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Some Simple Ways To Make Your Home Green

June 30, 2010, Sustainability

Today we are happy to share a guest post by Marcy Tate, a home improvement writer at Networx. She covers topics including green home renovations and green electrical installations. In the terms of Small Changes, Big Solutions, some of these steps are easily implemented as “things you just do.” On a broader scale, it’s time to start working on retrofitting not just our own homes, but entire communities.

Making your home green-friendly is not only good for you and the environment; it’s also good for your wallet. Many green home improvements can actually increase the value of your home and work to lower your utility bills. The good news is that it’s not as hard as it used to be to make your home green. Unlike a few years ago, many green home products are easily accessible and affordable. Here is a glance at some of the best ways to make your home green.

Appliances

If your appliances are over 10 years old or do not work properly, you may want to consider purchasing new, energy-efficient appliances. Over the past few years, most well-known appliance makers have taken great steps to make their appliances more energy-efficient. Always look for Energy Star approved appliances. While some energy-efficient appliances require more up-front costs, homeowners will save in the long run as additional money can be saved through federal tax credits available to those who install certain Energy Star approved appliances. From dishwashers to washing machines, Energy Star appliances can lower your water and electric bills as they conserve more water and energy than older, conventional models.

Paint

Harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are often found in paints and stains. Until recently, most paints contained dangerous levels of harmful VOCs. Nowadays, most paint manufacturers produce low-VOC or zero-VOC paints. Always select low or zero-VOC paint for an eco-friendly choice.

Flooring

There are several green flooring options, including bamboo and concrete. Bamboo flooring is easily accessible and sold at big box home improvements stores throughout the US. It is an excellent alternative to hardwood floors because bamboo is sustainable, growing quickly and abundantly. Concrete floors are eco-friendly because less energy is used in the production of concrete than any other flooring type, and concrete is recyclable. Additionally, concrete floors work to reduce energy consumption. Because they can make one feel cooler, there is less of a need to use the air conditioning. During the winter, concrete floors absorb the heat from the sun, helping to keep your home warm. Be aware that concrete flooring is more expensive than other flooring options. However, homeowners experience a good rate of return on this long-lasting floor type.

Lighting

The first step to green the lighting in your home is to replace old, inefficient light fixtures with low-voltage, energy-efficient fixtures and bulbs. Place fixtures strategically for the most lighting coverage and not near natural light sources. Remember to turn lights off if no one is in the room.

Select energy-efficient fixtures such as pendant lights for any room in your home or under-the-cabinet lighting for the kitchen. Pendant lights and under-the-cabinet lights are available in low-voltage varieties. Also, energy-saving, long-lasting xenon and halogen light bulbs can be used with these types of fixtures. In fact, halogen bulbs can last for about 10,000 hours.

Tubular Skylights

Tubular skylights are gaining popularity in the US as homeowners realize their energy-saving potential. A tubular skylight, also known as a sun tube or sun tunnel, resembles a recessed lighting fixture and blends well with any home décor. They are small in size, making them more energy-efficient than conventional skylights. Their small size means that there is less heat loss experienced in the winter and less heat gain in the summer. Adding a tubular skylight can reduce the need for lighting in the daytime, thus saving even more energy.

Countertops

Green countertops include concrete, ceramic and recycled glass, as they do not contain petroleum-based plastics or non-renewable quarried stone. Concrete countertops are eco-friendly because concrete is a widely available and renewable resource; ceramic tile manufacturing doesn’t create pollution, so the tiles are therefore considered an eco-option; recycled glass countertops are eco-friendly, as they are made from sustainable, recycled resources and can be recycled.

Cabinets & Furniture

The overall trend in green remodeling and renovations is to reuse and reclaim when possible. One of the best ways to practice this is to resurface your cabinets instead of replacing them. Resurfacing your kitchen cabinets will keep the old ones out of landfills. If you do need to purchase new cabinets, select those from reclaimed or recycled wood. Look for furniture that is made from sustainable wood and is formaldehyde and VOC- free.

Water Conservation

The best way to conserve water at home is to improve your water usage habits. Additionally, install water-saving devices in the kitchen and bathroom. For a few dollars, low-flow aerators can be installed into every faucet to reduce the flow of the water. Low-flow shower heads do the same by reducing the flow. Dual-flush toilets can also help you save by providing two flush options: full flush and half flush. If you are in the market for a new toilet, select a high-efficiency model.

