Green at Home

Green Ways to Clean Bed Pillows

A surprising number of us find ourselves out on our own without some basic pieces of information.  For instance, what do you do when your pillows get dirty? They're pretty cheap, and it's easy to think that you're supposed to throw them out and buy new ones, but that's incredibly wasteful.  Over the years, you'll spend a lot on new pillows, and you'll be doing some real damage to the world around you.  Throwing your pillows out is silly, but many people do it because they don't know how to clean them.  Let's take a look at the alternative to tossing your bedding. It's remarkably easy to keep your pillows clean, and doesn't take all that much effort.  You don't have to wash them each time you do your sheets.  Once a season should be adequate.  If you or someone in your household has allergies, however, it might be worthwhile to launder your pillows more often, since they can host dust mites and other allergens.  Here's how to keep your pillows clean. Wash pillows without pillowcases or protective coverings on them.  These should be washed in hot water, separately.  Look at the pillow tag to find out what your pillow is filled ...

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Heating Your Home in a Green and Money Saving Way

Your annual energy use is likely to be directed towards the water and space heating.  If you are like most people today, your energy bills are higher than ever.  The efficient home heating must be used in order to save your money and reduce the carbon footprint.  Apply the following tips in order to make your home greener, more energy saving, and even save some cash too.  For instance, start by sealing the leaks.  Heat loss from such leaks is one of many reasons why you cannot enjoy a warm and comfortable home during wintertime.  It is high time for you to seal such leaks in order to preserve the energy and protect your wallet.  Good insulation is your main guarantee that your home will not be affected by the extreme weather conditions attributed to the climate change.  You will need insulation strips or a tube of exterior silicone caulk in order to seal your windows and doors. First order of business is to find those leaks! In order to do this, you can use a candle on a very breezy day in order to determine their location.  You will have to close all the doors and windows and start wandering ...

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Turning Dry Leaves Into a Good Deed

Ever thought about the amount of time and energy we spend on our fall leaves?  Whether you live in town or outside it, there's a good chance you dutifully rake up your leaves, stuff them into plastic or paper bags, and let someone else haul them off.  But why?  That takes a lot of human and fossil fuel energy, and it wastes quite a few bags, too.  In the country, we tend to let the leaves fall down, then rake the ones that are most in the way.  We often ignore the rest - less wasteful, but also not very useful. Could those leaves be doing something for you?  There are other options for people interested in getting some value out of their leaves and wasting fewer resources.  Let's take a look at what green minded people can do with fallen leaves. The millions of leaves that fall every year could be a real opportunity.  For instance, anyone with farm animals knows how much straw and other bedding material can cost.  If you have hardwood trees in your yard, you could do away with some of that cost.  Many leaves are a great option for bedding down animals.  Aspen, oak, and many ...

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Water Efficiency for Your Home

It is well known that Earth's surface has much more water than land, but one thing that is important to keep in mind is that only around one percent of all that water is drinkable!  With many issues being raised about pollution, the idea of preserving water in the home is something that more and more people are beginning to take seriously, and when you are thinking of doing your part to save water, there are many things that you may wish to consider. Showerheads When you think about showers versus baths, many people believe that taking a quick shower is more water conservative, when in fact the opposite is true.  Unless you can keep a shower under a few minutes, the water that is used tends to equal or even exceed that of bath.  The best way to combat this is through the use of water-saving showerheads.  Currently, there has been a movement to create a specification for showerheads that disperse water more effectively and with less water waste.  The main goals are to look into pressure compensation, how the water is distributed and the showerhead's wetting capacity. Water-saving toilets If you are building a new home or simply replacing an old toilet, ...

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Green Communities on the Rise

Nowadays, the emphasis on building green homes is gaining in popularity, thanks to the increasing awareness of many individuals about the imperative need to lessen our carbon footprints even while we enjoy our dream homes.  This is a welcome change in home ownership mindset that many real estate developers and allied professionals have taken to heart by building green communities. If you are in the market for a new home, you will do well to look into green communities that are on the rise.  You will be investing in a comfortable home, a sustainable environment and on a bright future for your children. Features of a Green Community So many community developers use the tactic known as green washing to attract more and more homeowners in investing their money in the suburbs.  Some, if not all, will resort to half-truths and blatant lies to achieve their own ends - at your expense, of course. To avoid from becoming victim to such an unscrupulous practice in real estate development, you should look for the following features in a green community: * It should have earned the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, which is the most recognized standard in green community design, as well ...

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