simple living

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New small home plans that are realistic for families

August 5, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

Most small home plans you encounter are perfect if you happen to be a single person or couple, but many are completely inappropriate for families with kids. 5 Elements Design is looking to change that. The company, centrally located in California, offers full building assistance to residents in most of California, Oregon and Washington when needed and small home plans to anyone in the country.

5 Elements Design new three semi-custom stock home plans are small in size, designed to be eco-friendly, made to lower energy costs, and allow families to benefit from a custom house plan without the cost of an architect. However, according to partner and co-founder Misty Weaver, “Clients really want to live smaller, but they aren’t interested in giving up their family rooms, or storage. We are focusing on designs that feel bigger than they are, and incorporating built-ins and other design features that make room for realistic family living.”

The homes:

The MOD consists of three different modules, the living, sleeping and bedroom suite, which can be combined in many different configurations to meet the needs of a growing family.
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Living large – and not in a good way

April 15, 2009 in Green Building, Green Your Home by Jennifer | 1 comment

If you’re living in too large a house, you are contributing to a negative eco-impact. Most large homes create a larger footprint, use far more energy that they should, and waste resources. Not to mention, in my opinion, they create this whole more, more, more agenda. I.e. more furniture to buy, more decor, more junk. It’s a problem.

One major step in green living is to live within your needs, not live above them. Own as much house as you need, not more home then you need. That said, how can you tell if your home is too big?

You can use logic first of all. If you’ve got a family of four and a seven bed, four bath house, that’s living too large. If you’ve got a triple garage for those three cars, and you’re just two people, that’s living too large. If the only reason you have such a big space is to store your gear, your collections, your stuff, that’s living too large.

Take a quiz to find out if you’re living too large.

If you want to reduce your footprint and support a healthy environment, you need to learn to live smaller.

More tips:

Be an organic home know-it-all!

March 10, 2009 in Food & Drink, Furniture & Appliances, Green Your Home, Healthy Green Home by Jennifer | No comments

When it comes to organic food and organic home products, there are a lot of choices. It can be overwhelming. However, there’s no need to freak. You will totally look like you know what you’re doing (even when you’re not so sure) with these simple rules…

Organic is not always best: There are absolutely some items you should purchase organic, and then there are the organic items that matter less. Clothing, textiles, and other fabrics for your home are good organic, but you can also choose used or other sustainable fabrics that are just as eco-friendly as organic cotton. For example – hemp, bamboo, and thrift store finds all lower your footprint without the organic label. As for organic food, some purchases offer better health and eco-benefits than others. Check out which organics you need to buy and 11 Ways to Save Money on Organic Food in order to make smart choices.

Don’t go nuts all at once: Small organic changes are just as good as a complete life overhaul, but WAY easier. Don’t try to go massive organic all at once. Start making small changes; i.e. buy organic peanut butter and organic cotton pillow cases. Eventually all your simple changes will start to add up.

Got pets?: Let them go organic too. Many people forget their pets but currently there are many organic varieties of pet foods, green pet homes, and toys out there.

Go organic for health: If you’re only going organic for the eco-benefits, that’s fine, but the health benefits of organic over conventional offer you much more motivation. For example, you can make over your bathroom soaps and cosmetics in order to cut chemicals out of your world or buy a better organic mattress for a non-toxic dream time. Think about organic in a way that personally relates to you because this makes shopping decisions easier.

Make it easy for your kids: Kids raised on organics are in a better position to grow up understanding the long-term benefits. Don’t just go organic – talk organic with the kiddos so they know what’s up. Once they’re old enough to make shopping decisions, they’ll have a far easier time than our generation of adults.

How are you going organic at home?

Live simply for a better, greener life

February 25, 2009 in Community, Healthy Green Home by Jennifer | 2 comments

Living simply is not all that complicated, but it can take effort. Simple living is basically learning to live happily on less stuff. Learning to enjoy people over things. Trying to live more of life in nature and reconnecting to what matters. Of course there’s a lot more to simple living than what I wrote above (we’d be here all day). For more tips on what simple living is and is not read one or all of the following…

Why is simple living green?

It limits the possessions you own, thus cutting your footprint and saves both energy and resources.

It connects you with both nature and community – both of these connections are necessary for people who care about the planet. You can’t hope to protect the earth and it’s members if you aren’t invested.

It allows you to live sustainably naturally as you look for other options (i.e. non-money, simple options) over the typical American goal of having more, more, more.

It incorporates healthy living and lifestyle choices which gears your thinking toward issues like eco-exercise, organic food, and healthy body and natural cleaning choices.

Are you living simply – or is life sort of bogging you down?