Air Quality

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Vinyl Flooring vs. Linoleum Flooring

November 16, 2009 in Air Quality, Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

Old school linoleum is a building material I’m sure you’re familiar with. It’s really older than most people think, having been invented in the mid-1800s, and was basically just a mixture of linseed oil, sawdust, and pigment. After being pressed, cured, and placed you had your linoleum flooring.

However, in the 1960s vinyl flooring hit the world in a big way. It was flashier, a little easier to install and supposedly had a better manufacturing process. Creating vinyl is not so easy on the environment though. Not only is it made with non-renewable petroleum products but when burned it creates toxic gasses and unlike the more natural linoleum, vinyl is not naturally dust repelling and may cause more indoor home air quality issues and allergies than linoleum.

While there are a few pros of vinyl over linoleum, such as it repels moisture and won’t fade as much, it’s likely healthier for you and the planet to choose linoleum if you’re looking for an easy care, colorful flooring solution like this.

eco friendly flooring

Eco-Friendly Flooring offers a biodegradable linoleum material (some color choices shown above) made with all natural ingredients that stays warm and quiet. The floors are also hypoallergenic and antistatic, resilient to rolling furniture and equipment wheels, and available in 25 different colors to coordinate with any interior design. Wco-friendly Flooring linoleum can be used over radiant floor heat systems and cleaned with a plain old damp mop and vinegar water, plus can be refreshed with caranuba wax.

Other places to look for linoleum:

Greenfloors

US Floors (a cork linoleum mix)

Armstrong

Fight Off Three Home Toxins

November 3, 2009 in Air Quality, Healthy Green Home by Jennifer | 1 comment

There are so many toxins out there nowadays – from auto emissions to mercury in the water to pesticides in city parks and more. You can’t stop your exposure to all things toxic, but what you can do is limit your home exposure. Following are three home toxins that are easy to wage war on…

Carbon monoxide (CO): An odorless but highly toxic gas that can come from all sorts of places; wood stoves, furnaces, leaky chimneys, badly ventilated gas stoves, and indoor grilling products.

Health effects: CO at high levels can result in death but it’s still no fun at lower levels which can result in fatigue, nausea, headaches, confusion, impaired coordination and vision and more.

Fight CO: Your home should have a CO detector installed and you need to do a battery check at least every other month.

Mold: Mold while naturally occurring is just as toxic as any other baddie toxin. It’s caused by little spores in the air that settle down and multiply on damp or wet surfaces. Mold is common in basements, at baseboards, in kitchen, near windows, and under sinks.

Health effects: Mold can produce general allergies, but also may cause rash, asthma, and other more serious issues.

Fight mold Make a homemade mold and mildew remover and use it. Once mold sets up camp for a while, it’s much harder to get rid of so prevention before mold invades is key. IF it’s too late and mold is rampant, you can try to get rid of it using more chemicals (which sucks, but you don’t want mold). Check out the CDC guide to mold for more ideas.

VOCs: We’ve talked at length about what VOCs are here before – it’s a lengthy topic. They’re not good at all though and they’re in an insane amount of products.

Health effects: VOCs can irritate your whole body – your skin, muscles, head, eyes, and so on. They can cause coughing, headache, and a ton of other very serious health problems.

Fight VOCs: There are many ways to keep VOCs out of your home which improves both your indoor air quality and health. Read the following for more info:

What is low-impact living?

July 23, 2009 in Green Your Home, Save Energy, Save Money by Jennifer | No comments

Low-impact living, in basic terms, is living lightly, or as lightly as you can on the planet. Everything we do, from the day we’re born, affects the planet. Your goal as someone who wants to live green and protect the planet is to lower your impact when you can. You can’t have a zero impact – it’s impossible, but you can take small and major steps to green all aspects of your life.

First of all, if you don’t know you’re impact you’re stumbling around in the dark. Calculate your own eco-impact using the new and improved Low Impact Living Environmental Impact Calculator. Once you enter your zipcode this powerful calculator will show you your personal carbon footprint along with the energy, water, wastewater, trash, and stormwater runoff footprints of your home and lifestyle. Additionally, it recommends projects based on your specific inputs that can save you money, reduce your environmental impact, or in many cases both at the same time.

Once you have your score the next step is decisions and research. It’s hard to lower all your impacts at once so you can choose a couple to work on, and once you get those impacts parred down, choose some more. You can make decisions based on a few factors:

  • Choose an impact that will save you money – i.e work on energy savings for the home.
  • Choose an impact you believe in – i.e. if you’re passionate about ocean life work on buying sustainable seafood and doing some beach clean-ups.
  • Choose an impact that affects many aspects of sustainability – i.e. choosing to work on your transport impact can save you money, help halt the effects of global warming, and make air quality better in your direct area.

