Decorate Your Home In An Eco-Friendly Style And Reduce Carbon Footprint

Posted: April 28th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Home Decoration, Sustainable Architecture | Tags: , , | No Comments »

This post is another in our guest blogger series. This one is from Leon White. Hope you find it as interesting and informative as I did.

It is a common desire to create a living space which is comfortable and chic. However home furnishings can leave large carbon footprint which is very harmful for the environment. Read on to find out how you can opt for innovative home décor ideas without compromising style. You can choose to decorate your home in an eco-friendly way. You must select non-toxic paints and right fabric. These days while decorating homes families are opting for environment-friendly choices. Going green is more than a fad now. You can decorate your home using less energy, fewer non-renewable resources and lesser water.

Need for environment-friendly choices

With threats of global warming individuals are becoming more aware about climate change and environment. Most home owners want to behave as responsible citizens by making use of eco-friendly home décor items. These décor items can be recycled and renewed to give a new and interesting look to your home. Redecorate your home on a green theme. As you decide the décor be kind to the environment. The best way to go green is to incorporate reused items in home décor. It is essential that you opt for eco-friendly home décor ideas as it can save energy and cause less harm to the environment.

Popular eco-friendly flooring

You can live in an environmental friendly atmosphere by selecting the right flooring, furnishing and lighting. You can replace artificial flooring with natural products like bamboo or linoleum. Bamboo is durable and adds a touch of elegance to the flooring. It comes in different colors and patterns. Bamboo is easy to maintain and can be installed easily. Cork, the bark of an oak tree, is another biodegradable product which can be used for flooring. Cork can be used in variety of paints to suit the color scheme of your room. Glass is a popular eco-friendly material which does not mildew or mold in damp environments.

Opt for “green” paints

Eco-friendly paint can improve the quality of air inside your home. When you decide to change the color palette of your home you can opt for zero VOC paint or low VOC paint. VOC or volatile organic compounds are found in different products. VOC’s from paints have a negative quality on the environment. It is important to remember that lighter the paint lesser is the VOC that it will contain. You can opt among milk paints, clay paints or lime wash. Milk paints are biodegradable and organic.

Right furniture for a new look

When you buy eco-friendly furniture ascertain the materials which are used to create the furniture. Make sure that recyclable and sustainable sources are used to create the pieces of furniture. Adhesive used in the furniture should not contain VOC. You can select furniture which is used by bamboo. You cans hop in vintage or antique shops. Before you buy new items you can reuse the existing furniture. Use innovation and creativity to decorate your home and add a fresh look. Bamboo is considered as one of the most eco-friendly choices. Opt for furniture which is made of recycled material.

Adopt a green lifestyle

Whilst shopping for home décor accessories be on the lookout for products which are made from organic fiber. Proper lighting can create a magical effect in your home. You can make use of energy saving bulbs to add a brighter look to your home. You can consider buying furnishings which have been manufactured with renewable materials. If you are a responsible person who is trying to lead a green lifestyle these ideas on home décor will be useful.

Author Bio: Leon White has decorated his home with eco-friendly wallpapers. He wants to adopt a green lifestyle. To keep the well-furnished home secure Leon has opted for ADT-Pulse. It is a trustworthy service which offers strong protection to homeowners.


Teaching Children About Renewable Energy Through Kits

Posted: July 2nd, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Green Communities, Green Initiatives, Green Kids | Tags: , , , , , | No Comments »

This is a guest post by Liz Nelson from WhiteFence.com. She is a freelance writer and blogger from Houston. Questions and comments can be sent to: liznelson17 @ gmail.com.

While building your own solar array to provide enough power to your home to be 100-percent sustainable could cost tens of thousands of dollars, you don’t need a lot of money to teach children how it works and why it’s important. In fact, there are a lot of kits on the market that can serve semi-practical uses while demonstrating to the kids the mechanics of it all. Most of these kits cost less than $150 and can provide a wealth of knowledge for green sustainability.

1. Solar Arrays – The solar panel kit offered by HarborFreight.com produces 45 watts of power while providing the capabilities to power small 12-volt devices. It also supports the use of 5 volt USB devices such as phone charges and other USB electronics normally purchased for computers. This kit can be expanded on by combing more panels together while using a deep cycle battery and an inverter – both are sold separately. This is a fun and quick project for your children to assemble and can be utilized in many ways for practicality such as camping or tied into your home power needs. The kit itself is less than $250.

2. Wind Turbines – For less than $130, you could demonstrate to your children the power of wind turbines from KidWind.com. These wind turbines can be purchased as small single units to elaborate classroom kits, each turbine producing as much as two watts of power. These kits are tailored specifically for children and include easy to follow instructions in order to assemble them. Although they may not have the maximum production value of power as the solar kit listed above, they can easily be used to demonstrate how humans can harness natural sources of energy without consuming fuels to do so.

3. Small Solar Panels – For those who don’t want to spend a great deal of money teaching their children about solar power, LegacyStation.com offers an inexpensive kit to power several different projects. This 6-in-1 kit is under $20 and can demonstrate how to use solar power in order to create vehicles or propulsion systems in aircraft. These are easy to assemble and will provide a great deal of entertainment without the use of a single battery. Of course, there is nothing wrong with modification of any project should you want to demonstrate how solar arrays can power an object while charging a battery in order for the object to continue functionality when solar power is low. This would only require the use of a battery pack and rechargeable batteries that can be picked up from Radio Shack for less than $20.

4. Pressurized Power – While solar and wind are two of the most popular and practical methods for renewable energy sources, NationalGeographic.com has made an air and water power kit to teach children about how pressure can be used to power a variety of machines including vehicles. The kit allows children to build 15 different vehicles all powered by hydro-pneumo technologies. Pressurized air and water can be used as a form of propulsion, and the kit costs less than $50.

Getting your children excited about renewable energies now increases the knowledge they will have later. As technology develops to make these sources more efficient, preparing our future through educating our young will only increase the likelihood of total global sustainability in the decades to come. Your child may very well be the innovator that history remembers for delivering the perfected system – all from the kits they put together at 10 years old.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We are always receptive to having people create guest blogs for us, as the influx of opinions always makes for interesting reading.

 


Soma Earth — An Architectural Firm With Its Green Roots Firmly Planted

Posted: February 16th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Green Communities, Green Home, Green Initiatives, Green Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

One of the green organizations from whom we receive email promotions is called Soma Earth. We really like these guys because they seem to possess a purity of spirit and purpose that really exemplifies what the green movement is really all about.

This is how they describe themselves:

“We are a pioneering architectural firm specializing in deep sustainable living through designing buildings that are energy efficient, with a low carbon footprint and low embodied energy. We specialize in healthy, EMF-Free, non-toxic natural building environments as well as straw bale, straw clay and earth bag building systems. These guidelines paired with natural building materials creates a sustainable eco-architecture for new buildings, additions or renovation projects.”

Their portfolio, which you can view on their site, is filled with fascinating projects that are as innovate in their design as they are organic in their execution.
You can find out more about them at http://www.somaearth.com/