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Living Green Makes Cents

Anna@Green Talk — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:51:05 +0000

When people asked me what I believe in, I tell them I believe in family, friendship, and sense of self. But I also believe that living green makes sense. In fact, I believe Green makes cents.

Before you pooh-pooh me, realize being green does not mean you have to live in an extravagant green home as you might see on television, have the newest green tech toys, or follow Hollywood’s latest trend. I am talking real dollar to dollar savings based on good, honest thriftiness and back to nature living of our grandparents. Follow along and start adding up the dough.

Saving Energy

I have extensively written about how to save energy by simply buttoning up your house. A little weather-stripping and caulk can go a long way to close up those drafts. Insulate your attic floor in accordance with Department of Energy’s guidelines and seal around those protrusions in your attic. Before you know it, the money that went up the chimney, will be staying in your house.

Consider using no added formaldehyde free insulation such as Johns Manville’s or, a fiberglass and formaldehyde free, itch-less option (albeit more expensive) Ultra-Touch cotton insulation. For more information on how to make your home energy efficient, see my articles, here, here, and here.

Don’t stop at those drafts. Consider your appliances. Make your appliances work for you. Clean the filters of your refrigerator and stock it to make it more efficient. If your appliances are over ten years old, consider replacing them with energy star appliances. Not only will you have new appliances, but they will save you money as well. Check to see if any governmental rebates are available.

Oh, while we are in the kitchen, don’t forget to install an inexpensive aerator for your faucet to reduce your water usage as well as your bill. Don’t stop there. Plants need water? Water them with leftover cooking water or half drunken glasses of water.

Zap those energy suckers. Unplug used electronics in the house. This goes for televisions, play stations, computers, faxes, and printers. If you just can’t muster the energy to do this, consider purchasing either a Smart strip, which automatically powers down the appliance or an outlet strip so you can turn off several electronics with one switch.

Hey, we are not done yet. Before you leave the room, turn off the lights. How easy is that? While you are at it, replace your light bulbs with CFLs. Light up and save. However, don’t forget to take them to Home Depot, IKEA, or your county for recycling. Pitching them in the garbage is a mercury no-no.

Although these are only a few energy saving suggestions, you get the picture on how to save money by just doing the little things.

Improving Air Quality

Do you realize how many chemicals are in our household products? What can you do about it? First, take your shoes off when you come into your house, so you don’t track pesticides and other outside toxic chemicals into your house.

Secondly, be mindful what you bring into your house. Wonder why when you go into some furniture stores, your eyes water or you get a headache? You smell chemicals off-gassing. More and more medium priced furniture companies such as Lee and Viesso are making furniture with organic cotton, water based adhesives, FSC certified wood, and low voc stains and sealers. There are a multitude of green fabrics as well. (See my green fabric articles here, here and here.) When you are visiting such stores as Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn, ask them which furniture is eco-friendly. (Be sure to ask about all the parameters I mentioned above. The use of natural latex is an added bonus.) You might be surprised.

But to be ¨ϋber green, consider antiques and used furniture. (See my article about the hunt for used and antique furniture.) I love garage sales, EBay, Craig’s List, and FurnitureFindex. Not only will you be lowering your carbon footprint by using something that is already here, you will be spending less money for quality. I tend to purchase high end used timeless furniture since it is more affordable than buying new. Think antiques are only for your parents? Think again. Many interior designers combine the new with the old to give a room that lived in look.

Now, that I have you sold on what to bring into your house, don’t forget how to clean your house. Throw out all those toxic cleaners that you have, and consider using three things: baking soda, vinegar, and Bon Ami. That’s it. Here are some recipes from Annie Bond of Care2 to make your own cleaners.

My friend and fellow green mom carnival member, Karen is not only a green blogger, but a Shaklee distributor and wellness consultant. She swears by their products. Check out her website for more information about Shaklee.

Waste Free

Moving on from indoor air quality to the garbage can! Let’s see how reducing your garbage can save you some money. Just take a peek inside. What do you see? Perhaps, single serve wrappers, plastic water bottles, plastic forks and knifes, napkins, paper towels, veggies and fruit peels, so on and so on? Sound like your garbage can?

