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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…

Cuddling & Other Tips for Saving Energy in Winter

December 14, 2008 in Save Energy, Seasonal Tips by Jennifer | 2 comments

Today we got snow here in Oregon, and trust me it’s freezing. This led me to think a little about winter and energy saving. Cuddling is of course an effective way to stay warm in winter but in case you’re not feeling all that cuddly, here are some other energy saving options.

  • Seal gaps or cracked seams in exposed ducts.
  • Clean or replace your furnace filters monthly.
  • Place window shrink wrap on non-energy efficient windows. You can also hang heavy blankets up with strong nails and this will block quite a lot of the chill.
  • Keep everyone gathered in a few rooms. Heat those rooms and shut the doors on rooms that no one is in.
  • If you leave turn off the heat! Once you return, your heater will quickly heat back up. There’s no need to heat an empty house – NOTE unless you have pets – don’t leave them freezing.
  • Lower your water heater. If you lower it to 120 F you can save money. Typically, a 10 F reduction on your water heater can save up to 5% on your heating, and no one needs their water set above 120.
  • Insulate any hot water pipes that lead from your water heater.
  • Install low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators – which is not a direct heat energy saving, but the less hot water used, the more you save.
  • Don’t underestimate clothing – a nice cozy sweater means you can keep the heat down. It’s not tank top weather!

Need more winter energy tips?

Quick Energy Saving Tip – DIY Energy Audit

Green Your Home On the Cheap

Quick Green Home Tip: Turn Down the Thermostat

Green Action for Autumn – Sealing Your Home for Winter

Is it snowing and chilly where you are?

Green Toilet Paper Tips

October 29, 2008 in Green Your Home, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle, Save Money by Jennifer | No comments

Green toilet paper has many pros, and one major con. The con – cost. Recycled toilet paper is a lot more than basic toilet paper; especially if you have a large family and go through many rolls a week. We’ll look at how you can save money further down. First the pros…

Green toilet paper pros:

Green toilet paper is actually recycled toilet paper. Seventh Generation, one manufacturer of 100% Recycled Bathroom Tissue, notes that if every home in America replaced one 12 pack of 400 sheet virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled we could save 1.7 billion gallons of water annually and more than 1,000,000 trees. Also purchasing recycled toilet paper can reduce overall pollution and drastically reduces the chemicals in the environment and on our skin, (there’s chlorine in normal toilet paper).

What to look for in green toilet paper:

  • Chlorine free.
  • Made from 80-100% recycled content.
  • No added dyes or fragrances.
  • Safe for low-flow toilets.

How to save money on recycled toilet paper:

Seventh Generation offers coupons for their recycled toilet paper and other products. They change periodically though, so you have to stay tuned to their site.

Buy in bulk – places like Amazon.com and warehouse stores sell bigger packs of recycled toilet paper for less.

Look at size. Many recycled rolls have more squares than typical toilet paper, so the initial sticker shock may be uncalled for. Although this depends on brands.

Order online direct from a company vs. buying in a store. Check with various companies to see if you can get a deal for buying a lot at one time. Go in on the purchase with another family.

Places to buy recycled toilet paper

Read some green toilet paper reviews

The Urban Kitchen Compost Bin

October 10, 2008 in Organic Gardening, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle by Jennifer | 3 comments

[Stainless Steel Kitchen Compost Crock from Real Goods]

Just because you don’t live on a farm, or even somewhere with a small yard, doesn’t mean you can’t compost. No matter your size of home or land, you can compost easily with a basic kitchen compost bin – even if you live in an apartment in the city. Your local parks or community gardens, or your own potted plants can use the compost. Bonus; in recent years, kitchen compost bins have even gone down in price.

Composting basics:

  • Composting is simply allowing organic matter to decay and return to the soil, rather than tossing it in the garbage.
  • Composting can reduce household waste (i.e. what ends up in your trash can) but plenty – up to 30% or more.
  • If you have a  yard or even potted plants, compost is the perfect natural soil additive. Composting (adding compost to) your plants will reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers and can even be used as mulch.

Items to compost:

  • Produce -veggies and fruit scraps or produce that’s gone bad
  • Coffee grounds
  • Eggshells
  • Fireplace ashes
  • Yard clippings, and cut grass
  • Bread, pasta, old beans

To learn more about what can and cannot be composted, visit Compost Info Guide or Composting at the EPA.

