Guest Post by Jared Diamond

As the world economy continues to lag, cost cutting, more than a trendy activity, is an emerging necessity for most.  When one considers the expenses of homeownership, the expenditures mercilessly pile.  From mortgages, property tax, maintenance and bills, any sort of expense reduction measure is a highly welcomed dose of relief.  What many are unaware is that one of the best-kept secrets in cost reduction happens to be the “in” way for going green in 2012.  Consider the climate that will surely accompany the upcoming year and this reality grows ever apparent.

When window tinting is installed, it acts as a barrier between exterior elements and the home’s interior.  On top of absorbing potentially hazardous elements such as UV light, window tint is highly effective in absorbing thermal heat.  When less heat is introduced into a home, the propensity for cooling declines considerably. When the usage of air conditioning is slashed, households generate less energy.  On top of paying dramatically reduced energy bills, what is also being shrunk is the home’s environmental footprint.

It’s no surprise that residential (and commercial) energy usage is one contributor to greenhouse gasses.  While window tinting alone will most likely not save our planet, it is one of many collective steps that ought to be seriously considered by home (and business) owners interested in making a difference for a sustainable future.  It can be enticing to imagine what type of carbon footprint reduction would be possible if window tinting were universally adopted.

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Guest Post by Madeline Binder

Solar energy is rapidly being integrated into American culture as an accessible source of low cost electricity. However, many people are intimidated about converting their homes to a solar energy home. There are two problem that really are keeping people from converting to solar energy, (1) ignorance about the process and (2) concerns about the aesthetics of the panels.

Getting to Know Solar Energy

The first problem that is keeping Americans from converting en mass to solar energy is a simple lack of common knowledge about solar energy. People are concerned about the price and the practicality of converting to solar energy. Fortunately, both concerns can easily be resolved.

What you first need to know about a solar energy conversion is that it is practical for nearly any location in the United States. The conversion process involves installing enough solar panels to meet your energy consumption needs, installing a circuit breaker that connects the solar panels to your homes central grid and installing either a battery or a special transformer that will allow a bidirectional flow of power from your local utility provider.

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EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: ​There are a number of companies out there now doing “energy audits” for the home, after which they try to sell you attic insulation and other products and services. Is this just a scam or would it be wise for me to look into this?  – Bill Richards., New York, NY

For the most part, companies offering energy audits are reputable and legitimate and will help you both save money and reduce your carbon footprint if you follow their advice in regard to upgrading things like insulation, windows and appliances. “A home energy assessment, also known as a home energy audit, is the first step to assess how much energy your home consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient,” reports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). “An assessment will show you problems that may, when corrected, save you significant amounts of money over time.”

“During the assessment, you can pinpoint where your house is losing energy,” adds DOE. “Energy assessments also determine the efficiency of your home’s heating and cooling systems [and] may also show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity.”

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Guest post by John Tarantino

Who would have ever guessed that a person could go green in so many different aspects of our lives? If the recent recession has taught us anything, it taught us that we can be green and save money by consuming less and becoming more efficient with what we have. This rule of thumb definitely applies to our plumbing systems in our homes. Conserving water not only saves on water bills, but also reduces the impacts of major environmental issues such as protection of drinking water resources and protection of aquatic life. Conserving water also simultaneously reduces the need for energy in pumping, heating and treating of water.

Like many other sustainable strategies, green plumbing is the most effective way to reduce energy consumption. Green plumbing aims to achieve energy efficiency while conserving water. Since cold water does not lose or waste energy, hot water plumbing systems are the main focus when it comes to energy efficiency.

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EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I would like to make my holiday gifts matter this year. Where can I find ideas for green gifts? – Mary Baumgartner, via e-mail

The holidays are a great time of year to share your enthusiasm for protecting the environment with family and friends. One meaningful gift—a fashion-forward t-shirt from Rain Tees—can help fight environmental destruction far away while raising awareness here at home. Every Rain Tee is hand-made in the U.S. from eco-friendly fabrics and features original artwork created by children living in countries facing rampant deforestation. For every t-shirt the company sells, proceeds help the cause and Rain Tees’ charity partner, Trees for the Future, will plant a tree in a critically endangered part of the world.

Another way to link your gifting and philanthropic tendencies is to donate to the Paradigm Project to help purchase clean burning stoves for poor families in Africa. Your donation goes toward reducing deforestation and respiratory disease in a developing country, and the Paradigm Project will send you a unique holiday ornament in exchange.

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Guest post by Lewis Davies

Stock up on eco-fuel for winter by recycling autumn leaves

Autumn is a spectacular season heralding the end of summer with a cascade of red, brown and golden falling leaves. Most of us appreciate nature’s beauty at this time of year, but consider the task of raking up and bagging the leaves to be a painful chore with little benefit. However, the leaves that fall from the trees in this season are a great source of carbon-neutral fuel that we can stock up on to last us through the winter.