Energy Conservation

Have a professional energy audit performed on your house. It will reveal areas where your home needs energy-saving improvements, such as additional insulation or window sealing. Additionally, install a programmable thermostat and use it in a way that will save energy.

Small Changes, Big Solutions

June 29, 2010, Sustainability

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I’m into small changes. I’m currently working on reducing the impact my household has on the planet – I recycle, consume much less than I once did, am changing the way I eat. Today I’m even going to try to make my own butter. I really do believe in the power of small change. So it bothers me when I hear someone criticize people who are choosing to make incremental changes in their lives for not being a part of the bigger solution.

It’s not that I see the small changes as the solution, or even as a piece of the solution. I profoundly believe that we need change at a systems level, change that will fundamentally reshape the way that we live on this earth. But it seems like the issue is often framed as an either or thing, and I don’t think that small changes and meaningful solutions are mutually exclusive.

For me, systemic solutions are what we must strive to imagine, develop, and implement on a broad scale. Small changes are what you do on the way, because you don’t have much choice but to live while you’re getting there. Each small change or individual action, even in aggregate, is not going to save the world. If every single person recycled, we’d still be in trouble. If everyone stopped taking commercial flights, we’d still have huge problems. But those small changes – particularly if adopted on a widespread basis – will help buy us time. Time we need to catch up to where we need to be on a systemic level. Time to change the paradigm.

More importantly (perhaps?), I think small changes also pay off in our day-to-day life. Slowing down, living more consciously and reconnecting with our families, our communities, and our choices enriches us. You have to eat – why not do so consciously? If you’re going to consume, do so with self-awareness. In the same way you would hold a door open for someone or say please and thank you, we can strive for our lives to be acts of courtesy to the world. We need big, systemic change. But the little things we do make an extraordinary difference in our lives and the lives of those around us.

Sometimes I sit back and try to imagine a world in which each of us lives our daily lives with courtesy, consciousness and consideration. We help where we see a need, and in turn receive acts of generosity when we are struggling. We direct our energy consciously and deliberately towards a cause, whatever it may be for each one of us. In the meantime, rather than moving through the world haphazardly, we strive to give each interaction the full attention and respect it deserves.

It is absolutely possible to get distracted by the little things, and we cannot afford to think that by recycling that glass bottle or driving a hybrid, we’ve done our part to solve the problem. But I think we need to stop arguing about small changes versus big changes. It’s wasting our time and energy, and creating division where there ought to be unity. Small changes offer insufficient solutions for the problems we face, but they enrich our lives and communities in the present moment. What if small changes were just the way we live while we work to imagine and fight for a brighter future? What could our world look like if each action was a deliberate act of respect for our own lives and the lives of those around us?

Thumbnail Photo CC: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/

Sustainability Saturday #5

June 26, 2010, Sustainability

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Yay, it’s Saturday! And the sun actually came out for a whole two and a half days this week. It was like a miracle, or at least it felt like one. Hello, sun! We’ve missed you!

Sustainability Saturday is without theme this weekend, because frankly my life is weird these days, and not lending itself to themes.

First up, Tuna’s End. The tuna, the tuna, the tuna. More on this later, but here’s something to think about as you read this thoroughly researched and excellently written article about the decline of bluefin tuna: trade is everything.

Shared by a reader a few weeks ago (see, I’m catching up!) here is a graphic representation of the wide world of oil – where it comes from, who has it and how we use it. Note the transportation sector – yikes!

In case you were looking for a little oil spill deja vu in your life, does any of this look familiar?

Sometimes The Oil Drum is a little too dense and doomish for me, but this week they had a brilliant guest post on the relationship between oil, agriculture, food, hunger, and obesity. It is well worth the read.

As is fairly frequently the case, the best article I read this week came courtesy of Worldchanging – a discussion of why they haven’t been covering the BP oil spill, and an excellent explanation of systems, solutions-oriented thinking. We need to be ambitiously and optimistically pursuing creative solutions.

This super-cool proposed solution appealed to my inner geek .

