs. dependent, as in you’ve set your home up to be energy producing vs. paying the energy company for power or having your own well vs. paying the water company. Sometimes an off-grid home is referred to as a homestead, although homestead doesn’t exactly mean you’re not dependent on other sources of energy or water.

If you’re living in an off-grid home (or living an off-grid life) you may be doing all or some of the following…

  • Gardening vs. buying produce at the store.
  • Living in a green, or sustainably built home.
  • Composting.
  • Producing energy via alternative methods.
  • Making your own bio-fuel.
  • Cutting out extras (four TVs for example).
  • Making homemade cleaners.
  • Collecting water via a rain barrel.
  • Raising your own food – i.e. chickens.

The list above is super short. To gain more off-grid living ideas and tips visit Off-Grid.

Off-grid living comes in different shades. While most shades of off-grid life are greener than conventional living, not all off-grid homes are 100% self sufficient. Following is great example of an urban off-grid home and their owners. This family is almost entirely self-sufficient, but does rely on public companies for some things (like water). What this video will help you realize is that even more off-grid than not holds both money saving perks and eco-perks.

Bonus link: If you’re interested in off-grid living you’ll love the book Off the Grid.

Green 4th of July Planning Guide

June 26, 2009 in Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

If you celebrate 4th of July, and you’re here at this blog, there’s a good chance you’d like your celebration to be green. The 4th is a tough one because the mainstay of this holiday, fireworks, have yet to be made eco-friendly, at least not to the general public. Some movies and major events do use a more eco-friendly firework method, but that’s not going to help you at home.

If you want to tackle the firework issue, talk to city officials about shortening the display, which cuts down on some of the air pollution created. You can also skip the home fireworks. Sparklers, poppers, and other home fireworks are not only NOT made green, but come in loads of packaging. You’re better off not lighting any at home.

Fireworks aside, you can green up the holiday in other ways. Here’s how…

Green your barbecue. We’ve already seen many tips about this here before. Read up on the topic at the following posts:

Use eco-friendly bug spray to ward off nighttime critters. In the early evening, while you’re sitting there watching the fireworks, bugs can attack. Be prepared with some safer, non-toxic bug repellent.

Green your drinks. Water in reusable bottles, real cups at picnics, organic juices, and even organic beer are all ways to drink a little greener on the 4th.

Clean up! The 4th of July creates a trash situation unlike any other. The day after the holiday volunteer to help clean up the community. Pick up wrappers, junk, and water bottles (that the less eco-savvy people left behind), and make sure your community looks like it did before the 4th arrived.

Maison IDEKIT Container Home

June 25, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

Canadian architect, Bernard Morin and his wife Joyce Labelle have the most luscious container homes I’ve seen in a while. The house, Maison Idekit Home was a quick build, with the containers being installed into the foundation in just half a day and the rest of the home was completed in 10 months.

Amazingly, this 3,000-square-foot dream home cost just $175,000. According to a piece in the CTV, this home is the first of its kind in Quebec.

The house is comprised of shipping containers (as you may have gleamed from the post title). The steel containers are six meters high and 2.5 meters wide and are arranged in a super unconventional design that takes advantage of the natural sloping plot of land the house sits on. It’s awesome to see because most shipping container structures around are cube-like or rectangular in design.

You can learn more about this beautiful house at CVT or at the Mason IDEKIT website.

Summer Sprucing with Eco-hardware

June 24, 2009 in Green Building, Green Your Home by Jennifer | No comments

One of the easiest home spruce-ups is to change your hardware. Benefits?…

  • Fast – it doesn’t take long to change some knobs and handles.
  • Easy – almost everyone is going to be able to successful tackle this project on their own without any extreme tools.
  • Impact – changing the knobs and handles throughout your kitchen or bath, or adding some cool knobs to bedroom furniture can make a huge impact and update your home.
  • Inexpensive – some hardware can be costly, but for the most part, it’s not like the costs involved with say, adding a deck or repainting the entire house.
  • Eco-friendly – nowadays there are a number of sustainable and recycled hardware options for you to choose from.

