Jun 06
Green Living, more than the little stuff
It’s all very well to recycle your plastic grocery bags, or foreswear them altogether for reusable canvas bags, toss your incandescent lights for fluorescent, and cut water use with low-flow toilets, but that’s not all a home owner can do to minimize the impact on the environment. Stephen L. Kapp, technology manager for the San Diego Center for Sustainable Energy, offers several additional suggestions for reducing energy and resource use.
Appliances are a first consideration. Older refrigerators, washers, dryers, and water heaters tend to require more energy to operate than their newer, “Energy Star” rated counterparts. Front-loading washers use less water, dryers with moisture sensors shut off automatically when clothes are dry. Refrigerators with fewer bells and whistles, like ice makers, use less electricity. Electronics such as computers, televisions, and video games, should be plugged into a power strip and this power strip shut off when the machines are not in use.
It’s not just energy use a green homeowner should be concerned about. Environmentally friendly paints and construction materials are available. Flooring and carpeting should carry a green label to certify they are free of volatile compounds. Natural flooring should be considered – slate, bamboo, cork, or flooring made of recycled materials are all possibilities.
Double pane windows, proper insulation and porous driveway materials are all green ways of keeping your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
A last thought should be for garbage. There are better ways to get rid of the refuse a family generates. A simple and beneficial way is composting organic waste such as vegetable and paper waste. Non-meat wastes can be dumped into a compost bin which, if done right, creates a rich top soil for use in the garden or lawn.