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Posts Tagged ‘eco green living’

Most celebrities splurge their fortune on outrageously extravagant homes with everything from multi-car garages and huge swimming pools to state-of-the-art kitchens and entertainment rooms with enough high-tech gadgets to use up a small town’s worth of electricity.
Clearly, these home owners have given little to no thought to the massive increase in their carbon footprint which these homes are causing. But, there are some celebrities out there who put their care for the environment before their obsession with luxury:

Johnny Depp

Not only is Johnny Depp one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, he is also known as one of Hollywood’s most environmentally-friendly A-Listers.
Johnny Depp enlisted eco-homes expert Michael Strizki to turn his 35-acre island getaway in the Caribbean into a self-sustaining habitat run on solar-hydrogen power. With Strizki – project promoter of The Hopewell Project – on the case, it is doubt the rest of the building plans will be equally as energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall

Before Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall became famous for their comedic acting and writing on Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, and The New Adventures of Old Christine, they were a pair of environmentally-minded theatre students. Now they share an energy-efficient Santa Barbara bungalow that includes a retractable roof, which stimulates airflow and negates the need for air conditioning; day-lighting, to reduce the need for electric lights; and solar heating that’s put back into the grid when the house isn’t in use. The couple also had their contractor salvage all the pre-renovation wood since, as Hall put it: “Having a second home is itself a sort of appalling excess. We figured if we’re going to do it, we better be as responsible as we can.”

Daryl Hannah

Known just as much these days for her environmental passion as she is for her films, actress Daryl Hannah spends her days off in the Rocky Mountains, where her converted-stagecoach-stop home is almost entirely solar powered. The off-grid dwelling sits next to a winterised barn (also solar powered) made of reclaimed wood, and inside, Hannah and her guests sit on a moss-covered stone that doubles as a couch.

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts, her husband Danny Moder and their three children share an over-sized, 6,000-square-foot home, complete with tennis court and pool, but the home’s recent estimated $20 million green renovation – including recycled tiling and sustainable building materials – help keep the mansion’s carbon footprint restrained. The home’s three roofs’ worth of solar panels takes advantage of living in Malibu by harnessing the climate’s natural energy.

Orlando Bloom

Perhaps all the time together Orlando Bloom shared with Johnny Depp on the Pirates of the Caribbean set allowed some of Depp’s environmentalism to rub off on co-star Orlando Bloom.
Bloom, who is a participant of the Global Cool climate change campaign, made his new-construction home in London as green as possible, with everything from solar panels to energy-efficient light bulbs. He has since said that the project required nearly twice as much money as he had initially budgeted, but the finished product is sure to be well worth the cost.

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There has long been a conflict between living a sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle, and still indulging in life’s luxuries. We don’t want to pollute the atmosphere with CO2, but still want to take our holidays to Barbados every year and keep our houses warm and cozy in the winter. We don’t want to fill up landfill sites, but can’t resist those luxury biscuits that come in a tin and five layers of packaging inside. We don’t like to waste water, but a hot bath at the end of a long day just feels too good.

Thankfully we are starting to realize that we don’t have to give up on all of life’s luxuries in order to save the earth, and improvements in technology and innovation have allowed us to do more than ever whilst keeping a clear conscience. One such luxury that has not always been so ‘green’ is spa days. These intensive pampering sessions have received a lot of criticism over the years for their harmful impact on the environment, but now you can go on spa days that are a little kinder to mother nature. Here are 3 ways that health spas are going green:

Green Products.

Whilst the skin care and beauty products used by health spas are often very good, they are not always good to the earth. Synthetic ingredients, harmful bi-products and animal testing are just a few of the ways products can be harmful, but thankfully there are good alternatives these days. Producers of all-natural skin care and beauty products have upped their game recently, and largely due to increased public demand, there is a far greater range and level of quality for health spa products.

Green Energy.

Most health spas often encompass a scary number of energy-consuming devises and environments. Saunas, Jacuzzis, swimming pools, steam rooms etc, they are burning large amounts of fuel and don’t do any good for the planet’s CO2 levels. More health spas though are now waking up to green energy, both creating it from renewable sources and improving the efficiency of its use. Here are some examples of how health spas are reducing energy usage/loss:

• Solar panels on roofs

• Recycling of hot air from pools, steam rooms etc

• Better insulation in spa areas

• Movement sensor switches on lights

Green Waste.

