Articles tagged “Green Home”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Grow Your Own Tree Furniture By Brian Merchant IN Travel & Outdoors Feb 18 2009 Looking for something to spice up your backyard? Tired of dragging out those rusty old lawn chairs to relax in on a breezy summer's day? Got a decade to spare? If so, maybe you should consider growing your own tree-furniture. + READ MORE

How to Reclaim a Window By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 13 2009 Windows are made of fragile, fragile glass, and they can easily end up getting smashed in by a baseball, a stone or even a smaller window that somebody threw during a fight. Use your putty knife to remove the metal track. Once the stops are out, you should be able to remove the lower sash. + READ MORE

The Shower and the Faucet By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 13 2009 The Shower: 11.6 percent gallon per person. 16.8% of indoor water use. The Faucet: 10.9 gallons a day per person. 15.7 percent of home energy use. + READ MORE

The Toilet and the Clothes Washer By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 13 2009 The Toilet: 18.5 gallons a day per person. 26.7 percent of indoor water use. The Clothes Washer: 15 gallons a day per person. 21.7 percent of indoor water use. + READ MORE

Set Your Green Home Priorities for Water Conservation By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 13 2009 The hardest part about going green is figuring out where to start. Should you buy a hybrid or upgrade your insulation? There are so many different ecological concerns that you can easily feel overwhelmed. Don't panic. Nobody is perfect. You can't have zero ecological impact. That's impossible. What is possible, however, is that you lessen your footprint and find a way to live a sustainable lifestyle. + READ MORE

Make Your Own Relaxation Eye Pillows By Sara Novak IN Home & Garden Feb 12 2009 I first started using eye pillows during the relaxation period at the end of my yoga classes and then decided that there was no reason why I couldn't carry this relaxation practice into other portions of my day. Why was my relaxation period only at the end of my yoga class? But it's hard to relax under the bright lights. You can make these fabulous little eyes pillows with stuff that you just have sitting around the house and space out any time you like. + READ MORE

Why Door Sweeps and Adjustable Thresholds are Important for Energy Savings By Seth Leitman IN Home & Garden Feb 12 2009 When I did weather stripping on the doors in my house, it helped to reduce the draft. Door sweeps attach to the inside of the door near the bottom edge—the door does not have to be removed—and consist of a brush or pad that contacts the edge of the threshold as the door shuts. + READ MORE

Insulate Your Windows in Under a Minute with Bubble Wrap By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 11 2009 You can't solve all your problems with bubble wrap. For algebra, you?re better off with pen and paper or a calculator. You can't solve the current economic woes or even a Rubik?s cube with bubble wrap, but you can insulate your windows with and reduce your home's carbon footprint, lessening the effects of global warming in the process. That's something, I guess. + READ MORE

Increase Your Radiator's Effectiveness With Tinfoil By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 11 2009 My old Midwestern apartment had radiator heat. The radiators would clank noisily in the night, but the clanking made me happy, like the ringing of a bell for a Pavlovian dog. I knew heat was on the way. Because I was at the whimsy of my landlord-controlled radiators, I would often find myself cold before the next burst of heat. I realize now that there was a way I could have prevented some cold hands and frigid times. + READ MORE

Partner Yoga: Get Your Blood Boiling Naturally Just in Time For V-Day By Sara Novak IN Home & Garden Feb 11 2009 My husband and I did partners yoga last year for Valentine's Day and before your cringe at the X-rated nature of this post, let me tell you it was just a fun partner activity, an interesting way to celebrate the holiday. But partners yoga is also a great way to bring the spice and love back into a relationship. There are classes offered at yoga studios across the country, but you can also plan a class at home. + READ MORE

Sustainable Valentine's Day, Invisible Treehouses, Paperless Postal Service, and Solar Watches By David DeFranza IN Work & Connect Feb 10 2009 Today on Treehugger: Sustainable valentine's day, invisible treehouses, paperless postal service, and solar watches. + READ MORE

10 Ways Working From Home Saves You Money By Lloyd Alter IN Work & Connect Feb 10 2009 We have noted before that studies show that working from home is really greener, and have provided a comprehensive guide for doing it. But in these times when we are watching every penny, how can it save us (or make us) more money? Here are 10 ways it can help. + READ MORE

The Heart Is Hot: Four Valentine Gifts in One By Eric Leech IN Home & Garden Feb 9 2009 There are four very special things which make Heart is Hot a very unique Valentine surprise. First, it is a vibrant red glass heart keepsake that anyone would be happy to receive. Second, it is recycled, so in a sense it is a gift to Mother Earth. Third it is reusable, which means it can be shared with many people, as it is not necessarily meant to keep forever. Fourth, it is individually registered with a special number that allows the giver and recipient to share their story of the heart with others through an online archive. + READ MORE

Grow These 3 Herbs at Home—No Green Thumb Necessary By Sara Novak IN Home & Garden Feb 9 2009 Herbs are a necessity if you are trying to up the quality of the food you prepare for family and friends, plus they are down right pricey at the grocery store. What's more, you don't always need a lot of one thing. Recipes usually require a little bit of variety. + READ MORE

Electronics, Appliances, & Refrigeration By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 9 2009 Save energy by modifying your use of electronics, appliances, & refrigeration. + READ MORE

Water Heater & Lighting By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 9 2009 The water heater accounts for twelve percent of your home's energy use. After you've sealed your thermal envelope and have the right insulation for your home, you should green your water heater. Then, take a looking at your lighting. + READ MORE

Set Your Green Home Energy Priorities By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 9 2009 Math has an order of operations that helps people come up with the correct answer. You can use an order of operations to green your home's energy use. In order to do the most good, you will want to focus on the areas where the most energy is being consumed. And once you've established which areas use up the most energy, you can neutralize the most problematic areas first and then tackle the smaller problems later. Not only will this save you money, it will also reduce your carbon footprint. + READ MORE

Ask Steve Thomas Anything (About Your Home) By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 6 2009 We've all watched the nail-pounding, green-as-grass, home-fixin? action on Renovation Nation. We've seen walls torn down, carpets ripped asunder, solar panels mounted and energy efficiency increased. And Steve Thomas has been there at the center of it all with a warm smile, a skillful hand and his brain full of green renovation knowledge. Now you can access that knowledge without the aid of a psychic by simply asking Steve. + READ MORE

Buy Eco-Friendly Soap, Save an Acre of Rainforest By Brian Merchant IN Home & Garden Feb 5 2009 Pretty sweet deal, right? Save Your World, an American company that sells organic personal care items like bar soap and lip balm, leases an acre of rainforest in Guyana for every product they sell. Last year, the company says it was able to help preserve 200,000 acres of forest with this practice. + READ MORE

5 Ways to Green Your Windows for Under 30 Bucks By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 4 2009 Many of us cannot afford to replace our windows with state-of-the-art, energy-efficient windows. The economy is bad. Sure, it's also bad for window makers, but as long as there are baseballs and other projectiles, I reckon they'll weather this rocky economy. + READ MORE