It's Easy Being Green

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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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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I just wanted to take a minute to plug one of my favorite places to visit in Flagstaff, The Arboretum. They have more than 2,500 different species of plants that grow great here in the high altitude of northern Arizona and they have great collections of the native plants that grow here on the Colorado Plateau. I like to make a trip out there once or twice a year and see what all is going on. It’s quiet, peaceful and best of all they have a bunch of different demonstration gardens including a killer greenhouse. I envy the greenhouse because eventually I want one similar to it. Anyway, if you live in the area and are looking for a great volunteer opportunity, you should check out the Arboretum. They’re currently looking for volunteer docents to lead the daily tours of the garden. If you’re interested head over to their website to find out more on volunteering.

If you happen to be in the area and want to learn more about gardening with native plants of the Colorado Plateau, stop on in!

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I was over cruising through one of my favorite blogs, Inhabitat, and read this interesting piece on the Masdar Initiative. It’s a new “city” being designed from the ground up by Norman Foster which aims to be completely carbon neutral, car-free and zero waste. Masdar City will be built in Abu Dhabi and construction is expected to begin sometime in the next month.

The project strangely reminds me of the Biosphere 3 project that was opened outside of Tucson, Arizona. Eventually things went a little wacky with that project environmentally but I think there’s a lot of learning and knowledge that will be gained from Masdar City. It will be interesting to watch it evolve over time and see what the city’s designers master and what fails. I yearn for country living so the idea of living in a mini city like Masdar doesn’t really excite me. But I think it will do great things for all those who choose to live in high-density areas. Check out the video!

[youtube yWVsi0UtmgI Masdar City]

What do you think about the project? Would you be inclined to live in a dense development like that if it was more sustainable than your current lifestyle?

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So we’re just days away from another one of those fantastic consumer holidays, Valentine’s Day.  It’s always been a hard day for me to digest.  You’re an absolute schmuck if you don’t subscribe to the Valentine’s Day practice of getting your honey something special.  But at the same time, I hate feeling like I’m bowing into the pressure of some greeting card company sponsored holiday by showering my lover with gifts!  Hmm, what to do?  Give in because it’s always fun to give and receive gifts and besides, my girlfriend already knows I love her.  She hears me say it probably a dozen times a day but that’s another post.

Because Valentine’s is such a consumer frenzy, it’s hardly anything but eco-friendly.  But that seems to be changing a bit as the green movement gathers steam.  Sam’s Club has announced that they are now selling Fair Trade Certified roses.  These roses are sold directly from the farm to the store so there’s no middle man waiting for his cut of the profits.  However, these roses are grown in Ecuador.  That’s a major problem for me!  How much energy are we wasting just to get those damn roses to the United States?  Sure, we’re benefiting the children and villagers in Ecuador that work these rose farms but we’re doing little for the environment.  I guess it’s a good step but I’d rather buy roses at least grown stateside.  If there isn’t a rose farm in your neck of the woods you could purchase a different type of flower from a local grower.  After all, who said you need to bow down to the pressure of buying a dozen red roses for Valentine’s Day?  It’s over done!

Here’s some simple tips:

1)    Think homemade.  Make your own card this year by hand picking some scrap booking supplies.  It will mean a lot more to your significant other.

2)    Just like you might be conscious of the food your purchasing at the grocery store, be conscious of the flowers and chocolates your purchasing for Valentine’s Day.  Is there a small, local chocolate shop where you can pick up some cocoa delights?  You’d be supporting a small business and saving precious resources at the same time.  Is there a flower farm nearby where you can purchase locally grown flowers?  That too would save precious resources and support your local farmers instead of buying those awful roses transported all the way from Ecuador.

3)    Make a romantic meal at home using organic and sustainable produce.  If your community still has a farmer’s market going this time of year, see what you can put together.   You just have to spend a little extra time shopping instead of grabbing whatever is the first thing available on the shelves of your local store.

For the love oozing between the sheets, I personally enjoy TreeHugger’s guide on How to Green Your Sex Life.  They have all kinds of links to sustainable sex products and other fine things that might get you in the mood.  If you’re looking for some “hot” green underthings, you should check out Inhabitat’s Sustainable Skivvies Blog.  My comment was, who knew going green could be so hot?!

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A new study out this week is showing that the post-Christmas rush to spend gift cards is apparently non-existent. It’s a sign that everyone is dealing with a continually weakening economy. Our nation’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, has been closely watching the way people have been spending their holiday gift cards this month. It turns out people are either holding on to them and saving them for harder times or they’re spending them on basic necessities.

Wal-Mart has indicated that most gift card purchases in their store are going toward food staples like pasta, cereal and canned goods. Even other major retailers are seeing similar trends. Upscale clothing retailers are seeing more people spending their gift cards on socks and underwear then on that new $100 pair of jeans. People are walking right past those plasma screen TV’s, video games, CD’s and other superficial items and picking up the necessities.

This sign doesn’t make me worried. I feel like we’re in a good position to weather a recession should our country really slump into one. We are always stocked up on the basic food items and are continuously looking ahead. What do we need and what do we really need to not spend the money on? One thing we could do better is save. It’s hard right now at this point in our life to really shunt money away into another account. Our retirement savings has been underway for the last 5 years now and we do have about $2,000 in a savings account that never moves. But, I still don’t think that’s enough and would like to have a bigger pad.

In the meantime, I think this latest economic trend shows consumers finally realizing what’s important and what isn’t. You need the basics to live. All the rest are just accessories of our lives that for some wild reason, we feel like we need to drag around with us. I’m glad we’re getting a bit of a reality check. I don’t think our nation has really had to scrimp or save for awhile. While I’d like to think it will get people into the habit of planning financially and making hard decision on what they need and what they don’t, I know it will just return to the same old consumer economy a few years down the road.

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