Ok, so never mind. The theme this week was oil, with a little bit of food thrown in because food is tasty and we need it.

Finally, I feel it is my duty to share with you, so that you may learn from my experiences. I did a shout out on Twitter and Facebook asking for organic solutions to my issue of aphids on my fruit trees. The final verdict was water, with or without soap. FYI, washing the aphids off your fruit trees when there is a slight breeze results in a rain of bug parts and pissed off, wet biting ants! Just saying. (My fruit trees look much better though.)

Happy Saturday, folks.

Tags: bp gulf oil spill, oil, sustainability saturday, tuna

Why I Feed My Pets Raw

June 25, 2010, Food

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I’ve been thinking lately about how I got into this whole adventure, and what started me down the path of conscious living. Interestingly enough, one of the big starting points for me was my pets. (Incidentally, they were also part of what motivated me to learn to process rabbits.) While I was still living off a diet largely composed of takeout and fast food, my dogs and cats were eating real, whole, and sometimes even locally, sustainably sourced foods.

But first I should say that if a discussion of meat offends you or grosses you out, you may want to leave now. There won’t be any graphic descriptions or pictures (which is kind of too bad, because I have a bunch of great ones!), but raw feeding pet carnivores is fundamentally about meat. To be honest, it grossed me out at first too – when I started feeding my pets raw, I was more or less a vegetarian. Interestingly enough, many raw feeders are vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian – it stems from the same set of values.

I’ve been feeding my animals raw for almost three years now. Unlike many people, I didn’t start feeding raw because my animals developed health problems (although it did fix Shoxy’s minor allergies and help her gain weight, neither of which I’d been able to address with any of the bagillion kibbles I tried). I really started feeding raw because it made sense to me. I deeply and profoundly believe that what we eat matters. It matters to us and it matters to them, and the unnatural way in which we feed our pets seems to result in pets as unhealthy as we are. You know how they say pets often resemble their owners? Well our pets are afflicted with dental issues, diabetes, heart disease and obesity just like we are. As with humans, many of these issues can be traced back to diet, and the fact that we feed our domestic companions the same junk we eat.

What Is Raw Feeding?

So what does feeding raw actually mean? It is not the same sort of thing as a raw diet for people. My dogs and cat don’t chow down on spinach smoothies and yeast balls. “Species appropriate diet” is a buzz phrase in the raw feeding community. For carnivorous predators like dogs, cats, and ferrets, a species appropriate diet means raw meat, in an appropriate ratio of muscle meat, bone and organ. Some people include veggies, oils, and other supplements, but for the most part the core concept is the same. Ask yourself what your pet would eat in the wild and simulate that diet as closely as possible.

A typical week in my house includes a varied combination of chicken, beef, lamb, pork, llama, emu, turkey, fish, or any other meat I can get my hands on. They get several kinds of organs, muscle meat, bone and cartilage. The crunching, ripping and tearing keeps their teeth shiny and clean. The lack of carbohydrates (sugar) in their diets means their mouths don’t get gross. The healthy fats and Omega 3s keep their coats shiny and soft. They don’t have dog breath and they’re soft. So, so soft.

But Pets Aren’t Wild Animals

No, they’re not. But in the same way that traditional food and primal diet advocates understand that people didn’t evolve to eat pop tarts, our carnivorous companions didn’t evolve to eat kibble. The selective breeding of domestic canines didn’t change the fundamental evolution of their digestive systems in such a way that processed food would be better for them than whole foods. This is even more true for cats, ferrets, and other pet carnivores who haven’t been exclusively bred for utilitarian purposes. You could meet all your daily nutritional requirements with a fortified blend of multi-ingredient pellet food coated with vitamin supplements, but would that really be the healthiest choice?

Conscious Eating

Finally, raw feeding allows me to control what my pets eat in a way that lets me carry over my own personal food values to their diet. There is a lot wrong with the industrial food system, and it doesn’t just end with people food. Together, my pets eat more food every day than I do. As far as my values are concerned, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to pull myself out of the cycle but leave them in it. Feeding raw lets me source their food as sustainably and humanely I want to, and it makes me directly aware of the impact my four-legged family members are having – at least the part that comes from food.

(Oh, and the parrotlet eats raw too. But his isn’t meat .)

