The team at BeMoreEco love twitter so as part of our Eco Holiday Series we have carried out an eco holiday search on Twitter and came up with these great Twitters.
Taking a few simple steps to increase water efficiency around the home will not only save more of this precious resource, but it will significantly reduce household energy bills and save all the CO2 emissions associated with them.
Below we have put together 10 top free and simple water saving tips for around the home over the summer months.
Don’t leave the tap running while brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your face.
Take a short shower rather than a bath.
Only use the dishwasher or washing machine when full. A half full machine wastes water and energy.
Fill a saucepan of water for washing vegetables rather than leaving the tap running.
Once it has cooled down, use left-over water from cooking to water plants around the home and garden.
Check the toilet for leaks by putting a little food colouring in the toilet tank. If colour appears in the bowl within 30 mins and following no flushes, there is a leak which should be fixed.
If you are on a water meter, use it to check for leaks. Take a meter reading, avoid using water for 2 hours and if after checking the meter again there is a difference, you have a leak.
Use a bucket of water and sponge for car washing rather than a hose.
Water outdoor plants and gardens in the early morning as this helps reduce evaporation and is also a good defence against slugs and garden pests.
Place a layer of mulch around trees and plants which will slow evaporation of moisture and reduce the need to water them.
The team at ECOutlet have put together a list of their top 5 water saving products - Click Here for more info.
When you think of manufactured homes, you might think of the ranch house with vinyl siding that you gingerly pass on the interstate as it traveled on the back of a wide-load truck. You might also think about a LEED Platinum home and imagine a roof spotted with photovoltaic panels, windmill in the front yard, and geothermal dug deep into the ground. The newest offering from New World Home turns both of these ideas on their heads.
This home in Cobb County Georgia is the first LEED Platinum factory-built home in Georgia and the first in Georgia to obtain Platinum certification without the aid of renewable energy sources (cf.RainShine House). Moreover, the home earned EarthCraft Gold certification, as well the the National Green Building Certification Gold, which is administered by he NAHB Research Center. The house has:
Spray foam insulated walls and rafter;
FSC wood from sustainably harvest forests;
Pre-cast, insulated concrete foundation;
Energy Star rated doors, windows, roof, ceiling fans, and appliances;
Low-flow WaterSense fixtures and tankless water heaters;
Gutters that collect 100% of rainwater for irrigation;
Low or no VOC paints, adhesives, and finishes; and
Non-added formaldehyde cabinets, floors, and trim.
New World Home calls the design platform New Old Green Modular (NOGM or "Nogum," if you want to say it out loud). The platform incorporates a holistic approach to historically inspired green homes, whose models are named after famous ecologists. The process results in homes that are manufactured, transported, erected, and finished in less than 100 days. This allows New World Home to have a supply model similar to Dell Computer's where the house is built on-demand. This is different than traditional models where developers build spec homes and have to pay carrying costs waiting for the homes to sell. It's a model that's catching on in this economy.
By building in a factory setting, connections can be tighter and the thermal breaks can be minimized. Outdoor contaminants such as mold and mildew can be avoided during the building process and construction waste is easily diverted and reused. Even the foundation is factory-made, which uses 50% less concrete and carries a 25-year warranty against water damage.
Co-Founder and President of the Product Division, Mark Jupiter, describes his rationale for not adding power generation or geothermal to his designs: "We wanted to prove a point that using a standard supply chain: Owens Corning for the windows, standard foam insulation, a standard HVAC system ... that we could produce a home that uses 50 percent less energy and thousands of gallons less water."
Wow! The month went by quickly and the prefab world is ablaze, isn't it? There's a lot of interesting talk, but I think we all know that prefab won't go anywhere until it's like the iPhone: stylish, approachable, and dead simple (which is also why community development is the new 3G S). Simultaneously, talk of Passive House and tiny living is getting louder and more interesting. Relatedly, the USGBC wants to close the performance gap with their new iteration and energy reporting requirements, but federal level legislation could shake up the entire playing field. We're monitoring all of it -- expect some long form opinion editorial soon. While you're waiting, check out a few articles that you may have missed:
"La casa movil de Vodafone," or the Vodafone Mobile Home, creatively combines glass house living, tiny house design, loft-like features, sustainable elements, and portable architecture all in one tight package. Design Boom recently reported that the portable home was designed by Waskman Design Studio, with CuldeSac, for Vodafone to showcase its fixed phone and wireless internet services. And blogger Marcos Morales and his family of four are vacationing throughout Spain with it as we speak.
You can see the construction of this mobile home above. It was built with white polyethylene panels and clear polycarbonate. The modern interior has a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and two beds upstairs. The whole thing is 6 m long, 2.5 m wide, and 3.85 m tall, or stated in more familiar terms: 19.7 feet long, 8.2 feet wide, and 12.6 feet tall.
Taking a few simple steps to increase water efficiency around the home will not only save more of this precious resource, but it will significantly reduce household energy bills and save all the CO2 emissions associated with them.