Green Living

It is no longer a phase or passing trend…our concern for the environment, as well as for our own personal health, has triggered a movement of living an eco-friendly life.

According to Carrie Alexander, in an article for the Orlando Sentinel’s Florida Magazine, “Increased environmental awareness is accelerating the demand for all things green, not only for philosophical and political reasons, but also because consumers can benefit. Green-build homes equate to less maintenance and lower utility bills. Furnishings from recycled products lessen the impact on landfills. Organic cotton used in clothing requires fewer pesticides to produce.” The entire edition of the April Florida Magazine was devoted to all aspects of living Green – much of the information presented below was taken from the magazine…visit their website for more on Green Living: www.orlandosentinel.com.

Why Choose to Live Green?

The population of our planet continues to grow, but our ability to produce food and raw materials does not. By living Green we can help to preserve and protect the natural resources that we have previously taken for granted.

We are more aware than ever that there isn’t an unending supply of water, wood (trees) and oil. We know that global warming is real. And if we can reduce our exposure to pesticides, along with conservation practices and recycling, we can ensure that our children - and their children - will be better able to live on a safe and healthy planet that can provide for their needs.

Green Building:

If you are building a new home or remodeling the one you live in, there are many options available to build a home that is healthy for you and the environment. By the end of 2007 nearly 100,000 home in the United States had been certified green through various programs, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Countryside, a large mortgage company, is rewarding green buyers by offering a discount of 0.125% for those who purchase a home that is built meeting recognized green and energy efficiency standards. For more information you can contact them at 1-800-262-4214.There are many resources available that offer information and assistance in green building:

The U.S. Department of Energy website offers a home energy performance evaluation: www.buildingamerica.gov/challenge.

The USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) is a non-profit of community leaders working to make green buildings accessible to everyone within a generation. The main site is www.usgbc.org. Their companion site, www.greenhomeguide.org. is an excellent resource for articles and information, including checklists for home remodels, new construction and retrofitting older homes.

The National Association of Home Builder’s has a new National Green Building program that links state and local voluntary programs with a national online scoring tool for builders and verifiers. They also provide a registry of green homes and green builders, and extensive educational resources. www.nahbgreen.org.

What Is A Green Home?
The following information is from the Green Home Guide website, www.greenhomeguide.org.

Whether you’re a homebuyer or a renter looking for a green home, how do you know if a home is truly green? What should you look for? This checklist will help you identify a truly green home and ensure you get a healthier, high-performance green home that costs less to operate and has fewer environmental impacts:

• Location: New green homes and neighborhoods must not be built on environmentally sensitive sites like prime farmland, wetlands and endangered species habitats. The greenest development sites are “in-fill” properties like former parking lots, rail yards, shopping malls and factories. Look for compact development where the average housing density is at least six units per acre. Your home should also be within easy walking distance of public transportation – like bus lines, light rail, and subway systems – so you can leave your car at home. A green home should also be within walking distance of parks, schools, and stores. See how many errands you can carry out on a bicycle. That’s healthier for you, your wallet, and the environment.
• Size: No matter how many green building elements go into your home, a 5,000-square-foot green home still consumes many more natural resources than a 2,000-square-foot green home. The larger home will also require more heating, air conditioning and lighting. If you really want a sustainable home, choose a smaller size.
• Building Design: The home should be oriented on its site to bring abundant natural daylight into the interior to reduce lighting requirements and to take advantage of any prevailing breezes. Windows, clerestories, skylights, light monitors, light shelves and other strategies should be used to bring daylight to the interior of the house. The exterior should have shading devices (sunshades, canopies, green screens and – best of all – trees), particularly on the southern and western facades and over windows and doors, to block hot summer sun. [t4]Dual-glaze windows reduce heat gain in summer and heat loss during cold winter months. The roof should be a light-colored, heat-reflecting Energy Star roof, or a green (landscaped) roof, to reduce heat absorption.
• Green Building Materials: A green home will have been constructed or renovated with healthy, non-toxic building materials and furnishings, like low- and zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and sealants and non-toxic materials like strawboard for the sub-flooring. Wood-based features should come from rapidly renewable sources like bamboo, but if tropical hardwoods are used, they must be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. A green home uses salvaged materials like kitchen tiles and materials with significant recycled content
• Insulation: A non-toxic insulation, derived from materials like soybean or cotton, with a high R (heat resistance) factor in a home’s walls and roof will help prevent cool air leakage in the summer and warm air leakage in the winter.
• Windows and Doors: Windows and exterior doors should have ENERGY STAR® ratings, and they should seal their openings tightly to avoid heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter.
• Energy Efficiency: A green home has energy-efficient lighting, heating, cooling and water-heating systems. Appliances should have ENERGY STAR® ratings.
• Renewable Energy: The home should generate some of its own energy with technologies like photovoltaic systems.
• Water Efficiency: A green home has a water-conserving irrigation system and water-efficient kitchen and bathroom fixtures. Look for a rainwater collection and storage system, particularly in drier regions where water is increasingly scarce and expensive.
• Indoor Environmental Quality: Natural daylight should reach at least 75% of the home’s interior. Natural ventilation (via building orientation, operable windows, fans, wind chimneys and other strategies) should bring plentiful fresh air inside the house. The HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system should filter all incoming air and vent stale air outside. The garage should not have any air handling equipment or return ducts, and it should have an exhaust fan.
• Landscaping: Vine-covered green screens, large canopy trees and other landscaping should shade exterior walls, the driveway, patios and other “hardscape” to minimize heat islands. Yards should be landscaped with drought-tolerant plants rather than water-guzzling plants and grass in most regions.

