Natural and Sustainable

The housing crisis really got a lot of home owners worried and there is still worry about what is the best route to go when it comes to purchasing or even keeping the right home. Many of us, that are in the market for a new home, turn to a realtor, but if your realtor keeping up with the eco-times or is she out for what’s in the good for herself?

Ecobroker International is a real estate company that offer the education for realtors they touch on topics such as health and environmental concerns. There are many other educational realtor options in the Unites States alone to help realtors stay up with the times.

There are very many environmental concerns when it comes to purchasing a new home like radon, lead, mold, energy systems, indoor air quality and even water efficiency. The list can go on and on, but is your realtor in the know when it comes to these issues?

Green homes are all the rage right now, mainly because they will save you more money over a long period of time. If your realtor isn’t one that is in the eco-know then it may be time to make a change for one who is. It may cost more to buy a greener home at first, but within a few years you will begin to reap the benefits over all. Let your realtor know you concerns and if she/he isn’t willing to give on any, then find one who is. You can begin your search here.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Want a better choice in a computer? Then choose a radiation and chemical-free computer or laptop. Computers have been linked to cancer, depression and other issues such as birth defects. Some people have even reported neurological disorders as well. At Technology Alternative Corporation they will help shield your computer from these and other issues. For as little as $400, you can have a chemical-free and radiation-free computer experience.

These tip can be used for any room in your home really. The choices we make when added items to our own home or bringing in our own personality can go a long way in making a better impact on the environment over all. Here are some ideas in keeping our homes in the eco-up all the way around.

• Go chemical-free: This is above all the most important tip. When we clean our home or bring in chemicals, we end up either breathing those chemicals in or allowing others to be in harms way when it comes to cleaning with the wrong types of chemicals. There is a lot of convenience in the world today, but you shouldn’t sacrifice health over convenience ever.

• Add the right furnishings: Look for materials made of bamboo, organic cotton, and even hemp and natural rubbers. These options are great alternatives to the PVC materials and other chemical-laden materials that are again convenience over what’s healthier for the environment and you.

• Go green with your paint choices: This one is one of the main topics that has been a staple in many green-blogs throughout the internet as well as at Natural and Sustainable as well. Look for low or even no-VOC paint. Even though paint says it is “no-VOC” it does contain a trace amount. A trace amount is better than a lot though.

• Forget that carpet: Steer clear of synthetic carpets and look for reclaimed wood and seal it with water-based sealant rather than oil-based polyurethane.

• Choose a better insulation: Look to eco-foam or recycled denim when it comes to your insulation into your home. They will help maintain a better temperature in your home just as the toxic-laden and unhealthy fiber glass insulation well.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: When looking for greener materials look to cork and bamboo. They are both highly renewable and are readily available worldwide. You can find these materials for cabinets and furniture and even flooring as well.

You have either read it here, in books or heard it on the news lately, saving energy is at an all time high and everyone should save no matter what the situation, but where to start? The best way to start is to change your energy drainers with more eco-friendly options. You can change with anything such as music, computer, your phone and even your television. Here are a few suggestions to get you started now.

• Efficiency with your music: A regular stereo uses 120 kilowatt hours compared to an MP3 player that only uses 6 kilowatt hours. That’s a savings of $12.54 and 196 pounds of CO2 a year.

• Efficiency with your cable: A set up with regular cable uses about 239 kilowatt hours compared to a satellite set up that uses 124 kilowatt hours per year. That’s a savings of $12.65 and 197 pounds of CO2 a year.

• Efficiency with your computer: A set up with a desktop uses about 255 kilowatt hours compared to a laptop that uses 83 kilowatt hours. That’s a savings of $18.92 and 295 pounds of CO2 a year.

• Efficiency with your phone: A set up with the traditional cordless phone uses about 26 kilowatt hours compared to a cellular phone which uses 3 kilowatt hours a year. That’s a savings of $2.53 and 40 pounds of CO2 a year.