ECO-FRIENDLY HARDWARE OPTIONS:

Spectra Decor (shown above) carries some of the most lovely recycled glass and aluminum, cork, eco-resin, fused glass, lead-free pewter and stainless steel hardware you’ll find. Read the rest of this entry »

New one-of-a-kind Living Green House

June 22, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

There’s a brand new beautiful Living Green House just opened this last week at the Virginia Living Museum. The home was constructed as a permanent eco-showcase, in order to show people various designs, techniques and materials used in earth-friendly building. According the Baltimore Sun, “The demonstration house is one of the first anywhere in the United States — and the only one of its kind in Virginia.”

[image via Virginia Living Museum]

This gorgeous, 650 sq ft home is an amazing example of green building. Features include the following:

  • A small size (and thus small footprint).
  • Recycled building materials, including salvaged lumber and wood-like siding made from recycled paper.
  • PVC piping alternatives.
  • Green roofs.
  • Solar aspects a plenty, like solar photovoltaic panels, a solar water heater, passive solar heating and more.
  • Rain barrels and cisterns.
  • Geothermal heat pump and cooling unit.
  • And more…

The Baltimore Sun has an amazing image gallery and article about the house. My favorite image from the Sun is the killer solar-powered water pump below. Read the rest of this entry »

Steam Mop to Cut Water and Chemical Use

June 22, 2009 in Green Cleaning by Jennifer | 1 comment

Regular mopping can waste a lot of water and because it’s hard to get a bucket of mop water hot enough to be super efficient, you may be inclined to use harsh cleaners in your mop water. An option beyond a typical mop is a steam cleaning mop. However, there are pros and cons.

Pros of steam cleaning mops:

  • Use less water than traditional mops.
  • Because the steamy water cleans well, you won’t need chemical cleaners. Just your mop and H2O.
  • No messy wringing out.
  • Can be used to clean tiles, wood, marble, slate, and more.

Cons of steam cleaning mops:

  • Take more resources to make than a small traditional mop.
  • Very few are made with recycled materials.
  • Most have ongoing costs – such as the replaceable pads that go on the mop’s end.

How to choose a more eco-friendly steam mop:

  1. Look for the lightest model you can without sacrificing strength (fewer materials). The steam mop should heat water in 60 seconds or less and have a good warranty.
  2. If you can, look for a steam mop made with eco-friendly or recycled materials and one that’s made by a company with eco-ethics. There are a few like this, see below.
  3. Skip the pads that most companies sell and use a reusable, washable microfiber cloth or other washable towel as the mop instead.

Steam mops to consider:

Green your mobile phone use

June 21, 2009 in Furniture & Appliances by Jennifer | No comments

We’ve already discussed the eco pros and cons of landlines vs. mobile phones here, and mobiles clearly come out ahead. However, mobile phones do have some eco-downsides as well, and we could green our use of them even more. Here’s how:

Always unplug your charger when you’re not actually charging your phone. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, anything left plugged in is drinking down energy (slower than an item in use, but it’s still using energy). Better yet, skip electricity use and snag a cool HyMini Wind + Solar Hybrid Charger for cell phones, iPod, iPhone.

Buy the greenest phone possible. Right now there are very few eco-minded mobiles on the market, but if consumers buy them and ask mobile phone makers for them, more eco-minded cells will launch to meet demand. Right now some better green phone options include:

Only buy a new phone when you actually need one. You don’t need a new one, with new gadets each year. Use it up and then recycle it when it’s life span is over. If you do buy a new one before your old one’s prime, donate your phone to a local non-profit or recycle it.

Try an eco-friendly mobile carrier – like the phones, there are few, but Credo and Earth Tones are two to consider.

Get some cool green applications for your phone. There are plenty of apps out now that can help you go or stay green. See the best green mobile apps.

How are you greening your mobile use?