Now about kitchen compost bins…
Read the rest of this entry »

Quick Green Home Tip: Turn Down the Thermostat

September 28, 2008 in Green Your Home, Save Energy, Seasonal Tips by Jennifer | No comments

It’s getting cold, and you’ll probably be reaching for the thermostat. However, before you crank that sucker up, try the following…

  • More clothing – a sweater inside is ok.
  • Extra blankets at night.
  • Exercising indoors – although I’d draw the line at jump rope and jumping jacks if you live above someone.
  • Open the window shades during the day to let some sunshine in.
  • Co-sleep with another family member.

Once you do decide that it’s cold enough for your heater to be on, try setting it 3-5 degrees lower than you think it should be set at. For example, if you always blindly turn your thermostat to 68, see if you can set it at 64 and still stay warm enough. Experiment with how low is just fine vs. too low.

This tip can save you money as you save resources. The Department of Energy notes that you can save $40+ a year just by turning your thermostat down by 1 degree. Wow – you do the math.

Book Review: The Carbon Free Home

September 22, 2008 in Uncategorized by Jennifer | No comments

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.

Cut out pre-packaged food items

September 7, 2008 in Green Your Home by Jennifer | No comments

Pre-packaged foods create so much extra waste that it’s overwhelming. One of the best ways to green your kitchen is to start concentrating on packaging.

bulk food

Sure you can recycle many parts, often even all of the packaging that packaged foods come in, but consider that it also takes energy to produce this packaging, and also consider that studies show, that not everyone recycles all the time. It’s best to avoid overly pre-packaged goods when you can.

For example:

Instead of juice boxes – use a cup. If you’re on the go, use a refillable, reusable container.

Instead of buying bottled water – use tap water or install a water filter.

Instead of individual tiny boxes of cereal – buy bulk, or the biggest box of cereal available.

Instead of sliced cheese in individual wrappers – choose block cheese and slice it yourself, or have the cheese counter folks do it for you.

I bet you can think of plenty of items you buy that come in too much wrapping. Start small. Next time you’re at the store, take the time to compare. Do you need rice that comes in a box, or can you buy bulk? Do you need raisins in tiny boxes and plastic, or will bulk do here as well? If bulk food choices aren’t available in the food item of choice, choose the least packaged item first.

Read Green Audit Your Pantry to learn more.

Beat Summer Heat Forever

August 18, 2008 in Green Your Home, Save Energy by Jennifer | No comments

Maybe not forever, but long-term solutions sure beat here and now solutions. You can make some changes to your actual home that will save you energy, cut heat inside the house, and keep costs lower in the long run.

beat summer heat

Buy window awnings: Awnings block more sun than you might think, without compromising too much incoming window light. If you go with awnings, choose opaque or light colored material, that’s tightly woven.

Make your landscaping work for you: Just like you can block cold winter wind with trees and bushes, you can also block the summer heat. Tall trees, big shrubs, and even well-placed vines can block quite a bit of sun and heat. To learn about green landscaping visit the EPA.

Curtain the outside of your home: Drapes inside cut heat, but there are also woven mesh screens that you can hang outside to block sun. Visit North Solar Screen to learn more.

Paint your home right: There are no clear studies but it stands to reason that lighter colors reflect the sun, and thus heat, so painting your home a dark color is not the best choice for hot climates.

Try some film: Window films are a little weird to use, but do block heat well.

Quick Green Home Office Tip

August 18, 2008 in Home Office, Quick Green Home & Garden Tips, Save Energy by Jennifer | No comments

If you’re looking to green your home office experience, you can start with the energy factor. Even when your computer, printer, and lamp are plugged in, they’re draining energy. That costs you money and resources.

Unplugging is a possibility, but also a pain if you’ve got a ton of office equipment. Charges, lamps, electronics, and a radio; it’s a lot to remember.

What to do: Invest in one simple power strip, like the ecostrip. Once you’re ready to leave your office, you can simply turn off the powerstrip, rather than unplug each and every cord. This is a simple green tip that can save you money, time, and resources.

Past Green Building Resources & Green Living Tips

August 15, 2008 in Alternative Energy, Green Building, Green Cleaning, Green Your Home, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle by Jennifer | No comments

In the post, Green Building Resources & Green Living Tips I noted that Best Green Home Tips used to be located in a different spot, at the RiverWired network. Over there, we looked at many a green building and remodeling tip. I thought that if you missed these posts, it would be cool to catch you up to speed. We looked at about half of these posts in the first recap, and here’s the rest…

green building

Green building:

Green home interiors:

Save energy & resources:

Fun: