My first suggestion would be to start slow. Start small with everyday things like sharing rides to work, walking or riding your bike to lower how much fuel you are consuming and lower your contribution to air pollution. Change the light bulbs in your home to the smaller fluorescent bulbs. Regular light bulbs can really increase your monthly bills and the newer ones will last a lot longer. This adds up to big savings for you over time.

Another approach is to do a little maintenance around the house. Start caulking any gaps around the doors and windows and seal up any opening. This will help keep out drafts that cost you money.

Another big tip is if you want to spend a little money – insulate, insulate, insulate! You will always make your money back on insulation. Having a well insulated home cuts down on those high energy cost in the wintertime. The more insulation, the less your furnace or heater will turn off and on costing you less.

One thing I hadn’t thought much about before was my appliances until my washer started to go crazy. If you have older appliances, they are probably eating your lunch in energy. It’s true! I couldn’t believe how much difference there was just in the ten years difference since I had bought my old one. You will actually save enough on your monthly bills over time to pay for a new energy efficient appliance. So if your spouse has been complaining about that old frig or washer, surprise them and replace it for them and save some money. (hint hint honey)

Of course, one of the most obvious “Going Green” changes that most of us have been exposed to since we were young is recycling. The bonus is that many vendors and manufacturers are making it easy for us. Watch for the recycling emblem when purchasing products. Buy more than one trash can so that you can separate out your paper, metal, glass and plastic.

These are all excellent ideas that you can utilize to start your “Going Green” lifestyle. Should you decide to pursue even bigger ideas’ there are many resources and a large amount of information available.

I started researching “Green Energy” and Home Alternate Energy as a way to save money on my electric bill. The result has been a driven need for more information and perhaps a way to indulge my passion to learn to market on the internet.

I also have a passion for my dogs Maddie and Rodeo and love to use my background in the pet industry to share information with you. Check out the following site for healthy dog food information.

http://www.love-your-dog-food.com

Author: Michelle Houser
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Spend a few dollars on some measuring cups and spoons and save many dollars over your lifetime of housework! Guessing volumes always leads to wastage, so one of the top ways to make your cleaning Eco friendly is to become more frugal and start measuring the amount of all the cleaners you use.

Another useful Eco cleaning tip is to stop believing what the manufacturers tell us. Laundry detergent is a particularly good example. We are always told to use much more than we need. The makers want us to be happy with the results so have to account for the worst case scenario.

But, how much of our laundry is really that dirty? The odd wash will be full of grass-stains and other problematic things for our laundry detergent to deal with. But most of the laundry is just ‘worn’, maybe with the odd bit of dirt, but mostly just a bit stale and in need of a freshen up.

The really green approach would be to wash clothes far less often and it is true that a cashmere sweater in need of dry cleaning will often be perfectly fine after just being hung outside in the fresh air for a day. All that sun and wind will freshen that sweater up easily. But, realistically, most of us will not stop doing the laundry as often as we do. However for all the ‘ordinary’ loads of washing where there are no tough stains to speak of, try halving the volume of laundry detergent used. You will see little or no difference in the results and you’ll save a little pollution and a lot of your hard earned cash.

Any cleaner becomes more of a simple green cleaner if you use less of it. Beware, this method of Eco friendly cleaning can become addictive. I started halving the volume of detergent for most washes, but then used less and less. For many loads a squirt of vinegar in the rinse cycle is really all you need. Those washing machines are tough and really get the water working to clean up your laundry pretty well, all on their own!

Now I use Eco Wash Balls which ionise the water making dirt easier to dislodge and remove. Ionisers are one of the main active components of laundry detergents. I use this one benefit without any of the polluting disadvantages of detergents. No more detergent for me at all. But, if you do not want to go ‘cold turkey’ just use half the amount in all but the dirtiest loads of washing and save yourself a bundle!

For information on Eco Wash Balls and choosing a simple green cleaner visit the Eco Green Cleaning Product site.

Author: Lec Watkins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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These are my top three tips for getting your kids thinking green and becoming sustainable. By becoming less wasteful, they will learn the impacts it has on your wallet and their surroundings, which will in turn help them become true citizens as they grow. Chances are their lifestyle choices can rub off on you, too!

Teach the impacts of throwing away items instead of reusing.

Practically everything can be found for purchase used as opposed to new. Explain how this keeps stress off the landfill and gives new life to what is already available. Your kids will develop more appreciation for what they have.

Teach your kid about thrift store shopping when they ask for new clothing. This will exercise their creative mind and they will learn to appreciate a unique style while saving money. Thrift stores seem to be in style these days anyway…I’ve never shopped anywhere else!

A good field trip for the kids that will really open their eyes, and yours, is to visit a landfill. The technology is quite interesting to behold, and more importantly you can develop an appreciation for what you recycle and reuse. Visiting a landfill at a young age was easily one of the best life lessons that I then applied to everything in life. This will answer the “who caress” opinion that a good portion of young kids seem to have.

Put your kids in charge of waste handling.

Have your kids earn their keep by overseeing the recycling and waste disposal practices at the house. In short time, they will love the responsibility and most likely begin talking about it all the time. Minimizing trash is a task that they will enjoy.

If you provide an allowance, this is a great way to start it off. They will learn the importance of being sustainable, and understand the magnitude of their actions. Be supportive and teach them why materials can and can’t be recycled. If you want to get really technical, explain why materials are used for certain purposes and where they’re obtained from. Recycling is a deep subject, and the more you explain it, the more curious they will become.

Pick a handful items that were destined for trash and come up with a new use for them.

Tap into the creative and artistic side of your kids by challenging them to find other uses for items that are at the end of their lifespan. Before you know it, you will have created professional waste reducers in your home.

A good starting example may be something simple like an empty yogurt container. Ask them what else they could use this shape for. A small container for their pens,flower pots, acontainer for screws, nuts or bolts You get the point. You can also try this with clothing. If you have a pair of pants with a hole in them, ask what to do with it. Hopefully they will answer with “needle and thread” or even “donate”. Getting them in this mindset will keep life simpler, and most likely keep money in your pocket, too.

As you can see, you can save money, benefit the environment and raise a more responsible kid just by teaching green practices. Culture change is worth embarking on when you can have great results such as these. Schools are teaching environmental behaviors more often than ever, so ride the wave and help them become true responsible and respectful citizens.

Of course, these tips are just the start of the green lifestyle. I really believe that kids going green is an extremely important step to take in preserving our future. Teach them how to repurpose things, how to conserve, and be creative. The results will benefit everyone and most likely rub off on you, too.

Tyler urges you to put your thinking cap on and devise a plan to reduce your energy consumption and be rewarded with saving money and feeling good about yourself. Free sustainability report and reviews show how you can achieve dramatic savings in little time. Discover it here:

http://www.tylers-ebook-reviews.com.

Author: Tyler A Weaver
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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There’s a lot of waste in the world. When things start to pile up, we move them into dumps. When dumps get full, we create more dumps. Recycling helps to reduce the amount of waste in the world, which helps keep things cleaner, and hopefully, at some point, everything made will somehow be recyclable.

We haven’t reached that point yet, however, so we have to be conscious of the types of things that can be recycled. And there’s a lot of things we can look at.

Paper is one of those things that can be recycled. Add enough water to paper and it becomes pulp, which can then be mashed and mixed and turned into paper again. The paper comes out a little bit different, but it’s still usable.

Glass is also reusable. Glass can be reheated and melted and used again. Glass is one of the cleaner reusable objects because it returns to its pure form and can be used over and over again.

Metal can be recycled as well, but different metals go to different places. For instance, tin cans can go to a regular recycling plant, but heavy metals such as refrigerators and metal cabinets will have to go to smelting centers. Things such as refrigerators, by the way, aren’t totally recyclable, because certain parts have chemicals running through them that need to be disposed of safely, and if the metals have been corroded it’s really not safe to recycle them.