Six Ways to Re-purpose Common Household Items

June 20, 2009 in Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle by Jennifer | No comments

One of the greenest things you can do is purchase long-lasting products and then find ways to re-purpose them once they’ve served their usefulness. After re-purposing, there’s recycling. However, if you’re creative, you can first find new uses for almost anything before recycling. Here are ten ideas…

[image via Sprig]

Re-purpose coffee cans: Use old larger cans to make amazingly lovely planters. See how! See even more Recycled Garden Containers at Mother Earth’s Garden.

Re-purpose that old spice rack: You know those sit-on-the-counter spinning spice racks? Most folks don’t want those anymore because they take up valuable kitchen real estate. I know that many folks have switched to in-cupboard or wall mounted spice storage which means there’s a ton of these spinning spice racks hanging around. You can re-purpose yours to hold beads, sewing odds and ends, stickers for the kiddos, rock collections, little kid hair supplies (barrettes, rubber bands), and more.

Re-purpose bubble wrap: Obviously, you can reuse bubble wrap to send new packages, but you can also use it in your fridge veggie and fruit drawers as a liner to prevent tossed in produce from becoming bruised.

Re-purpose a tablecloth: Vinyl or oilcloth tablecloths aren’t so eco-friendly, but if you’ve moved to cloth tablecloths, how do you re-purpose your old ones? By making a lunch bag of course. Or make three or four for the whole family – also makes a great gift.

Re-purpose a leaky old garden hose: Into a much better, more eco-friendly, soaker hose.

Re-purpose old bedsheets: I like the idea of making a body pillow, because they’re cozy, but you can also use them to save energy in the summer if you live in a humid area. Take your old sheet, dip the whole thing in water, wring out so it’s not drippy, and hang across your window in the early morning. The air coming through the cool, damp sheet will take the sting out of summer heat and maybe allow you to turn down the AC. See 20 more ways to use old bedsheets.

You also might like… How to reuse toilet paper tubes – handy reuse tips for kids, criminals, and more – not completely a household item, but I bet you’ve got lots.

What are some of your best ideas for re-purposing household items?

Throw a green summer picnic

June 19, 2009 in Holiday, Outdoor Living by Jennifer | 2 comments

With the 4th of July coming up, and summer already in full swing, you may be thinking picnic! There are some easy steps you can take to green any picnic event.

Start with some green grilling:

  • Make sure you’re grilling as green as you can on an eco-friendly barbecue.
  • Grill veggies over meat (I know crazy) but vegetarian dishes are far more eco-friendly. At the very least cut out half the meat. Grilled corn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and more are just as tasty, better for the earth, and better for your health.
  • Put that fire out. It’s really not earth-friendly to burn down the forest, or even your backyard.

Pack an eco-friendly picnic basket. Make sure you pack non-disposable dishes, cloth napkins, and real silverware. If you must go with disposables at least snag some biodegradable disposable dishes.

Carpool to the picnic area if a lot of folks are going.

Take eco-friendly picnic activities along for the kiddos (and you). You can grab an earth-friendly Frisbee or a kid friendly outdoor eco-toy.

Block the sun with eco friendly sunglasses, non-toxic safe bug spray and healthy natural sunscreen.

Don’t feed the animals – it can cause more problems than you think.

If there’s a lake take along some eco-friendly swimwear.

If you need to mark the picnic spot, say for a family reunion picnic, don’t use balloons which can be set free and harm animals out in nature. Use paper streamers or brightly colored cloth. Be sure to take these items with you when you leave.

Are you planing a green picnic soon? Are you doing anything else (besides what’s noted above) to keep it green.

Six green home changes you can make this weekend

June 19, 2009 in Green Your Home, Healthy Green Home by Jennifer | No comments

If you’ve got the weekend, you’ve got enough time to green your home.

