A Common Sense Green |
By Laurie & Steve Theis MCGP (Master Certified Green Professional) |
| It is difficult to turn on the TV or open a newspaper or magazine without seeing an article on How to be Green. Instructions include everything from not wearing your shoes inside to reduce outside contaminants to reducing your carbon footprint by carbon fasting. Green has become a fad and a political hot button. We believe we are taking the politics out of the idea of becoming green and using common sense to achieve these goals. |
| If you were born in the late 1940's or early 1950's it's likely that your parents had vivid memories of WWII rationing and the hardships of the great depression. You grew up hearing phrases like "waste not want not" or "finish your meal; there are starving children in China". We were used to turning out lights and saving every thing. We wore hand-me-down clothes, played outside most of the time and generally amused ourselves. We saw a great deal of pollution from coal furnaces blackening the snow, raw sewage dumped into lakes and even the river in Cleveland Ohio burning. Since then we have cleaned up a lot of the mess we inherited but we still have a long way to go. |
| Today with energy costs going through the roof and the economy shrinking our retirement funds we are acutely aware of rising costs and being frugal is becoming popular. Wouldn't dad and mom be proud? There are now new reasons to be conscious of our environment. We want to leave our planet a better place than we found it, our faith traditions call us to be good stewards of all the gifts we have been given and, finally, it will save you money. We, personally, have greatly reduced our energy consumption by installing energy efficient kitchen appliances as well as a high efficiency hot water heater and furnace. Recently we replaced two recessed can lights with a LED insert that uses 90 % less electricity and is environmentally sound. |
| Recently a retired space engineer was visiting us and discussing the concept of a "free ride". In space technology a free ride is when a satellite uses the gravitational pull of a planet to help push it out of the solar system. There are many opportunities for free rides in residential energy conservation. House positioning, vegetation placement are two examples. At our home we have a beautiful redbud tree directly out our kitchen window on the south side of the house. In spring it is a fabulous sight with its array of flowers. In summer its large leaves provide much welcome shade and in autumn and winter after its' leaves have dropped it provides sun to warm the interior. One tree, multiple uses. |
Tips for Common Sense Green:
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Bring your own bags to the store. Besides saving the landfills they are much easier to carry, especially if you shop at a warehouse store. |
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Make your environment healthy by controlling humidity and reducing pathogens in the air. |
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Reduce the energy load in your home. Turn off the little clocks attached to every thing eliminate the energy vampires as I sit at my computer there are 18 little lights in my office that are still on when the power is off. Use a power strip and turn off all your devices with one button. |
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Plant native deciduous trees on the south side of your home to shade it. Add pines on the north side to create a windbreak in the winter. |
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Use shades and drapes in the summer to keep the sun out. |
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Print on both sides of the paper |
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Use products that are eco-friendly, biodegradable and sustainable |
| Incorporate the three R's Repair recycle and reduce. |
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Get into the habit of looking for the recycle triangle and put it in the designated container. No need to sort recyclables anymore! |
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Repair rather than replace. Fix shoes, appliances … anything that breaks. |
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Reduce. Do you really need so much? Everything you purchase requires space and care taking your energy. One of my mother's favorite sayings was "don't burden yourself with things" and she was very wise. If you have so many possessions pretty soon they begin to control you. |
| In addition to these everyday green efforts you can save in very large ways when you make changes in your home itself. You don't have to suffer to be green and there are many simple changes we can all make that can make an enormous difference. Purchasing energy saving appliances will save you hundreds of dollars in a short time. And, if you are considering building a new home or remodeling your current home, there are even more ways to save. In the area of home building and remodeling our one goal is to reduce the electrical load on a home by utilizing as many free rides as we can find though value-engineering each room. So jump on the green bandwagon and see what a difference you can make! |