How about your pets (if you have them)? What’s on their dinner plate today?

Tags: pets, raw feeding

Ethical Eating and Rabbits

June 18, 2010, Sustainability

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Once upon a time (okay, so like two weeks ago), I traveled north to learn about rabbits. My effort to more fully understand and recognize the consequences of my choices conveniently coincided with a rabbit processing class organized by Annette @ Sustainable Eats. One of the easiest to raise and most sustainable meat options, rabbits are more or less the urban or suburban homesteader’s dream. They are easy to raise, and can be humanely kept in a backyard. They are also easy to process quickly and humanely with – let’s face it – minimal mess (no feathers is what I’m getting at here). Because they are so easy to process, they’re a good animal for a beginner to start with.

I’m not going to lie to you. This was hard for me. At first it was hard, then it got harder, then I did it, and it felt easier. But over the last week I have found myself intermittently unsettled by my rabbit experience. I imagined that processing my own rabbit – or failing to process my own rabbit – would be the final piece of the puzzle for me. If I could do it, it would confirm my conclusion: it is ethical to eat meat that is locally sourced, sustainably raised, and humanely and compassionately handled and killed. If I could not kill this rabbit, then as far as I was concerned, I’d have no business eating meat at all. Back to being a vegetarian.

Why is it that just when you think you’ve reached some degree of peace within yourself, something comes and messes it all up? Something like a rabbit processing class in a backyard in Seattle. And why is all of this so freaking complicated?

People Need To Eat

People need to eat. I get that. All creatures need to eat. Humans are naturally omnivorous, and while it is certainly possible to be vegetarian or vegan, neither has proven to be a healthy solution for me on a long-term basis. It just didn’t go well, even when I was careful and meticulous about it. I have pretty much resigned myself to eating some amount of animal products, but sourcing them as sustainably and humanely as possible.

But since the class, I’ve been seriously questioning the ethics behind raising domestic livestock for human consumption. And I hate that, because 1) I really like meat, 2) these are complex doubts, and 3) it’s downright inconvenient to be questioning these things.

Photo CC: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessicareeder/

In retrospect, I sort of saw this coming. The other day when I visited my CSA farm and saw the Cornish Cross chickens hanging out with the laying hens, pastured in a chicken tractor. But they were kind of just lying there. No, not kind of. They really were just lying there. Eating and lying around, like a couch potato, reality TV watching, junk food eating version of real chickens. A thought flickered past me that maybe, just maybe, the very act of breeding animals like these was inhumane. I quickly pushed it aside but it never completely went away.

So what about wild meat? I have eaten venison. In fact, during my most recent bout of vegetarianism, I made an exception for some venison stew. (I recently read somewhere that it is easier to tell someone that you are a vegetarian than it is to explain to them that you eat meat, just not their kind of meat. I guess that’s the kind of “vegetarianism” I was practicing this last time.) This deer was shot by a friend, killed quickly and humanely. The bread bowls were baked from scratch. It was real food to the very core. I don’t remember having any qualms about eating this venison. But I also didn’t kill the deer myself. Perhaps that is the difference?

A Fighting Chance

I don’t think the difference is that I killed the rabbit and not the deer, but I won’t know for sure unless I go hunting myself. That may very well be the next step for me. (Anyone mind if I tag along on a hunting trip?) But I think it has more to do with the fact that the deer had a life outside of feeding my needs. And the deer had a fighting chance. The rabbits (and the chickens) were conceived, born, and raised to be eaten. Their whole existence revolves around becoming food or being reserved for breeding to create more food. And while I am almost positive that the rabbits did not understand what was about to happen to them, even if they had, they would not have had a chance. They were victims, ultimately vulnerable and powerless. And that has been bothering me. Not the cost of a life. I think I am ultimately okay with that. But the lack of risk on my part and the lack of a chance on behalf of my “prey” bothers me.

In case any of you are interested in details about the rabbits, Annette has written a post about the class and what it means to process your own rabbit. If you don’t want the details, I’d still encourage you to jump down to the last four paragraphs and the ensuing discussion in the comments. It has been interesting to see that even people who understand, are conscious and actively care about these issues struggle with this kind of food. I actually killed not one, but two rabbits. The first I kept, and the second went my lovely neighbors – gardeners, real foodies, fellow CSA members, and kindred spirits in so many ways. It was hard, they said, eating this rabbit and knowing where it came from. I know how they feel, even though I don’t entirely understand why we feel this way. It seems like it should be the other way around.

I haven’t eaten my rabbit yet. While it was a shame to freeze what was undoubtedly the freshest meat I have ever seen, it feels shamefully decadent to eat an entire rabbit by myself, even over a period of several days. I’d end up freezing it anyways, so into the freezer it went. I just hope DH won’t be too perturbed by where it came from to help me eat it when he returns.

Tags: humane meat, rabbit processing class, vegetarianism

Pausing for a Little Self-Care

June 9, 2010, Sustainability

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Today was going to be a post about my first CSA share. Then it was going to be a post about the rabbit processing class I took on Saturday. Then it was going to be a post about nothing. But I changed my mind and decided that instead of nothing, I’d explain why there’s nothing, because I think that it may matter to someone, somewhere. At the least, maybe it will make me feel better.

There is nothing because I’m worn down.

Crying About Tuna

Last week, I was driving home and listening to NPR (per usual). They were talking about the oil spill. Did you know that most tuna spawn in the Gulf? That means that, for many species of tuna, this will be a year with no offspring. This includes bluefin tuna, which, in spite of being highly endangered, were offered no additional protection from overfishing this year.

I stopped eating tuna almost a year ago. I bought my last bulk package of canned tuna and have been hoarding it, eating it only as a special treat. (And, more specifically blue fin related, I stopped eating tuna at sushi restaurants.) When this package is gone I might splurge occasionally and buy (much more expensive) sustainably caught tuna. It is unlikely that tuna sandwiches will ever return to being the summer staple they once were. But it’s not going to make any difference. Futile. Powerless. Insignificant. Hopeless.

The program went on to discuss how the ecosystemic collapse in the Gulf will be delayed based on the development cycles of the species that live there. All of the fish, crustaceans, and other sea life will lose this year’s young. One species of shrimp takes four months to reach maturity. Four months from now, we will see a collapse in the species that feed on this type of adult shrimp (not to mention the fishing industry that depends on them). For other species who take up to several years to reach maturity, the ecosystemic costs will be delayed.

Years.

Alongside the horrifying photos flooding in from the Gulf right now, it was just too much. I sobbed for the tuna, the wetlands, the birds, and the people. But mostly for the tuna.

Killing Rabbits

On Saturday I went and visited the suburban offshoot of a sustainable rabbit farm. I learned to process rabbits. Process, harvest, whatever term you use. I learned to kill rabbits. It was hard. I still don’t entirely know how I feel about it, except to say that it was at once very complicated and incredibly simple.

I know this isn’t for everyone. I suspect some of you are vegetarians or vegans. Some of you may eat meat but not feel a need to be “hands on” with this part of your diet. Food is one of the most personal issues there is, and I respect that. Personally, I don’t feel like I have the right to eat meat unless I am willing to face the full cost. Because there is a cost. So I ended up spending my Saturday morning learning how to kill rabbits. And it was hard.

Moving Forward, The Hard Way

I’m tired. I’m tired of grieving things I feel culpable for, but have little control over. Of trying to understand the full ramifications of my life and be guided by my best conscience in response, and of small changes in the face of big issues. I’m worn around the edges and the whole thing makes my head hurt. Also, having a concussion makes my head hurt, and I’m sure that has a little bit to do with my current inability to process things in a constructive fashion.

A while back I wrote a post about avoiding global caregiver’s syndrome. It was a good post, but my trusty tips fell through for me this week. My dad always used to say that doing the same thing but expecting different results is the definition of stupid, so I thought I would try something new. I’ve signed up to participate in Bindu Wiles’ 21.5.800, combined with Marianne Elliott’s (AKA the Zen Peacekeeper) 30 Days of Yoga. Maybe it won’t help, but I know it can’t hurt.

What do you all do when the world just seems too much? Any tips and tricks you’d care to share? (And don’t say “Don’t get a concussion.” That one I know already )

Sustainability Saturday – #4

June 5, 2010, Sustainability

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This issue of Sustainability Saturday has been postponed until… well, never, due to a concussion, a visit to a sustainable rabbit farm (thoughts and pictures forthcoming) and picking up the parrotlet.