It’s best if you can separate recyclable material from your regular garbage. It makes it easier to separate later on. In some areas, garbage isn’t sorted, and no one goes through it to see what might have been recyclable or not. That wastes resources that could be used again. All it takes is a little bit of effort to help make the world a cleaner place to live.

To discover the world’s leading eco-friendly cleaning products visit BioGreenClean.com for consumer and commercial products and reviews. You can learn more about how to “go green” by reading four tips to make your home eco-friendly.

Author: Jayson Gibson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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If you can believe it, around 60,000,000 plastic bottles are used and discarded every single day in the US, adding to the already overflowing landfills full of toxic waste.

The sad fact is that the answer to, are plastic water bottles eco friendly is no. Only a few these days are as it costs more to manufacture them and therefore it lowers the company’s profits.

In addition, bottled water is no better for you than the tap variety, both being full of hundreds of toxic chemicals and often coming from the same source, yet costs anywhere from $2 – $4 a gallon for the privilege!

There are a few exceptional eco friendly plastic water bottles to be found, with the best being made of glass or a special stainless steel. You should ensure they are BPA free which means they will not leach out any chemicals into your water.

The best stainless steel ones have no chemical lining or plastic caps as these can still present an opportunity from chemicals to get into the contents. This is the problem that affects many of us today when we use ordinary plastic bottles.

The long term health effects are not fully known but it is not safe to leave any liquids sitting in your fridge or cupboards in a plastic container as the risks are too high and you are contributing to the landfill problems too.

The ultimate way to go is to install a home filtration system to remove all the harmful contaminants that exist in our supplies today and bottle your own healthy water for your trips out!

I always used to buy drinks out, especially for the kids and invariably in plastic bottles but now use glass bottles at home and chill them in the fridge ready to go out with.

It’s just simple and small changes to our habits that we need to do in order to become more earth friendly and promote our health as well. I hope I have helped to answer the question are plastic water bottles eco friendly and that you will try to only use eco friendly glass or stainless steel containers for the future.

Visit my website today if you would like to learn more about the types of eco friendly glass water bottles that I personally recommend and use.

Discover the best eco friendly water bottles today.

Ray Hamilton is a dedicated advocate and researcher of the incredible benefits of safe, clean healthy filtered water. Discover which products Ray recommends after extensive research.

Author: Raymond Hamilton
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The benefits to owners of an HPH are;

· More Comfortable and Quieter- Tight construction, better windows, and improved insulation ensure consistent temperatures and keep out excessive noise.

· Lower Maintenance- Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with a low maintenance home. Tight construction and long lasting, efficient equipment make these homes more durable, helping to minimize many of the maintenance problems found in typical homes.

· Healthier and Safer- Your family will breathe easier in a tightly constructed and proper ventilated home that works to reduce dust, pollen, and pests.

· More Energy and Resource Efficient- Lower utility bills, and the good feeling that you are doing something to help fight global warming

All of that is part of Green building, but let me expand the list to better explicate the term.

Materials:

· Readily available materials, manufactured close to the jobsite. An example would be James Hardie Siding that is manufactured in Cleburne, Texas as opposed to some bricks from Georgia. It seems silly to try to build earth friendly homes and then buy materials shipped from another state or country and burden the ecology with pollutants from shipping.

· Renewable materials. Wood is the best choice for framing. The industry is currently planting far more trees than it is harvesting and with the newer engineered wood products young growth trees can be used with little or no waste. Steel framing requires a big nasty foot print on the ecology and although it is recyclable, you’re not likely to tear down a steel framed house to get at the material. Also steel framing conducts heat (revisit what we said about insulation last week).

· Sustainable materials. Building homes with materials that have a long life cycle relative to cost, again Hardie siding comes to mind.

