SanJoseGreenHome.com

Sure we can talk about green products like bamboo floors and solar cell phone chargers but with our homes accounting for a 21% of total U.S. carbon emissions, the focus is obvious – energy efficiency.

If we really want to reduce pollution and our carbon footprint we ought to be honest with ourselves and start with things that have the biggest impact.  Yes, it’s true, caulking those windows to improve the efficiency of our homes is not as sexy as the designer eco-smart, ventless fireplace in the corner but we have to be real, don’t we?

Green products are fun, really, but when it comes to a more holistic approach to lowering our impact on the environment, nothing is more effective than making some smart improvements like tightening that ductwork, good insulation, and weather stripping.

Enjoy this fun video where you will go on a room by room tour of a typical home and receive tips on energy improvements while tapping your foot to some groovy music in the background.

By making smart improvements we can usually make our homes more comfortable and efficient at a fraction of the cost.  Doesn’t matter whether we own or rent, sustainability starts at home.

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Love and relationships are our biggest assets

Before you bought your home or rented an apartment, did you consider how green is your community?  Chances are you haven’t.  Most people don’t.  Not only majority of folks have no clue as to what a “sustainable” community really is but for years, there has not been much need for it.  Today, however, we’re much more aware of our carbon paw prints, wasteful lifestyles and the ever growing need to just simply connect with people around us.  Fact is, sustainability of the community is becoming a huge factor when choosing a place to plant our roots for the future. 

So what is a sustainable community?  After looking at many definitions, perhaps the UK Sustainable Communities Plan defines it best: “Sustainable communities are places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, well planned, and offer equality of opportunity and good services for all.”  Ahhh… the English, they do get some things right, don’t they?  

So ideally, a true gage of sustainability is where the environment prospers along with the people who are living in it.  In order words, the housing developments must be incorporated in the natural environment already present on the ground and not the other way around which was much too common years ago.  

Such an idealistic concept as community living in harmony with the environment and local ecosystems may sound far fetched but its not.  In fact, one such example in Bay Area is (more…)

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Green homes stand out from the pack

Whether one takes global warming seriously or not, one truth stands tall for any home buyer – energy efficiency, resource conservation and healthy indoor air is becoming a must.  But with the economy still unraveling and the cloud of uncertainty hanging over our heads, a question looms… Can green homes gain traction in the real estate market?

As you may be aware, our real estate market in the entire Santa Clara County has been quite unpredictable.  It went from four months of inventory into less than one month of inventory in one year and no one really knows what the future holds.  Even some of the biggest market experts have been embarrassed and increasingly keep their Nostradamus like market predictions to themselves. 

At the same time, for the past few years, we may have noticed a quiet revolution taking place in our hearts…  Not only we are craving to live happier, healthier and more empowered lives, we are seeking friends and environments that will support that earning.  Also, with raising energy costs and ever growing health problems, many of us are looking for answers right where we sleep – our homes. 

So what has kept more people from seeking out these eco and health friendly homes?  Mainly, (more…)

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Oh my goodness, it’s 50 cents off of eye lash extensions at Longs this week!  Great deal on our dead sea sodium dense soup at Safeway!  You’ve just been pre-approved for a new tractor!  Rush… offer expiring soon! 

Offers like these are haunting our night dreams.  No wonder an ever increasing amount of people find that sifting through countless pages and clipping coupons is not their cup of tea.  If you’re looking for a solution to this one pound of week of useless paper madness in your mailbox then read on.  I have a solution for you.  

As you know, one of the chracter traits of a green home is waste reduction and junk mail can be the lowest hanging fruit.  Fortunately, you can liberate yourself from it in 5 minutes by following a few simple steps.  I’ve done it and it works.  And if you are a true grocery queen (or king), I’ll show you how you can simply find the same coupons online.

