Check out La Casa Verde, a wind-powered home in San Francisco, California. This home was built in the sunny Mission District as part of the Sunset Magazine Idea House Program.
In the 4,800 square foot residence filled with the latest green home features, there’s a spa, entertainment area along with other traditional rooms of a normal house.
This green home is a great example and probably extreme for most budgets, but if you want to green your house with a small budget then check out these affordable solutions: replace your shower heads with this low flow (1.5 gpm) yet powerful Waterpik EcoFlow Shower Head and pick up a few of these Smart Strips that turn off the power of energy sucking devices in standby mode!
Sturdy, accordion-style storage bin made from eco-friendly recycled rice bags cost around $15. Two strong attached inserts give the bottom of the bin structure when opened; snaps on the outside keep the bin closed when not in use. Topped with handles. As these bins are made from recycled material, no 2 are exactly alike … making yours truly unique. Perfect for storing books, magazines, accessories… the possibilities are endless… and green!
The TrickleStar™ TV TrickleSaver™ reduces the standby energy consumed by TV accessories The product has inbuilt current sensing circuitry to sense when a TV is on or Off. When the TV is on the product will switch On all peripheral devices. Conversely when the TV is Off, the product will switch Off all accessories The product is easy to install and provides simple automation to reduce wasteful standby energy consumption. The product is suitable for residental and workplace applications. The product can be connected directly to equipment or connected to a standard electrical powerstrip with a number of connected devices.
1BOG is a cool company that organizes big groups of people together who want to get solar energy and gets them a discount. I’ve spoke to 1BOG about getting solar on my townhome, but it didn’t seem like a reasonable solution considering my monthly bill was around $40.
But if you own a home with high electricity bills from a hot tub, or charging electric vehicles then definitely visit the 1BOG website and find out how they help you get affordable solar power discounts in your community!
These beautiful folding chairs cost $165 each and are handmade from salvaged 70-gallon oak wine barrels. They fold up so you can easily store them away, each is finished with linseed oil and branded with the name of the winery underneath the seat.
If you’re a wine lover and and environmentalist, these stylish wine barrel folding chairs would be useful indoors or outdoors as well as a great eco conversation piece.
View Recycled Wine Barrel Chair Website
Update: I finally purchased this WaterPik EcoFlow showerhead and it works quite well, it basically has two spray modes at 1.5 gallons per minute: medium flow and power spray. There’s also an super water saver mode that uses only 0.4 gallons per minute which comes in handy when you’re lathering up with soap. I think it’s a great value at only $20 and it can help you save some money and definitely help conserve water!
EcoFlow showerheads cost only $20 and can save you 1 gallon of water per minute! So based on an average 10 minutes shower, The EcoFlow’s 1.5 gallons per minute water output can save an average of $91 per year.
These Tumblers (cups) are made from reclaimed Bordeaux glass bottles by The Green Glass Company and cost around $40 for a set of four. The Green Glass Company started in 1992 and has grown to become the largest producer of reclaimed glassware in the world.
The Green Glass Company strives to satisfy not only its recycling heritage but also its eclectic and diverse clientele. With its patent on the unique wine bottle to goblet conversion process, The Green Glass Company team and its state-of-the-art equipment are at the forefront of the reclaimed glassware market.
Visit The Green Glass Company Website
Lucky Earth says you can use their waterless car wash almost anywhere, anytime as long as the paint surface is not excessively soiled, muddy or caked with sand. Our products are water-based, natural and eco-friendly.
I was skeptical so I thought i’d buy a bottle to try it out and I think it’s great for cars that have dirt and dust from city driving, not so great for mud and off road dirt. I would recommed using at 2-3 microfiber towels since the stray seems to loosen the dirt from the paint and you wipe it up with the towel which gets soiled real quick. I say $17 is a small price to pay for conserving 40-60 gallons of water from washing your car, i’d definitely use it again.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is giving away trees to residents of Los Angeles. They have a partnership with Million Trees LA to make it easy for Los Angeles city residences to recieve a free shade tree so we can all enjoy the benefits of cool natural shade, energy efficiency, and clean air.
Just visit the LADWP website and complete the online workshop on how to properly care and grow a tree!
The sixth annual Alternative Building Materials and Design Expo is going on May 8th and 9th at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium from 10AM – 5PM.
This AltBuild Expo features over 150 exhibitors who represent the best of green building, design materials, energy efficiency, alternative energy, conservation products, sustainable landscape, waste management and much more.
In addition there will be free bicycle parking valet and free admission!
This is a mouthful to describe this eco-friendly carpet material, but here goes nothing … SmartStrand® carpet with DuPont™ Sorona® Renewably Sourced Polymer. What’s Sorona? Well this carpet exclusively offers fiber made with Bio-PDO™ (the key Sorona® ingredient), which is produced from corn sugar. All of this is owned by Mohawk flooring.
This is great for the environment because the production of Sorona® polymer requires 30 percent less energy than the production of an equal amount of nylon. And greenhouse gas emissions from the production of Sorona® are 63 percent lower than nylon manufacturing.
For those who have lawns or take care of them – this is ideal for you. Lots of homeowners and landscapers strive to have the healthiest lawn to showcase the property. Did you know that a well-maintained lawn can increase property value 10-15%. That would want me to make sure my lawn is rockstar.
On my recent trip to Lowes, I was curious about lawn care since our property uses an association who “supposedly” takes care of it. I found products that were inexpensive and helped the environment. Scotts products now use “Water Smart Formula”. You may ask yourself why “Water Smart”? Two simple reasons. It saves water and saves money. Use of the Water Smart line can save you thousands of gallons of water annually and in turn reduce your utility bills by using less water.When working on the lawn this weekend or in the near future, make sure you head over to your local garden store and look for the Scotts Products that have the Water Smart forumla. For more information – check out Scotts Water Smart page.
Scotts site provided two activity books to help kids learn more about saving water:
Some basic tips for lawn care are:
- Feed Regularly
- Mow High
- Use Clippings
- Clean Up (Sweep fertilzier and grass clippings back on the lawn – good for your grass)
- Conserve Water
Disney says if you buy a ticket to watch their new movie Earth, they’ll plant a tree in your honor. This is the first movie created by Disneynature showing three animal families on an amazing adventure across earth.
This Bottle Opener cost around $12 and is made from a re-used bicycle chain and recyclable aluminum. The concept of this bicycle chain bottle opener was inspired by artist Graham Bergh who revived discarded bicycle parts into usable items.
[Buy Bicycle Chain Bottle Opener]
Benjamin Moore eco-friendly interior acrylic latex paint has no unpleasant odors and contains low VOC. This paint by Ben has also been tested by third parties to meet or exceed the strictest of environmental requirements such as: LEED, MPI Green, Green Guard, and CHPS.
[Visit Benjamin Moore Website]
