Some easy tips for your garden:
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From the category archives:
Sustainable Living
I had a great email from one of our readers, Bill Roth, who has developed a set of 4 homes out in San Antonio called Arroyo San Antonio. He incorporated a lot of common sense features attentive to both power and water conservation: energy star appliances, dual flush toilets, front load washing machines. I was particularly struck by his approach to greywater harvesting. Obviously being in the desert the good residents of San Antonio are very water conscious, but frankly we all need to think that way. Too much water flows through our homes that can be given a second use, and we all need to think about water consumption more seriously.
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Gray water is one of these things that takes real commitment. It is not an easy retrofit like solar pannels, once those are installed they pretty much run themselves. But a water catchement system is a lifestyle change. One book I read back a while ago, Design for Water by Heather Kinkade-Levario, is a great starting point. And there are devices out there that you can use for a retrofit if you are going to go this route…I have a few hogs I bought on sale that I am going to hook up soon, they are pretty cool and if you have a way to get them installed I recommend them. The Chronicle has a good piece today on Graywater as wel, and while it might not be at the top of your list when it comes to your next remodel, maybe you can think about ways to intgrate it.
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I was talking with one of my friends at SI yesterday about the drought – made me think again about how large our water problems are, but also how hidden the problem can be since the state is so big, and users are often so separated from the storage facilities they just don’t get how significant it is. And all each of us has to do to help out in our own homes is to do the little, simple things, like buy a energy star rated front loading washer the next time we need a new appliance. Here is a great Guerrilla Reporting Vid from socal, props to the person who made this.
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Dwell Magazine has a great piece in this month’s issue on Eco-Friendly House Paints. I would link the article but Dwell’s site is clunky and I can’t find it. Good rag though, I always like thumbing through it, and its a local SF business so props to them. Anyways, I have much love for low/no VOC paints. Painting is one of the easiest and most cost effective renovation jobs a person can take on, and it can be an opportunity to go and save green at the same time.
I was at Cole Hardware the other day checking out their low/no Benjamine Moore paints, and the prices are very comparable to the regular stuff – within a buck or two. I have seen the same aggressive pricing at the Kelly Moore stores as well, (BTW – were these like a brother sister family thing, the Moores – that decided to get all competitive with the paint?)
So why low/no VOC paint? Well, let me tell you, it doesn’t smell like a chemical factory for one thing, so you do not have to fill your lungs with the crap they mix into standard paint. Less chemicals for your house as well, which is always good.
What are these evil VOCs? As near as I can tell, not being a chemist, they are chemicals like Acetone, Ammonia and Formaldehyde. In regular paints they are found in concentrations of over 125 parts per liter. Low VOC paints have less than 20 parts per liter, and no VOCs have, well, I will let you figure that out. I myself use low/no voc paint exclusively in my rental units and in our remodels. I have no complaints, it is safer for my workers, better for my tenants, good for the environment, and pretty much the same price.
Win Win, Win and Win.
H
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