The Sustainable Home
Shelter is one of our basic needs so our home is good place to start any discussion of sustainable living. There are many ways we can reduce the environmental impact of our homes ranging from the simple do-it-yourself projects to green home construction. The key with this topic and any area of sustainable living is to do first the things that are easy and get the biggest results, like weatherizing to conserve energy. If it's available in your area, buying electricity from renewable sources is a quick and easy way to reduce the carbon footprint of your home. Many states offer rebates for solar projects. Passive solar water heaters save homeowners lots of cash every year and work in nearly every region of the country. You can supplement your electrical supply with photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on the roof of your house or even go "off the grid" completely!
Where sustainable living is concerned, size matters. Nature doesn't do well when we build things on it, so if we can limit the amount of space we human occupy our impact will be less. This is becoming increasingly important with population growth. Think about the home you're in now. Do you need all that space? It's not uncommon today for family in big homes to have the members in different rooms of the house each watching a different television show. Aren't families supposed to be together? And remember, a bigger home means more house to clean. What could you do with the time you'd save doing cleaning a smaller home? Maybe read that book you've been trying to get to, or call your sister in Florida.
Sustainable Home Tips - from Victoria, Australia, but great information
More Sustainable Home Tips - from the U.S.
EnergyStar.gov - information on products, home improvement, and new home design