It's Easy Being Green

If you live someplace warm like Phoenix, you might already be getting your spring garden into the ground about now, hoping for a harvest before the Summer heat kills off your plants.  If tomatoes are a part of you new garden, remember this fun tip.

You can snip a branch of your tomato plant and put the stem in a cup of water until it roots.  Once the roots develop, put the new tomato plant into a pot and watch it grow.  Many people apparently clone their tomatoes and keep the new plants inside for a winter harvest, long after their garden has been covered in snow and frost.  That’s a great tip I hadn’t heard about!

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At some point in your life you’ve probably encountered a pesky, leaky toilet. You know the one that kicks on all of a sudden to fill it’s leaking tank back up or the one that just makes that continuous noise of water spurting out the little fill valve, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s been estimated that a leaky toilet can waste up to about 80,000 gallons of water over the course of the year. That’s more than enough water to top off that Olympic sized swimming pool you’ve been dreaming about putting in the backyard for the last two summers!

If you do have a leaky toilet, just dive on in and fix it. The repair is pretty simple, doesn’t require a plumber and will only cost you about $10 and a few minutes with your hands in the empty toilet tank. You can either buy the pieces parts to fix your current flush valve assembly or you can just buy a simple kit and replace the whole shebang. Here’s how to do it:

1) Head to your local home repair shop or hardware store and pick up a “toilet tank fill valve replacement”. Just ask for a little assistance once you get to the plumbing department and they’ll for sure know what you’re looking for.

2) Once you’re ready for the repair, turn off the water to the toilet. This is usually done on a little valve underneath the toilet by the wall.

3) Try reaching into the tank and re-seating the tank stopper in the flush valve. The flush valve is the tall assembly with the float attached to it.

4) Bend the float arm down or away from the tank wall and replace the float ball which may have filled up with water.

5) Now, drain the tank and replace or clean the flush valve seat.

6) Check to see if the tank-fill tube is cracked, then oil the trip lever and replace any faulty washers.

7) Fill up your toilet by turning on the water valve again and marvel at the fact that it doesn’t run constantly anymore!

Not only should you feel better not letting more than 80,000 gallons of precious water simply disappear down the drain but your water bill should reflect some improvements too. It doesn’t seem like a lot of water while that leaky toilet is running but it really adds up over time.

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I just stumbled upon a true recycled crafty project today. Someone in my area is making these purses out of Capri Sun juice pouches. They apparently recycle them by sowing them together into a bag. Now that’s an idea! Do you have a recycled craft project that others can try? Let us know about it!

I found the purses here if you’re interested in learning more about them.

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Here’s a little treat to share with all of my readers.  I’ve talked about Green Cleaners in the past but now you can actually get a free sample of one of those products.  Head over to the Ecover website to enter for a free sample of an eco-friendly cleaner.  You can also register in their contest to have your home completely cleaned top to bottom in an eco-friendly way.

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown apparently made waves in the UK on Valentine’s Day. Showing his love for the environment and sustainable living, Brown announced he is planning to develop new towns in the UK that will be completely free of cars. His idea is that these “eco-towns” will dot the English countryside, providing much needed housing while creating as low an environmental impact as possible. Under the plan, the first “eco-town” will allow vehicles to be parked on the outskirts in designated parking lots making the interior of the town pedestrian friendly and open to public transportation. Brown’s “eco-town” will consist of about 10,000 homes.

The announcement didn’t come without concern though. Brits have already started organizing protests and petitions against Brown’s plans for several “eco-towns”. They fear that these new developments will mean a “massive loss of greenbelt land” according to the Mirror.

I think, as long as everyone can come together and hash out reasonable spots for the prototype “eco-town” to be constructed, that it’s a great idea. Would you live in a town that banned cars from running around the interior, making it a pedestrian community? What do you think the drawbacks could be? If you’re interested in the subject of new, sustainable communities, check out my blog entry and video on the Masdar Initiative.

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A team of scientists and researchers have developed a new way to harvest energy from the sun. According to an article on the Idaho National Laboratory’s website, the team developed “nanoantennas” that collect the suns rays on a tiny antennae about 1/25th the size of a human hair. The reports says the antennae could be stamped on just about any flexible material and essentially cost just a few cents per yard of material. To make the idea even better, the product can harvest energy long after sunset.

The team says their “nanoantennas” are more efficient at producing solar energy because they are also able to harvest infrared radiation, released from the earth long after the sun has set below the horizon. It’s also a spectrum that solar cells can’t currently turn into energy. They say while conventional solar cells can harvest about 20% of the sun’s rays, the new technology can harvest 80%.

Now the team will set forth on another challenge, figuring out how to take the harvested energy and turn it into something that’s usable. The frequency of the current generated switches back and forth about ten thousand billion times per second. Your common household appliance cycles power frequencies about 60 times per second. But the future is bright for this invention which could one day coat the roof of our home or be embedded in the clothes we wear.

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I caught an interesting program on The Science Channel the other day while I was at work, called Invention Nation. The show profiles some pretty cool inventions and developments in the green movement while the three hosts take a veggie-fueled trip across the country to get an up-close look at each one. While I don’t think the production quality or the hosts do the idea much justice, it’s nice to see various aspects of sustainable living shaping up across America, despite the reefer-infused hippie bus theme the show portrays.  Come on, green is more mainstream than that! This one episode got my attention because they were making stops in the Flagstaff area, visiting a LEED certified home. The house, being built in Bellemont just 10 miles west of Flagstaff, is one of only four platinum-certified homes in the U.S.

So what makes this house so green? The list is a long one and amazes me that they’ve packed so many environmentally responsible features into one home. The show focused on the “brain” of the house, an automated control system that essentially runs the place. A weather station installed outside the home monitors all weather conditions and relays them into a computer. That computer automatically opens and closes windows, adjusting the interior temperature with the outside temperature. The system also keeps the interior humidity at a healthy range. Aside from just the way the home feels, the system also tracks water and power useage, providing the homeowner a full rundown of just how much they’re using in the way of resources. The power monitors also look at the power output of the solar system, generating a little more than 7 kW hours of power and a wind turbine harvesting the almost regular northern Arizona wind, generating 2kW.

The Bellemont home is not connected to any water service. Instead it harvests all of its water from the sky through 40,000 gallons of collection tanks. The home’s designers say that’s enough for 2 years of potable water and irrigation uses. It doesn’t matter whether it’s rain or snowmelt, it all eventually finds its way into a collection tank where it’s stores and purified. The computer monitors just how full the collection tanks are. A newly planted apple orchard at the home is watered thanks to the home’s grey water system.

The eco-friendly house produces zero emissions. It’s zero energy and zero carbon emissions and produces more energy than the home itself uses. The extra electricity is fed onto the local power grid where the home actually earns energy credit for the power it produces. The home is outfitted with all Energy Star appliances and lighting. In fact, the house has such a high Energy Star rating that it exceeds IECC 2007 requirements by over 75%. When it comes to heating and cooling, a solar hot water system feeds an in-floor radiant heat system throughout the house. It’s also designed with thermal massing and passive solar design to reap the rewards of the Arizona sunshine during the cold winter months. Sewage from the home is treated with a UV alternative septic system which designers say is the first to be installed in the state of Arizona.

I think this home is truly remarkable and inspiring for the sustainable living movement. As the idea catches on and more and more homes are built with the ideas being demonstrated in the LEED Pilot Home, I think green construction will become more cost effective and mainstream. It shows people that what seems difficult could be really very easy. It would be easy for many to live green if their home was outfitted that way from get-go!

The house was designed by Architectural and Environmental Associates. Carl Ramsey, the company’s owner, seems truly committed to green and sustainable design.

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