• Efficiency with your television: A set up with a plasma television uses 441 kilowatt hours compared to a LCD television that uses 77 kilowatt hours. That’s a savings of $40.04 and 624 pounds of CO2 a year.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Small Changes. Big Impact.

1. Plug your computer, fax machine, copier, scanner, TV, DVD player, and even your Ipod and phone chargers onto a power strip and then simply switch it off when you are not suing them.

2. Replace 10 incandescent bulbs in your home or office with CFLs. Carpool to the office; donate used gear and sporting goods and even well worn older shoes that are good condition as well.

3. Turn down your water heater, air-dry your dishes and even use rechargeable batteries when you can.

4. Replace your clogged car filter; recycle plastics, paper, metals and glass no matter what. Look for recycled products as well and keep them in circulation.

5. Remove your car’s roof rack when you aren’t using it, drink filtered tap water instead of water that has been bottled and BYOB, bring your own bottle to places and refill it. Eat vegetarian twice a week at your home or at the office. Turn off the lights with you leave a room and turn off the ceiling fan when you aren’t in a room as well. Bike to most of your in-town errands and walk to places close like a friend’s house, or the library.

6. Cut down on your car washing, and sweep your driveway off instead of using the hose to spray it. Accelerate your speed gradually in your car to help save gas as well. Use the cruise control on the interstate and open highways. Always drive the speed limit, it’s better to be late then over-use your gas and even get a ticket.

7. Take a Navy shower by turning off the water while you soap up. Shave in the sink and not in the shower to help save water as well. Don’t overfill the bathtub.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Use environmentally friendly insulation on your home. It will help cut your heating and cooling cost as well as helps with your impact on the earth as well.

• Collect rainwater from downspouts and use it to water your won garden and plants.

• Say no to carpeting. Carpet contains more contaminants and pollen and dust than anything else in your home.

• Buy green power when you can and ask your utility company to off it if they don’t already. The typical U.S. household uses about 10,000 KWH a year.

• Repair, and don’t replace appliances. Each fix means your won’t be buying a new one and it will keep your old one out of landfills. IF you feel you must replace, then donate the broken or semi-broken one to a company that refurbishes or repairs then and resells then.

• Buy energy-efficient appliance when you do replace. Energy Star appliance use 10 to up to 50% less energy and water and must meet EPA efficiency guidelines.

• Dry your dishes on the dishwasher rack and if your dishwasher offers the air dry option, use that as well.

• Buy secondhand clothing or household items as tag sales and save the carbon cost of new production.

• Hang your laundry out to dry on a clothes line and eliminate one dryer cycle per week or more.

• Clean AC filters or replace them when necessary to keep your AC unit running smoothly.

• Run ceiling fans instead of the air conditioner in hot climates; this can save you more than a ton of CO2 waste within your won home.

• Use cold water to wash and rinse your clothes, only use hot water when the laundry is very dirty and always wash your bedding in hot water to kill bed bugs and dust mites.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Go for low flow showerheads, this switch can save you 1800 in eclectic cost and 43o in natural gas depending on how your water is heated. Not to mention the savings in water cost and waste as well. Consider putting in a low-flow toilet as well.

Many health food stores carry quality eco-products that are ready made and ready to go. There are many stores nation wide that carry quality products and they specialize in eco- and environmentally friendly products as well. It’s always best to find out about the company before finding out about a specific product.

There are many companies out there that say they are “green” but just because a company packages their product in a green container doesn’t mean their product(s) is good for the environment in a green way. Be leery of the term “non toxic” as well. Any company can claim that their product is “nontoxic”, “all-natural”, and even “eco-friendly”,mainly because their are no regulations on the use of these terms on any product. There are however, certain policies that a company should follow. Below is a list of those terms and things to avoid.

1. Their product is bridgeable within days not years.
2. There are no petroleum based ingredients in the list.
3. There is a clear list of ingredients not clear use of words.
4. No artificial fragrances or should be use in a well ventilated room.
5. No warming labels on the products container or anything that is flammable.
6. Avoid “phenol”, “glycol”, or any term ending in “-ene”.

If the products you are currently using contain any of the above, then consider changing them to something more eco-friendly.

Enter theThoughts Unveiled Contest!

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Capture light in a jar during the day and use that light at night to brighten any corner or area within your home. With the Sun Jar you are able to capture the sun during the day and with the help from LEDs, you can use the captured sun that the solar panels gathered in the evening around your home or on your porch. To find out more, please visit the Charles & Marie web page.

• Use passive solar: It will help capture the heat in your hose and all you have to do is open the curtains during the day and close then at night, except in the summer when you should close your curtains during the hottest parts of the day.

• Eliminate those Drafts: You can eliminate the drafts in your home just by caulking and weathering stripping the storm windows and upgrading your insulation and removing and storing your window AC in the winter time when you aren’t using it.

• Upgrade your furnace: It’s the single most important energy saving advice you can get, by upgrading your furnace you can save so much in home energy loss.

• Adjust your furnace: If you keep your furnace 2° lower in the winter and 2° higher in the summer you will end up saving more energy than if you allowed your thermostat to stay at one temperature. Also set your water heater at 120°.

• Reuse: If you reuse most everything in your home that falls into a jar, bag, or food container category you not only save move on energy cost that is used to make them you also save yourself money in the long run.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tips: This Halloween give a better option than the normal sugar-laden candy. Try a better option like the suckers from College Farm. Their suckers are made of everything good. They contain no gluten, no nuts, no soy, no dairy ingredients, no GMOs and nothing artificial. Visit the homemade and order your bag now for the Halloween season that is right around the corner.

With climate change come changes within our animal species. Some species could become endangered or even extinct by the year 2030. Here are seven that could disappear forever if climate change isn’t controlled.

1. American Goldfinch: These little yellow and black birds could disappear entirely from 33 states depending on the CO2 emissions.

2. Bull Trout: Since they thrive in most glacier-fed streams, unless they are transported physically they won’t be able to survive and may be gone from the lower 48 states by the end of the century.

3. Warbler: Due to the hotter summers, the warbler has shifted its breeding to the north about 65 miles in order to survive in the last 24 years.

4. Sonoran Pronghorn: This desert antelope is already endangered and will be completely gone if situations continue, by 2050, due to lack of food, water and even thermal stress on the animal.

5. Cutthroat Trout: This fish survive in cooler waters and with the warming streams it will send this trout north out of Utah and the mountain streams around. 10 percent of the U.S. trout habitat will be gone by 2030.

6. Moose: Today there are fewer than 400 moose roaming the northern areas. Warmer summers cause the moose to be prone to parasites and due to this it will cause lower birth rates of the moose overall.

7. Bighorn Sheep: Lack of rainfall and temperature increase has caused a 37 percent decrease in the bighorn population. The bighorn sheep will disappear if the temperatures continue to rise in the next 60 years.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Growing grass helps to prevent the buildup of gasses. Switchgrass, which has been looked into for Biofuels production lately, helps store large amounts of carbon within the soil itself. This prevents in from being released into the atmosphere where it can cause even more damage.

Most bottled water you purchase is basically just tap water in a mask. Most bottled water manufactures’ market on the idea that the consumer thinks they are buying better water in a bottle, but tap water is held in higher standard than most if not all bottled water is. But with this thought many people depend greatly on bottled water which is taking a great toll on our environment in a big way.

The environmental impact creates fossil fuel consumption, water consumption and ever massive amounts of waste every year. There is approximately 1.5 million gallons of oil, enough to run about 100, 000 cars for a whole year used in making the plastic which holds this water we are consuming. The water we are consuming is effecting nearby farmers that are close to the bottling plant. There are millions of gallons of water used to make the plastic to hold the water and 2 gallons of water are wasted in the purification process as well. The waste is what’s taking a toll the most. There are only about 10 percent of the plastic water bottles being recycled; leaving the rest in a landfill where it takes thousands of years for the materials to decompose completely.

There is a better and cheaper alternative to this ever growing problem. Simply turn on the tap the next time you want a quick drink of water. Installing a faucet-mounted filter or keeping a pitcher filter in your fridge will take out some of the tap-water taste from the city water as well. If you are away from home, be sure and take your own water in a stainless steel or plastic container with the numbers 2, 4 or 5 instead of buying bottled water. Always bring your own water (BOYW) whenever you can.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Use recycled content toilet paper. If everyone in the U.S. used one recycled roll per year it would save 424,000 trees.

The best way to change for a greener lifestyle is to eat more fruits and vegetables and it’s a healthy way for the body, as well. The Environmental Working Group estimates that you can significantly reduce your family’s exposure to pesticides, chemicals and other harmful toxins by as much as 90 percent by going organic. There is a category known as “the dirty dozen” that every family should eat organic anyway. Pesticides are used in great amount on these 12 fruits and vegetables and it’s a great practice to get into by taking a list of these foods when you grocery shop.

The Dirty Dozen:
• Apples
• Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Cherries
• Imported Grapes
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Pears
• Potatoes
• Raspberries
• Spinach
• Strawberries

Try this recipe to help get more veggies in you and your family’s diet.
Veggie Quesadillas
Serves: 4

1/2 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup cooked corn
1 cup refried beans
4 taco-size whole wheat tortillas
1 cup grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup steamed vegetables such as spinach, squash, zucchini, etc.
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam the bell pepper with 1/4 cup water in a large saucepan with a lid for 2 minutes. Add the corn and other vegetables, and refried beans, cooking on low until heated.

Arrange the filling on 2 tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Cover with remaining tortillas.

Arrange quesadillas on a nonstick baking sheet and bake at 400°F or until tortillas are golden, about 12 to 15 minutes.

To find out other ways to eat more “green” visit Earthly Eating here at 451 Press.

Also check out Local Harvest to find the “greenest” farms around in your own area.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Save water in more ways than one.
1. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth to save 50 gallons a week per person.
2. Keep a water pitcher in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run.
3. Cut your showers to about five minutes or even less.

1. Pick the right kind of grass for your own area: Having grass that’s adapted to your own climate area will be a natural grass and end up being less work for you or your lawn maintenance person in beginning, as well as the end.

2. Raise the lawn mower height on your mower: Making your lawn look like a golf course weakens the grass by creating a very shallow root system in turn this brings on drought, disease, and even more weeds. Raising your lawn mower height to about 2 1/2 to 3-inches helps the lawn by preventing weeds. The taller the grass, the better this tall grass helps shade the soil surface from the sun and this encourages a deeper root system.

3. Leave the clippings: As the clippings decompose, they end up adding nitrogen to the soil and reduce the need for fertilizers. If you fertilize twice a year, that means you skip one of the two fertilizing needs for your lawn.

4. Water with care: Water infrequently, but deeply is the old saying and it stands true. Water grass too much and it ends up sending contaminated runoff straight into the nearest storm sewer system. Grass needs about 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches of water per week during the growing season, including rain, to stay green and to keep the root system healthy. So be sure and water early in the day so that the wet grass will have plenty of time to dry before the cooler night air arrives.

5. Aerate the soil: This is not only important for grasses growth, but it also makes the lawn more resistant to drought by improving the water and air movement within the soil itself. Aerate once a year, mainly in the spring.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: If you are in the Oregon area and are looking for bamboo ideas to use in your own yard, check out Bamboo Valley in Albany, Oregon. They are licensed, bonded and Insured and will bring you the landscape design and consulting and installation. They also help you with control of bamboo and even the removal of. They sale custom dug bamboo, timber bamboo and even help with bamboo privacy screens. Give Dain Sansome a call at (541) 223-5142. Remember, bamboo is a sustainable resource and add beauty and value to your very own home or business.

It might be a great idea to consider an electric or hybrid car since to-date, the gas prices aren’t changing and I have been told by MANY people that the price of gas won’t be dipping below $3.00 ever again. Ever is quite along time, but I am thinking the price of gas will not be changing for a great long while.

