10 Ways to Make Your House Greener

Everybody's talking about the importance of eco-friendly living. We found some of the coolest and smartest products - at every price point - to help home owners do their part for the environment.
By Wendy Cole
February 2009

Smokefree Fireplace
As chic as it is eco-friendly, the EcoSmart Fire system gives you the pleasure of a fireplace without the pollutants. The self-contained unit is fueled by clean-burning denatured ethanol, a renewable resource. These portable fire boxes can be placed anywhere inside or outside a home since they require neither a utility connection nor a chimney. To make this green product even greener, the company will plant two trees on the buyer’s behalf for every unit purchased. Cost: Models range from $2,100 to $11,500. www.ecosmartfire.com


Vintage Year for Wall Tiles
Old wine bottles and other recycled glass get a new life as exquisite, glossy tiles suitable for kitchens and bathrooms. Glass donated by the public is sorted by color, ground into granules, and turned into tile by high-temperature fusion. Bedrock Industries introduces no colorants or oxides to the production process, which has saved hundreds of tons of material otherwise destined for landfills. Also, 100 percent recyclable material is used for shipping. Cost: Tiles start at $36 per square foot. www.bedrockindustries.com


Composting for the Masses
Instead of tossing food scraps in the garbage, NatureMill’s fully automatic and odor-free composter will recycle up to 120 pounds of kitchen waste, including paper, per month. A built-in computer on the 17-pound unit (20 by 20 by 12 inches) controls the mixing, heating, and aeration process. After two weeks, a red light pops on as a reminder that your composted fertilizer is ready for immediate use on your garden or lawn. Compost can also be piled outdoors until you need it. A NatureMill composter can recycle its weight in waste every 10 days, diverting more than two tons of waste from landfills over its life. Energy use is just 5 kilowatt-hours per month. Cost: Prices start at $299. www.naturemill.com


Your Plants (and Lawn) Have Your Number
You’ll never overwater another houseplant with the Botanicalls system. Digital sensors in the soil let your African violet or potted palm text message you when it needs water or light. The unit will also send a texted "thank you" after the plants’ needs have been met. The do-it-yourself kit offers a connection to your leafy green pal via Twitter. You can view status updates online or have them routed to your mobile phone. Botanicalls comes with all necessary parts to set up a soil moisture sensor communication system, even a leaf-shaped circuit board. While human intervention is necessary for the actual watering, the reminders are a novel means of keeping houseplants healthy so they can help reduce levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Cost: $99. www.botanicalls.com

A bigger water savings may come from Cyber-Rain XC, which lets you hand over the chore of watering your lawn to your Windows PC. Here’s how it works: Your sprinkler system receives information wirelessly from your PC about local weather conditions and uses this information to calculate the right amount of water needed for as many as eight yard zones. Households save 30 percent to 70 percent on their water bills annually, according to the manufacturer. Cost: $349. www.cyber-rain.com


Safe and Responsible Wood
Hardwood cabinetry can be beautiful and eco-friendly if it’s made from formaldehyde-free plywood. Columbia Forest Products’ cabinets are made from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which guarantees that responsible timber industry practices, including the maintenance of the ecological functions of the forest and respect for indigenous peoples’ rights, were followed. The company also uses an innovative soy-flour resin system to comply with leading green standards programs. Cost: $150 to $450 per linear foot. www.cfpwood.com


Heated from Within
The relatively constant temperature of earth a few feet below ground enables geothermal heat products to heat and cool homes using 40 percent to 70 percent less energy than conventional systems. In the winter, the pumps draw heat into a house through a series of underground pipes and an electrically driven compressor. In the summer, they pull the heat from the home and discharge it into the ground. Cost: The typical home requires a three-ton unit costing roughly $7,500, or nearly twice the installation price of a standard heat pump system. Drilling costs can add upwards of $10,000. www.geoexchange.org


Solar Cooking
You can bake, boil, or steam your family’s next meal using a the sun’s energy. The outdoor Sun Oven can cook food at temperatures up to 400 degrees and can be used during all seasons. The device is affected more by the brightness of the day than by the outside air temperature, meaning that cooking times can be slowed by the arrival of pesky clouds. But Sun Ovens help keep homes cool in the summer by keeping cooking heat outside. Cost: $279. www.sunoven.com


Whole New Light
It’s stunning, energy-efficient, and unlike any lighting technology you’ve seen before. Planilum is a light-emitting glass panel developed by two French companies, Saazs and Saint-Gobain Innovations. Less than an inch thick, each panel consists of four layers of glass infused with nontoxic gas and phosphorous compounds. Planilum lights can be incorporated into shelves or tables or can stand alone, Each light is expected to last about 20 years if used eight hours a day. Saazs’ One, a four-foot high panel featuring rows of doughnut-shaped light circles. Cost: About $3,400. www.saazs.com


Clean Driving Machine
Belgian-based Ecover began marketing phosphate-free washing powder more than 25 years ago, long before most people even realized that phosphates were an environmental hazard. Today, the company’s extensive indoor cleaning product line, designed to safely sanitize everything from glass to toilet bowls, has been expanded to include a plant- and mineral-based car wash and wax. The product, which includes coconut, citric acid, and carnauba wax, will help your hybrid or hot rod shine naturally. The packaging is 100 percent recyclable as well. Cost: $5.70 for 500 milliliters. www.Ecover.com