Beyond the health and environmental benefits of living in a green home, many local and state governments, utility companies and other entities across the country offer rebates, tax breaks and other incentives for adding eco-friendly elements to your life. Following are just a few of the many resources to help you find those incentives in your area.

• DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, connects you to local, state, federal and utility incentives available for switching to renewable or efficient energy use. It is a nonprofit project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through the North Carolina Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency links to many of the sources of funding for green building that are available nationally and at the state and local levels for homeowners, industry, government organizations and nonprofits in the form of grants, tax credits, loans and other sources.
• The U.S. government’s ENERGY STAR® site connects consumers, home builders and others to federal tax credits for using energy-efficient products

Remodeling? Think “ReGreen”

If you are thinking about remodeling your home consider an “energy makeover”. The American Society of Interior Designers and the US Green Building Council have teamed up to offer consumers guidelines for a green approach to renovation. Their 167 page guide, REGREEN, offers detailed descriptions about costs, products and case studies as to how you can accomplish your green goals. There are even guidelines to retrofit a home’s energy sytem in order to reduce energy use by 50% to 90%. Visit their website at www.regreenprogram.org.

Denise Bates Enos offers these tips:

• Choose flooring from a renewable source such as bamboo
• Use only low-or no- VOC (volatile organic compound) paint
• Purchase Energy-Star rated appliances, including more-efficient air conditioning units and plumbing fixtures that use less water (For a list of products and for tips on improving energy efficiency in your home visit www.energystar.gov. )
• Brick or stone patios are more environmentally friendly than a treated wood deck, as pressure treated wood can leach harmful chemicals into the ground

Home Décor

If you want to ensure that the furniture you buy are from environmentally conscientious companies is to look for members of the Sustainable Furniture Council, which is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable practices in the home furnishings industry…members are certified when they meet the wood-harvesting standards of the Forest Stewardship Council. For a members list check their respective websites:

www.sustainablefurniturecouncil.com, and www.sfiprogram.org.

Suggestions include:

• When shopping for upholstered items, mattresses and pillow look for products that use natural alternatives to the chemically based foams you will often find in these type products.
• Instead of petroleum based products look for items that use plant oils such as soy, aloe and castor.
• Look for natural fabrics and items made of recycled cotton, rattan, sisal grasscloth, jute, or bamboo. Avoid those that are made from synthetic materials as they require manufacturing and/or dyeing processes that are harmful to the environment.

Fortunately there are a large number of companies offering environmentally friendly and less toxic choices in all categories – furniture, bedding and beds, home accessories, and much more. Just search the web for almost any product and you will find a number of natural alternatives. Some of the companies I have purchased from are listed on this website under “Recommended”.

The following companies were listed in the Florida Magazine as offering green products for the home:

Bluefish Home uses sustainable harvested primavera wood in their Copenhagen line of furniture. Used as a shade tree on Guatamalan coffee plantations, primavera wood is harvested when the trees grow too large to shelter the coffee plants, and new trees are planted in their place. www.bluefishhome.com 1-770-509-8472

Roos International offers paper, grass, cotton and other organic based wallcoverings, having evolved away from the petroleum and chemical-based vinyl wallcoverings of the past. www.roosinternational.com 1-800-888-2776

Anji Mountain Bamboo Rug Company offers area rugs made from bamboo, a rapid-growth material that has a low environmental impact (it is renewable and requires no pesticides to grow). www.anjimountainbamboorugco.com 1-888-344-5004

Cleaning Tips:

According to Consumer’s Union the following eco-friendly products are good alternatives to commercial cleaning products:

Baking Soda:

Can remove stains from tile, glass, oven doors, and china, and clean the insides of refrigerators; can help absorb odors and remove baked-on food from pans; help remove fruit juice stains and other mild acids.

Borax:
Acts as a water softener and disinfectant and as a freshener when added to laundry. Comes in powder or crystalline salt forms.

Hydrogen peroxide:
A mild alternative to chlorine bleach useful as a stain remover and for mild bleaching and sterilizing. Available in drug-stores and supermarkets.

Lemon Juice:
Can lighten stains and cut grease. It can also be used to remove tarnish on brass, copper, bronze and aluminum, but not silver.

White Vinegar:
Natural disinfectant that can remove some carpet stains and clean coffee makers, chrome, cookware and countertops. It also can unclog drains. But it can dissolve the fibers of acetate fabrics found in some tablecloths.

Nontoxic Pest Control:

The following article by Doug Smeath of the U.S. Green Building Council is from their website: www.greenbuikldingcouncil.org.