Here are five common impacts we make on the planet and some tips for lowering your impact…

Do you live in one of the most polluted U.S. states or cities?

March 3, 2009 in Air Quality, Community, Water by Jennifer | No comments

Where you live is as important as your green home. Obviously a green home is important, but it can only go so far; there are better and worse places to set up camp.

First the states… How can you find out how polluted your state is? Many places compile info like this, but if you want to get picky, it’ll take a little searching.

Overall pollution: For a broad look at pollution in your area, check out the following sites…

Air quality: You can check The AirData Web site for access to air pollution data for the entire United States. You can learn about the highest ozone level measured in your state last year, where air pollution monitoring sites are located, sources of air pollution in your town, and more. If you’re looking for indoor air quality check out this EPA site.

Water quality: The USDA has a massive water quality page; good for an overall view of water where you live. If you want fast specifics on water safety in your local area read this post; Earth Friendly Beverages for more info.

If you’re moving at some point, and where is somewhat up to you, AND you’d like to make a smarter, greener choice about where you live read Choose A Green Community.

How much do you know about pollution in your local area?

What Are Your Green Goals for 2009?

December 24, 2008 in Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

With New Year’s almost here, it’s likely you’re starting to think about your goals. Do you have some green household goals that you’d like to work on in the upcoming year? If you’re looking for ideas, here are some good ones:

Go green in 2009 by…

Ditching toxic household cleaners and chemical based home air fresheners.

Improving the air quality in your home.

Green your kitchen java for the entire year! Coffee is a great place to start if you’re looking to go green your lifestyle.

Drinking tap water, or at the very least buying a water filter over bottled water.

Starting a compost routine.

Only buying sustainable home furniture and decor.

Giving your baby a fresh green start in life.

Pledging to reduce, reuse, and recycle more at home.

Planting some trees around your house or in your neighborhood.

Taking shorter showers.

Conserving electricity around the house.

Do you have another green home goal? One I didn’t mention? Leave a comment about your green goals for 2009.

Oh, by the way, my green goals are as follows:

1) Recycle all the toilet paper tubes – this was actually my goal last year. I’m great at recycling everything but the tubes still sometimes end up in the bathroom trash vs. the recycling. I’ve improved since last year, but this is an ongoing goal.

2) Cook more. This last year was nuts (seriously) I bought more packaged foods than maybe ever in my entire life. That’s not great eco cooking. It’s much better to buy less packaging, and cook closer to the earth meals.

Stop Air Pollution in Your Home

September 8, 2008 in Air Quality, Green Cleaning, Green Your Home by Jennifer | 3 comments

There are plenty of things that can contribute to air pollution in your home. Your goal should be to have pure, clean air inside your home, both for the sake of planet health and the health of your family. Allergies, asthma, and even cold-like illnesses can all be affected by the quality of air inside your home.

Following are some ways to make sure your home air quality stays clean and healthy:

No smoking allowed: If you smoke, go outside, away from other people. Smoking in your home, especially if you have kids is dangerous for both health and fire safety reasons. In fact some studies show that banning indoor smoking is the number one best way to improve your home’s air quality.

Use your fireplace or wood stove smartly: Wood fires can release tiny particles and smoke that invades the air and your lungs. If you don’t have to use a wood burning fireplace, it’s better not to. If wood heat is your only source of heat; yes for some people it still is – in Humboldt we had only wood heat so we’d open windows and burn cleaner wood. To learn more read the EPA guide Wood Burning Efficiency and Safety.

Open the windows: Fresh incoming air is a great way to push out old stale air, and any icky household fumes.

Buy some naturally air cleaning houseplants.

Quit stirring up the dust: Use a damp rag to dust, not a feather duster or dry cloth. You may be tempted to buy those static cloths for dusting, and they do work, but they’re not long-lasting. You’ll end up tossing them. A wet cloth works just the same.

Clean regularly: Keeping a clean house is one good way to keep your air clean. This means making sure that items like appliances and humidifiers are cleaned as well.

Don’t EVER use toxic cleaners: Chemical, toxic, yucky home cleaners contribute to much of the indoor air pollution you encounter – and worse, none of these cleaners are necessary for a clean home. Choose green homemade cleaners instead. To learn more read the following: