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Building a Home? Here’s How to Make It as Green as Possible

February 1, 2021 0

Every year, hundreds of thousands of new homes are built. In 2018, about 840,000 new single-family homes were constructed, but how many of those homes were built with environmental friendliness in mind?

If you’re in the process of planning your new home, you should try to keep in mind the environmental impact of your home’s future. By making sure that you’re designing your dream home with eco-friendly ideals in mind, you can help save energy, money, and the planet. Below are a few ways to make your new home as green as possible.

Use LED Lights

You should plan for your home to only use LED lights instead of traditional fluorescent light bulbs. The Department of Energy has estimated that LED lights could possibly cut the amount of energy used by the U.S. by up to 50%. To help join that lessened energy expenditure, make sure only LED bulbs are installed in your home.

There are many advantages to LED bulbs aside from saving energy. They also last significantly longer, which means that you’ll be creating less waste than with a traditional bulb. LED lights come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and even different tones and colors. If you want to add some fun to a room, you can plan on using a color-changing bulb that can be remote-controlled or even controlled through an app on your phone.

Make Sure Everything is Properly Insulated

One of the most important things to think about when you’re making your home eco-friendly is how well-insulated your home will be. Insulation is key to keeping your heating and cooling costs and energy expenditures down. By properly insulating your home, you’re creating a temperature-controlled environment, which means that heat won’t escape in the winter and won’t get in in the summer.

One area you should make sure to focus on is your attic. A lot of heat can escape through your roof if it’s not properly insulated, which makes it one of the most important places to properly insulate. You can also opt for certain options for your roofing to help with proper insulation, so make sure to speak with your home’s designer about your best options.

Go Solar

Solar power technology has been significantly improved in recent years, and you can take advantage of those improvements in your home. Realistically, you probably can’t power your entire home with the kind of solar panels available for residential homes, but you can hook them into your home’s power supply and use them to reduce your traditional energy usage.

Install a Grey Water System

Grey water is any water that has been used in your home by a sink or shower. It isn’t clean or fresh anymore, but it can be used to do things like water your lawn and garden. If you plan on having landscaping that will need additional watering, installing a grey water system in your home is a great way to decrease your home’s freshwater usage, which can really help decrease your home’s water consumption.

Go Low Flow

Another way to decrease your home’s water consumption is by installing low flow options of certain things, like your toilet and showerhead. With a low flow toilet, you’ll waste less water per flush, which really adds up over time. Many times these toilets will have an option for liquid versus solid waste, so you won’t have to worry about the toilet becoming clogged because there isn’t enough water running through it.

Low flow showerheads are designed to decrease the gallons per minute, or GPM, used by your shower. If you know you should take shorter showers to save water, but really love the feeling of being in the shower, this is a great way to make sure you aren’t using too much water.

Install Energy Star Approved Items

One of the easiest ways to make sure you’re not wasting energy is to make sure you’re opting for things with Energy Star approval. Energy Star appliances are more energy-efficient and are operating in a way that the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, approves of. You can get Energy Star rated appliances, windows, electronics, and other things, so make sure when you’re looking into a certain option for your home that you’re looking for something that has the Energy Star logo on it somewhere.

Use Sustainable Materials

When it comes to the materials that will be used to actually build your home, you should make sure you’re using the most sustainable options available. By using items made of recycled or reclaimed materials, you’ll be creating less of a demand for brand new materials. This is a conversation you should definitely have with your home’s builders to make sure that they understand your commitment to building a sustainable and eco-friendly home.

Keep It Small

Extra space in your home means more energy used to light, heat, and cool it. Try not to have any part of your home that is extraneous or otherwise unneeded. The smaller your home is, the less energy it will take to keep it running. This doesn’t mean you have to live in a tiny home, but it does mean you should avoid making any part of your home larger than it really needs to be.

Plan It Out

When you’re still in the planning phase, it’s important to look at the plans and ensure that everything in the plan fits your needs and whatever eco-friendly upgrades or changes you want. There is currently architectural rendering software that can make both two-dimensional and three-dimensional renderings of your architect’s designs. By making sure that all of the changes you requested are in the design, you can avoid any mistakes made because your home’s designer forgot about a conversation.

Building a new home presents many opportunities to include eco-friendly features and materials, but you have to be conscious of the choices you make for your home. Every detail large and small from the building materials you use to the lightbulbs you screw into the sockets can have an environmental impact, so it’s important to be intentional with your choices during the home building process.

Hush! Here’s How To Embrace The Peace Of Your Home Office

January 21, 2021 0

It’s no secret that commercial office environments can be pretty stressful. The pressure of having workmates breathing down your neck certainly doesn’t help here, but office stress is often down to one thing and one thing only – noise.

Let’s face it; the clacking of keys and the general bustle of chatter in the office can get overwhelming at times, especially for those of us who enjoy a calmer way of life. This, alone, can contribute to the mental health concerns experienced by many office workers.

But, with this last year meaning that more of us than ever are working from home, an unexpected silver lining is starting to emerge. After all, when you’re working in a home office, you needn’t contend with any noise but your own. 

This is fantastic news for creating a calm work environment, especially if you take the following steps to enhance those peaceful benefits. 

# 1 – Work in a room with a window 

If you can pick where you work, then it’s always well worth picking a room with a window. After all, nothing quite brings peace like the call of birds first thing in the morning or even the trickle of rain on a dreary day. These are noises that we often turn to in meditation practices, and for good reason. So, if you can spend your working days listening to birds instead of countless typing keys, you’ll be in the best possible position to enjoy the peace and tranquillity that this homeworking setup can bring. 

# 2 – Scrap the headphones

If you’re set to attend a lot of video conferences and phone calls each day, then the chances are that you have a headset with which to hear better. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, only many of us leave those headphones on all day long, even when we don’t need them. This is an issue because, not only does it create the claustrophobic feel of office sounds, but it also blocks out all the benefits of this peaceful space. Worse, you’re far more likely to blare music into your ears all day this way, breaking your peace altogether and putting you at risk of temporary hearing loss to boot. Avoid that eventuality by removing your headphones until you need them. You’d be amazed how much calm this small step can bring to the standard working day. 

# 3 – Keep the door locked

In a standard office setup, most of us don’t have doors to lock. Even if we did, our bosses probably wouldn’t be too pleased if we made use of them. But, you don’t need to worry about that at home. In fact, you can bet that any interruptions here will be pretty unnecessary. So, avoid the distraction and shattered peace that can come from an open-door home office policy. Instead, put a lock on that door and know that when you’re in your office, you truly can settle into the most blissful peace you’ll likely find all day.

Naturals Ways To Improve Your Health Without Medications

January 19, 2021 0

Sometimes, trying to boost your wellness can be a bit challenging, even frustrating. That is especially true if you need to rely on pills after pills and different supplements to get you going. Supplements are great if you need to make up for some shortage or they came recommended by your doctor. Otherwise, there are natural ways to give your health the boost it needs without resorting to any medication – unless you need to. So, are you looking for ways to take your health to the next level without meds? The following tips should help.

Quit unhealthy habits

Sometimes one of the major setbacks to living a healthy life (no matter how hard you try) is unhealthy habits and addictions. For example, according to some experts, smoking tobacco is accountable for up to 30% of all cancer-related deaths, while substance abuse is responsible for about 50% of severe mental health issues. Therefore, it is essential to find helpful ways to overcome alcohol addiction, substance abuse, and other unhealthy habits, as those will pose major stumbling blocks to your health goals.

Cook at home

Cooking at home is always a healthier alternative to buying food on impulse, patronizing fast foods, or eating out in restaurants all the time. Aside from the fact that cooking your food at home will make you eat healthier, it is also easier on your wallet. Plus, it gives you complete control over what goes into your food. 

When it comes to ingredients, it is essential to go as green as possible. Unfortunately, many of the foods we find in grocery stores are highly processed. Therefore, not only are they very low in essential nutrients, but they can also be very toxic to the human metabolism. Most of the meals served in restaurants and fast food options are also very high in sodium, a substance linked to heart-related diseases.

Find ways to make exercising simple

You probably knew exercising was going to show up in this article, and you may be aware of all the health benefits it comes with. Many experts focus on staying fit and exercising only because it is one of the most effective ways of boosting your health. However, it is one thing knowing the benefits of exercise, and quite another thing making it part of your lifestyle. And one of the main reasons many people seem to start working out only to drop mid-flight is that they find it challenging to keep it up. Therefore, to keep yourself always motivated, find ways to make exercise simple. Set smaller, achievable goals and build on from there, instead of trying to do too much from the start.

Get some sleep

Even with adequate exercise and a healthy diet, your metabolism may not benefit much if you deprive your body of quality sleep. According to experts, most people need seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep every day. Combine this with your healthy diet and fitness plan, and you have a complete recipe for general health and wellness. Plus, sleep is also essential for weight loss and improving your body composition.

Hip, Hip Hooray for Pomegranates

January 17, 2021 8
We eat a ton of fruit in our home, each week we pick up the freshest local organic fruit that we can find. There are fruit that we purchase even if it isn’t local, for instance, pomegranates.
 
My mom loves pomegranates and I remember being a little girl and her giving me half of a pomegranate. I remember thinking it was a very odd fruit and I wasn’t sure that I would like it. However, I loved it.
 
Eben has been eating pomegranates since he was a toddler and whenever we go marketing he always asks if we can get them. TIP: If you cut/peel it in a bowl of water, there is no mess! Delicious and amazing! 
 
Last weekend, we stopped at Costco on our way home from Boulder. Costco had a crate of six giant pomegranates for $12. Wow! A bargain, compared to the $5 a pomegranate that we pay at our local fancy grocery store. They are giant too, about the size of a softball.

Do you love pomegranates?
How do you prepare them?
What do you think of the giant ones I found?

Eco-Friendly Cooking: What’s The Best Way To Cook Your Food?

January 15, 2021 0

When you think about eating food, you typically only worry about the nutritional value of your meals. In essence, you want to eat healthily and consume things that are good for your body. However, some of you may also think about the environmental impact of your cooking. How much damage are you doing to the planet when you eat your meals every day? It’s something everyone should be concerned with as we all eat, so we all have a massive contribution to the environment. If everyone made a few alterations in the kitchen, could we reduce harmful emissions and improve the planet?

The simple answer is yes, we can absolutely do that! There are many ways you can alter your eating habits to protect the environment. One popular idea is to eat less meat and animal products as the production of these goods have a large carbon footprint. Nevertheless, today’s post won’t focus on what you should or shouldn’t eat. Rather, you will learn some ideas and tips that help you cook in a more eco-friendly manner. So, regardless of your specific diet, you should have a much greener time in the kitchen!

Cook multiple portions at once

Instead of cooking a meal for one, why don’t you cook a meal for four? You might live on your own and only need one portion, but you can store the rest in your fridge/freezer for another day. Think about what you’ve just done; you’ve cooked a meal and now have enough portions for four separate dinners. As a result, that’s three extra days where you no longer need to cook. 

Aside from being convenient and providing instant meals, this saves a great deal of energy. Look at any recipe and you will notice that cooking times or temperatures don’t change when the quantity increases. Usually, you still cook things for the same duration, using up the same amount of energy. Now, imagine you don’t cook multiple portions at once. You have to use energy for each of the three days where you would’ve had your other portions! Basically, by cooking four portions for one person in one go, you use a quarter of the cooking time! 

If you apply this tactic every week, you may only need to cook three or four times, then have meals in the freezer to cycle through and last at least another week or two! Think of all the energy you save by not having to cook as often. 

Slice up your food as small as possible

The smaller your food is, the quicker it will cook. For example, let’s say you’re roasting peppers in the oven. Normally, a whole pepper might need to be roasted for around 30-40 minutes before it gets soft and cooks through. If you chop your peppers up into small chunks, you get the same effect after half the time. 

This goes for every ingredient you use while cooking. Onions are another common one – dice them as finely as possible

 and they will cook much quicker. Therefore, your smaller ingredients let you spend less time cooking, equating to less energy being used up. 

Keep the lid on your pans

This tip might not apply in all circumstances, but it works when you’re doing things like boiling water, cooking vegetables, or letting a sauce/soup cook through. Some recipes tell you to let something simmer for a set amount of time until the food is cooked. Others will say cook this for x amount of time until the ingredient is soft and tender. So, what usually happens? You cook things in the pan, leaving the lid off. 

While this might not seem like an issue, consider what’s happening in that pan. All the heat is escaping up into the air, which is a problem. Now, imagine you cover the pan, then what? Well, the heat has nowhere to go, so it stays contained in the pan. Thus, the food will cook a lot faster at a lower temperature! This works like a charm when you have to do things like softening onions or hard vegetables. 

Again, as with the previous two ideas, this helps to reduce your overall cooking time. After all, this means less energy is used, lowering your carbon footprint in the kitchen. 

Try to eat things raw

Did you know that eating things raw is one of the best ways to consume food for nutritional purposes? Okay, it doesn’t relate to things like meat and fish where you can get sick if it’s raw. But, it applies to almost all fruit and veg. Ask yourself, do I really need to cook this? In some cases, raw vegetables add a nice crunch to your meals, improving the overall texture. Food experts often say that adding different textures to a meal is the key to getting it to taste better! 

Furthermore, you see some nutritional benefits from doing this. When you cook something, you tend to destroy a lot of the natural nutrients it contains. Let’s take some fruit as an example. A lot of fruits are rich in vitamin C, which is a key nutrient to aid your immune system and prevent illnesses. If you were to eat these fruits raw, you would obtain all the vitamin C it contains. Well, your body might not be able to absorb all of it, but you haven’t destroyed or weakened the vitamin content. By contrast, if you were to bake the fruit, the heat would drop the vitamin content and mean you get less of this crucial nutrient. From a nutritional standpoint, it’s worth trying to learn more about the foods high in vitamin C, particularly with a pandemic going on! So, you should consider eating things raw unless it’s absolutely necessary to cook it. 

How does this relate to eco-friendliness? Yep, you guessed it, raw foods require no cooking, right? So, this means you don’t even have to turn on the hob or oven. You might still need to do this to cook other elements of a meal, but you cut out some valuable cooking time in other areas. 

Use more eco-friendly cookware

All of the previous points have pinpointed ways to cut down on your cooking time and save energy. This next idea will partially help with that, but it also reduces your carbon footprint in another way. Nowadays, there are lots of eco-friendly cookware brands out there. Typically, they make pots and pans out a ceramic-based material. The benefit of this is that it makes the pan heat up a lot quicker, but it’s also more durable. 

If you compare this to another non-stick technology – Teflon – this material will break down at a much higher temperature than Teflon. Therefore, you can keep the pans for much longer, preventing the need to continuously buy new ones. The process for making ceramic-based cookware is also more eco-friendly and involves better materials for the environment. Also, the fact that the pans get hotter means cooking time can be reduced, saving energy. 

Overall, it just makes sense to make more eco-friendly switches in the kitchen. Get some better pans, and also think about the utensils you use. If possible, find ones that are recycled or made from better materials. 

Put your leftovers to good use

Energy consumption isn’t the only concern when you want to be a green cook. You should also think about food waste! Tonnes and tonnes of food get wasted every single year. As well as being a waste of your money, the food often ends up in landfills, adding to the greenhouse gasses. 

A brilliant way of reducing your food waste is to make your leftovers go a lot further. Christmas is behind us, but how much turkey did you throw away? It was probably a lot, and why did you do it? Because you had no more use for it and it was going off anyway. Instead, you could’ve taken the leftovers and turned it into a turkey pie or a curry. There are so many creative recipe ideas out there that take advantage of the leftover ingredients you have from meals. This doesn’t just apply to Christmas – it applies to every meal where you’ve got things leftover. 

Similarly, what should you do with any leftovers you can’t eat? What if you only finished 80% of your meal, and the rest is on the plate? You could save it for later, but most of us will throw it out. Sometimes, food does have to be thrown away, but there’s a right and wrong way to do this. The right way is to recycle your food waste in compost bins so it can be put to better use. If you have your own garden, you may use it to help plant things – or you could ask around if any friends or neighbours would like it. At the very least, your local council will have food recycling days where they collect your waste and it avoids a landfill!

Keep all of these tips in mind if you’re hoping to improve the eco-friendliness of your cooking habits. It is also worth looking at different dietary choices and reading up on foods that have a smaller impact on the environment! 

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