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Six Ways to Have a Greener Home

The little things that you do around your home can make a big impact in how much energy you can save. if you want a greener home, concentrate on the following six areas. 1. Conserve hot water. You can conserve hot water by taking shorter showers, washing your laundry in cold water and lowering the thermostat on your furnace or water heater. 2. Replace your blinds. If you have traditional metal blinds on your windows, you’ll save money when you replace them with wood or fabric. This is because blinds will suck up the heat and the cold from outside … Continue reading →

Invalid Reasons to Homeschool: A Rebuttal to a Public Educators Opinion

Our Education blogger here at families.com gave an assessment of what she feels are invalid reasons to homeschool. We all know the cliché of how the grass on the other side of the fence always looks greener. Well, in an educational setting, we often see our grass as greener than that on the other side. It takes a special pair of rose-colored glasses to educate children. So, while I agree with her in some aspects. Of course, as a homeschooler, I am looking at the grass from a different perspective. Fad/phase: I have written about this phenomenon before in The … Continue reading →

Creating Energy Saving Habits

Creating energy saving habits is a good idea. As you know, habits can be hard to break. This means that once you establish an energy saving habit, you will get into the zone where you practice these habits automatically. Saving energy and money, too, will be effortless. Set Reminders At first, you’ll need to remind yourself and the other members of your family to practice good energy saving habits. One way to do this is to set reminders all around the house. You can do this with sticky notes or paper and painter’s tape. Some reminders that you want to … Continue reading →

Gathering Rainwater in Los Angeles

If you live in Los Angeles, harvesting rainwater is easier than ever! The city has started a new rainwater harvesting pilot program and the best part is, they will install the rain barrel for you. The one million dollar project was set up by the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 to preserve potable water as well as put a limit the amount of polluted rainwater that runs into the Pacific Ocean. The city has installed about 430 of the 600 available barrels. It is estimated that about 584,000 gallons of rainwater … Continue reading →

Green Celebrities: Robert Redford

Robert Redford began his acting career in 1960 and has become a highly acclaimed actor, producer, and director, but there is another side to him. He has also been a long time conservationist and environmentalist. It is believed that his love of nature came when he took a trip to Yosemite National Park at age 11 after fending off a mild case of polio. Redford purchased land near Wasatch Mountain in Utah and named it Sundance Village. The community is dedicated to environmental conservation and each year, hosts the famed Sundance Film Festival, which often features green documentaries and hosts … Continue reading →

Your Eco-Arsenal: Vinegar

Vinegar is a safe, environmentally friendly product that can be used in so many ways around your home. It will reduce the number of chemicals that you purchase (and release into the air), the amount of packaging (choose large glass or plastic bottles that can be recycled, and it will even reduce the amount of money you spend. Here is a guide to the many uses for vinegar and what it can replace around your home. Produce washes While plain water used to be fine for rinsing produce, studies have shown that using water alone, even with a scrub brush, … Continue reading →

Curbing the Electric Bill

Electricity is one of those monthly expenses that is somewhat in your control. After all, we demand the electricity, and then the electric company happily gives it to us and sends off the bill. Here are some ways that you can reduce your usage and reduce your cost. There are two main types of ways that we use electricity in our homes. The first is on demand, such as when we enter a room and turn on the light, and the second is continuous demand, such as when we plug in the refrigerator and leave it plugged in for its … Continue reading →

Reducing Your Laundry’s Carbon Footprint

Laundry is one of the number one ways that a typical household uses up resources. From hot water heating for washing, to gas or electric for drying, our laundry appliances can really impact the carbon footprint of our households. In addition, laundry detergent can add chemicals to the environment, and treatment of the water that is expelled from the washing machine adds energy costs and lessens resources. There are ways to reduce much of this impact without resorting to never washing our clothes again. The first thing you can do is to examine your clothes wearing habits. Do you automatically … Continue reading →

Green Hotels

You’ve heard of “green” homes but when was the last time you saw an ad for a “green” hotel? These days it seems as though more and more major hotel chains are jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon and designing “greener” buildings. According to hoteliers, the trend is still in its infancy, but some larger chains such as Hilton, Marriott and Wyndham are making strides by constructing new eco-friendly and energy-efficient hotels and making sure you know about it. For the hotels, going “green” is regarded as a win-win situation: Green properties gain customers who care about preserving the environment and … Continue reading →