Health spas are notorious for producing large amounts of waste. Water is wasted at an incredible rate via ‘back-washing’ the pools to remove sentiment and also via constant laundry washing. Much of this waste water can actually be reused if put through the proper filters and many spas can make their money back within a couple of years by saving on water costs. The other big wastage is the packaging and containers that beauty products and are delivered in. Some spas are recycling these by handing them back to the suppliers after each delivery and asking them to be reused, saving both money and unnecessary landfill.

So with all these green initiates that many health spas are signing up to, you can still enjoy your massage, without feeling guilty about your impact on the planet.

Duncan is a green enthusiast and a blogger for a London health spa who are doing their bit for the environment.

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Go Green Easily:  Recycle

 Go green easily and start recycling.  Recycling is more than rinsing the garbage out and putting it in bins on the curb or going to a center.  Recycling is also done by reusing grocery bags for future shopping or poop-scooping.  New uses for old items is recycling, as is composting.  Searching out post-consumer recycled packaging of your favorite products is also supporting the effort.  Reducing our contribution to loading up garbage barges and landfills is becoming more and more important.  The less garbage we have, the less fuel is needed to transport it, the less land is swallowed in trash and the more empowered you feel doing your part for your planet.

 Go green easily by recycling and get some change.  Recycling in some areas is rewarded with cash and who can’t use a little extra green for going green?  Many towns, county dumps and grocery stores have a cash back policy for aluminum, tin, plastic bottles, cardboard and other paper products so it’s worth checking out before tossing something to the curb.  Call your local trash company, look on line  or try asking at the library for information about your local programs.  Most phonebooks have a section for newcomers that gives out this information so your resources are out there.

 According to the EPA, over 260 million pounds of recyclable items hit the landfills every year in addition to 2 billion water bottles and 16 million gallons of recycle oil.  That’s an awful lot of energy wasted making new containers that didn’t need creating.  There are still far too many towns that make recycling feel like a major hassle instead of a needed task.  Several areas in Washington state, as an example, charge you for home pick up of recyclables.  Seattle, among a growing number of other cities and towns, has patrons just dump all their non-plant matter recycling into one bin and yard/garden waste into another.  This creates jobs for the sorters and patrons feel encouraged to do their part.

 Go green easily: recycle in as many ways as you can.  Donate items to charities, use consignment stores, reuse jars and other containers in a new and useful way or destress and tap into your creative side.  By turning rags into rugs, chipped mugs into folksy vases or wine bottles into candle holders you have lowered your stress with artistic and responsible flair.  You can utilize your trash service, turn it into art or get some cash, the choices are there.  We have gotten too used to tossing things out before rethinking their alternate uses.  This is costly to your hard-earned paycheck and your planet. 

For more interesting articles and free advice on living green tips and eco green living  visit us at
http://livinggree ntips.info

Go Green Easily:  Got Friends, Buy Bulk

 Go green easily and buy in bulk with friends at a grocery warehouse.  You save time, money and fuel just for starters.  Most grocery warehouse stores charge $45-50 for a yearly membership and allow up to three people to be on the main member’s non-corporate card.  When split three-ways it comes out to a little over $16.00 per person to join.  The average savings buying in bulk from these kinds of stores is 33 to 38% on fresh vegetables and fruits, up to 43% on fresh meats or poultry or fish and up to 55% on canned goods and staples such as flour, rice, sugar and coffee.  These discounts include the organic foods more of these stores are carrying.  While these stores keep a basic inventory of popular items in stock, they do switch brand names, quantity sizes and rotate seasonal items quickly.  Most send out flyers in the newspapers or put on their website special deals or things being offered for a short time so check those out before you go. 

 Go green easily buying in bulk with your buddies and keep your friendships enriched.  One of the beauties of bulk purchasing with people you like is how you spend more time together just by doing a necessity.  You get to hang out writing the shopping list, making the purchases and then dividing it all up.  The other nice thing about shopping together is that impulse purchases are kept at bay.  Having a friend there to remind each of you that it’ll be harder to separate out the cost and taxes on that cute bird feeder or the complete Beatles compilation keeps everyone feeling more on task.  The free food samples can be a bit distracting but if you go there hungry, after 15 minutes of wandering the aisles, you’ll be full; we all know how important it is not to shop on an empty stomach. 