It’s getting warmer. For anyone who has spent the winter months shivering and dreaming of balmier days ahead, spring’s arrival is good news. But the change in seasons brings new home and yard maintenance issues that must be dealt with. With careful planning, one of those issues – pest control – can be addressed in a healthy, environmentally responsible, green way.

Depending on where you live, any number of pests – especially insects or rodents – can cause health and safety issues and threaten the integrity and comfort of your home. Whether it’s termites, aunts, rats or something else, chances are they want into your house. And you want to keep them out.

For many, the first instinct to respond to pest infestations is a toxic one: There are no shortage of poisons and baits on the market that promise to rid you of unwanted houseguests. But most of those toxic chemicals are not only bad for the pests; they’re harmful to you and your family, too. Additionally, toxins from pesticides and baits can leach into soils and contaminate water or disrupt local ecosystems. Pests play a role in the food chain and are vital to keeping other wildlife in your neighborhood healthy and thriving. Your pest-control goals should be keeping vermin out of your house, not doing away with them completely.

Nontoxic strategies: There are a number of ways you can keep pests out of your home without endangering occupants’ health or the environment. Some of these strategies need to be implemented while the house is being designed and built; others can be put into place during routine maintenance. The initial costs of some nontoxic pest-prevention strategies can be higher than chemical controls, but those costs are frequently offset by the long-term effectiveness and durability of the structures, not to mention the reduced health-care costs that result from living in a healthier home.

Your pest-control strategy will depend on where you live. For example, some termite-specific prevention efforts are only necessary in areas at moderate or high risk for termites. In the United States, the risk of termites generally increases the farther south you live. The American Southeast and most of California are at especially high risk of termites. Meanwhile, a swath running from the Southwest through the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic region and into New England – as far north as Massachusetts – bear at least a moderate risk of termite problems. The risk is more minimal in the Pacific Northwest, northern Midwestern states like the Dakotas and the Great Lakes states, and the upper Northeast.

Building and design considerations:

• Include no wood-to-concrete connections or separate any exterior wood-to-concrete connections – such as posts, deck supports and stair stringers – with metal or plastic fasteners or dividers.
• Use solid concrete foundation walls or concrete-filled block. Foundations are particularly vulnerable to many subterranean pests, include termites.
• Keep all wood, such as siding and trim, at least 12 inches above soil, as opposed to the 8 inches typically required by building code.
• Use a sealed-to-the-wall vapor barrier for homes with crawlspaces on the floor or beneath a concrete slab to limit moisture intrusion and a resulting environment that becomes a suitable to insect habitat.

In areas prone to termites:

• Use non-cellulosic wall structures. That means avoid wood, straw and other plant-based wall materials.
• Treat any cellulosic material, such as wood framing, with a borate product to a minimum of 3 feet above the foundation.
• Install a sand or diatomaceous earth barrier. Install a steel mesh barrier termite control system. These mesh systems are installed around pipes coming up through slab and outside walls to keep termites from finding their way through gaps.

Ongoing maintenance:

• Seal all external cracks, joints, penetrations, edges and entry points with caulking.
• Protect exposed foundation insulation with moisture-resistant, pest-proof cover such as fiber cement board or a galvanized insect screen.
• Plan landscaping carefully. Avoid landscaping immediately adjacent to the house by ensuring all parts of mature plants will be at least 24 inches away from the home. Maintaining a buffer zone between plants and the house perimeter limits the habitat suitable for insect infestations. This has the added benefit of eliminating the need for irrigation close to the house, helping to prevent moisture leaking through the foundation.
• Treat lumber and other cellulosic material with borate, a natural chemical alternative that controls insects but is safe for humans.
• Install plants and landscaping elements that repel pests and encourage biodiversity. A yard that is dominated by one plant species, such as turf grass, is more susceptible to becoming a haven for a single type of insect that become an infestation risk. Biodiversity in a yard encourages a healthy, balanced ecosystem.

A well-planned house that implements nontoxic pest-prevention strategies has taken an important step toward becoming a truly green home. The LEED for Homes green rating system awards points for green pest controls. More information is available by downloading the LEED for Homes Rating System [PDF] and ordering the LEED for Homes Reference Guide. (see their website for links: www.greenbuildingcouncil.org)

Also, check out the Heal With Hope article on Natural Pest Control.

General Tips for Living Green:

• Drive Less
• Buy Less
• Buy Local
• Take your own bags to the grocery store or use recyclable bags
• Wash clothes in cold water
• Buy energy efficient appliances
• Insulate your home properly

Your Carbon Footprint:

What is your carbon footprint? It is the impact we each have on the environment based on the amount of greenhouse gasses we produce. The products you purchase, type of car you drive, how many chemicals you use, etc all create your “footprint”. If you are curious about the size of your footprint and would like to calculate it visit www.carbonfootprint.com. You can also find ways to reduce it there. And also check out www.thedailygreen.com for practical and realistic tips to help make your home an environmentally friendly place.

For great "Green" information including environmental news, product reviews, and green living ideas visit the National Geographic website: www.thegreenguide.com.