Green Options

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We noted a few weeks ago that Instructables, in conjunction with TreeHugger, was holding a Go Green! Design contest. We wanted to feature some of the DIY projects here on Green Options as well. We won’t necessarily be featuring the winners, nor will we be spelling out the steps of the projects (after all, that’s what the Instructables site is for). But we want to spotlight some of these

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Whether you do it yourself or leave it to the professionals, conducting a home energy audit will help you determine what improvements you’ll need to make your home more energy efficient, so you can live more comfortably and start saving money on utility bills.

An energy audit requires a look at your annual energy usage and an examination, or walk through, of your home. Unfortunately, since houses aren’t built as energy

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There’s more than just bamboo when it comes to sustainable flooring. More green alternatives are available now for several types of flooring material. So, whether you’re looking to re-carpet the living room or want to re-do your kitchen, here are a few things to consider when thinking about flooring.

Buy recycled content or renewable materials.

• Bamboo and cork are renewable resources, as is wood when it is sustainably harvested.
• Look for

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Because of the wide number of different loads that can be within a house, many people don’t have a good sense of how much electricity they use in a month, or which uses represent the largest portions of their total consumption. And, many loads are intermittent in nature, such as refrigerators and freezers that run in cycles.

You can go out and stare at the wheel on your electric meter and see

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While it may have gotten more notice in the news recently that Steve Wozniak was recently ticketed for driving his Prius at 104 mph (that’s 166 kph), but he has also been thinking about an energy efficient house. At the end of a recent interview with PC World, Wozniak spoke of an unfulfilled dream of his:

"I have a long dream to build my own house in a

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The top item on the list of many renewable energy experts is to increase the efficiency of the devices you are using. If you are counting on solar power for lighting, you will need far fewer panels if they are powering compact fluorescent bulbs rather than incandescent ones. It doesn’t make sense to pay for renewable power system only to waste three quarters of the energy you are producing by using

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If you have pets in your house or an older carpet (such as in a dorm or apartment), your flooring may need freshening and deodorizing. Although there are many natural carpet fresheners available in health food stores, it is much simpler and cheaper to make your own. You probably already have the ingredients in your kitchen.

To make your own carpet deodorizer, combine one cup of baking soda with 1/2-cup cornstarch.

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Construction, as many of you know by now, is one of the biggest single sources for waste and may be responsible for as much as 30% of the volume used in some landfills. And, because commercial space is turned over more frequently, the interior build-out of office space is one of the biggest sources of construction debris and waste. As companies change their staff, the space they occupy fluctuates, and often

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It is that time of year to get on the bus and head back to school. Preparing for class and back-to-school activities is not our most sustainability-focused time or year. We want to buy new clothes, new supplies- a new look. This Fall, some students will be living in style out of an old container.

As some college students in Amsterdam move into their brand new housing, accommodations will be a hip combination

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In this past weekend’s local newspaper’s Real Estate Section I saw an article with a number of "award winning" homes, including a 5 bedroom, 6,400 square foot house that was touted as the winner of a green building award. The principal basis for its green claim appeared to be that it was an Energy Star home.

A generation ago, that much square footage would have built a comfortable four-plex in which [...]

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls… come right in for another edition of the Greenest Show on the Web: the Carnival of the Green! Fresh off of a stellar performance at Ms. Malaprop, the Carnival’s here at Green Options this week to amaze and delight you. But don’t wait around — the show has a limited engagement here, and then it’s moving on for a stint with our friends at Greener Magazine.

What’s

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