Starting or maintaining a more sustainable approach to living can be immensely challenging. Many eco-friendly endeavors such as gardening require enormous knowledge and the acquisition of new skills. To that end, I’d like to present a list of smart phone apps I think are helpful for anyone interested in growing her own crops or greening…
In October 2011, SolarWorld and 6 other US manufacturing companies lodged a petition claiming that the dumping of cheap Chinese solar panels onto the market was unfair and prevented them from competing in the manufacture of solar panels. Preliminary investigations suggest that the Chinese government has been providing subsidies to their solar industry to the…
Global warming is a term that has become all too common to citizens of America and people throughout the world. We have all heard of the dangers that are currently being presented to our atmosphere because of global warming, but we are still only beginning to grasp the other changes to our planet that this…
If you are building a home, renovating your current residence or adding on to your house, it is important to find green products. With creativity and a little patience, you can ensure that your home or addition is built from sustainable products. Sustainable Timber Since wood is one of the most common products that builders…
A lot of attention has been given to the graphene in recent months. The product of an experiment in a Manchester University laboratory only eight years ago, graphene has quickly risen to be the star of material science. Stronger than any known substance, light and flexible, superconducting, and photoelectric graphene is a material with green…
If you use a GPS or satellite navigation device in your car, then ou may be doing your bit for the environment without even knowing it. Recent independent research shows that car drivers who use a GPS product have a more positive effect on the environment when compared to a driver who does not. The…
It seems all my friends are going Green these days in one form or another. I have people in my life who are crusading for a better environment or they’re doing things like moving to a vegetarian diet. For a long time, I was extremely resistant because I had so many people telling me what…
Eco-friendly cars have been growing in popularity, as the effects of global warming continue to make headlines all over the world. Manufacturers of green cars are constantly trying to improve the functionality of electric and hybrid cars with the aim of eventually replacing the conventional automobile with zero carbon emission models. There are a variety…
In 1987, the World Commission on the Environment highlighted the need to create sustainable products that would meet the needs of the present world “without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.. Reality check: it’s been almost twenty-five years since this discussion started. How are we doing? Is the market regulating…
The disposable coffee cups that fire today’s convenient coffee culture will soon find a spot in museums together with cave man paintings and dinosaur fossils if Karin de Weille has her way. De Weille started a drive in Seattle that urges people to kick their paper cup usage habit, and rely more on reusing personal…
We are always on about trying to save energy here at Sustainable Suburbia, for the sake of both the climate and reducing our dependence on non-renewable resources. But saving energy for many people is firstly about saving money, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. Living a sustainable life means living within our means –…
Many homeowners in the US are interested in solar power systems for their homes but are unsure if they are worth the upfront investment. The rising cost of electricity has sent a lot of people looking for alternative solutions, and solar energy is usually among the top alternatives that are considered. One problem people have…
It seems these days that you can’t go anywhere outside your home without seeing someone walking down the street or driving their car without talking on their cell phone. Ever since cell phone technology improved to make cell phones much smaller than when they were first invented, you can literally see them every you look.…
We’ve recently had articles on a ground source heat pump and on other alternative energy sources. Now here’s a guest post of the benefits of wind power. Wind energy is the process where wind turbines are converting kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy, which again is converted into electricity by a generator. Many…
So you want to start that vegetable garden, but your climate is too cold to get our seedlings going outside in good time? So you need to start your plants inside, or in a green house perhaps. But you don’t have a green house and you don’t have a sunny windowsill to grow them on…
Environmental protection and conservation is among the top concerns in the world today. It seems that in all facets of living, eco-friendly actions are a priority. It is natural, then, to expect this importance to drift into the home. While many homeowners consider solar panels, heat conservation, and earth friendly paints, another great avenue to…
Hardwoods come in a great many varieties. Humans have an affinity with trees; they have been our friends and one of our earliest sources of fuel, shelter and food. Trees play a major role in religious stories and most countries have a tree as their symbol. The most recent twist in the tale of trees…
If you are serious about making green interior design modifications to your home then one of the first things you will contemplate doing is installing one or more programmable thermostats in your home. Energy efficiency is a big part of being green nowadays – it reduces the amount of non-renewable resources used and cuts down…
(This article updated March 2012) There are not too many people who really want to go back to with living without our modern appliances like stoves, fridges or air conditioners. The problem is that we need to figure out a way for powering our homes without destroying our world around us. Many are considering solar…
Sustainable interior design is concerned with the present health of people and the planet and also with the future health of the world and its inhabitants. The two are inextricably bound: only by ensuring the health of the environment at the moment can we hope to ensure a good quality of life for future generations.…
