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4 Great Career Choices in The Green Industry

With the economy in its current state, you may be looking into a new career. Or, you may be starting college and haven’t decided on a career path yet. Either way, you may want to consider a “green” career? With our Earth so desperately needing a helping hand and with the green world expanding so quickly, this may be a perfect time to choose a career in the green industry. A green career doesn’t mean you have to be a scientist. There are many options available, in fact, an online University can help you find a great training program for some of your career sources. Read on to learn my 4 favorites.

1. Green Chef
Go to culinary school and train to become an organic chef or start your own green restaurant or catering business. 

2. Organic, Bio-dynamic Farmer
You could start your own organic farm, biodynamic winery, or even start a local co-op or CSA.
 

3. Spokesperson for a Green Project
Anything you are passionate about will have a green nonprofit. Everything from birds to city parks – find what you love and make it your job. 

4. Green Architect
More and more green homes are being built. Green Architects are playing a significant role in designing and planning new sustainable housing communities.

Are you considering a green career? Which one?

How to Host A Stuff Swap Party

Are your closets and cupboards overflowing? Invite your friends to do some spring cleaning of their homes, closets, and garages and bring the items that they never use to a stuff swap. Open a few bottles of wine and try on each other’s clothes or swap other household finds. Your best friend may have a cocktail dress that she never wore that would be fabulous for an upcoming event you have. You might find a lamp that doesn’t match your friend’s decor but that would look lovely in your living room.

This is a super fun way to get together with your friends, have a couple of glasses of wine, and go home with a new wardrobe, fabulous piece of furniture, or a great book without spending a dime. If anything is left over at the end of the night, arrange to donate it to your local women’s and children’s shelter.

Would you host a clothes or stuff swap?

Top Tips For Making Your Home More Eco Friendly

Saving the environment is a concern that radiates through a number of generations right now, which is why you are seeing more people interested in making their home more eco friendly. If this is something that you have been thinking about doing, but you’re not sure what steps you need to take, it’s a good thing that you have come across this article. Down below, we’re going to be looking at some of the things that you can do to make your home more eco friendly, so keep reading if you want to find out more.

Change Up Insulation

What kind of insulation do you have in your home right now? If you’re not sure, head up to the attic where you will be able to find out what’s up there, or send a professional if you know nothing about this sort of area. In fact, it’s probably better to send a professional to check it out anyway, just in case there is any asbestos up there. They know what safety precautions need to be taken to ensure that they are at the least amount of risk of being impacted by it. If someone in your family has been impacted by the asbestos severely, then you might want to look into contacting mesothelioma attorneys who have strong experience to help you with your case.

Once you have discovered what insulation you have, you can decide whether or not to change it. Depending on what kind of material has been used, you may need to switch to a more eco-friendly option. Take a look online to find out what these alternatives are and then make the choice that suits your home best.

Make Use Of Solar Energy

Another thing that you can do is make use of solar energy. If you live somewhere that is particularly known for having a lot of sunshine, then you are going to see significant improvements on your energy bill, as well as doing your part for the planet. Relying on solar energy is a far more sustainable method than using electric and fossil fuels all the time, so make sure that you seriously consider this. You don’t have to rely solely on this type of energy, of course, but anywhere you can is going to be a significant improvement.

Take A Look At Your Windows

Finally, have you checked your windows lately? If there is anything wrong with the sealant or there is a crack in the window, then you’re going to be letting heat out of your home, meaning you will be using heaters more often. If you can instead make sure that your windows are up to standard, you’re not going to lose as much heat, making your home more eco friendly. Not using things like radiators is always a good option for the environment, so do what you can to make this possible.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now have a better understanding of what you can do to make your home more eco friendly. Good luck, and hopefully, you will see the results that you are looking for soon.

