When considering purchasing, remodeling or selling a home, think of Green Products not only to protect the future of others, but savings on your future utility bills. Here are some things to consider:
Products and Systems That Help Keep Our Environment Green
• Vinyl Windows and Low E2 Glass: Windows with Vinyl framed Low E2 reject
much more of the Texas sun. Windows are a huge energy drain. The primary function is to reduce heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter.
• Radiant Barrier Decking: Radiant barriers reject solar radiation making attics cooler.
A hot attic means less efficient HVAC system. The low emissive attic decking reduces summer heat gain and reduces cooling energy usage.
• R-Value Ceiling Insulation: Higher the number = less outside heat coming
into your home.
• R-Value Wall System: Higher number = less outside heat coming into your home.
• Air conditioning filters: Higher number indicates more efficient filtering of the air in
your home. The higher the number is the better.
• Mold Resistant Shower and Tub Walls: Cement Hardibacker® and Anti Fracture
Coatings are being used for this. No sheetrock or greenboard are allowed in wet areas.
• Fresh Air Systems: Homes being tighter today make the air staler. With these systems it allows fresh air to filtrate your home for a healthier environment. An electronic system connected to the HVAC that brings in filtered outside
air on a timed basis.
• Draft Elimination: The amount of air that leaks through your walls, doors, and
ceiling on an hourly basis can be calculated. Lower number is better.
• Formaldehyde Free Insulation: Difficult to find but healthier.
• SEER Rating on HVAC System: The higher the number means more efficiency and fewer dollars out of your pocket for energy expenses.
Shower, bath and laundry account for 55% of total water use in a typical home. Toilet flushing accounts for 30% of total water use. Consider low flow faucets & shower heads, Energy Star appliances, low flow or dual flush toilets.
5 AREAS FOR ACTION
RECYCLING
"Look in your trash can. Make sure you are recycling everything possible"
Lorrie Anderle, city of Arlington recycling coordinator
ENERGY
"I recommend replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. They last 10 times longer and can cut lighting costs by 75%."
Sophia Stoller, TXU Energy spokeswoman
AIR QUALITY
"Our vehicles are responsible for the largest contribution to air pollution in the Dallas area... . You can cut your weekly fuel costs in half and save wear on your car if you take turns driving with other commuters."
Tony L. Walker, regional director, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
WATER
"Replacing your old toilets with low-flow or dual-flush toilets can save an average household over 15 gallons of water per day."
Carole Davis, water conservation manager, city of Dallas Water Utilities
PESTICIDES
"Stop using chemicals, because when people use chemicals [for gardening], we're drinking it two months later. " Organic products "work better, they're very successful and they're easier."
Lucy Harrell, an organic consultant, landscape designer and author
WHAT YOU CAN DO!
30 Small suggestions to help save the planet
By: Darla Atlas Special Contributor
Global warming, cavernous landfills, escalating energy costs: What can one person possibly do in the face of such problems? Believe it or not, small changes can make a big difference. So don't throw up your hands. Instead, pick a few items form this list of 30 ideas and do your part.
Reduce Your Impact
1.How big is your footprint? Go to nature.org/initiativesclimate changeclimatechange/calculator to find out what you're contributing to greenhouse-emissions. It takes only a few minutes, and you might find you're not as toxic to the Earth as you'd feared.
2. Hank Hill of King of the Hill would be proud: Consider going with propane instead of charcoal the next time you fire up the grill. The EPA says charcoal releases 105 times more carbon monoxide per unit of energy than propane does.
3 Smokers, listen up: It takes 10 years for one cigarette butt to degrade, says the National Zoo's Green Team. So don't drop them on the ground.
Help for the home
4 Think outside the walls: Borrow ideas from Progressive Farmer magazine, which created environmentally sensitive, chic home in Fredericksburg as part of its annual Idea House. Some: Use timber recycled from oil-exploration sites for beams. Make 15-inch-wide plank flooring from beams recovered from condemned buildings. Scale down landscape projects and use native cedar fencing. www.www.progressive farmer.
5 Plan a green home: Think Green! You can do it!
Make it an Eden
6 How green is your garden? Make it more Earth-friendly with help from some of these local spots.:Redenta's in Dallas and Arlington (www.redentas.com), Rohde's Nursery & Nature Store in Garland (www.beorganic.com), Eden's Organic Garden Center in Balch Springs (www. edensorganicgardencenter.com), Green Mams in North Richland Hills (www.greenmamas.com), and Shades of Green in Frisco (www.shadesofgreeninc.com). All offer organic amendments, plants and pest-control products. some have free classes.
7 Buy compost tea for $6 a gallon at www.gardeninspirations-tx.com. The tea is made of worm castings or Lady Bug Revitalizer compost and can be used on food crops, grass, trees, annuals and perennials.
8 For optimum outdoor relaxation: Dallas- based Web site Cleanairgardening.com sells outdoor furniture constructed from Poly-Wood, made from recycled milk jugs.
9 Go Pure: Plano operates a composting facility, which sells compost, top-dressing,soil blend and mulch. Find the products, called Texas Pure, at local stores including Wal-Mart on Central Ecpressway in PlanoExpressway or at www.planopure.com
10 Another day, another new cellphone: Collectivegood.com, a recycling source for mobile devices, estimates there are 550 million used phones in the county taking up space. The number is growning at a rate growing 2 million per week, adding toxic waste to landfills.
11 Grapevine-based DonateIT conducts fundraisers with schools and chatities to collect used charities. It's part of Techway Services, which Tech way used equipment for Fortune 500 companies.