Small changes you can make in just one weekend include:

Eco-window care: Wash all curtains in eco-friendly detergent or wipe down blinds with an earth-friendly all-purpose cleaner. Wash windows with a non-toxic homemade cleaner – either mix 1/2 cup vinegar with one gallon water and spray and wipe or use straight up club soda and wipe down with recycled newspaper. After cleaning open up all the windows wide to let some fresh air in which cuts indoor air pollution more than any other tactic.

Clean your refrigerator coils: Your fridge coils may be costing you in both energy and money. Dirty coils have to work harder to cool your fridge which pumps up your electricity use, and in turn your bill. You can easily clean off the dust and grime with a long brush and your fridge will run better. Note; fridge coils are usually under or behind your fridge (check your fridge manual).

Hang a clothesline: With warm summer air here, you’ve got no excuse not to hang a clothesline. This will save energy and money plus is a super cheap fix to start with. It’ll only cost you about $10 for a decent clothesline and about 50 clothespins either online or at your local hardware store.

Clear out some plastics: Go through your kitchen cupboards and clear out some toxic plastic dishes and containers. Aim to ditch plastics #3, 6, or 7 first as these are the most toxic. Cleaning out toxic plastics leaves you space to stock up on some eco-friendly food storage options and less toxic dishes.

What are your green weekend plans?

[image via stock.xchng]

Eco-friendly bathroom bling

June 17, 2009 in Furniture & Appliances, Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

If you’re looking to remodel or are building a new green home, you should check out the following droll worthy eco-bathroom ideas. First up, Rapsel, a company who makes some of the most unique and beautiful bathroom systems and other bathroom products I’ve seen. Their products are modern and fresh and anything but ordinary and many have sustainable attributes. A sampling is below…

My favorite Rapsel bath system is One, an invisible and functional look that allows pipes and drains of the loo, sink, and shower to vanish, seemingly into thin air. Made with sustainable larch wood.
Read the rest of this entry »

Last Minute Green Father’s Day Gifts

June 17, 2009 in Holiday, Holiday Gift Guide by Jennifer | 1 comment

If you’ve got a green papa, and no gift for Father’s Day yet, you’re behind schedule. You’ve still got a few days to round something cool up though (although that means if you order online – order today!). Here are some green gifts that any green dad will enjoy…

Hemp Gardening Apron – for an organic gardening dad, made with sustainable hemp this apron is guy friendly, durable, and full of pockets.

Green Home Improvement: 65 Projects That Will Cut Utility Bills, Protect Your Health & Help the the Environment by Daniel D. Chiras or The Carbon-Free Home: 36 Remodeling Projects to Help Kick the Fossil -Fuel Habit by Stephen & Rebekah Hren – both will help a green dad to make smart home improvement decisions and both offer project ideas.

Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector – awesome gift for an energy conscious dad who also likes to play detective. This handy detector helps to reduce energy costs by finding energy leaks in your home. You can instantly identify problem areas around drafty windows and doors, and uncover hidden leaks and insulation “soft spots” around electrical outlets, recessed lights, and along floor molding.

Give dad the gift of organic brew – your dad can learn to make his own homemade organic beer with the help of Seven Bridges Cooperative, a full on organic brewing company with everything you need to home brew organic beer. If your dad is new on the scene, the Starter Kits for Beginners are a good place to start.

MORE IDEAS!

If you want to look outside the home and go with a gift that’s less handy and more fun check out the HIP FATHER’S DAY GREEN GIFT GUIDE, grab something green and cool for his car, or take a look at Ten Random Green Father’s Day Gifts.

Safe non-toxic adhesives for home improvements

June 15, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

If you’re doing any home improvements this summer, you should make sure that you use safe and non-toxic adhesives for wood, paper, and so on. Most traditional adhesives, sealants, and glues contain super toxic stuff and result in hydrocarbon emissions.

What to look for:

Look for glues and adhesives that are free from formaldehyde, hydrocarbons, synthetic chemicals, petrochemicals and if possible go with water-based.