Where to begin? Single servings may make life easier, but in reality they cost more, and deplete natural resources. Every individual serving size has plastic all around it. Plastic is made out of petroleum products and does not degrade for hundreds of years. Consider buying in bulk and creating single servings when you want that particular item.

Use this same logic when buying single servings of yogurt, potato chips, popcorn, cheese, and other single serve items. Buy a large container or bag. Consider putting what you want to eat in small containers to be re-used day after day. For those opposed to plastic, consider using stainless steel tiffins. See Beth of Fake, Plastic Fish’s review of stainless steel tiffins she liked. (Another fellow green mom carnival member. Who else are you going to trust?)

Okay, let’s not forget the endless plastic bags for the lunch and from the grocery stores. Consider using containers or sandwich wraps for lunches and storage containers in lieu of plastic baggies. Just think how much money you will be saving by not buying that endless supply of plastic baggies.

Back to the trash can. Did you reach in and grab a plastic bottle or two? Perhaps you recycle them, which is commendable. However, think of all the money you spend on supposedly better water? Consider a stainless steel water bottle instead that you can re-use over and over again. Concerned about your own tap water? Filter it so that you can kick the plastic water bottle habit, in which millions go into a landfill every year. Using a Brita filter? Now you can recycle them.

How about paper napkins, paper plates, and utensils? Green answer: napkins, disposal compostable plates like Verterra (made out of leaves) or biodegradable corn or sugar plates, provided your area has a commercial composter to send those biodegradable corn and sugar plates. (How do you know? Check here.) Veterra will compost anywhere.

Entertain a lot? Consider buying a bunch of mismatched table settings at a thrift shop to add to the festive nature of your parties. Same goes with utensils. I actually have had the same box of plastic utensils forever, since I wash mine and re-use them over and over again. (Can’t you just hear ca-ching every time I throw you an eco bone?)

How about those spoiled veggies and fruits? Try and buy less, so less spoils. Think of all the money you throw down the drain. Want to buy on sale, but worried about spoiling? Freeze extras with those leftover spaghetti sauce jars. I have a bunch of green peppers, herbs, and tomatoes in my freezer that I use for cooking as well as an on occasion spoiled bananas for muffins. If you must use plastic baggies, wash them and re-use them.

What about all those potatoes and carrot peels? Send them to your composter so you can have sweet compost for your plants. Don’t forget to collect free leaves in the fall so that you can have the right mix of brown and green to make compost. Your lawn loves compost as well. And by the way, don’t forget to sprinkle your used coffee grounds around your plants. They will love you for it. (How can coffee grounds help your plants? Read my much read article, using coffee grounds for your plants.)

Are you getting the picture? See, I told you. Being green made cents, and I have barely scratched the proverbial green iceberg. What suggestions do you have?

This month on the Green Moms’ carnival the discussion of “I Believe” is being hosted on Jennifer’s The Smart Mama’s website.

Update: 11/15/2009: This post is also being use for Green Mom ‘s carnival for how green make sense being hosted by Lisa at Condo Blues.

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Twin Maples, a Historic Home Gets Gussied Up with a New Green Look

Anna@Green Talk — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:16:26 +0000

Isn’t she a Grand Dame?

During the month of October, Twin Maples Centennial Show House located in Summit, New Jersey will be open to the public sporting a new green look. This historic grande dame is the home of the Fortnightly Club of Summit and the Summit Junior Fortnightly Club. Both clubs have a long history of charitable fundraising and hands-on charitable work benefitting many area charities.

With its old sturdy bones and new geothermal system, replacement Marvin energy efficient windows, blown-in foam insulation, Pella Doors, and a Christopher Peacock green kitchen, Twin Maples has been ushered into the new millennium of energy efficiency.

Twin Maples’ carriage house, the green jewel of the Show House, was renovated by Polo Master Builders in collaboration with Hiland Hall Turner Architects, with sustainable building materials including a green kitchen created by Peter Salerno Inc. and a high efficiency heat pump system installed by Perfection Contracting.

Many Show Houses feature great design illustrating the endless possibilities for your own home. However, co-chairwomen, Heidi Evenson, president of Cactus River Designs, and Laurie Finn, owner of La Jolie Interior Designs, envisioned a Show House designed to teach rather than just admire. They knew that Twin Maples was the perfect venue to incorporate green building and interior design as it was being revitalized. It is located in a community abundant with historic and older homes, which are drafty and inefficient. The Twin Maples message would be that green design can be beautiful, even in an historic home.