Driving electric, hybrid or even a low-gas mileage car helps not only your wallet in these times of gas guzzling craziness, it also helps the environment in a great way. There are several alternatives to gas-needing cars that are currently on the market no and will help with your daily commute and help reflect your values in saving the environment and becoming more conscious of earth-issues.

Electric vehicles (EVs) have very peaceful motors and they don’t release air pollutants like normal cars that use gas would and do. EVs also come in the plug-in variety and are more fuel efficient than existing hybrids on the market. They are 90 percent cleaner than the gas-powered competitor. Here are some of the top EVs to check out.

• AC Propulsion: ebox all-electric car.

• Brammo Enertis: Electric motorcycle.

• Vectrix: low-maintenance maxi scooter.

• Ford Escape: Plug-in hybrid.

• GM Chevy Volt: Plug-in hybrid model.

• Mitsubishi Colt: Electric vehicle.

• Phoenix Motorcars: Electric sport-utility.

• Subaru R1e: Electric micorcar.

• Tesla Roadster: Luxury electric roadster. All 2008 models have already been reserved, but get a jump on the 2009s while you can.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Common drain flushing products on the market are chemical laden and cause corrosion on your water pipes, and eventually may end up in our water system, especially if you are on a well. Instead of using those , why not make your own. Boil about 4 gallons of water on the stove, while that is boiling add baking soda to the drain, about 4 cups. After the baking soda has been added, add 4 cups of white vinegar to the drain and wait for 10 minutes. After time has passed, add the boiling hot water to the drain, be sure and add the entire 4 gallons slowly to the drain. The drain should be unclogged, if not, do the process again.

1. Air fresheners are another common indoor source for VOCs. Skip the artificial versions and make your own: Add several drops of essential oil to a spray bottle of water and spritz. This method helps reduce your exposure to VOCs and will cut your risk of asthma and headaches, some studies show.

2. Surge protectors lower your chances of overloading a circuit, which reduces your risk of house fires, so be sure and help out in more way then one. By using power surge protectors you also save on your electric bill as well as wasted electricity that is just being used without reason.

3. If your fridge keeps food at 40°F or below, you’re less likely to be among the 3 to 4 million people each year who get food poisoning. But for added benefit as well, keep your fridge stocked full so that it takes less power to cool your food inside. But, don’t pack it too tight, be sure air can flow through the food.

4. You will cut down on noise pollution by using a push-operated model of power equipment, such as a lawn mower. Snow blowers produce about 105 decibels of eardrum-rattling sound, and lawn mowers about 90. Prolonged exposure to noise about 85 decibels damages the hair cells in the inner ear; chronic exposure is linked to increased anxiety levels, elevated blood pressure and disrupted sleep.

5. Hemp shower curtains (roughly about $84) are resistant to bacteria and allergy-aggravating mold. With vinyl brands, sold almost everywhere, you get more than you bargain for. For high levels of VOCs, even after a month of use they are still letting out harmful chemicals with every daily, nightly or even afternoon shower time. Opt for environmentally-friendly models.

6. If everyone in the United States switched to cold water for most laundry loads, it would mean a savings of 47 million tons of CO2 emissions a year-which could help reduce global warming and its health effects, such as increased rates of asthma, heatstroke, and West Nile virus infections. But, always wash your bedding in hot water to kill bacteria and dust mites, etc.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Try to shop at farmers’ market and clean with water, vinegar and baking soda. Dust with old t-shirts, and socks. Use a push mower and make your own compost. These practices are great for the environment also fantastic for your health.

You can reduce your energy bills and even help cut down on your carbon footprint with these eight ideas.

1. Powering down you personal computer: Computers as a whole consume a load of power. Placing these energy suckers on a power strip helps cut cost and energy coast by saving almost $178 a year and a return of 890 percent over all. So when you head to bed or are done for the day with your energy-using equipment, just simply hit the power strip switch and shut it all down.

2. Go throughout your house and replace the bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs: You may spend a bit more for the bulbs in the beginning, but overall savings is way above what you would spend on incandescent bulbs throughout your home. Even replace your porch lights and your garage lights with the same bulbs. If you have a barn or a workshop, consider replacing those bulbs as well with the CFLs. A yearly savings of $117 and a 234 percent return.