So tell me about this week! Anything good, bad, horrifying, or thought-provoking to share with all of us?

Garden Update

June 4, 2010, Gardening

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It’s been rain-central in the Pacific Northwest, so it’s hard to remember that it’s already June! While they’re a bit delayed, my plants definitely seem to realize that it’s supposed to be summer. They are growing like crazy.

My strawberries are oh so tall.

The rhubarb has recovered well from its cross-country flight, although it appears something is munching on the leaves.

Raspberry starts from my lovely friend have decided that living with me is not so bad.

And fruit trees…

Fruit trees still feel like cheating to me. They are so totally free food. (Are these plums? Anyone know?)

And last for today, but certainly not least, the potato condo.

What’s growing in your backyard?

Tags: garden, potato condo

Three Kinds of Honey

June 2, 2010, Food

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Once upon a time in the mid-90’s, a cool movie character who I kind of wanted to be made three sounds at once (Neve Campbell in Three To Tango, for anyone who’s curious). The protagonist says to his love interest with such awe and wonder, “But then I met you, and you made three sounds at once. And I just really wanted to get to know you.”

(Check it out – three sounds at once at 2:20. Isn’t the internet great?)

Anyhow, for whatever reason, this line totally got me. It’s stuck in my head for all eternity. I said it in my head when I fell for my husband. I may have said it out loud and he may have given me a weird look. And I said it in my head at the farmer’s market last week, when this amazing honey guy gave me three kinds of honey to taste.

We Are Missing So Much

Like many people, I grew up thinking honey came in bears. If the bear was old, the honey would crystalize in the little bear ears. We never ate honey quickly enough to avoid the crystals. And honey all tasted the same. Like honey. You know, honey bear honey.

Honey Does Not All Taste The Same

I am here now to tell you, Honey does not all taste the same. At all. Not even kind of. Fireweed, blackberry, wildflower – each completely distinct, unique, and utterly brilliant. In a different dimension, where I am a more particular kind of cook, I would have bought all three. In this dimension, where I am neither culinarily meticulous, nor do I eat that much honey, I had to pick just one. I chose wildflower, although I still think the fireweed had the best name. And if I were making honey-sesame candy, I would have gone with blackberry. (So maybe I am a bit particular!)

As if three types of honey weren’t captivating enough, the wonderful honey man proceeded to explain that if the sun would humor us for a week or so, he would have maple blossom honey later on this season. However, if it rained, we’d be out of luck until next year.

How interconnected, how tenuous, rare, and precious is the world we live in? And how different are three types of honey, a fourth maybe on the way, from a sea of honey bears lined up in a row. What else are we missing, living the way we do?

Photo: CC http://www.flickr.com/photos/thetruthabout/

Tags: farmers market, honey, local food

Sustainability Saturday – #3

May 29, 2010, Sustainability

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It’s Saturday again – man, did this week go by quickly!

This week we’ll be heading a little more to the theory side, with one exception: BP oil spill top-kill. You’d almost have to live in a hole in a ground to have missed this, but be sure to keep an eye and an ear out for more status updates today.

So Now To The Theory

This great article explores the relationship between globalization and sustainability in terms of environmental carrying capacity. This makes sense – it’s what competitive advantage is all about. But I don’t remember Adam Smith mentioning the ecological ramifications.

The Powerful Vagueness of Sustainability discusses sustainability as a systemic process guided by our best science, instead of as a scientific absolute. Another advantage of a deliberate “vagueness” or openness about the details is that it encourages creativity. However, I would argue that this creativity must be guided by strong and clear principles if it is to result in effective and meaningful solutions.

The New York Times Freakonomics blog covered an article in Rolling Stone (if anyone has a link to the original article, let me know?) about how corporate buyers are purchasing farmland to capitalize on food shortages and other potential effects of climate change. Fascinating, and I’m not really sure how I feel about it.

Finally, Racialicious gives us an insightful discussion of racial considerations in the sustainable food movement. In my opinion, this is a must read and a must think about. Also, I’m a huge fan of the gummy bears.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Tags: climate change, globalization, sustainability saturday, sustainable farming