 Go green easily buying as a co-operative with neighbors, family, or even coworkers.  What’s not to like about something that saves you money, strengthens your bonds of friendship and helps the planet?  Your bank accounts stay as full as your cupboards, you can reuse containers from past purchases (good for the earth) as you divvy up the goods, take one car and turn a boring chore into a fun day.  There’s strength and savings in numbers so round up your posse and get your “green” on.
 

For more interesting articles and free advice on living green tips and eco green living  visit us at
http://livinggreentips.info

Go Green, Grow Your Own Goodies

 Go green by growing your own fresh garden goodies, no matter how small or large your garden area.  All the ingredients for salsa can be grown in two pots on the balcony.  Fresh herbs thrive in tiny pots on the window sill as easily as in a side yard.  Amaze your guests by letting them pick their own potatoes for the grill at the same time they gather flowers for the salad, no matter where you live.  Even tall plants like corn and sunflowers will do well in patio pots.  By catching and storing the cold water that would go down the drain when it’s heating up for a bath or shower you have provided your garden its life source, cut down on your water bill and stretched another resource that much farther.

 Go greener planting goodies you watched grow from seedlings.  Seed companies are increasing their varieties and stocks of ornamental and edible plants for the small-space and backyard gardeners because the demand is high.  People want fresh, ripe, toxin-free food that is affordable and readily available.  How can you be any more in control of what you eat than by growing it yourself?  Patio gardens are easy to plant, care for and are right at your fingertips.  Gardening in your backyard isn’t as complicated or time consuming as you may think, especially if you join forces with a couple of folks who don’t have any more extra time than you.  Everybody takes an hour or two, one or two days week to weed or mulch or water and all enjoy the harvest.

 Growing fresh flowers, edible or just ornamental, is a very environmentally friendly and neighborly thing to do.  There’s no need to buy crop flowers that needed bug-spray or hauling from the fields because those bright beauties are in front of your door.  Flower beds or potted plants add sparkle and smiles to your neighborhood, even up on the 12th floor.  Everybody likes to see fresh blooms whether they have allergies or not so take pictures of your accomplishments for sneezing friends and share the real deal with everyone else.  You can even make potpourri drying your scented bloomers.

 Go green and grow your own goodies to eat, admire and share.  Considering all the information available on what grows best where and how you live, why not see what color your thumb is?  Food costs go down, stress and blood pressures lower while nutrition value goes up.  Go green all the way around; plant greens to save greens.

For more interesting articles and free advice on living green tips and eco green living  visit us at
http://livinggree ntips.info

When you buy anything made within a 100 mile radius of your community you’re casting a wide net of green mindedness.  Whether you’re buying from a farmer, carpenter, winery or a coffee shack, using local resources builds the entire community up.  The money you spend stays circulating within your area, keeps small businesses thriving, cuts down on transportation costs to and from the source and  pride in the product will show.  Local merchants have a positive reputation to nurture if they want to survive so customer care is generally quite a bit better.

   Go green, go local and stay happy with the quality of products you get.  A local farmers’ market is a treasure trove of unique, personal resources.  Hand-crafted edible and non-food items made by your neighbors are one-of-a-kind gems and they’re easier to get information about.  You can ask the designer or the grower when, where and how it was made.  If you see a craft or skill you share with a vendor, you can ask where they get their supplies and why they chose that place. You can visit many of the farms and studios your favorite items come from to get an even better idea of the growing or making process. 

 Go green when you get local products by reducing packaging waste and costs.  Bring your own mug for that morning espresso and grab a bag of fresh-roasted beans or a muffin that was made 2 hours ago by the baker.  You kept a paper cup and box out of the landfill and didn’t contribute to the use of extra fuel for shipping the beans or muffin across state.  How easy was THAT?  With all the fresh produce available during the warmer months, why not grab an iced tea, some totes and visit the small farms near you?  More and more of these little farms are letting you go pick your own produce if you want.  No trucking fees, plenty of foods and flowers to pick from and the only packaging used is newspaper to wrap delicate things in your totes.

