Green Housing
Yields Social and Security Benefits
n Large-home inhabitants may go all day without seeing one another and communication and together- ness can suffer. Family members living in small homes can more eas- ily cultivate strong communications and cohesion.
n Dense neighborhoods encourage interaction and cooperation among neighbors, nurturing a cohesive com- munity that can reward us with social connections, collective responsibility and assistance when needed.
n Urban homes give vandals and thieves fewer opportunities because neighbors are close by and passersby may be more readily noticed.
n Small homes can encourage disconnecting from technology and getting outside. When the TV can be heard throughout the house, parents are more likely to urge outdoor play- time for kids.
n The footprint of a small dwelling uses a fraction of the buildable lot, leaving more outdoor space for planting gardens that can nourish bodies and souls.
Source:
GreenMatters.com
The newest hybrids have been around for more than a decade, and the batteries have held up extremely well, lasting 150,000 to 200,000 miles in some cases.
~
CNN.com
$1,000 in fuel costs annually versus a comparably sized conventional gasoline-powered car. Although a 2014 midsized HEV has an average suggested retail price of $28,431, the category has been around long enough to create a market in previ- ously owned vehicles. A used hybrid that is just two years old can cost up to 25 percent less than a new one.
4. Buying American According to Consumer Reports, many shoppers prefer to buy products made in the USA, but with more than 60 percent of all consumer goods now produced overseas, finding American goods is not always easy. The good news is that buying American doesn’t mean only buying American made. We back the U.S. economy and jobs when we pur- chase used items that have been re- newed or repurposed by enterprising citizens. Creative reuse supports new and existing businesses that collect, clean, sort, recondition, refurbish, remanufacture, update, refinish, re- upholster, repair, tailor, distribute and sell used parts, materials and finished goods.
Sarah Baird, director of outreach and communications of the Center for a New American Dream, an or- ganization working to shift consump- tion away from wasteful trends, loves
20 Hudson County
NAHudson.com
the history of used items. She says, “An item that has already lived one life has a story to tell, and is infinitely more interesting than anything newly manufactured.” Another reward is the big savings afforded by previ- ously owned durable goods; not even America’s big-box discount retailers can beat these genuine bargains. Of course, not everything is available in the used marketplace, but when it makes sense, we can proudly know that our purchases support American ingenuity and workers.
5. Getting Healthy Going green is healthy in innumer- able ways. In addition to driving less, banning toxic products from our household cupboards and dinner plates is another solid place to start on the road to improved well-being for ourselves and the planet. Toxic consumer products pol- lute the planet, from manufacture through use and disposal. They aren’t doing us any favors. The U.S. Envi- ronmental Protection Agency reports that the average human body now contains an estimated 700 industrial compounds, pollutants and other chemicals due to exposure to toxic consumer products and industrial chemicals. After researching proper local disposal of such hazards, re- place them on future shopping forays with safer choices. It’s an investment in our health that can save untold pain and money and pay off big time in avoiding health problems rang- ing from cancer, asthma and chronic diseases to impaired fertility, birth de- fects and learning disabilities accord- ing to the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition. To reduce exposure to the tox-
A typical driver that can learn to live car-free will
save between $6,967 and $11,599 each year in car ownership costs.
~
AAA.com
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