Homes are the sanctuaries where we play, rest, eat, and gather with family and friends. It's a no-brainer that we want them to be as healthy as possible. But a typical home's indoor air quality can be two to five times worse than that outside. Why? Cleaning products, furnishings, paint, and more can off-gas harmful fumes into the air; other things, such as laundry detergent, may contain harmful ingredients that aggravate delicate skin—not to mention what they do once they're sent down the drain. Luckily, detoxifying your home starts with simple steps like switching to greener cleaners and organic cotton sheets.
Malator, Druidstone, Pembrokeshire, South West Wales
Malator - modern Eco Home, dubbed the ‘blueprint for the future of Welsh housing’.
Built in 1998, this cutting-edge contemporary home has won world-wide acclaim as one of Wales’ architectural treasures.
The basic design of Malator is very simple, with essentially one room inside, divided by prefabricated coloured pods, while on the outside the house melds with the surrounding landscape.
USE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MATERIAL
If you’re not in the market for a big project like solar heating or green roof but fancy taking some steps to a more eco-friendly home, then consciously choosing energy-efficient materials for the projects you undertake is a good place to start. That can mean anything from finding eco-friendly paints to sustainably sourced wood and locally produced furniture.
Keep environmental options at the forefront of your mind and always ask suppliers and retailers what the greenest option is.
Improve your indoor air quality—without replacing your decor—by keeping rooms properly ventilated and opening windows from time to time. Regularly cleaning or replacing air-conditioner and furnace filters and keeping air ducts clear is another effective step in removing pollutants such as bacteria, mold, viruses, and pollen from indoor air, while helping keep equipment working at maximum efficiency. Another simple tip: Remove shoes at the door, which means you’ll track fewer toxins throughout the house.
To freshen your home naturally, choose all-natural, hypoallergenic products packaged in non-aerosol containers. You can also make your own room scent by simply filling a mister bottle with water and a few drops of essential oil, or by placing sweet-smelling cut flowers in a vase. If you like to use scented candles, opt for petroleum-free versions made from beeswax or soy wax.
GET A GREENER TELEVISION
Plasma, LCD, or good old-fashioned CRT? With so many choices available, shopping for a television can be a brain teaser, especially if you're watching you carbon footprint at the same time.
All things being equal, LCDs use the least energy out of the three leading screen types. Plasma televisions use about 30 percent more electricity than an equivalent LCD, while a CRT guzzles three times more energy than the same-size LCD version, according to the Sierra Club. If you think that an LCD television always trumps a CRT clunker in terms of energy efficiency, however, you're missing the big picture. Screen size is an important factor that can quickly overwhelm even an LCD's built-in energy savings. The surface of a 42-inch wide-screen television is four times that of a 20-inch model with the old 4-to-3 screen ratio, for instance. Although the LCD is more efficient square inch for inch, trading in your 20-inch CRT for a 42-inch LCD will result in a 20 percent increase in energy use.
The good news is that each generation of LCD and plasma screens are getting more efficient, with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) currently in the lead. But giant screens are often welcomed into homes with surround-speaker systems, DVD/digital video recorder machines, cable/high-definition set tops, and game consoles such as the Xbox or Wii. Homes with multiple televisions and their related peripherals can use twice as much power as a refrigerator, the reigning electrical hog in your home.
Resign wall-to-wall carpeting, it is source of mold, dust mites, and other allergens, as well as VOCs from plastic backings. If you have the option, opt for hardwood floors—ideally the wood will come from sustainably managed forests—treated with a nontoxic finish; cork, which has natural antibacterial properties and comes from a renewable resources, as well as linoleum, which is made from linseed oil, are other good choices. For added coziness, area rugs made from wool, cotton, hemp, or jute add warmth but are easy to clean without chemical cleaners. Here’s a surprising tip: You can use snow to clean a wool rug. Why? Freezing cold temperatures harden and break up bits of grease, and will also kill dust mites.
Furnish with good ideas. Materials such as varnishes, finishes, particle board, and MDF in many furnishings can off-gas volatile organic compounds, also called VOCs, which can cause poor indoor air quality and are associated with health problems such as eye and skin irritation, respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and liver and kidney damage. To keep your interior up to snuff, look for furnishings made from solid wood or that use low-VOC materials and finishes.
NURSERY -decorate with care. As in the rest of house, decorating a nursery or playroom with green, natural materials will ameliorate your little one’s indoor environment. To start, forego wall-to-wall carpets in favor of hardwood or cork flooring and area rugs and add color with low-VOC paints. To avoid exposure to formaldehyde and other VOCs, pass over conventional pressed-wood furnishings made from materials such as MDF or plywood. Solid wood trumps the cheap stuff every time; second-hand stuff is a great idea, and you can throw on a new coat of non-toxic finish to spruce up older pieces.
FOR MORE INVORMATIONS VISIT www.planetgreen.discovery.com
Buying, building, or renovating a green home is a huge step towards ecological sanity. However, we shouldn’t forget that current zoning, planning, and energy policy hardly favor sustainable housing. In addition to doing what you can to green your future home, it is also important to raise your voice for more environmentally sound housing options for everybody. Join a pressure group, lobby your government, help build green homes for your community, or donate to research bodies. Anything you can do to take the green building movement forward will help us all in finding the sustainable homes of our dreams.