Eco-friendly adhesive choices:

  • Gorilla PVC Glue – eco-friendly, low VOC, one-step adhesive for PVC. Buy here.
  • Elmer’s Glue makes plenty of safe, water-based, and recyclable glues that will work for various home projects. Go to their glue guide, and choose a project type for help finding a glue.
  • Sobo Glue – non-toxic all purpose glue for porous and semi-porous surfaces such as paper, wood, ceramics, ribbon, dried or silk flowers and beads.
  • EcoTimber Healthy Bond MS Adhesive – a non-toxic, solvent-free, low VOC adhesive for wood and engineered floors.
  • Chemlink Sealants & Adhesives – many commercial grade, non-toxic sealants and adhesives for interior or exterior projects.

For more home improvements of the earth-friendly sort, read about…

Do you have any green home improvement projects going on this summer?

Eco-friendly car wash options and waterless car washing

June 14, 2009 in Water by Jennifer | 2 comments

While your car is not technically residing in your home, how you wash your car does affect your home costs related to water. Plus, if you use toxic chemicals to wash your car, those chemicals can run off into your yard.

How to wash your car at home:

If you wash at home, the biggest issue is water. According to the Washington Post, if you spend just 10 minutes spraying down your car with a typical five-eighths-inch garden hose you can easily use as much water as you would running seven loads in a dishwasher. Yikes. A better option is to do the following:

  1. Spray your car once (fast).
  2. Use a bucket and some soap plus elbow grease and soap up the car completely.
  3. Rinse fast.

It’s that continuous spraying that will drive up your water bill.

Take your car to a car wash:

Another option is to locate an eco-friendly car wash in your neighborhood. Not all areas have them, but they are popping up more and more. Look for a car wash place that uses non-toxic soaps and phosphate-free, biodegradable detergents cleaners plus one that recycles its wash water.

Go waterless:

Some companies have come out with waterless car wash cleaners. The biggest issue with these is the time involved. You’ll spend more time going over your car with a cloth and a waterless cleaner, but you will save water, and these cleaners are typically earth-friendly, although not all, so read the fine print. Some waterless car wash products include:

Sustainable Barns for Green Horse Owners

June 9, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | 2 comments

If you own horses and want to keep it green, Blackburn Architects might be just who you need. Blackburn Architects have built horse farm and ranch projects all over the United States, and they can do this in a green manner if the owner chooses.

Blackburn Architects creates their green barns with three major design practices in mind:

  1. Through sustainable principles of passive design.
  2. Through design services and green system additions such as solar panels and greywater systems.
  3. Through sustainable building materials such as recycled-content materials, light-colored roofing choices with highly reflective finishes, low VOC stains/sealants, FSC certified wood products, high-efficiency translucent panels, sustainably harvested western red cedar, low-toxicity, low maintenance cement board, and more.

Green barns are a great idea. In most cases your horses are going to cost more than your barn so why not house them in a healthy environment. They also offer many different barn styles and sizes. PLUS – bonus, all their barns are seriously beautiful to look at.

Learn more at Blackburn Architects.

Can $1000 Build You A Green Home?

June 9, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

According to FirstCoast, a home building company who primarily build starter homes, pumping up your budget by just a mere $1000 CAN get you a green home. In a long piece at Ecohome, the idea that green doesn’t have to cost more is illustrated by FirstCoast’s five big green and inexpensive ideas.

Two of the ideas include:

The home’s seal: A smart home sealing plan can go a long way toward greening your home without involving too much extra cost. FirstCoast notes that they use a specific combination of sealing techniques to achieve maximum energy savings. “Typically a combination of foam sealing and caulking throughout the exterior of the building envelope… foam to seal the wire and plumbing penetrations through the OSB sheathing, caulk at the base plate and corners, and low-expansion foam around the doors and the windows.”

Strategic cost savings: FirstCoast says that savings from strategic moves like cutting out a couple windows and using smarter design techniques saves costs overall which leaves room in the budget for greener options. This is a great point. Your choices can make a huge impact on both the costs of and the greenness of your home. For example, if you build smaller you can afford the better, but more expensive green appliances. If you focus on issues that will save you energy costs in the long run, like the sealing noted above, you may be able to spend more on little extras like installing a rain barrel, using only zero VOC paints, and maybe paying for custom landscaping help for a water saving rain garden.