· Energy efficient windows and doors as discussed the week before last.

· Right sized HVAC systems. A system that is too big doesn’t cycle long enough to pull out the moisture buildup in a home and one that is too small just doesn’t cool well enough. All HVAC contractors have the manual J that helps them come up with the right size. The old method of using 500 square feet of floor space to a ton of AC is out of date.

Site management:

· Control storm water runoff per government requirements

· Plant trees, Plant trees, Plant trees, Plant trees,

· Jobsite recycling

Water Efficiency

· Low flow valves in showers

· Water efficient toilets

· Drought tolerant landscaping

· Pex piping. Once you’ve used the new pex water pipes, you will never go back to copper.

Energy Efficiency

· Energy Star certified. The homes we build are 5 Star plus, the highest rating.

· Proper orientation of the home. Minimize windows on the East and West and shade windows where possible.

· Insulate the roof instead of the attic.

Finally educate the homeowner about maintenance and energy efficiency.

This is only a partial list. I’m thinking there are those of you out there that could add to it and I would love to hear from you. Email or call me. See the contact information below.

Next week. We take a break from home construction and a look at some new ideas for land developments. Here is a question for you. Which major city in the United States has the lowest impact on the environment per capita?

For comments about this article contact Ronnie Godfrey at RGodfreyHomes.com.

Copyright 2007

Ronnie Godfrey, Certified Graduate Builder For more information about this article and other energy saving tips, visit out website http://www.RGodfreyHomes.com

Author: Ronnie Godfrey
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Not only are laundry detergents harmful to you and your family, but they can hurt the environment as well. Each time your washing machine spins, water and laundry detergent residue are emptied into our sewer systems. This means that the harsh chemicals and pollutants are being spilled into our oceans each year, causing even more harm to the planet we call home. Luckily, there is a solution to the problems caused by store-bought laundry detergents. Buying organic and eco-friendly detergents can keep your family safe and the environment as well.

Unlike food products and medications, laundry detergent companies are not required by law to list their ingredients or prove that they are in fact environmentally friendly. There are many brands on the market that do in fact list their ingredients, since they are not scared to show consumers what they include in their eco-friendly formula for laundry detergent. They are happy to show their integrity on their packing, so show your eco-friendly support by purchasing products that are proud to list their ingredients. This is important to look for when purchasing laundry detergent, since there’s no way of knowing what those other companies are trying to hide from you.

Labels that show what is not included in the detergents are also equally as important, such as phosphate-free or chlorine-free. Products that state they do not include harsh ingredients in their formulas are usually safe, and you should look for products that are proud to show what they leave out of their products.

Products that should be avoided are any that state they are harmful or toxic, since you really shouldn’t keep anything like that in your home. The laundry room should be a place where everyone in your family can do laundry, without having to worry about someone being burned by bleach or spilling a toxic product that the baby can get in to. Plant based and eco-friendly products will be healthy for your entire family, healthy for our environment, and completely safe in your home.

Next time you wash a load of laundry, consider the damage you could be causing to your home, your family, and our environment. You won’t have to worry about this when using safe products and you can save money when purchasing eco-friendly products as well.

Washing machine wizard provides Laundry detergent information, an online buying guide and the best washing machine reviews.

Author: Stephen Haworth
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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All you need is a plastic 10 gallon worm bin with drainage holes on the bottom (home made or store bought is just fine), a tight fitting lid to keep the worms in the dark, moist bedding made out of one inch newspaper strips or sawdust, a pound of red wiggler worms that you can get from your local fish bait shop or from internet retailer sites like Composters.com, and some food waste like banana peels, fruit rinds and vegetable stalks. Be sure to keep in mind that this will get a bit messy, so it might be best to do this outside especially if you’re children are going to be involved. If it gets messy, it’s okay!