Biodegradable Furniture
These plush pieces may look like family heirlooms in the making, but the swanky chairs and couches from Montauk Sofa are, in effect, built for the compost heap. Using lumber harvested from sustainably run forests, uncoated screws and nails, latex foam derived from rubber plants, and organic fabric coverings, Montauk uses manufacturing and distribution principles dedicated to limiting the company’s environmental footprint. When you’re ready to redecorate, Montauk will take back its old pieces, strip them, and recycle the wood frame and spring systems. The lumber will be reused in new sofas. Cost: Chairs start at $2,600, sofas at $3,800. www.montauksofa.com

Wendy Cole is a senior editor at Realtor Magazine

12 Free Green Ideas for the Laundry Room

Green your cleaning routine with these 12 free eco-friendly ideas for your laundry room.

1. Hang it Out to Dry- Air drying your clothes can save 700 lbs. of CO2 and $ 75.00 per person per year. Plus, clothes last longer and won’t pill or fade as much.

2. Install a Drying Rack- If you don’t want to take your laundry outside, install a drying rack over the tub.

3. Lose the Lint - Improve your dryer’s efficiency by thoroughly cleaning out the lint trap after each load.

4. Rinse, Repeat, Rinse, Repeat - Dedicate one day to do all of your laundry and be diligent. By doing your loads back to back, you’ll maximize your dryer’s efficiency because a hot dryer will dry clothes much more effectively than a cold one.

5. Wash on the Cold Cycle - You’ll save precious energy wasted to heat the hot water heater. Worried your clothes won’t get as clean? Purchase cold water detergent.

6. Use Free & Clear Detergent - Minimize the amount of dyes and perfumes that make their way into the water system.

7. Forgo the Bleach - 3% Hydrogen Peroxide can be an alternative to bleach in your washer to whiten and brighten. Simply add 1 cup to your wash cycle, avoiding use on wool, silk and dry cleaning only clothing.

8. Skip the Softener and Use Baking Soda - Also, another bleach alternative; use ½ cup per load to help whiten, soften, and remove odors from clothes.

9. Toss Your Dryer - Not literally! Add a few tennis balls or dryer balls (available at Target, CVS, Walmart) to your dryer load to help speed dry time and minimize wrinkles (yay! less ironing later).

10. Wash in Full Loads - Always wash in full loads.

11. Choose Concentrated Laundry Detergents - Reduced packaging means less waste.

12. Wear More than Once - Obviously, we aren’t talking socks and underwear here… but if your clothes aren’t soiled or smelly, wear ‘em again.

10 Simple (and Cheap) Green Ideas

10 Tips to Save Energy (and Money) in Your Home
A whopping 46 percent of home energy use is, umm, energy loss! In other words, no productive energy use at all! Here are simple ways of reversing this, mostly by changes of habit.
Thanks to climatecrisis.net and The Home Energy Diet (New Society Publishers, 2005), for many of the carbon savings figures.

1. Each degree you turn down the heat saves 3 percent of heating costs, while each degree you raise the temperature of your air conditioner saves 3-4 percent of cooling costs. By changing the temperature by 2 degrees all year, you can save about 2,000 pounds of C02 a year.

2. Cook with a slow cooker or a toaster oven (or even a solar oven!) to reduce electrical use from kitchen appliances. For a meal that requires one hour to cook in an electric oven, and which uses 2.7 pounds of C02, a crockpot uses 0.9 pounds of C02 for seven hours, a toaster oven takes 1.3 pounds of C02 for 50 minutes, and a microwave only 0.5 pounds of C02 for 15 minutes of cooking. A solar cooker requires NO C02!

3. Switch to a laptop instead of using a desktop computer and cut three-quarters off your electrical use. Turn off the laptop at the end of the day.

4. Switch to cold water washing and save 80 percent on energy used for laundry and save an estimated $60 a year. Hang dry your clothes instead of using the dryer and save 700 pounds of C02 a year.

5. Plug anything that can be powered by a remote control or that has a power cube transformer (little black box) into a power strip, and turn it off, and/or unplug, when not in use. (Power cubes are 60-80 percent inefficient.)

6. Turn off the lights when you aren’t using them and reduce your direct lighting energy use by 45 percent. Stop using heat-producing halogen lamps (they can also be fire hazards). Install occupancy or motion sensors on outdoor lights.

7. Switch to compact fluorescent from regular incandescent bulbs and use 60 percent less energy per bulb and save 300 pounds of C02 a year.

8. Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket and save 1,000 pounds of C02 a year. Insulate your hot water pipes.

9. Use public transportation whenever possible, carpool, shop locally, and ideally switch to a hybrid or energy-efficient car (if you haven’t already).

10. Keep your tires inflated to improve gas mileage by 3 percent. Every gallon you save also saves 20 pounds of C02 emissions.