Bagging up leaves (and other so-called “garden waste”) for the refuse collectors to take away, and pile on top of already heaving landfill sites, is a tragic and unnecessary end to their lifecycle. For those of us with a stove, cast iron or clay chiminea or firebowl we are passing up on the chance to do a little bit for the environment – and for our wallets.

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Guest post by Greg Tornga

A renewable energy primer for the home

Coal, oil and gas = fossil fuels = nonrenewable = will one day not exist

Solar, wind, plant, hydrogen, heat, ocean and flowing water = renewable energy = is constantly replenished by the earth’s atmosphere.

Introducing Solar Powered Energy Into the Home

The term ‘solar powered’ means powered by sunlight.  Scientists have found ways to convert sunlight into electricity through the creation of Solar Photovoltaic Technology.  You must be seeing solar panels popping up in all sorts of locations – homes, businesses and even lined up in big fields. This is a way to create renewable energy and bring us one step closer to removing the need for non-renewable materials on which to live.  Typically, 10-20 solar panels are used to electrify a home.  They are mounted at an angle facing the south or they can be installed to track the sun’s movement.  You can find additional information and resources on how to install solar panels at your home at the website for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

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It is no longer very hard to find many forms of alternative medicine in the most progressive cities of America. There are some small towns where you will easily find a dozen acupuncturists within a few blocks of each other; spaced evenly between the massage therapists, yoga studios and a few apothecaries. One apothecary may have bulk herbs and the other may have a cozy atmosphere and gift items such as bath salts and home-made incense. In the beginning, this trend was rather charming and offered a lot of options for those of us who are seeking to heal our bodies and minds in alternative ways.

We were sick of the excessive pills and willy-nilly use of antibiotics, sick of the doctors who didn’t look us in the face. We wanted a kind woman with comfy clothes to feel our pulse and tell us what tea we should drink to help our headaches. We wanted the massage therapist to work some magic and cure our sciatica; we wanted the kind gentleman at the herbal shop to whip up a tincture that could get rid of that nasty poison ivy rash. But somewhere along the way, we realized that we could go to our local CVS and get St. John’s Wort supplements or beeswax lip balm. Finally, the main stream was beginning to get it, right?

On one hand, this shift is an amazing opportunity to experience many forms of alternative healing. It is fabulous to be able to choose between seven acupuncturists and exhilarating to have a different yoga class to attend every night of the week. It’s as easy to find a bottle of Goldenseal supplements as it is to find a bottle of aspirin. But where did these alternative medicines come from, and how do they work?

It is a question that is no longer asked by many people who use these supplements daily. They may not know what St. John’s Wort looks like, but they know it helps with seasonal depression and comes in easy-to-swallow pill form. They aren’t sure where to find Goldenseal, but they are pretty sure that they should take it with Echinacea as soon as they feel sick, or once they are already sick, and what’s the difference? The problem is that this mentality is turning herbalism and alternative medicine into the very thing we hated about Western medicine to begin with. (more…)

 EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I love to cook and when I have the time I make soups, stews and pasta meals in large batches and freeze them.  I use leftover plastic containers, but I know this is not good. What kinds of containers are safe for freezer food storage? -  Kathy Roberto, via e-mail

Reusing leftover plastic food containers to store items in the freezer may be noble environmentally, but it might not be wise from the perspective of keeping food safely frozen and tasting its best when later heated up and served. Many such containers are designed for one-time use and then recycling, so it’s not worth risking using them over and over. Likewise, wax paper, bread wrappers and cardboard cartons should not be used to store frozen foods; these types of containers don’t provide enough of a barrier to moisture and odors and also may not keep food fresh when frozen.

Luckily though, many other materials are suitable for use as freezer-safe storage containers, at least according to the National Center for Home Food Preparation. To qualify as “freezer-safe,” the Georgia-based non-profit maintains, food storage containers must resist moisture-vapor, oil, grease and water as well as brittleness and cracking at low temperatures, while being durable, leak-proof and easy-to seal. They must also protect foods from absorption of off-flavors or odors. “Good freezing materials include rigid containers made of aluminum, glass, plastic, tin or heavily waxed cardboard; bags and sheets of moisture-vapor resistant wraps; and laminated papers made specially for freezing,” reports the group. (more…)

Guest Post by Joanne

Now that we are all more aware of climate change and its effects many of us have made a conscious decision to live a more eco-friendly life. We all look at our homes to see where we can make some small changes. But one area that is often overlooked is our garden. It is the only green space many of us own and because of this most would naturally assume that it is an eco-friendly environment, but there are still some small changes that we can all make to turn to our garden into a more eco-friendly environment. And all the little changes we can make will add up!

Every gardener wants to have a range of vibrant colors and exotic plants in their garden and garden centers have catered for that need by importing exotic plant species from all over the world. Planting non-native species in your garden may help to bring your garden to life but it will have a number of environmental impacts. Firstly is the added air miles that are clocked up in getting the plants to your local garden center. You may also lose biodiversity in your garden because the exotic plants may not attract native species of birds and insects.  The best advice is to plant species that are native to your environment. (more…)