When you create a green home design, you are contributing to preserving our planet's natural resources. In addition, you are helping to eliminate greenhouse gases, which are the main cause of global warming. Besides improving the health of the planet, you can enjoy savings on your energy bills. This can be done by purchasing appliances that are energy efficient, selecting eco-friendly building materials and practicing energy saving measures.

Using recycled materials are the best way to achieve a green home design. Your builder, local home improvement store, or interior design websites have a wealth of information about instituting eco-friendly materials in every room of your house. For example, in the kitchen and bath, recycled counter tops made with paper stone are gaining in popularity over those made from granite.

The quickest road to a green home design is the use of energy efficient appliances, such as refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers, televisions, air conditioners and small electrical items. Whenever purchasing small and large appliances, buy those with the Energy Star label. The seal of approval issued by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Environmental Protection Agency means the appliance prevents global warming by reducing energy consumption.

A green home design extends to a home's contents. One major area is the furniture, such as sofas, chairs, bureaus, tables and desks. Rather than buy new furnishings when they are outdated or when you redesign a room, consider whether the piece can be repainted, refinished, restained, or dressed in a slipcover. For worn out furniture pieces, determine whether it can be reupholstered or recycled.

There are various kinds of flooring that go hand in hand with a green home design. Cork and bamboo are two effective green offerings that provide additional benefits than traditional hard wood flooring. They come in a variety of color and style options, perform well in high traffic areas and look great.

A green home design should include dimmer switches. They can be easily installed in new homes under construction, as well as in existing homes. This simple switch can minimize energy consumption, which is a good thing for our planet. It can also put extra money in your pocket since you're saving on energy use. That translates into a lower electric bill.

Complementing a green home design are other environmentally friendly measures that save our resources. They are the four Rs: recycling, reusing items in other ways instead of discarding them, restoring instead of buying new and reducing waste. Evaluate your home practices to see how you can enhance your go green pledge.

A green home design helps to preserve our natural resources and keeps our planet healthy. Going green doesn't cost anything extra, especially when you consider the cost savings in the long run. Lighting changes, for example, instantly pays for itself. When you replace standard incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient luminescent ones, you conserve energy and realize a significant savings on your electric bill.

The Importance of a Green Home Design is a post from: Green Healthy Home

Recycling has become one of the best ways to “save the world” today. Why? Because it is in the reach of the average consumer. There are several areas where the earth needs help, but as the average person we do not always have control over those areas, even if we want them. However, by recycling, we are doing our part to reduce, reuse, and ultimately, recycle.

How do I Start Recycling?

Starting recycling is very easy thanks to the many services provided in our communities today. Many households are taking advantage of these services and now, with a little knowledge, so can you.

Here’s How!

1. Save Recyclables – You can tell what is recyclable by looking at the bottom of the container or material. There should be a triangular type sign that indicates that it can be recycled. Within this sign, there is generally a number, this will tell you what type of material it is, which will also help in determining where to recycle.
2. Rinse and Clean – One of the key factors in making a recyclable suitable is ensuring that the container is clean and rinsed out.
3. Recycle – Many communities have drop off locations in several areas. Perhaps in your area this might be a business in which does the recycling for you. On the other hand, such as in my area, we have four stations set up in parking lots of major businesses that gives us the opportunity to drop off our recyclables whenever necessary.

Those are the basics of recycling; however, there is more:

What can you recycle?

1. Glass
2. Aluminum Cans – In some areas, you can make money from recycling aluminum cans
3. Plastic
4. Tin
5. Cardboard
6. Paper
7. Metals – Generally, must be taken to an approved facility
8. Motor Oil – At approved facilities
9. Paint – At approved facilities
10. Batteries – At approved Facilities

What is great about recycling is that nearly everything we use in our lives can be recycled. When you recycle a material, it is then taken to a facility, cleaned, melted or otherwise conformed into something new. Doing this is actually saving our natural resources and creating a cleaner, safer, and more enjoyable environment.

Other Ways To Recycle

If you do not have facilities such as those listed above or simply cannot get to them, find out if your area has curbside collections. This is different from the weekly garbage collection, but has the same general idea. If offered, many will offer special containers to place the recyclables into and they will pick it up from the curb, just as the garbage men do.

Why Recycle?

1. Saves Space in Landfills
2. Saves on Energy
3. Creates Jobs and Saves Money
4. Creates Less Pollution
5. Saves our Natural Resources

So remember the three “R’s”: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

Recycle: The How To Guide is a post from: Green Healthy Home

And Everyone Needs to Participate!

Our planet demonstrates every day that just how important it is that all of us participates in recycling. Every single one of us needs to play their part in healing the planet of its lost and damaged resources. We are responsible for the damage and now we must make daily efforts to replenish and revitalize our planet. It may seem completely mundane and almost laughable today to even consider whether or not to recycle in your home; the reasons why I should recycle are always evident to me, such as;

Recycling is a wonderfully simple and convenient way to participate and take an active role in working towards low-impact living. Everyone can help from toddlers to octogenarians. Simple things like using reusable bags instead of plastic bags at the market or simply use a rag instead of paper towels. Literally, almost everything we use today can be recycled in some way – be creative.

Recycling saves energy as well as our planet and all of its natural resources. Reduce waste by reusing materials or recycling them. It takes a lot less energy to produce a new product than it does to produce the same “new” product from recycled materials.

Recycling saves money for you and for our economy as a whole. Certainly reusing materials is cost effective but so is buying recycled products or products made with recyclable materials. The more consumers buy and create more demand for recyclable goods, the more the demand will be met and costs will go down even more. The reasons why I should recycle are uncomplicated, I recycle because it helps the planet and makes me feel good.

Recycling is Vital to Our Planet’s Resources is a post from: Green Healthy Home

Make it Simple and Set up Your Home with These Recycling Tips

Today, recycling has fortunately become a part of everyday life for most people on the planet. Still, we can do more by setting up our homes and communities with easily accessible recycling possibilities to everyone. Here are some simple recycling tips that can be implemented immediately and at zero-to-low cost.

Newspapers, junk mail, flyers and advertisements are common household items that create a huge amount of waste. These things are easy to maintain in a bin and either dump into your recycling waste bin for weekly pick up, or take to a recycling center located usually at your local super market.

All aluminum, glass and plastics should be recycled. Plastics are a valuable recycling material and are used to make many recycled products. Plastic does not break down in the environment well and recycling it is the best measure to ensure that it becomes a low-impact product. Each material can be combined in your local waste management weekly pick-up bins, or they should be saved separately and taken to your local recycling center.

Make recycling an ongoing project with your children. Not only does it give you a chance to talk about respecting the planet and important resources, it lets you actively participate in the task, together.

Remember that cans and bottles have a redemption value and if turned in to a recycling center, it will be weighed and you can redeem cash per pound. Kids can earn good weekly allowance and “fun” money by this simple task that really makes a difference for our planet. Share these recycling tips with your friends and neighbors and get people involved in everyday recycling.

Recycling is Part of Everyday Green Living is a post from: Green Healthy Home

We all use plastic bottles, there is really no way around it. Plastic has become a big part of everyone lives. Plastic is much more desirable than glass because it is usually lighter and does not break as easily. Plastic comes in many forms; however, the most used form is in plastic bottles. Plastic is one of the many materials that can be recycle, yet, for some reason, many people still have not considered the benefits.

Let us have a look at the benefits of recycling plastic bottles.

There are five areas in which recycling plastic bottles can benefit you, those you love, and the world around you. These five areas include:

1. Oil
2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
3. Energy
4. Reuse
5. Landfill Space

Conserve our Oil

We all know how precious oil is today, in fact, it is so precious that it has caused the price of gas, foods, and other items to jump dramatically. However, what many people do not realize is that by recycling plastic bottles, we are saving oil. One ton of recycled plastic bottles can save almost four barrels of oil.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction

Recycled items take less processing. This means that the new manufacturing does not require as much energy and does not emit as much pollution, which then means you see a reduction in greenhouse gasses.

Conserving Our Energy

Plastic bottles used in water and soft drink bottles are made of what is called Polyethylene Terephthalate, also known as PET. Just one pound of recycled PET can save as much as twelve-thousand BTU’s in energy. At the same time, as mentioned previously, it takes two-thirds less energy to manufacture from recycled products, as it does to create new.

Reuse Benefits

What many people do not understand about recycling is that what you see now, is not always what it will be later. In many cases, that plastic bottle you are now drinking out of, may be something totally different once it is recycled. For instance, your plastic bottle may become carpeting, it may become someone’s jacket, or it might even become a part of someone’s deck. What you see, is not always what you get when it comes to recycling.

Save Our Landfills

One of the biggest problems today is that our landfills are running out of space. We are needing to create new landfills, which take up more space and puts more trash into our earth. However, you may be thinking how much room can one plastic bottle really take. The point is that if everyone thinks that way, think of how many plastic bottles that is.

It really builds up before you know it; however, just a ton of plastic bottles recycled can free up 7.4 cubic yards in our landfills. That’s a lot of space that is being used unnecessarily, when there are recycling avenues everywhere that you turn.

As you can see, there are many benefits of recycling plastic bottles.

Benefits of Recycling Plastic Bottles is a post from: Green Healthy Home