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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Picking the right grow lights can be quite a process.  There is such a variety of light sources, some more useful than others in a specific type of plant, or growth cycle.  It’s important for indoor plant growers to educate themselves on what grow lights they will need so they can be a smart...
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Even if you don’t have the money to spend on appliance upgrades to green your home, you can still make some very effective changes without spending the cash.  Many of these changes will save you money that could then be used for upgrades to green appliances in the future.  Regardless, you can successfully go...
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Using solar power for homes has become very popular in recent years. Solar powered devices are environmentally friendly and relatively cheap. The technology is not so new and you have probably seen simple solar panels on your watches or calculator. But if you are planning to install more complex solar power system, you might...
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Bamboo is a great material to use in the kitchen. The plant has a number of useful properties (not the least of which is that it is a renewable resource) that makes it very useful in the kitchen. This post will look at how you can introduce bamboo to your kitchen. Bamboo grows incredibly...
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Many environmentally conscious homeowners are using solar lights to add lighting to their home’s exterior. Not only does using solar lights lessen your home’s carbon footprint and help conserve the environment, it will also save you money since you aren’t using any of your electricity to power them. One of the best things about...
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Although you may have noticed CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) light bulbs usurping the conventional incandescent light bulb in stores, until recently there has been next to nothing in the way of low energy replacements for the good old halogen spot lamp. CFLs cannot be made compact enough to retrofit existing lamps (which are often...
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With all the talk of conventional energy being on the way out and the world needing to find sustainable alternatives, let’s focus on solar energy. Solar energy is basically gathering the energy found in sunlight and turning it into electrical energy. It is a cheap and effective way of generating power which does not...
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Solar power has made its way into our homes in many ways. If you are considering it for lighting purposes in your yard or garden, or on your patio, it’s important to understand that even the best solar lights won’t always be able to do the job. Solar lights use batteries that are charged...
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One of the most important benefits of solar panels is to provide electricity in areas  that are “off-grid”. This is a term used in regard to a residence that is not serviced by an electric company because it is too remote and it simply doesn’t pay them to have the electric service run to...
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Everyone loves a backyard barbecue. And if you want that BBQ to kick on into the night, some kind of outdoor light is in order to keep a barbecue party ongoing until after sunset. Now you can use solar powered LED garden lights to light your parties, and have them come on automatically as...
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