Read the entire article to learn about all the money saving ideas for a green home: 5 Ways to Build Affordable, Energy Star-Rated Houses.

53 of the Best Green Building Products

June 8, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

Each year Building Products assembles an annual Top 100 list, which ranks products that the most readers of Building Products, Custom Home, Builder, and Remodeling requested more information about via the reader service cards found in each issue. This year was extra cool because of the top 100 products, over half were green. The list includes top picks for items like solar panels, tankless water heaters, and other resource-efficient materials.

Some of the specific cool picks include:

  • Ready Solar. A prefab, modular solar electric system with frame mounting, that’s a good alternative to custom (and expensive) photovoltaic systems. Plus this pre-assembled solar system can be customized and is compatible with any roof surface.
  • Lighting Science Group. Edison-based LED lamps that fit into traditional recessed cans and other sockets, plus come in various shades of white, and last longer than incandescents, halogens, and CFLs.
  • GE tankless water heater. Tankless gas water heaters that are smaller than most making them ideal for small spaces, such as attics and closets. Two flow rates and up to 25% savings on water-heating costs annually.
  • IceStone. IceStone indoor and outdoor surfaces, made with 100% recycled glass in a cement matrix, and come in twenty-seven standard colors.
  • Universal Forest Products. A white, wireless, sun-powered light that can be used to accent deck posts and fence posts with ambient lighting.

This list is a great way to catch up on what’s hot in green building and green home additions. See the entire list of 53 top green building products at Ecohome.

Green Lawn Watering for Summer

June 5, 2009 in Organic Gardening, Water by Jennifer | 2 comments

The other day I was at a friend’s apartment and all the ground sprinklers were running. It was bad news city. For one thing it was midday and secondly, almost all the sprinklers were running water not only in the grass but all over the sidewalks and street. Wow, what a good use of water! Not.

In any case, if you live in an apartment complex, let your manager know if this is an issue. There’s no reason to water the street – trust me, it’s not growing any faster. If you live in a house, make sure you follow these rules for eco-minded summer lawn watering:

  • Many lawns only need about one inch of water per week to thrive and in areas that see more rain (i.e. the Pacific NW) your lawn may need even less. Check with your local nursery or your local Cooperative Extension Office to learn about lawn water requirements in your area.
  • To make sure you are only watering your lawns as much as they need and not more, place a can or bowl in your yard, with an inch (or other level) marked off with a waterproof pen. Turn the sprinklers on, and see how long it takes to fill the can or bowl to the line. Now you know how long to water per session.
  • Timed sprinklers can help you water less and more efficiently.
  • Water in the morning, late afternoon, or in the evening. If you water midday, most of the water is evaporated by the hot sun, and can’t actually do its job. You’ll need more water for a healthy lawn.
  • Don’t water the streets and sidewalks. Set your sprinklers up to cover actual vegetation areas.
  • Use recycled water – easy if you have a rain barrel.
  • Use a hose or watering can for smaller areas vs. a sprinkler. When doing this water slowly which helps the roots to get the water they need.
  • Create an earth-friendly rain garden.
  • Water less by planting native plants and by eliminating lawn areas where possible.

Alternatives to Plastic Wrap, Wax Paper and Foil

June 4, 2009 in Eco Kitchen by Jennifer | No comments

We still use foil sometimes at my house, but we haven’t bought plastic wrap or wax paper in years. There are better, more eco-friendly options you can use to wrap with and cook with.

  • Cook directly on a pan instead of covering it with foil first. Rinse right away after cooking to cut down on the water needed to wash the pan.
  • Cover cooking food with a lid vs. foil.
  • Cover pie crusts with a Silicone Pie Crust Shield or a lightweight shield instead of foil.

