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Being that this is green home blog, we don’t often discuss things like reusable water bottles, which are a more on the go green topic vs. home topic. BUT since this is big news, eco-health news, and most of all a HUGE green consumer issue I wanted to post about all the SIGG water bottle drama going down.

In case you haven’t heard, SIGG’s CEO, Steve Wasik recently posted a letter to consumers at the SIGG website which states, in part, “SIGG bottles manufactured prior to August 2008 have the former water-based epoxy liner which contains trace amounts of BPA.” Well super.

In the past, SIGG has gotten pretty darn cranky when folks ask them about their liners. People and organizations in the past accused SIGG of having BPA in their liners and SIGG denied it in an offhanded way claiming, “SIGG bottles have been thoroughly tested in Europe to ensure 0% leaching of any substance – no trace of BPA, BPB or any phthalates…” Which yes may be true, but a lot of what SIGG has said and how they say it made it seem as if SIGG + BPA was the most absurd thing ever.  Now we find out it was not so absurd at all.

In any case, if you have a SIGG bottle that you purchased before 2008 or purchased an older bottle recently, there’s a super good chance that your liner does contain BPA. If that’s not cool with you I’d contact the company and let them know. For more posts and facts on this topic read:

1. Start with the loo: Or as we Americans like to say, the toilet. If you live in an older home, or have not remodeled your bathroom in a good long while, your toilet is most likely the major water waster in your house. Since most of going green in the bathroom has to do with conserving water, this is the perfect place to start. Also, new water efficient toilets aren’t that costly anymore; not when compared to the money and water you’ll save in the long run ($90 per year in reduced water utility bills, and $2,000 over the lifetime of the toilet – according to the EPA). You may even be able to get a tax credit or rebate for your new toilet. Find a WaterSense labeled toilet.

2. Go organic: Use organic bath towels, bath robes, floor mats and more to keep pesticides off your body and out of your home. Organic textiles of all sorts are far better for your health and the planet. Read the rest of this entry »

Michelle Kaufmann, one of the major darlings of the green prefab movement, released a white paper this last January, “Embracing Thoughtful, Walkable Neighborhoods,” which offers ten proposed EcoPrinciples for Communities. The ideas revolve around ideas that “Delve into some of the best practices that city planners, developers, architects, and builders can employ in order to design and build green communities that ensure the health of our neighborhoods and our planet over the long-term.

Green is not some flash in the pan idea, and I like that Kaufmann’s paper addresses the long-term. Plus it’s cool that it focuses on whole community efforts vs. simply focusing on building one green home and calling it a day.

Below is one image from the white paper that points out some of the discussed incorporated green community factors.

A overview of Kaufmann’s ideas about green communities is discussed as well as 10 EcoPrinciples for communities. Three EcoPrinciples include:

Smart design: Which looks at’ “Design to use less, to collaborate with the landscape, and for longevity as well as flexibility”

Energy efficiency: Such as, “Sealing building envelopes with super efficient insulation and glass”

Water conservation: Like, “Making water “challenges” into water “features” and, “Sculpting bioswales into the land”

You can download Embracing Thoughtful, Walkable Neighborhoods for FREE to see all the great ideas offered.

[image via Michelle Kaufmann]

In the previous post we looked at how to prevent pests from invading your home, and thus avoiding having to use toxic pest control products. However, no matter how diligent the home dwellers, sometimes a home will get pests anyway, and when this happens, you’ll need a way to get rid of them.

IF you go the conventional pest control route, you can lessen the impact of chemical dangers on your home by doing the following.

Try bates first. For mice and other rodents, plus some bugs, bates can often be used before sprays. Bate traps are better than sprays because while many bates still use toxic poisons, the poisons are in a controlled area vs. spreading out like a spray or powder. Also, bates can usually be hidden under cupboards where pets and kids can’t get to them.

Contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture to locate your local extension service office. What the extension office can do for you is offer other low-pesticide pest control ideas before you need to move on to poisons.

If you hire someone to eliminate pests make sure they or you locate the source of infestation before treatment. If you have a pool of water in your basement, and don’t fix it, the bugs will just come back.