COUNCIL APPROVES COMPREHENSIVE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN

AT ITS REGULAR MEETING ON APRIL 13,2009, City Council approved PWP's "Comprehensive Water Conservation Plan," a roadmap for reducing water consumption citywide by 10,20, and 30 percent. PWP designed this plan in anticipation of continuing drought conditions, which have depleted our local groundwater supply, and distribution cuts of 10 to 15 percent from our imported water supplier, the Metropolitan Water District(MWD).

Pasadena has long gotten most of its water supply (more than 60 percent) from MWD, which itself is experiencing a very tight water supply situation due to long-term drought and restricted pumping rights in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where it sources most of its own supply. Last month MWD announced that it will, in turn, reduce allocations to its 26 member agencies, including Pasadena, effective July 1,2009. MWD wil then impose surcharges on Pasadena if our city exceeds teh allocation targets prescribed by MWD.

Right on time, PWP's Comprehensive Water Conservation Plan provides a necessary roadmap to help our city and customers navigate just such a situation, and worse water shortage scenarios, should they arise in the future. The Plan takes a multi-pronged approach to achieving water conservation targets:

• Implementing a new water rate structure to encourage conservation;


• Adopting and/or amending city ordinances to promote sustainable water use, such as permanently prohibiting certain forms of water waste and adopting water use limitations on new development;


• Providing water use audits, enhanced incentives for efficient practices and technology, and fully-subsidized installations of select technology innovations;


• Providing water use education, outreach and information, including usage data on bills.

While each of these approaches will contribute significantly to water conservation efforts, implementing a new rate structure and adopting sustainability ordinances are most critical to the overall success of the Plan. It's important to note, however, that while the Council did approve the Plan in concept, changes to rates and ordinances are subject to public hearing. Look for notices of public hearing on these critical matters in this and future editions of Pasadena In Focus or online at www.cityofpasadnea.net/savewater, where you may also read the 26-page Comprehensive Water Conservation Plan in full.

This article was taken from Pasadena In Focus (May-June 2009) edition

Emergency Preparedness Training

Hi neighbors,
The following was sent to me by Anita Butler, our police liaison, and is self-explanatory.
Please let me know if I can be of any help.
John Lihani,

Neighborhood Watch secretary
"I just spoke to Captain Daniel Serna from Pasadena Fire Department this morning and he advised me that they would like to give the Citizens of' Pasadena Pasadena Emergency Preparedness Training. These classes would consist of (four Saturday 3 hr. classes). This training covers basic skills that are important to know in a disaster when emergency services are not immediately available. With training and practice and by working as a team, you will be able to do the greatest good for the greatest number after a disaster, while protecting yourself from becoming a victim. A minimum group size of 20 participants is required to schedule Module 1; a participant roster will be required in advance. After completing Module 1 additional modules can then be scheduled by individual participants or as a group.
It would be great to have your Neighborhood Watch group take the class as a group and you will also receive certification for Emergency Preparedness after the class. Plus, you and your group will be better prepared for an emergency when it happens.
This class would be perfect for you and your neighbors to get yourselves organized for the emergency or possible earthquake that may occur. Please send this email to your neighbors to see if they would be interested in implementing a PERT class for your neighborhood.
Please call me if you have any questions."

Anita Butler Police Specialist IVCommunity Services SectionPasadena Police Department(626) 744-7650
abutler@cityofpasadena.net

Groundbreaking for $24 million renovation held at Robinson Park

Posted: 05/09/2009 08:50:19 PM PDT

PASADENA - Officials broke ground Saturday on a $24 million renovation project at Robinson
Park, during a weekend dedicated to the trail-blazing baseball star Jackie Robinson.

Photo Gallery:Robinson Park Celebration

Delano Robinson, widow of Jackie Robinson's brother and Olympic medalist runner Mack Robinson, was one of about 100 people who attended. The event kicked off of the first phase of a three-phase project to expand the park and renovate its fields, facilities and parking lots.
Once completed at the end of the year, "It will be the crown jewel of the San Gabriel Valley, and definitely

Mrs. Delano Robinson ,center, wife of Mack Robinson with her family during a celebration of Baseball legend Jackie Robinson at Robinson Park on Saturday May 9, 2009 in Pasadena. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Keith Birmingham/SXCITY) the crown jewel of Pasadena," said Jarvis Emerson, director of the Jackie Robinson Community Center.
After the groundbreaking, the crowd was entertained with music and performances as part of the city's Jackie Robinson All-Star Weekend.
Festivities in honor of the baseball player, who grew up in Pasadena, will continue from 1 to 3 p.m. today at the park.

- Staff writer Brian Day

article taken from Pasadena Star News

SATURDAY, MAY 9TH

The National Association of Letter Carriers, in conjunction with the United States Postal Service, will be collecting non-perishable food items liked canned meats and fis, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal, and rice on Saturday, May 9th to help families in need in our community.

You can help by placing your food donation at your mailbox on May 9th before your letter carrier arrives. It will be taken to the Post Office and then delivered to local food banks or pantries. Please do not include items that have expired or those in glass containers.

Thank you for caring,

Your Letter Carriers

www.helpstampouthunger.com