Everyday Efforts Toward a Green Home
Everyone can make small, green improve- ments in their own homes that add up to help the planet. Seattle resident Jacqueline Powers, a general contractor, interior de- signer and author of Transitioning to Green: A Workbook for the Homeowner, offers these suggestions:
• Change incandescent light bulbs to some type of fluorescent or LED bulbs.
• Install timers, sensors and dimmers to maximize energy savings.
• Buy a new toilet that uses less water or has a dual flush button. In an existing tank, place a few large, filled water bottles to take up excess volume.
• Put a timer in the shower to reduce water use.
• Consider using real linoleum, which is made from renewable materials such as solidified linseed oil, ground cork dust and pine rosin, instead of vinyl flooring, a petroleum-based product.
• Refinish floors with a water-based sealer or a natural oil and wax product.
• Clean floors with a small amount of vin- egar in water.
• Improve indoor air quality by using paints free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
• To stop the entry of cold outside air, purchase foam electrical outlet insulators and install them in all outlets on outside walls.
• Weather strip and caulk all windows and doors.
• Plant deciduous trees to shield the house from the sun in the summer, keeping it cool without air conditioning.
• This spring, convert portions of the lawn into gardens filled with edible or native plants, and fertilize with organic materials.
Find these and other tips in Powers’ book, available online at GreenRemodelWorkbook. com and at Goods for the Planet, where Powers will hold free monthly workshops based on concepts in the workbook at 5 p.m., every third Thursday, beginning March 17. Location: 525 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle 98109; free parking. Also visit
GoodsForThePlanet.com.
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