IF You move on to highly chemical and toxic pest control…

  • Use as little as possible and only where needed.
  • Keep kids and pets out of the area.
  • Read the directions on the pest control item, and never make up new ways to use the product.
  • Only use fogging treatments when absolutely everything else has been tried. These fogging pest control products get everywhere in your home and linger, which means you’ve now sufficiently poisoned your entire living space. Egad.

Coming up; the last piece of our green pest control series – natural pest control options.

Typical homes across the country have one major thing in common – a pile of electronics. Americans love their toys and beyond that we’ve got larger homes (which tend to mean more electronics per area), plus more people then ever are working at home and require printers, fax machines, and multiple computers.

End result – tons o’ electronics. While we should all try to cut our consumption and make smart green buying choices, most of us still end up with some electronics and the question of what to do with them at the end of their life-cycle becomes highly relevant.

What to do?

There’s a new great superguide out from PCMag that covers how to recycle all those electronics you’ve got around the house.

The Electronics Recycling Superguide is really neat and comprehensive. According to PCMag, electronics, “Make up almost 2 percent of the municipal solid waste stream” so we all need a guide like this around.

What’s covered in this FREE guide:

  • How to green audit your existing electronics – i.e what to keep vs. what’s not necessary.
  • Ideas for how to donate your old electronics before moving on to recycling.
  • How to extend the life of your electronics – long life is a major keystone of green products.
  • Manufacture trade in programs.
  • An A-Z guide to electronic manufacturers and their recycling or trade in programs. This part even covers which geographical areas are served.
  • Cash back sites for recycled goods.
  • And more.

This is a very well-thought out guide and is a must read if you own any electronics. You can get it free here.

We look at water issues here often. Mainly, I think because water consumption is one extra easy place to make an eco-difference. A lot of water conservation consists of tiny steps to implement OR small actions on your part (i.e. turning off the sink while brushing or taking shorter showers). We’ve looked at drinking water before, and how to keep it green. Such as drinking from the tap or looking for filters with less packaging. Recently I saw these in-faucet filters that last way longer than typical faucet mounted filters, which could reduce the amount of waste filters can create.

Some ideas:

Moen Chateau Kitchen Faucet with ChoiceFlo Filtration in Chrome: This is an under the counter filtration system that looks like a normal faucet. There are two separate water channels which means you can get filtered and unfiltered water from the same faucet. PLUS the average filter lasts 6 months or for about 750 gallons of water. That’s better than most other filters which seem to last about 3 months or so.
Read the rest of this entry »

In the last post we looked at getting a jump on your organic gardening with organic seeds. Here are some more helpful tools…

Organic Seedstarting Mix: 100% Organic Germinating Mix with sphagnum peat and perlite for a fine texture, and the addition of compost, protein meal and trace minerals for healthy growth.

Garden Starter System: Reusable vs. plastic seed starter bins. Other ways to start seeds include recycled egg cartons, yogurt cups (cut a hole in the bottom), or real planters that later will hold flowers.

Sun-Mar Continuous-Use Auto Flow 200 Composter: If you don’t have a composter yet, it’s time to get going with that. You still have time to start recycling your food scraps into healthy soil for the summer gardening season.

Grab a great organic gardening book: Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re one of those people who still have a bulky answering machine hanging around, it’s time to upgrade to a greener phone message choice. Answering machines are plugged in all the time, thus wasting energy. Answering machines take resources to build and ship, plus, it’s just one more thing to clutter your counter. Skip the answering machine and have your phone service set up with voicemail.

In most cases, voicemail is more dependable than an answering machine, and in all cases voicemail will save you (and the earth) energy.

At another blog of mine, Offbeat Homes, I recently reviewed a new green home book; Book Review: The Carbon-Free Home: 36 Remodeling Projects to Help Kick the Fossil -Fuel Habit.

This is an excellent book, one that readers here will enjoy, so I thought I’d mention it. It’s completely green home focused and very user friendly. Read the review.

Hopefully, you’re not reading this blog – don’t you know it’s a good day to get outside and relax! I’m taking the day off too. Well, actually I’m moving, so my day won’t be all that relaxing, but still I’m not working.

No matter what you’re up too, have a safe and happy Labor Day.