Excerpted with permission from Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Care by Jossey-Bass, A John Wiley & Sons Imprint.

For such a little person, a baby sure goes through a lot of laundry: diapers, bibs, sleepers, undershirts, blankets, sheets, socks, pants . . . and of course all the items the baby spits up on that also need to be cleaned—often. That’s why having a baby in the house turns the mundane washer and dryer into wonder machines of incredible convenience. This increase in laundry loads is also a good reason for you to focus your green efforts on the laundry room.

The Green Washing Machine

If you’re buying a new washer, remember to look for Energy Star models. Traditional top-loading washing machines use about forty gallons of water per load, whereas Energy Star washers use only about 25 gallons per load. That’s a 40 percent savings in water, which translates into an energy cost savings of almost 50 percent.10Make that new machine a front-loader. Front-loading machines work on a horizontal axis that saves both water and energy. A top-loading machine must be filled with water in order to keep the clothing wet and then an agitator swirls the water around, but a front-loading machine uses less water because the tub does not need to be filled completely; the tub itself rotates, making the clothes tumble in the water.

These machines also reduce the energy needed for drying clothes because they spin clothes faster than top-loading machines, which reduces the moisture level before the clothes even enter the dryer. As an extra green bonus, front-loading washers are kinder to your clothing, so your clothes last longer. In comparison to top-loading washing machines, the front-loaders use 50 percent less energy and a third less water. With those savings, it will pay for itself in six years and should last for ten. In addition, a front-loading Energy Star washer will save enough energy annually to light your entire home for a month and a half, and it saves as much water in a year as the average person drinks in a lifetime.

Laundry Detergent

While you’re looking for ways to go green in the laundry room, don’t overlook your detergent. You’ll find that it’s easy to make the switch to green detergents that are plant based (corn, palm kernel, or coconut oil) and to non-chlorine-bleach products made from sodium percarbonate or sodium perborate. For those laundry tasks that require special attention, think simple and homemade. • For stains, try soaking fabrics in water mixed with one of the following:Borax, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, or white vinegar.

• For fabric softening, add a quarter cup of baking soda to the wash cycle.

• For static cling, add a quarter cup of white vinegar to the wash water.

• To soften water, use a soap-based, rather than detergent-based, cleaner.

• Buy laundry products in containers that are recyclable. There are very good reasons for making the switch to a green product. Most conventional laundry detergents are made from petroleum— a nonrenewable resource. They don’t readily biodegrade, and they threaten wildlife after they go down the drain. Many also contain chemical fragrances and phosphates (which build up in streams and lakes, upset the natural balance, and starve fish of the oxygen they need to survive). They also contain chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive problems. That’s just plain bad for the earth and for your family.

Chlorine bleach should also be banned from your laundry room. This popular whitener and disinfectant is highly caustic; when it goes from your drain into the natural world, it can create organochlorines, which are suspected carcinogens as well as reproductive, neurological, and immune system toxins. They also damage the earth’s ozone layer.

Washing and Drying Tips to Try Today

· When you have several loads to wash, do them back-to-back so you can use the residual heat in the dryer.

· Run the washing machine only when you have a full load.

· Wash with cold water to save 80 to 90 percent of the energy costs of washing.

· To prevent static cling, add one cup white vinegar to the rinse cycle, using your washing machine’s dispenser. Static cling, by the way, is caused by using synthetic fabrics, so you could also switch to cotton. The vinegar also kills bacteria and prevents the buildup of detergent residue. Remove the laundry before it’s overdried.

· Clean out the dryer’s lint trap after every load to improve circulation and reduce energy use.

· Air dry whenever possible using indoor racks or an outdoor line. This conserves energy—and your clothes. They will not wear out or fade as quickly. (You’ll also save about seven hundred pounds of carbon dioxide over six months of warm weather.)

· Remove clothing from the dryer before the cycle ends and line dry to finish. This conserves energy and increases the life span of the clothing.

· Avoid using dryer sheets to soften fabrics. They often contain harsh chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin. Soften fabric with baking soda in the wash cycle. Try a commercial green fabric softener like Natural Choices Home Safe Products’ Safe ’n Soft, Ecover’s Natural Fabric Softener, or Sun & Earth’s Ultra Fabric Softener.

© Copyright 2008 by Dr. Alan Greene.

The renewable energy tax credits were slipped into a housing bill that that did not end up looking the way its lead author, Sen. Chris Dodd really intended it to, remarking earlier in the week that it was “a housing bill, not a Christmas tree.”