I was a docent (volunteer) at the Show House this week, and was assigned the Carriage House. I noticed that many people were intrigued with the green elements of the Carriage House. The group who asked me the most questions, and seemed the most interested was the older women who were the age of my parents. What I realized is Twin Maples’ second message was you can go green at any age.

Before the renovation, Twin Maples was your typical old drafty house with inefficient windows and a boiler on its last legs. Above is the “before revitilazation” picture of Twin Maples. ( Notice how different the walkway looks in the before picture versus the after picture at the beginnng of the article? The new walkway is more in line with the architectural details of the house.)

To make the house energy efficient, the committee decided to install a geothermal system because its estimated pay-back of seven years. The new system is expected to reduce the house’s heating and air conditioning cost by fifty percent. According to Antonio Poccia, president of Perfection Contracting, the installer of the system, a homeowner only needs a 15 by 15 foot outside area to dig a vertical well for a geothermal system. New duct work was discreetly installed throughout the house.

Foam Tight blew in open celled foam installation throughout the house to make it more energy efficient with little disturbance to the walls. Anastasia Harrison of WESKetch Architects was instrumental in the donation of Foam Tight’s time and labor in completing this aspect of the renovation.

The windows (28 of them in the main house) were replaced with energy efficient Marvin windows, which were donated via Jaeger Home Concepts in Bernardsville, in keeping with the historic nature of the house. The replacement windows did not require the change-out of any interior or exterior trim, so Twin Maples still has its historic window trim and pediments intact. Brinton Brosius Builders assisted in the installation.

Vanguard Energy Partners donated solar panels for hot water, to be installed after the completion of the Show House. In the meantime, the panels were placed on the roof in the location of their future home. They can not be seen from the street and are very unobtrusive.

As the momentum started to build to turn Twin Maples into a green jewel, many of the interior designers chosen to decorate particular rooms in the main house grabbed on to the green brass knob, and never looked back. Forty-Five Interior and Landscape Designers created an eclectic mix of vintage and antiques coupled with bright youthful, yet warm colors creating a livable, inviting space in both the Main and Carriage houses.

Many companies donated time and labor to this project. The Show House is being run jointly with the Overlook Hospital Auxiliary with the proceeds of the Show House benefiting both the Twin Maples Historic Preservation Fund and The Cancer Center at Overlook Hospital.

Note, this is a part one of a series on Twin Maples. Next post deals with the green design of the interior. Wait until you see the magic of these talented designers.

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Stroll Over To Ruby Lane, If Vintage is Your Game

Anna@Green Talk — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 06:04:16 +0000

Photo of Vintage Fabric by Lebonbonmulticolore, used by permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License

I recently visited a website that I think Green Talk readers would enjoy. It is called Ruby Lane. On this site are many vintage items including fabric, drapes, clothing, collectibles, jewelry, and purses. In addition there are antiques and fine art. I have only named a few of the categories since there are so many to mention.

Basically, Ruby is a web store front for many different store owners who are selling their wares. The prices are fixed, however, some vendors allow you to give them offers. The prices appeared to be reasonable too.

So, how did I venture onto this website? I am having an impossible time finding eco-friendly traditional fabric. So, I decided to browse their vintage fabric and drape section. Unfortunately, the colors of the fabrics do not work with my house but it is worth a look. There were some beautiful fabrics listed on the site for sale. I will visit this website again.

From there I went to the fine art section because I love oil paintings. There were painting in water colors, oil, and mixed media. If you want to look at sculptures, photography, or even printmaking, it is on this website.

There are even vintage clothes too. Someone is selling a vintage mink stole. Another is selling a circa 1950’s taffeta ball gown. Maybe vintage clothes are not your interest but you love collecting toys. On the website, there were listings for action figures (GI Joe), vintage vehicles (circa 1957 toy model Chevy corvette), and the peanuts gang (remember Snoopy and Charlie Brown?) just to name a few.

Go take a look at Ruby Lane if you are a shopper or a seller who would like more exposure. You will not be disappointed. Similar Posts: