Category Archives: Eco Friendly Homes

Incoming search terms:

• how to save electrical energy

Living a much more eco friendly lifestyle or sustainable life-style is swiftly growing to be a extremely hot topic for many Americans. This isn’t only a topic of conserving the planet, it’s moreover a matter of remaining frugal, also. Teenagers are never inexpensive and trying to recycle and reusing tend to be fantastic methods to help conserve the Planet and cut costs. A lot of people actually just help to make it a hobby to uncover inspiring new techniques to recycle and reusing various home goods such as torn up paper by way of example. Here are a number of fantastic and uncomplicated ideas for recycling newspaper, saving water, saving power, and including eco friendly pieces of furniture for your property.

You will be able to make use of paper in your back garden. Torn up newspaper are usually superb to add to your fertilizer pile since it gives an extra co2 supply. Simply toss the torn up papers onto the heap and combine together with the eco-friendly materials to make home made fertilizer. Torn up documents could moreover be utilised as fertiliser around backyards in order to control weed growth. Do not overlook your dogs when thinking of techniques to be more eco friendly utilizing torn up cardstock. Numerous veterinarians advocate utilising torn up documents within the litter box following spaying.

To save water and be eco friendly, you will find many items you will be able to do. Firstly, turn off the water; do this while shampooing your hair, brushing your pearly whites, and shaving your face, also. This may help to make a big difference in your water bill while saving you dollars. Also, while hosing your back garden, make use of a soaker garden hose rather than a sprinkler. A soaker garden hose directs water towards roots of plants and much less is sacrificed to evaporation.

Becoming eco friendly by minimizing electric consumption is effortless. Simply turn your thermostat up a couple of degrees within the summer and down a few within the wintertime. It makes a big difference. Also, unplug electric equipment when not in use. Mobile rechargers waste a considerable quantity of power whenever they are plugged in, not only when a cell phone is charging. Invest in a smart strip energy strip that will stop a variety of kitchen appliances at one time and stop them from utilising idle current. This tends to lower your power consumption and save dollars. Also, make use of scaled-down devices through the summer for instance crock pots and toaster ovens rather than utilising your ordinary stove. The temp in your house will be much cooler and also your electric bill will be over the moon.

Home furniture buying can be a standard in relation to buying a house. Hence the next period you are about to set out shopping for a new item, contemplate shopping for eco friendly or eco friendly home furniture goods, you are going to find that the choice is developing every day. Online can be a wonderful place to buy for this type of household furniture since it lets you to do easy side by side evaluations on the degree of it being eco friendly.

Author Resource :Environmentally Friendly Guidance For The Home Is Vital When You Have Kids. Purchasing A Environmentally Friendly High Sleeper Beds Are Now Conceivable. You Are Able To Obtain A Environmentally Friendly Sleeper Beds On line From Our Website

Eco-friendly building construction techniques can not only help to create a better outdoor environment they also help us to build a healthier indoor environment. It is known that conventional building materials and methods have in the past and present been linked to a wide range of health problems. Typically, chemical pollutants from solvents, paint, plastics and certain man made timbers, along with biological pollutants can create dust mites and moulds known to cause traumatoic side effects such as asthma, headaches, depression, palpitations, eczema and fatigue syndrome. Eco friendly buildings (painted with eco friendly paint) can help to eliminate these problems through the use of good design of ventilations systems, making walls more breathable and the the use of natural, non-toxic products and materials.

Sustainable Home Building
By Mark Nash

Sustainable design is the buzzword today along with green building. There is a difference between the two. While green building means resource efficient and environmentally conscious, sustainable design is based on three areas; energy conservation, indoor air quality, and resource conservation. Viewed as new-age in construction circles, sustainable design looks at homes holistically, and not just a bunch of unrelated systems thrown together. Natural forms of energy, such as wind, solar, and geo-thermal if available on-site are maximized.

A new rating system for sustainable building has been rolled out. LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes was begun in mid-2005 by the U.S. Green Building Council on a trial basis in 12 locations across the country. It is a rating system like Energy Star Homes program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. When the pilot program is completed in 2007 a updated rating system will be issued.

Homeowners can expect sustainable homes to be at the minimum more energy efficient and offer occupants better air quality. Home building product manufactures are making many more low impact, but high performance products. To learn more about sustainable home building contact National Association of Home Builders and the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council.

