Go Green With Natural Fiber Carpeting

 

There are a number of ways to go green at home, but have you considered using eco-friendly floorcoverings? Given that carpet covers approximately 70 percent of flooring in the United States and most carpet fibers are made with petroleum, a precious and increasingly scarce resource, this is a perfect place for any homeowner to focus their green efforts.

Not only do area rugs form a comfortable covering for floors, they come in a broad range of textures and tones. And to think of rugs as a green alternative only sweetens the deal. Following are five options for fashionable floorcoverings that will not only add a personal touch to your home, but will do so with minimal impact to the environment. Continue reading

The Eat Local Challenge

 

Why It’s Essential to Switch to Eating Local

eating local

You know how much more delicious fresh, local, in-season produce is. Here’s an example: have you ever eaten a tomato in July? How about in January? It’s like it’s not even the same food (This is true of the tomato’s nutritional value as well as its taste.) Our senses tell us that eating fresh and local foods is a good thing. What might not be as obvious, though, is that local foods are also better for your local economy, and better for the planet.

Why? Let’s look at the local angle first. Wherever you live in the United States, it is likely that farmers are growing something within a couple hundred miles of you. Unless your neighborhood farmer happens to be a gigantic agribusiness (which is an unhealthy reality in some parts of our country), the presence of that farm is helping to keep suburban and exurban sprawl in check. Continue reading

Understanding Solar Thermal Systems

 

Photovoltaic Systems Vs. Solar Thermal Systems

solar thermal heating

When most people think of ways in which the limitless power of the sun can be harnessed to provide eco-friendly power, they think of photovoltaic systems. Active photovoltaic solar panels have become an increasingly common sight on neighborhood rooftops in recent years, due to the rising costs of traditional energy sources, and a gradual but encouraging trend toward reducing one’s carbon footprint.

And, photovoltaic systems have plenty to recommend them. They are much greener than burning coal to produce electricity, and they eventually pay for themselves.

While photovoltaic systems are heating up, strangely enough, solar thermal systems still seem to be flying under the radar. Considering their many advantages, it’s actually quite surprising that environmentally-conscious home and business owners are not installing them in greater numbers. Continue reading

How Asbestos Can Affect Homeowners

 

Going Green in the Home, and Being Mindful of Asbestos

graphic on finding asbestos in the home

Many homeowners choose to renovate their homes with “green” upgrades. While this can be extremely beneficial for the environment, owners can encounter a toxic health hazard if they do not properly address the asbestos-containing products within their house.

Asbestos is present in many homes that were built before the 1980s. A number of different construction materials were once manufactured with asbestos fibers, including:

  • Insulation
  • Fiberboard
  • Shingles
  • Tiles
  • Adhesives

Because of its carcinogenic properties, asbestos is no longer considered the gold standard in insulation. Very few manufacturers still produce asbestos products, and these products are subject to government regulations. However, asbestos-containing materials may still remain in older homes. Continue reading

New and Ongoing Trends in Green Cars

 

 electric and hybrid cars of the future

There is most definitely a trend toward green cars, with people becoming more aware of the importance of the environment and, in these straitened times, wishing to save money. The general manager of the  2013 Toronto International Autoshow, Tom Tonks, said, “We’re looking at some serious revolutionary changes” in this respect. In the United Kingdom, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported that sales of alternatively-fuelled vehicles had risen by almost 10 percent, twice the rate of petrol vehicles.

What Was Once a Trend Is Now Mainstream

The trend has, in fact, gone so far as to become mainstream. Manufacturers such as Nissan, Toyota and Chevrolet have integrated green cars to their displays, and there is no prominent “eco” badging. Green cars are just one more car in the range. There are, however, more specific trends associated with green cars, which can be seen in the car reviews for Australia by Motoring.

The Volkswagen XL1, first seen at the Qater motor show in January 2011 and four times as efficient as a Toyota Prius hybrid, was named as the greenest car of all, despite its being a hybrid, combining petrol and electric power. Details can be seen in the electric car reviews by motoring.com.au.

Electric Cars

Green cars can be hybrid or purely electric, and electric cars are increasing in popularity. Recent examples are the Ford Focus and Nissan Leaf. Initially, electric vehicles will be considerably more expensive, but that was also true of mobile ‘phones and computers. One major car website named the electric Tesla Model S as its Car of the Year. The editor noted that articles about electric cars receive longer and more thoughtful comments, and some people showed the kind of passion generally reserved for Mustangs and Camaros.

The drawback of electric cars is that they have limited range, giving rise to range anxiety, and there are few opportunities to charge them. The range can be as little as 40 miles, although the Tesla Model S manages 265 miles on one charge. This will improve with technology. Although only 2,300 electric vehicles were sold in the United Kingdom in 2012, the government recently announced a £37 million subsidy for home and businesses that fit plug-in points, which would cover as much as three quarters of the cost of installation.

More Trends

One major website of classified advertisements identified three trends in eco-friendly vehicles. The first is for smaller cars made of materials that are lighter in weight, which improves petrol consumption without recourse to a hybrid powertrain or clean diesel engine. Once upon a time, people chose turbocharged engines to achieve greater horsepower, but now they do so to increase petrol mileage by improving the performance of smaller engines, which is the second trend.

The final trend identified was for more luxurious cars, with such examples as the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, BMW ActiveHybrid X6 and Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid. In the past, expensive, new technologies have always hit the upper end of the market first before working their way down, for instance air conditioning and automatic transmissions.

Green Chauffeured Services

Chauffeured services are going green, with Olympus Worldwide Chauffeured Services one of the first companies to use only environmentally-friendly cars. The strategy has paid off: this company was named one of the top 100 logistics and transportation companies of 2012 of the Inc 5000. Olympus is very serious in its attitude to the environment, and has a completely carbon free office, with all records converted to digital format.

[Photo Via: History is Now]

Is Green Finally Emerging Into the Mainstream?

 

How the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Is Changing Energy Use Masdar Plaza Abu Dhabi

You can almost see them daily, examples of how green is emerging into the mainstream. No longer are green issues and eco-friendly practices simply the preserve of the well-meaning but ultimately misguided, a view very much expressed by the majority of the population only a few short years ago.

Now, as reports of melting icecaps and extreme weather events continually hit the headlines, and scientific evidence of global warming mounts, no one is sniggering irreverently or pointing a wagging finger any more. Far from it. Nowadays, the reaction tends to be much more sober and reflective, an indication perhaps of growing unease over the fate of this wonderful planet of ours.

But whenever the Rubicon is crossed in terms of accepting the need for urgent action, to protect everything we all hold dear and to put sustainable actions at the heart of the green agenda, along comes human weakness and lack of resolve. Suddenly we feel like the lone voice in the wilderness, powerless when pitted against the onward march of human progress. Urgent environmental issues and problems are for governments to solve, not for me, goes the thinking. A lone voice nowadays can do so little. Continue reading