Start by halfway filling the worm bin with the newspaper strips; moisten the strips once you’ve reached the halfway mark. Once the newspaper is damp, push it to one side of the bin and repeat the process until the bin is full but not entirely packed and make sure there are no standing puddles collecting at the bottom. Add half a cup of sawdust or soil so that the worms have some grit to work with. Go ahead and add your pound of worms and watch as they wiggle their way down into the soil and newspaper. Next, bury your food waste into the bedding a few inches deep and cover the bedding with a five page blanket of damp newspapers.

After a few days you should notice some positive results – the worms are digging in and out of the bedding, eating the food waste, soil and newspaper, digesting it and leaving behind worm castings (explain to your kids that it’s poop!). It’s the worm castings that you really want for your garden. To keep your worms happy keep adding food wastes every few days or so and they’ll keep producing that rich black gold for you. Have fun and don’t be afraid to get down and dirty!

Looking for a great info on compost bins and other composting supplies? Visit mantisgardenproducts.com today.

Author: Vicki Duong
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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How does it happen? Well, most of the time you’ll get visitors just by opening up the lid of the bin. Fruit flies will definitely show up if you’ve got fruit rinds and vegetable stalks in your compost. If you noticed them flying out of your bin when you opened it up, don’t worry, the flies probably flew through the aerating holes of the bin. Most of the time the flies will lay eggs in your compost and they’ll hatch, which may be another reason why you keep seeing them buzzing about. If you find that there seems to be an entire colony of flies and bugs hanging about your bin, again don’t worry. This happens in the beginning stages of composting, especially if you have a slew of fruit rinds in the bin. Once everything starts to decompose, there will be less and less fruit flies hanging about.

If you keep an open bottom compost bin in the ground for easy compost tea evacuation, you may have noticed some worms wiggling about in your bin. This is absolutely fantastic since worms are a vital part in the composting process. As the worms are wiggling their way around you compost bin and back into the soil, it speeds up the process, which results in rich, black soil. For an added benefit, you should add a pound of red wiggler worms in your compost bin in the beginning just so the composting process is sped up. Once there’s nothing left for the worms to munch on, they’ll move out of your bin and burrow about in your soil.

Critters like bugs and worms aren’t always a bad thing; for composting, they’re essential! Think of it this way; as long as they’re not bothering you and helping out with the composting process, everybody wins!

For an excellent selection in lawn sweepers and compost bins, stop by Composters.com today.

Author: Vicki Duong
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Minimizing your trash can be as easy as buying items with less or recyclable packaging. Shopping at stores that sell loose items or that utilize reusable containers is another way to reduce your trash output.

Here are some general guidelines to use when you are shopping to help you reduce the packaging that accompanies most products.

Fresh Foods

When you purchase fruits and vegetables either put them directly in your cart or bring some bags from home that you got on a previous shopping trip. This eliminates those thin plastic sacks that are hanging in the produce department.

Buy in Large Sizes

Buying a large juice container and send the kids to school with a thermos instead of those little individually wrapped juice boxes. Buy a big bag of snacks and separate into little plastic containers or baggies that you can reuse again and again.

No Plastics

Buy items in recyclable containers such as glass or cardboard. Plastic takes forever to breakdown in our landfills and it use petroleum products in the manufacturing process.

Avoid Aerosol Cans

You can’t reuse or recycle aerosol cans. Buy products that come in a pump-action container. Most cleaning products and hair sprays are now offered in a pump action version nowadays.

Take Your Own Bags

When you go shopping, take your own canvas, paper or even plastic (that you got on your last trip) to the store and have the items put in those. Many municipalities are considering laws banning plastic sacks in grocery stores anyway so get used to it now.

Some packaging is necessary, otherwise products would get damaged and thrown away thereby increasing waste also. But using a few tips from above could significantly reduce the amount of packaging trash that people are now just throwing out.

Steve has been writing articles on a wide variety of subjects. Come visit my latest site at http://littermaidcatbox.com. You will find information and reviews from other LitterMaid Cat Box owners here.

Author: Steve J Gerwig
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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