3. Insulate your heating ducts and do sealing around them in your home: Your attic and crawl spaces are prime areas where air loss is felt in the heating and cooling bill. By sealing and insulating these areas, which are low cost and inexpensive and overall you will have a yearly savings of $75 and 375 percent return in the long run.

4. Seal your home’s air leaks: Air leaks occur mainly around doors and windows, and especially around plumbing, wiring and light fixtures that lead into your attic and through the roof (sun windows or skylights.) You will see a change in your yearly energy bill of about $156 and a 312 percent return on the cost.

5. Venting your dryer inside your home during the winter months: Never vent gas dryers inside your home and if you still use a gas dryer you might want to consider upgrading to an electric, Energy-Star-approved model. Make sure when you do vent you use panty hose or cheesecloth to catch the lint. You will see an added benefit of savings overall of $63 and a 315 percent return.

6. Use bubble wrap in more ways then one: Using bubble wrap to insulate your windows is nothing new, it’s just a not-so-common-used practice. It won’t allow you to view out the window, but it does allow for the sunlight to come through. This is a fantastic idea for garage windows and attic windows or even windows that are in rooms you don’t use or hardly use. You will have a yearly savings of $75 and a 197 percent return.

7. Avoid phantom electrical loads: Even when you turn that VCR or DVD player off, something has to still run that digital clock on the front, right? Yes, and it adds up. You will see a yearly savings of $57 a year and 81 percent return if you unplug these energy drainers. This goes back to the “personal computer power strip idea #1″ as well. If you don’t want to unplug all those appliances, put them all on a power strip and hit the off when you are done. Getting a power strip with a phone and fax/modem option will save you even more.

8. Using electric mattress pads instead of electric blankets: You are told to turn the heat down at night so that you sleep better, but what about if it gets too cold inside your home to even sleep? That’s when you need the electric mattress. You can get the same effect with a high-end, good down comforter as well. You will have a savings of $186 a year and a 148 percent return in the long run. (Source: MEN 2008)

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Add more attic insulation; add more crawl space insulation; buy a new, efficient clothes washer; buy a new, efficient refrigerator; install storm windows; install a storm door; install thermal shades; and above all, turn everything off at night or when not in use.

There are paints and then their are better paints. Better as in or your health and the planet. Here is a list of some of the best “better for you” and “better for the planet” paints currently out on the market today.

• BioShield: Withclay paints in natural and brights, solvent-free wall paints in matte finish and satin finishes, color washes, clay plaster, Kinder paint, Aqua resin trim enamel, and Casein milk paints.

• SafeCoat Paints: They carry wallboard primecoat, transitional primer, metalCoat metal primer, zero VOC flat paint, flat enamel, zero VOC eggshell paint, eggshell enamel paint, zero VOC semi-gloss, semi-gloss enamel paint, trim and door enamel, all-purpose exterior satin paint and concrete/floor paint.

• Sherwin-Williams (HealthSpec® paints): With Duration home and harmony latex paints that are better for the environment, they also carry other brands and colors that are better choices and have low VOCs. Ask you local Sherwin-Williams paints dealer today.

• The Real Milk Paint Company: Real Milk Paint ® is a all natural paint finish made from purified milk protein, lime, natural fillers and pigment. Other paint companies choose to use Kaolin Clay as a filler. Real Milk Paint ® does not contain Kaolin Clay which can be derived from radioactive clays. Our organic paint comes in a water soluble powder and does not contain solvents (Zero V.O.C. = No Volatile Organic Compounds). They carry colors such as: Black, white, blue, red, green, brown, mustard, raw umber, salmon, yellow ochre, terra cotta, golden rod, ultra marine blue, and bright red.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Make sure you check to see if the label or packaging states “organic” before you purchase it. Just because the item is sold at a health food store, don’t automaticly assume it’s natural or organic. Of course their choices are a lot better than a regular supermarket, but do read labels at any store.