Do It Yourself Solar

Perhaps it’s time to take a look around your house to see if it’s a good idea to start cleaning up the house. After all, a clean house is an eco friendly house. What does that mean? Well, that means when you clean and organize the stuff in your house, not only can you help save the environment, you can also save money. So what does eco friendly has to do with saving money?

The problem with most homeowners is that they are not aware that there are existing resources in their own home that can be reused or recycled. For example, papers may be lying around the house, used only on 1 side. They can actually be used on both sides. And when less paper is used, more trees are saved, and the homeowners save more money by spending less on paper. So the key here is to be sensitive to the use of resources around the house. Here are some tips on how to start converting your home to an eco friendly house.

The first step to take is to clean up the house. Start by creating 4 different piles – one for paper, one for glass, one for plastic, and one for metal. Organize your items according to these 4 categories. If there are many items in your house, the process may take some time.

After that, you will need to spend more time sorting through the 4 stacks of items. Here is when you decide which items to keep and which items to dispose of. Again, bear in mind that there are items that can be reused. Pick them out, and put them aside.

For items that you want to get rid of, don’t mix them up again. Keep them within their own respective categories, and pack them nicely into boxes and trash bags. There is more you need to do.

Once your house is in shape, you may start locating a recycling facility near you. The recycling center don’t have to be located in your area. You just need to find out where the drop off points are. Usually, there are many drop off points in every area, and there should be one that is convenient for you. If you like, you can always call up a recycling facility to find out if there are any drop off points that are near to you.

Another alternative is to find out if your current garbage collector has an existing arrangement with a recycling center. If so, you can let them collect your recyclable items as per normal. That way, you don’t have to worry about making extra trips to drop off points.

Keep the compartments that you have initially created – paper, plastic, glass and metal. As and when there is disposable but recyclable materials, just throw them in the right compartment. When the compartments are full, empty them and start the process all over again. That way, your house will always be eco friendly.

Gen Wright
http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/a-clean-house-is-an-eco-friend-house-678859.html

A typical home or office always have products like air freshener, dishwashers, laundry detergents, many more to mention, not knowing that these products contains harmful chemicals. Recent studies showed that over 50 cleaning products contain hazardous chemicals, chemicals that is slowly doing a great harm for you and your family (even your pets and plants). Labels of these products always says that they should be used with cautions.

Cases of children that accidentally ingested these chemicals and being exposed are rapidly growing, U.S. Poison Control Center estimated that there are almost or over 1.5 million cases are reported to them, a disturbing report that may happen to all of us.

We can avoid this situation and take the toxic out in our home or office and natural cleaning products is the best solution for all of that.

Natural solution products offer a non-toxic, chemical free home. That is possible because we will just use organic materials that are eco friendly yet effective.

Here is some info on how to use natural cleaning products. Most of the items that we will use are found right there in your home.

1. You might be using ammonia for cutting out grease, but for your info these product contains chemicals that are dangerous to you health, for alternative just use a spray bottle filled with ½ water and ¼ white vinegar, vinegars is a good grease cutters and can leave your dishes sparkling like new.

2. Fragrance is a great factor of a clean home, but we usually rely on commercial air fresheners not knowing that these products consist of phthalates( petroleum-base hormone disruptors) you might not see this on their labels because manufacturers are hiding the fact that they are using these, for fresh scent just use citrus or natural herbs, these will naturally clean and freshen your air.

3. An effective alternative to harmful chlorines are borax.

4. Killing bacteria another way of living healthy, but do you know that triclosan from your favorite disinfectant boost the growth of some resistant bacteria, worst thing is this bacteria can turn into carcinogenic, to avoid it from happening use vinegars instead ( another fact is that not all bacteria are harmful).

5. You should be informed that some of natural, non-toxic and biodegradable products that does not have proper or actual certification from the Food and Drugs Authority sometimes keeps their ingredients secret, check first if it passed the standards and the ingredients itself.

6. Bugs are great problems for us, instead of using those sprays, using essential oils, tea tree, lemongrass and rosemary can take the bugs out in your home.

7. Using monoethanolamine(MEA) on principles causes irritations and cases like asthma, adding the fact that it’s a petroleum product, water is much more better, simply water.

8. Tea can be a natural cleanser, yes it can be! simply because its has acid contents. (but I still prefer drinking hot tea).

9. All you need for a change are natural cleaning products, to make a DIY version all you need in your cupboard are lemons, bicarbonate soda, white wine and some cheap oils and there you go.

10. Finally, and the most simple are the power of elbow grease with just cloth itself and a little hot water can get the job done, but be sure to exert some energy for those cleaning task.

We always thought that all bacteria are harmful and should be taken out on our homes, but with these kind of studies, it shows that using germ killers (commercial cleaners) are More harmful to us and our environment because of the toxins that they releases, for cleaning those spills and dust a good swipe of damp towel is all we need less effective against bacteria but a non-toxic way and much more safer, we should be aware and smart to maintain a healthy living.

Markus Skupeika
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/tips-on-how-to-maintain-a-healthy-way-of-living-using-natural-cleaning-products-678257.html

Finding environmentally friendly furnishings and home decor used to be a challenge. Products were either hard to find or out of reach price-wise for the average consumer. Today however, eco conscious flooring, window coverings, and counter tops are becoming much more accessible. Even major national retailers are selling things like bamboo linens, biodegradable cleaning products, and energy efficient appliances.

Here are a few of the latest green products for your home. They’ve been selected based on their aesthetics, functionality, and their innovative use of recycled materials.

1. Green Planet Paints has created a line of interior paints that produce zero volatile organic compounds, so they won’t negatively affect your indoor air quality. Non-toxic and reasonably priced, these environmentally friendly paints are available in over forty colors that will match any décor.

2. Vetrazzo has become one of the hottest products around. Made out of recycled glass shards, Vetrazzo surfaces can be used for flooring, counter tops, and more. Vetrazzo is smooth to the touch, heat-resistant and beautiful to look at, and offer a great alternative to marble or granite.

3. Another option for counter tops comes from a small business owner in Washington State. Squak Mountain Stone was created by Ameé Quiriconi as a means of reducing landfill, and stimulating the local economy. Defined on its site as “a fibrous-cement material comprised of recycled paper, recycled glass, coal fly-ash and cement,” Squak Mountain Stone has all the good looks and durability of natural stone, but weighs much less and is made from recycled materials.

4. Featured in several national publications, the designers of SCRAPILE have developed quite a fan-following. SCRAPILE’s Bart Bettencourt and Carlos Salgado’s goal was to create lasting pieces that are stylish to look at, functional in the home, and good for the environment. They have achieved their goal by building stunning tables, chairs, and accessories out of scrap pieces of lumber.

5. Along the same lines as New York’s SCRAPILE, the talented coppersmiths of Cobre take scraps of discarded copper and make hand-hammered copper sinks, wall hangings, and vases. Reclaiming unused copper keeps materials out of landfills, and provides homeowners with a unique surface that has naturally germ-killing properties. In addition, Cobre is a Fair Trade company, so you can feel good knowing that the artisans who make the products receive a competitive wage for their work.

6. Philips’ Eco TV is a 42-inch, flat-panel LCD television set that runs on only 75 watts of power. The unit contains no lead-based materials, has an energy saving stand-by mode, and comes in a recycled box. You get all these benefits plus high definition picture quality, and the unit retails for just under $1400.

7. For green laundry enthusiasts, there are now new options for washing your clothes without wasting water or energy. Wonderwash is a new hand crank washer that handles a 5lb load in minutes, without the use of electricity. You also only require about 10% of the water used in traditional washing machines, and it’s a real space saver too. An added bonus is the great arm workout you get when you have multiple loads to do, and the product is affordably priced at only $42.95.

8. The Spin-X Spin Dryer would make a lovely companion appliance to the Wonderwash. Clothes dry in half the time, which means that the machine uses half the energy of standard units. Clothes last longer because they’re exposed to less heat and tumbling action, and less heat is pumped into the room, which makes doing laundry on a hot summer day less of a chore.

Lesa Parham
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/the-latest-products-for-your-greenfriendly-home-720341.html