3 Eco-Friendly Ways to Renovate Your Home

After spending so much time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be among the large portion of homeowners who are itching to renovate their space. However, the construction and remodeling industry can be a wasteful one. Many of the traditional materials or techniques you would use when renovating your home can be harmful to the environment.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to make your home renovation environmentally-friendly as well as aesthetically-pleasing. Let’s take a look at the eco-friendly ways in which you can renovate your home this year.

Choose Bamboo For Flooring

If you’re taking on a big project like remodeling a room in your home or finishing your basement, which can cost 80% less than buying a bigger home, consider what type of wood you’re choosing for your flooring. Due to rampant industrialization, deforestation is a serious problem around the world and any project that involves using wood can further exacerbate the issue.

Bamboo, however, is durable, moisture-resistant, and grows back faster than wood. There is an abundance of bamboo in the world that you can harvest without destroying its roots. Not only does this make it an environmentally-friendly option, but growing bamboo also requires fewer pesticides. By choosing bamboo, you’ll get chic flooring that is better for your health as well as the health of forests around the world.

Use Low-VOC or VOC-Free Paint

An easy way to be eco-friendly while doing home renovations is to use low-VOC or VOC-free paint for any painting projects you’re doing. Short for volatile organic compounds, VOCs produce molecules that are harmful to the environment as well as to your health. When VOCs are in the interior paint you use, you’ll be negatively affecting your indoor air quality and potentially causing irritation to your eyes and respiratory tract. As acute upper respiratory infections are already among the top five medical diagnoses seen in urgent care centers, you certainly don’t need to impact that bodily system any further.

Other products, like varnishes and disinfectants, also tend to contain VOCs. By being conscious about whether the products and paints you use contain VOCs, you can improve the air quality in your home.

Choose Recycled Metal For Roofing

Replacing your roof is an important home project that will have a lasting effect on your home. You should replace your roof every 30 to 40 years, so the material you choose now will impact your home for decades to come. The material you choose for your roof can also have a long-lasting impact on the environment. One of the most eco-friendly choices for roofing is recycled metal.

By using recycled metal, you can help reduce waste and the need for producing new materials for your roof. Metal roofs have a long life expectancy, meaning that you won’t have to use resources to replace it or repair it frequently. This type of roof can also help keep your home cool because it has reflective properties that bounce the sun’s rays away from the home. This feature is also eco-friendly, as it can help lower your energy usage.

On top of these strategies, there are many other ways you can renovate your home while helping the environment. Whether it’s using recycled materials for your various projects or buying energy-efficient appliances after remodeling your kitchen, there are options for practically every room in the house. All you need to do is put a little forethought into the project and find the right resources to allow your eco-warrior side to shine.

Green Wash: 6 Simple Ways To Make Your Laundry Eco-Friendly

Most American families use the bulk of their energy consumption doing laundry. This is not a major problem at our home, since there are only three of us. We typically do two loads of laundry a week, but for those of you out there with larger families, there are things you can do to lessen the “load” of your laundry. Read on for my favorite ways to green your laundry.

1. Be Selective
Wash only full loads of laundry and try to wear items like your jeans and jackets more than once. If it isn’t dirty, don’t just toss it in the wash.

2. Wash in Cold
Since cold water generally comes out of the tap at 80°, you can almost always wash items in cold, this will save 75% more energy than hot water.

3. Hang to Dry
I save energy by partially drying our clothing and then hanging them to completely dry. This also prevents me from having to iron, since the clothes almost always dry perfectly wrinkle-free. This is a good thing too since I can not stand to iron. If it is a sunny, warm day take advantage of the sun and wind to dry your clothes.

4. Clean the Lint
Removing the lint from your dryer makes the machine run more efficiently and also prevents it from becoming a fire hazard – clean the lint drawer before every single load.

5. Think Energy Star
When it is time to purchase a new washer or dryer, consider an Energy Star front loader. You can save over $100 a year in energy costs and ours holds much more per cycle and spins faster than a conventional model all while using 1/2 as much water.

6. Get Unplugged
Since washers and dryers are major energy vampires if possible pull the plug when not in use.

How do you green your laundry?