At Home / DIY

Barbara McHatton speaks about her experiences avoiding what we are now calling the Greenwashing affect. We want to knowledgeably see past skewed claims to find those products that are legitimately green.

Confused about what makes a green building product “green”?

So am I.

With all of the labels out there touting “green” and “environmentally friendly” products, it’s no wonder we’re so mystified. If a product is manufactured using recycled materials, it’s considered green—if it saves energy, it’s considered green—if it is manufactured using non-toxic materials, it’s considered green.

As the world’s most populated nation, China does things on a massive scale. Apparently not lacking in construction dollars, China has undertaken what’s been labeled the modern world’s most expensive construction project ever: The South–North Water Transfer Project. China is mounting an effort to divert the Yangtze River, the world’s third longest river, from three locations in China’s southern provinces to industrial northern regions where water is becoming very scarce and where pollution and conflicts over water access are rampant. Various articles on the South–North Water Transfer Project estimate a potential cost of approximately $60 billion USD across its three component routes and project completion times that vary by several decades, up to 50 years.

Green-focused schools are popping up across the country, from New York City to California. The Green School in Brooklyn, who call themselves the sustainaBULLS, states the following goals for their green educational core values:

• Sustainable Self - Individuals in the school community are given the opportunity to develop their individual interests. Importance is placed on individual growth and physical and emotional health of all students.
• Sustainable Relationships - Meaningful relationships among students, parents, teachers, school administration and key members of the community are developed through advisory, community work, internships and peer education.
• Sustainable Community - All members of the school work to develop a learning community that promotes academic excellence, democratic decision making and individual responsibility.
• Sustainable Society - Students have the opportunity to explore careers that promote a healthy society through internships and apprenticeships.

I’d like to kick off my self-labeled “Water Week” with a historical tale about the potential hazards of allowing civil engineers to move rivers around.  In grade school, I remember hearing about a big sea in Southern California, the Salton Sea.  Its name sounded distinguished and venerable.  I always thought it held the non-evaporated water and denizens of some ancient body of ocean water.   However, up until 1905, it was a dry depression, an ancient sea bed in the stark desert of southern California between Palm Springs and Yuma, AZ.

Remodeling your house?  Are the updates going to increase energy efficiency?  Tax rebates and credits are available through the federal government for home improvements that enhance the energy efficiency of your home.

Annie Leonard, an activist and filmmaker from Seattle, Washington, finally got fed up with observing how her trash, whether recycled or dumped, completed a linear waste disposal system. So, Annie asked herself:

Hmm, if we continue to follow the waste process of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, disposal, we will most certainly deplete society of all of its natural resources that took billions of years to create underneath Earth's crust.

Leonard created a program that includes a website, blog, video, and data to support her efforts to stop the current Story of Stuff we experience in the U.S. and abroad today.

Oxmoor House voluntarily recalled nearly 1,000,000 home improvement books purchased at home improvement stores and bookstores nationwide between January 1975 and December 2009.  The recall was prompted due to faulty wiring diagrams and technical instructions which could possibly lead to shock or fire hazards.