12 Cart off old computers: Staples estimates that 133,000 computers are discarded every day in the U.S In May the company became the first retailer to accept computers for recycling in stores ever day. Drop off computers an dother techmological hardware other technological staples. Large equipment fee $10 per piece. www.staples.com
Clean Out the Technology Graveyard in Your Office with Green in Mind
Do you have a graveyard of old computers, monitors, keyboards and mice? Visit www.MyGreenElectronics.com
to figure out what to do with this mess.
This site has all kinds of "GREEN" info and can help you dispose & purchase "GREEN"
Minimize paper
13 "Would you like a receipt?" When it's your ATM asking, say no. According to The Green Book (Three Rivers Press, $12.95), those slips of paper create a huge litter problem. The authors say that if everyone in the U.S were to stop taking ATM receipts for a year, we would save a roll of paper long enough to circle the equator more than a dozen times.
14 Point, click, pay up: According to idealbite.com, if all Americans viewed and paid bills online, we'd save 18.5 million trees a year. And think of the costs savings: Paying bills online can save the average person $6 in stamps and four hours of time each month. Most banks offer the service.
15 The curse of the "Current Resident": Get off junk-mail lists with the Green Dimes Junk Mail Reduction Kit, available for $15 at www.greendimes.com. The site vows to reduce your unsolicited mail by up to 90 percent and plant 10 trees in your honor.
Pass it on
16 Everything's recyclable: Every thing's Freecycle is part of a nationwide, nonprofit organization that works to keep used stuff out of landfills. Have something you don't want, be it a piano or couch? Post it on freecycle.org. It has to be 100 percent free for the taking.
17 Old Paint: Consider giving cans to a charity, high-school drama department or church, says Earth 911. Only empty containers. When shopping for paint in the future, look for products labeled "zero-VOC,: which means they contain no volatile organic compounds.
Use your own bottle
18 Bottled water: Bottleed water is not only a waste of money, it's environmentally unfriendly. The world Wildlife Fund estimates that 1.5 million tons of plastic are used globally each year to make water bottles, which can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
Cut Energy Bills
19 What's so great about fluorescent bulbs? Each one yout swap your for the incandescent variety will save 100 pounds of carbon, says nature.org.
20 Unplug it: The U.S Department of Energy says appliances coutinue to use electricity when they are turned off. In the average home, nearly 75 percent of all electricity used to power electronics is consumed by products that are switched off. VCR's televisions, stereos, computers and kitchen appliances are all culprits. Don't forget to unplug battery chargers and cellphone chargers when not in use. Just 5 percent percent of the power is power to charge the phone; the other 95 percent is waster when it's left in the wall, according to idealbite.com
21 See Stars: When buying an appliance, look for the Energy Star label, which means it is part of a joint program form the EPA and the Department of Energy. According to www.energystar.energy star, Energy Star consumers "saved enough energy in 2006 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emmissions to those 25 million cars. "The web site has a list of products that meet the guidelines listed by appliance type.
22 Doing dishes: Don't use the "rense holdrinse function on your dishwasher for a few solid dishes, says Earth 911. It uses 3 to 7 gallons of hot water everytime
Clean everything up
23 Clean Green: Products such as Ecover non-chlorince bleach chlorines other cleaning solutions are available at Whole Foods. Or buy and Eco-Me Home Kit- Home up of chemical- free cleaning products- for $26 at www.eco-me.com.
24 Lemon Laws: According to greenlivingtips.com, the fruit is not only great in iced tea, but it can clean your house, from brass fixtures to chopping boards to toilet bowls. (To clean your microwave, heat a bowl of water and lemon slices for 30 seconds to a minute, then wipe out the interior. Stains will come off easily, and odors will be neutralized.)
Eat, drink & be green
25 The greenest salad ever: Eco-friendly Dallas restaurant Snappy Salades was recently given Salads Sustainable Business award by the greater DFW Recycling Alliance. Much of the food is organic. The company prints menus on recycles paper, has containers and cups created from corn, offers utensils that were once potato starch, staff uniforms are hemp-based and the lighting is low-wattage. North Park Center and Village Square at Preston Forest, www.snappysalads.com
26 Imbibe with a conscience: McCormick Distilling's 360 Vodka is made from locally grown grains; its production process consumes 200 percent less energy than the pot-still method; the bottle is 85 percent recycled glass; and the packaging is courtesy of 100 percent recycled paper. Cheers! Locally, the vodka is sold at Centennial Liquors, Twin Liquors, Sigel's and Goody Goody Siegel's. www.vodka360.com.
Be kind to animals
27 Fluffy, do your part! "The World's Best Cat Litter" sells for $7.99 to $18.99 at Marchall Grain, which has been a Fort Worth mainstay since 1946. Made from whole-kernel corn, the litter absorbs ordors without perfumes that odors the smell. Clumpable,scoopable and flushable. The company, which also operates a kiosk in North East Mall between October and December, specializes on product for organic gardening livestock and pets. www.marshallgrain.com
28 Hook, line and sinker: National Geographic says fishing tackle made of lead poisons wildlife, such as loons and eagles. Get nontoxic varieties made form steel and other materials locally at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's.
Shoppers unite
29 Bring your own bag: Which is better for the Earth, paper or plastic? Neither, says the Sierra Club, which suggests we reuse sturdy alternatives. In New York City alone, according to the club, one less grocery bag per person per year would reduce waster by 5 million pounds and save $250,000 in disposal costs.
30 Shop wisely: According to Earth 911, buying large sizes at the grocery store prevents oackaging waste and is more packaging. Also consider switching to cloth napkins and sponges, which could save up to $260 a year on paper products.