However, will the production tax credit and investment tax credit ever make it to the President’s desk to sign? Despite the optimism shown by some well respected voices in the green blogosphere, I would argue that we will see some sort of stripped-down version of the renewable energy tax credits, if any at all. The House has hardened its opposition to this version of the tax-credit extensions, which are estimated to cost $6 billion over 10 years. House leaders have strong objections to deficit-financed tax breaks, and with few exceptions, they have offset lost tax revenue with tax increases or spending cuts elsewhere. But since the President rebuked Congress’ previous attempts at funding the tax credits by rescinding tax breaks for big oil, there hasn’t been much of a discussion as far as where the money for this program will come from.

“I doubt that the House will accept these extensions without some corresponding offsets,” said Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) on the Senate floor. “This leaves the administration with a key role to play in developing a compromise that will be acceptable to both chambers.”

So we’re leaving this up to the administration to figure out? Yikes.

Dow Jones

The builder plans on offering variations of a design depending on the buyer’s price point. We are actively discussing what the buyer will pay for certain green features in this price range. Green has not become big in my Emerald Coast market yet. Suggestions as to what can be recouped and what will sell and what the buyers will pay?

We’re finally starting to get some data.

Further in the conversation linked above:

“Analysis indicates that home values increase by about $20.00 for every $1.00 reduction in annual utility bills (”More Evidence of Rational Market Values For Home Energy Efficiency” from the Appraisal Journal).”

I also found a series of real estate listings on the site GreenHomesForSale.com, with some gratifying keywords used. I’ve marked them in bold:

“Waterfront, Energy-Efficient Home with Organic Permaculture Garden.” “SW FLORIDA’S #1 GREEN HOME ON 9 ACRES! SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE for Energy-Efficient, Low-Impact Living!” “Florida’s #1 Ranked Green Home on the market. Winner of the prestigous Aurora award. Florida Green Building Coalition certified with 2nd highest rating of all homes in Florida.” “Waterfront solar powered 2BR/1BA + loft.” “To be certified by the Florida Green Building Coalition and EnergyStar rated. Healthy and natural materials woven throughout the thoughtful design.”

(Apologies for the Florida-centric viewpoint: I’m thinking global, but acting local.)

Obviously, these listings are a mixed bag: multiple #1 houses (heh)–apparently someone thinks all-concrete houses are “green”– and the current standards confusion are reflected in the language. Still, I’m happy to see a very mainstream realtor asking the question that the market seems to be answering.

If having a gift-free holiday is not something your family would go for, why not get them something sustainable? Just by looking through the eco-links collection on my website, one can easily see that there are cornucopia of green stores to choose from. For the next two months, I'll be featuring some of the freshest shopping destinations the world wide web has to offer, helping you get to the bottom of that twice-checked list faster than ever.

Trying to decide who to feature in my first Green Shopping Spotlight was a darn tough decision, but the answer came to me in a snap, or an e-mail as it were. Two days ago, I got a delightful message from Jennifer, half of the two-woman team that started Max and Zane, the other half being April. I'd never heard of the online outlet before so I quickly clicked on over to see what the scoop was, and boy (or girl, haha) was I in for a treat!

"This guide is meant to enable you to compare building materials and make your own educated choices to affordably seek out safer, more sustainable products. It is also meant to help you evaluate the larger life cycle implications of all the products that you buy and use."

But it appears that their interests grew, and as part of their investigation of greener living, the blog began to include articles about green news and topics of interest. It has grown to include links to a couple dozen other green websites and blogs (some of which are familiar, others may not be), and resources on elements of green construction.

Looking for a builder may not be the best first step, either. Working with an architect, rather than having a builder try to "green up" an existing plan that they have built before, may lead to a much more satisfying project in the end. Builders may believe that they can add some green features to their existing product line, but I think much better results are had when a client works with both their architect and their builder in order to create a green building as a team.

Architects are perhaps better situated to offer their clients advice about the variety of options they are considering without trying to sell them something. There are also issues such as passive solar design that require a much broader approach, like an architect offers, than what most builders can offer. Much of green building already incorporates "not doing more work but doing more thoughtful work." Working with an architect engages that thoughtful planning process, and leads to better and more fully considered plans and better homes.

Editor's note: Thinking about building green? Philip's two-part series (second part on Friday) explains the many variables you need to consider before signing a contract with a "green" home builder.

I recently received a message from a reader asking for help with finding a local green builder. Unfortunately, she is looking in a city two time zones away from me. And while I'm gathering resources and collecting information, the information I have is not that widespread. I don't have a vast database to help point people looking to do green building find the people who can help successfully execute those projects. But perhaps I can offer some guidelines about finding the right people to work with.

Her question is not entirely unique, either. I am in the middle of a two-day conference on green building (Midwest Green Building Conference) right now. One of the sessions I attended this afternoon had this very question come up during some of the discussion: "How do you find a green builder?" And, we found, there are a number of things that make this question difficult to answer. But there are some things you can do to find architects, builders, and specialized tradespeople who can help make a project turn out the way you want.