 Go green, get to know your area, crafts people and resources better.  There are still many local businesses that, once you have a good relationship with them, will even barter some their wares for yours.  The more you support your local merchants the more you’ll see come back to your community. 

for more living green tips, eco green living visit http://livinggreentips.info 

Go Green Easily:  Reuse Glass Jars

 Go green easily by reusing glass jars from sauces, olives, jams and even spices.  Instead washing jars out and throwing them in the recycling or, say it isn’t so, the garbage, use them again and again.  It’s so easy to soak the label off, grab masking tape (it peels off easily) and relabel them for left-over soup or anything you can think of, really.  You go to a warehouse grocery store and see a gallon of artichoke hearts but what to do with that large jar after the goodies are gone stumps you.  Put your flour in it to keep bugs out or use it for the jumbo bag of coffee beans you’ve been wanting to put in the freezer.  Glass freezes well as long as you don’t subject it to extreme temperature changes and leave room for the food to expand while it’s freezing.  When freezing liquids always leave 1/2 to 1 inch of room from the top of the jar and keep the lid loose until your food is frozen so the jar won’t break.

 Go green easily using glass jars and utilize the bulk foods.  Most stores have bulk cereals, pastas, snack foods and other staples that can be bagged there and put in jars at home.  They also have spices, honey, nut butters and syrups so why not reuse the same type jars for that?  You’re saving resources, counter clutter and you don’t have to guess what’s in the jar; if you use masking tape labels even spices aren’t a mystery.  When the item inside the jar changes, peel off the old tape, put on a new piece  and voila, a used glass jar gets a new life, again.

 Go green easily with reused jars and be healthier.  There is a lot of controversy about storing and microwaving food in plastic storage containers.  Too many types of plastic leach unhealthy chemicals and vapors into the hot food when it’s cooking and also as it cools in the container.  Glass doesn’t leach, leak or warp when heated so it has a built-in safety feature.  Using 8-12 ounce jam jars to store left-over soup will give everyone their own cups of soup to heat and serve, so clean up is a breeze. 

 Going green is easier than you may have thought and you have the start of a new storage container collection already in your cupboard.  Soak off the labels, use tape for new labels, fill them up and reuse them when they empty.  What could be easier?  Money, resources and your healthiness are saved in larger doses for the future.

For more interesting articles and free advice on living green tips and eco green living  visit us at
http://livinggree ntips.info

Go Green Easier:  Plan Out Your Shopping

 Go green easier by planning out your shopping and making some very simple changes to your habits. Simple steps will make a huge impact, it just takes a little patient rethinking.  From reusable grocery bags to buying and selling at consignment stores, a little preplanning will stretch your money and your planet’s resources a long way.  Take plastic bags.  Do you have a pet to pick poop up after?  Unless you’re in an area that recently banned plastic grocery bags, why pay extra for tossing out critter waste?  These are great for the cat box clean ups or for poop scooping after the dog.  Unless you go through a lot of bags every week, opt for using totes instead of the plastic or paper bags. Some stores use mostly-to-fully post consumer recycled materials in their bags, so ask.  If the paper bags aren’t using post consumer materials, don’t use them.  Trees still have to be cut down and milled to make those bags.  Totes rinse out, tear less, fold up easily and a stack of them isn’t unsightly on the backseat of anyone’s car.

 Go green easily by planning your shopping trips and you keep fuel costs down.  By making a list of what you have to do and where you want to go prevents back tracking.  If you live with others, see if you can’t run errands together or even divide and conquer your lists.  One trip to the consignment shop can get your items up for sale, some new clothes in your roommate’s or partner’s closet and a new bedside novel before  grabbing some zinnias for the patio.  A phone call before leaving work puts a new batch of salad on the dinner table, replacing what got eaten as someone else’s snack; one trip, no unhappy surprises and fuel saved.  Just grab a tote from the car and grab those goodies on the way home.