  • Store food in eco-friendly food containers, reusable snack bags and food baggies, or reusable food wraps (as shown above).
  • If you must buy foil, buy 100% recycled foil. It’s not perfect but it takes less energy to make than traditional. Still make sure you use it more than once when possible and then recycle it when you’re done.
  • When rolling out sticky cookie dough, use a silicone cookie sheet vs. wax paper. In fact, a silicone sheet can be used for all the things you’d use wax paper for.

With the options above it’s possible to get all the non-reusable food wrapping items out of your home for good. What other alternatives can you think of?

NatureMills Plus Composter

June 3, 2009 in Furniture & Appliances, Organic Gardening by Jennifer | 1 comment

Composting is one of the best things you can do for a healthy planet and garden. Not only do you eliminate landfill waste when you compost, but it’s free organic soil, and you save money on your garbage bills.

One comprehensive composter is the NatureMills Plus Composter. (shown above). Benefits of this composter include…

  • Mixes automatically – hands-off mixing ability.
  • No trash odors when kept inside. Continuous air flow and a powerful carbon filter remove odors.
  • Can be used indoors or outdoors or even under the cupboard. Outside use works even in cold weather, rain, or snow.
  • You can add food and other waste any time, any day, up to 120 lbs per month. Waste items are processed continuously, mixing every 4 hours, until they are completely ground down to small particles.
  • NatureMill is made from recycled and recyclable materials.
  • Energy use is just 5 kwh / month, or about $0.50/month – less than a garbage truck would burn in diesel fuel to haul the same waste.
  • New compost is ready every 2 weeks. A red light will tell you when to empty the machine. Just open the door and remove the compost and place it in your garden.
  • All NatureMill models can handle pet waste, kitty litter, and cage beddings.
  • You only have to replace the filter every 5 years.

Watch this video about it…

NatureMills makes other composters as well. Visit NatureMills to learn more.

Inexpensive and beautiful way to cut energy costs

June 1, 2009 in Organic Gardening, Save Energy by Jennifer | No comments

One inexpensive and beautiful way to cut energy costs is to simply plant deciduous trees on the south, east, and west sides of your dwelling. If you plant some trees today, you can expect long-term rewards in about 5-6 years (I know seems like forever) but, if you know you’ll be in your home long-term, this is a smart and pretty investment.

By lining trees up on the sides of your home you can create enough shade to cut cooling costs by as much as 30-40% once the trees mature. Trees can also act as windbreakers in cooler weather and combat Beyond shading your property, trees also help lessen the effects of Urban Heat Islands (which make your area warmer than it should be.

You can get deciduous trees for around $10 per tree (give or take) which is a great deal. Before you choose a tree check out the post Tree Planting Where You Live, which can help you make smarter decisions about which trees are best to plant for your area.

Learn more about tree planting for energy savings.

Create an earth-friendly first aid kit

June 1, 2009 in Healthy Green Home by Jennifer | 2 comments

To be safe at home you should have a first aid kit, one that’s not ravaged whenever your little one gets a minor cut. Your first aid kit is for emergencies only and it’s easy to make an eco-friendly version. In fact, you should really make one for your home and one for each vehicle you own as well.

What’s in a typical first aid kit?:

  • Bandages of varying sizes – if you have a little one under the age of five, make sure some are tiny for baby-sized cuts
  • Gauze pads
  • First aid tape
  • A pair of fine gauge tweezers
  • Rubbing alcohol or antiseptic
  • Some hand wipes in packages – good for cleaning off a cut in a pinch
  • Reusable gel packs – cold and warm
  • First aid booklet – one that covers how to do CPR.  You can usually pick up a booklet like this from your local red cross

You’ll also need some medications such as…

  • Hydrocortisone cream
  • Antibiotic cream
  • Acetaminophen – both for baby and adult
  • Ibuprofen – both baby and adult
  • Aspirin – ONLY for adults – if you have a baby know that babies CANNOT have aspirin
  • Antihistamine

How to green up your first aid kit: Read the rest of this entry »