Mark Nash is the author of “Fundamentals of Marketing for the Real Estate Professional”, “Starting & Succeeding in Real Estate”, “Reaching Out: The Financial Power of Niche Marketing”, and “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home”. Mark is a contributing writer for: Realtor (R) Magazine Online, Broker Agent News, Real Estate Executive Magazine, Principal Broker, and Realty Times. His tried and true real estate tips has been featured on Business Week, CBS The Early Show, CNN, HGTVpro.com, The New York Times, and USA Today. Purchase his books at http://www.1001RealEstateTips.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Nash

Steps towards an eco friendly home

There are many different options available to make your home more eco friendly and you may wish to consider using, some or all of the following ideas-

Energy Efficient Lighting
Changing your light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs through out the house as and when you can afford or they indeed need replacing is good practice for eco homes There are many different types available on the market and they will save you money in the long run by using less power and lasting longer. Remember also to switch them off when you do not need them!

Eco Homes use Energy Efficient Heating
Improve your homes ability to retain heat. Retaining heat cuts huge chunks off your fuel bill and is of course kinder to the planet as less energy is needed to power your home. There are simple steps you can start with which need not be expensive. These steps include filling draught gaps in around doors and windows using low cost insulating style strips available from your local DIY store.

Replacing old blinds or thin curtains with those made of thicker insulators also can make a big difference to heat retention. If you have a bigger budget then consider reviewing and updating the main insulators in your house including floor, wall, ceiling and loft areas. Eco homes can also have more expensive but worthwhile solutions installed, such as solar energy, double glazing and underfloor heating. Today it is now also possible to install a special  underground water pipe system to utilise the earths own natural heat for use in your home.

Save Water
Taking fewer or no baths at all or trying to avoid power showers can go a long way to making eco homes today. Fixing leaks may sound obvious but a leaking tap can be a major loss of water. Dual flush toilets are also a great way of saving water by using less flushes when necessary. Fit aerators (to mix air with water) to wash basin / sink taps to help improve the water flow whilst cutting the actual consumption by up to 50 per cent.

Rainwater collection is one of the easiest ways you can save water, money, and energy. Eco homes often make collection possible using old dustbins, a water butt, or by puchasing and filling a large tank under your house. If you really up for it and depending on your location it may also be worthwhile considering becoming totally self sufficient using a dual pond system with natural plant root filtration.

Eco Homes – Save Electricity
For starters try not to use power hungry tumble driers, simple hanging clothes devices are better for your clothes and easy to install. There are many on the market that can be tucked away into the far corners of your least viewable ceiling area. When buying new goods always look for the recommended energy saving logo. This logo is now only given to appliances that are rated A+ or A++. The Energy Saving Trust has an online database of all the models that are made to this superior level of energy efficiency.

Use second hand furniture
There are many places where you can buy good quality second hand furniture which is often better constructed that many modern versions (and better looking!). Choosing this option for furniture reduces the energy used to create new products and also alleviates any concerns as to whether you are buying a product that has used materials from an unsustainable source.
Easy online places to get furniture from include www.ebay.com and www.freecycle.org (where you get items for free!).

Eco Homes – Decorating
Always use eco friendly natural paints and oil based products. These may cost you a bit more than the petroleum-based standard products but you won’t have to breathe in any bad chemicals and they don’t create toxic waste. Contact specialist suppliers for information such as www.ecospaints.co.uk

Cleaning
Always try to use natural, non-toxic detergents and toiletries. Many products today are over-produced and full of completely unnecessary additives which are hamful to the environment. Check out the ever growing range of alternatives in your local store using natural products such as lemon and vinegar.

Gardens
Eco homes use a compost bin for garden and food waste, which is a big help to the environment. If you have any outside space, get a compost bin to recycle all your uncooked vegetable and fruit wastage. Adding left over egg cartons and cardboard boxes to balance the nitrogen with the carbon and over time, you will have a great soil enhancer to use.

Other quick, simple and low cost effective ideas include
Use organic methods to grow plants to help preserve birds and wildlife
Try putting a filled plastic bottle in your toilet cistern (not so big that it makes you flush the toilet twice) to save on flushed water.
Turning your thermostat down just a degree or two saves both money and energy
Recycle all the glass, paper, metal and plastics that your council will take, check
www.recycle-pla.net for more information
Always carry your own bag when you are out shopping
Buy an LCD TV rather than a high energy using plasma screen

Incoming search terms:

• eco friendly house ideas
• eco friendly homes ideas
• eco-friendly ideas for a home
• ideas eco friendly home
• ideas for eco friendly homes