 Going green is easier than most people think and you don’t have to change your political party, your zip code or even your dress code.  All it takes to keep a greener planet and wallet is a little “Stop before you shop” thinking.  Need poop bags, get plastic today.  Start paying bills on line; electricity for the computer is cheaper than gasoline and uses no trees; there’s no paper check.  Bulk shop with friends to save fuel and food costs.  Get as many errands run in one area of town as you can.  There are internet sites, magazines and local groups devoted to helping everyday people, just like you, get a little greener, a little easier.

For more interesting articles and free advice on living green tips and eco green living  visit us at
http://livinggree ntips.info

Go Green Easily:  See The Light, Save Big

 Go green, see the light and save big.  Taking small steps to improve your planet will mean big steps toward improving your finances, your health and your community.  Most people are intimidated by the amount of information bombarding them to “go green.”   Being told “You have to become a whole new person or else” doesn’t usually sit well. They are concerned about adding new expenses or getting tangled up in high maintenance, frustrating activities. Products are coming down in price dramatically and many changes can be done at no, or very little, cost.

 Go green and save big on energy bills.  The traditional 60 watt light bulb lasts 5,000 hours and costs about 50-85 cents.  That sounds pretty cheap when comparing it to a $4.00 florescent bulb.  Now look again.  That florescent bulb uses 75% less electricity to work, emits no heat and will last close to twice as long.  Count your light bulbs, multiply by that $100 and that’s how much your electric bill will drop in a year without standard bulbs.  Three-way florescent bulbs last 6,000 hours vs the standard’s 2,500 which will put another $65, per bulb, in your pocket in a year.  Since no heat is emitted, you can put a florescent bulb in a lamp that shines like a 75-100 watt standard and only be using 13 watts.  Changing over to florescent light bulbs can be done as the old ones blow out with the same positive impact.  Go to a grocery warehouse store and buy a 10-pack of bulbs for around $24.00 and you save yourself $16.00 from the retail cost. 

 Go green easily and save big making a few simple adjustments at your own pace.  What do YOU want to rearrange in your life?  How to save on your use of fuel running errands?  Cutting back on the amount of trash you generate?  Adding recycling into your life? Saving on clothes costs?  There are community programs and resources to help you find the way that best fits your lifestyle and most information is on line.  Get your family involved by letting the kids do some research.  Go green easily; see your own light shine.
 

For more interesting articles and free advice on living green tips and eco green living  visit us at
http://livinggreentips.info

  Go Green Easily: Organic or Not?

 Go green easily with knowing which foods to buy certified organic food and which ones you can pass on.  The big push is to eat everything organic in order to save the planet and the human species.  That isn’t exactly a clear picture of the situation.  Organic foods are certified in different ways to stand for different qualities.  Many foods deemed organic are grown in conditions that still harm the land they’re grown on and many are packaged inappropriately.  Just because a product flashes the word “Organic” on it doesn’t make it worth automatically buying.  Certain plants are naturally bug-proof and get non-toxic treatments that make them invalid for the “organic” label. difficult to go green easily within the big Organic Debate.  There are websites, local gardening classes and University extension programs that will answer your questions.  How is a product deemed Organic?  What do the different types or certifications actually mean?  Are there some countries, states or counties whose foods you should avoid or buy with caution?  What foods really should be organic and which ones just need a good washing?  As to this last question, the rule of thumb is that root and tuber vegetables, thin skinned fruits and leafy vegetables should be bought at the store as organics.  Again, a little research from a trusted source will yield a bounty of important information.

 Go green easily within the controversy of what should be organic or not by growing some super simple produce of your own.  Grow your own spinach, lettuce, carrots or whatever strikes your fancy.  Greens and carrots are very easy to grow and care for plus the savings are astounding.  A package of “designer” salad greens costs around $2.75, is ready for picking in 25-35 days from sprouting and keeps producing as long as you have seeds.  Three 10-inch pots on the patio will provide a constant supply of salad goodies that can be brought in during winter and kept going year-round.  You can do the same with herbs and a windowsill.

 Go green easily choosing organically grown foods vs traditionally grown by getting more informed, being more aware and even dabbling in small batches of your own creations.  When choosing your food think of it this way: If it’s good for the plant it’s probably good for you and the world you inhabit.

For more interesting articles and free advice on living green tips and eco green living  visit us at
http://livinggreentips.info