Category — Green Home

Here’s a great way to save gas and reduce carbon emissions:  mow your lawn with a human-powered push reel mower.  While it may be reminiscent of the lawn mowers you grandparents used to use, this one has some modern engineering advantages.  Made by Brill and manufactured in Germany, this Brill Razorcut 38 push reel mower mows a 15 inch path with a 5 blade cutting system.  The blades are flame-hardened for long-lasting sharpness and durability, and the mower is designed to cut with far less friction than old fashioned push reel mowers. There’s also an optional grass catcher for use with this lawn mower.  It weighs only 17 pounds and since it doesn’t have an engine, it’s very quiet.  Push reel mowers are safe too– when you stop pushing, they stop cutting.

As a continuation of my last post about stainless steel water bottles, let’s talk about another green alternative to buying bottled water - water filtration pitchers. By filtering your own tap water at home, hopefully you won’t feel the need to rush out for “pure” bottled water. Check out this water filtration pitcher made by Lotus- actually it’s more of a complete water filtration system than just a water pitcher. It uses a 2-stage water filtration process, which includes a patented ozone infusion process followed up by carbon filtering. The water filter lasts about one year when filtering one gallon of water per day. I love the side dispenser on this filtration system. According to Green and More, the Lotus Water Filtration System removes 99.9% of known pathogens from tap, well and even lake water. Match up this green water filtration system with the stainless steel water bottles in my last post and you’ll have an eco-friendly alternative to bottled water in your very own kitchen.

The impact of plastic water bottles on the environment has recently been covered at length in the news and on daytime talk shows including Oprah. According to Earth 911, a website dedicated to green living, Americans purchase 28 billion plastic water bottles each and every year, and only a mere 13 percent of them are recycled. These stainless steel water bottles made by New Wave Enviro are a classy alternative to plastic. They’re available in 3 colors, hold a ½ liter of water each, and include a carabineer for attaching to your belt or backpack. You’ll find them at Nubius Organics. A few more words on the woes of plastic water bottles: In addition to the mounting piles of plastic water bottles in landfills everywhere, the use of plastic water bottles is criticized for the amount of petroleum it takes to produce them—a whopping 17 million barrels of oil per year! And, plastic water bottles have recently been suspected of leeching chemical residue into their contents. Stainless steel water bottles work great in conjunction with your own water filtration pitcher…see tomorrow’s post for a suggestion!

One of the biggest energy guzzlers in many homes is the water heater. With an average family of four, daily showers and household chores can deplete the contents of a fifty gallon water heater in no time, resulting in high utility bills. If you’re looking for a greener, more energy efficient water heater, here’s a green alternative that may work for your household. AirGenerate’s AirTap™ water heater uses mostly air and a small amount of electricity to heat the water. The unit attaches atop any standard electric or gas water heater and acts as a heat pump to pull the heat from the surrounding air, compress it, and send it into your water heater to heat the water inside. According to AirGenerate, their AirTap™ heat pump water heater uses 2.5 times less energy than standard water heaters. Along with energy efficient water heaters and other household appliances, don’t forget one of the simplest steps in conserving energy and water—taking shorter showers!

The aroma and flickering flame of a burning candle can certainly make any home feel more pleasant and inviting. However, in recent years candles have been criticized for containing lead and petroleum additives and numerous other toxins, causing concern for those worried about toxins in the air or for individuals with allergies or asthma. The good news is that cleaner burning and greener candles are becoming more readily available. I found these 100% natural soy tumbler candles and non-toxic tea lights at Green Nest. Perfect for enjoying a candle and maintaining fresh air, they’re petroleum-free, pesticide-free and contain no paraffin. According to Green Nest, the soy wax used in their all natural, hand poured candles is tested in a laboratory to guarantee purity. As an added plus, Green Nest soy candles are not tested on animals and contain all lead-free wicks. And, the cute little glass tumblers can be reused when empty.

Wow, who would’ve known? A pure coincidence! Although “Green Vaccine” is completely unrelated to “Green Our Vaccines” march, I do whole-heartedly support the cause, and all of the people who were out in Washington D.C. last week rallying for it. Among them were Jenny McCarthy, her son Evan and Jim Carrey. Jenny and Jim have been active spokesmen for the cause since Evan was diagnosed with autism. According to the Jim Carrey Online Forum, Jenny calls Jim “the Autism Whisperer” because he is so great with Evan and has been able to cure him of his fear of dogs, water and thunderstorms. Evan’s condition inspired Jenny to write a book, Louder Than Words, about her experience with fighting for her son’s treatment. The vaccine controversy is disturbing to say the least, and I am glad that people are raising awareness about harmful toxins in vaccines and vaccine scheduling for kids. “Too Many Too Soon” statement on the back of the “Green Our Vaccines” t-shirts says it all.

CNN article - by Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey for ‘World Autism Awareness Month’

TACA (Talk About Curing Autism) - official site

Autism rally 4/6/08 - More news about the event

Generation Rescue - Organization dedicated to cleaning up vaccines

This month’s Vanity Fair annual green issue features HL23 - Neil Denari’s new project at 23 Street in New York’s West Chelsea Arts district. Above is only a digital rendering of the avant-garde structure that is set to be completed in 2009. The futuristic 14 floor luxury green condominium tower is built for lower power use and Denari is striving for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certificate by the US Green Building Council. Various building and zoning challenges put aside, the architect designed a building with one condo per floor and three unique facades, “a rarity in Manhattan’s block structure”.

Spending too much on your electricity bills?

Have no fear, Kill-a-Watt is here!

Kill-a-Watt is a wall unit with a large LCD which provides you with information about appliances that are plugged into it. It makes monitoring your electrical usage painless; expenses are viewable by day, week. month or year. It also detects voltage, line frequency, and power factor and estimates the quality of your power. Kill-a-Watt calculates consumption by the Killawatt/hr, as your utility company, which makes figuring out the bill easier.And all that for under $ 20. Find out just how efficient your appliances really are, eliminate energy leeches and put that money towards a weekend trip (or more like current gas prices).

I was researching green energy and came across this great interactive room by room tour with green home tips by Energy Star. By clicking on a room or a blue star, you can learn about how to conserve energy in every corner of your house. Great educational tool for kids, too. It teaches you to be eco-friendly, starting with your own home.