But first, here are a few junk mail facts to clip out from Do Not Mail Campaign of Forest Ethics:

• It takes more than 100 million trees to produce the total volume of junk mail that arrives in American mailboxes each year—that’s the equivalent of clearcutting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every 4 months.
• The manufacture of junk mail releases more greenhouse gas emissions per year than the emissions released by 9,370,000 million average passenger cars. 
• Annually 28 billion gallons of water are used up to process the paper.
• Scarce landfill space disfigures rural areas and pollutes ground water.
• Approximately 340,000 garbage trucks, and all of the fossil fuels required to power them, are needed to haul away mailings that don’t quite make it to the recycling bins.
• 50% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread.
• The list goes on and it’s not pretty.  Whether these numbers are very accurate is a question but one thing is certain – junk mail pollutes and unnecessary wastes our resources.  

No one is against savings these days but does it have to come at such a high cost to  the environment?  Here is what to do if you are ready to put an end to this needless junk: 

1. Our biggest offender in San Jose and entire South Bay Area is the (more…)

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Composting can be either an enjoyable or a dreadful experience, can it not?  Personally, being a landscaper I love to play with dirt so to me it’s sort of like playing in sand box – fun!  

Composting is good for the environment and it’s a smart way to put the nutrients back in the ground.  It helps to reduce greenhouse gases by sequestering carbon back into the soil; storing the carbon for plants to use. Sequestering is actually considered by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a carbon ‘sink’, because it takes the carbon (C) out of (CO2), and leaves just the oxygen (O2) to float into the atmosphere. EPA has more info on this if you’d like to read more. 

In our first month of composting at home, my wife and I reduced our trash waste from three 30 gallon bags all the way to one bag. Wow! We now get excited to see how much we can do to reduce our waste. Our worm bin in the garage and the outdoor stackable bin are also put to use and are doing great. 

If you have not tried composting yet then I would like to invite you to consider it. Relax, you really do not need to run out a buy a pound of worms to get started.  There are a few simple ways to ease into it.  

For example, you can begin by (more…)

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Sometimes weapons are our only hope for peace.

As the talks in Copenhagen are picking up momentum and the “Climate-Gate” scandal is unfolding, more and more people get perplexed and raise good questions.  Is this thing real?  Why would the scientists try to hide something or mislead us?  

In situations like these our human nature and its subtle expressions become very obvious.  It’s fascinating to observe two sets of beliefs and convictions.  One group says Yeh!, the other group says Nae!, and then there is a silent majority who are waiting to be nudged in the right direction.  

Why the mainstream media is over-inflating the climate scandal instead of focusing on real scientific numbers is probably beyond all of us but a one thing is certain: we’ll see some very positive and some very negative outcomes of this “Climate-Gate” fiasco. 

Some immediate effects are obvious – scientists will have to be more transparent, disclose sources of data and be able to back up their finding with sound and undisputable reasons.  Climate change and data that supports it ought to be visible and open to our scrutiny, it’s that simple.  There is no doubt that when all dust settles, we will still have an overwhelming amount of research showing the planet is indeed warming and we are unequivocally contributing to it more than ever. 

At the same time, doubts in the process and questionable ethics of the science community only fueled the skeptics and fed more excuses to folks who never cared about the issue in the first place.  The creepy part is that people like Sarah Palin will latch on to this piece of news like a bulldog and will keep mauling it on the media, further spreading doubt and apathy among those who don’t lack it already.  You know what separates Sarah Palin from a Pit-bull?  Nope not lipstick (more…)

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If going solar would cost you nothing would you consider it?  A few weeks ago I attended a small Green Business Show in San Jose, where our local vendors had a chance to present their services to the community.  These shows are always a great fun because green vendors pack a good punch of specialized knowledge. 

That day, one of my inquisition victims was Jeremy, a solar design consultant with Solar Technologies.  So I started as usual… “How are you”, “How’s business?”, and then “Why in the world don’t we have more solar panels in our neighborhoods?” 

After quite a few minutes of warm exchange of insights we realized we haven’t come up with anything that much revealing except for one awesome fact – affording solar energy is not as hard as most home owners think.  In fact, it makes total financial sense.  We parted by sharing one last sentiment  – most home owners simply have not taken a chance to look at this opportunity. 

So why most of us have not embraced the sun as a source of energy? 

1.  The main reason home owners have not adopted solar technology more widely is because of initial cost.  These days it’s in the range of about $25,000 -$28,000 for an average 1,600 square foot home.  Big price tag indeed. 

2.  A secondary rationale is esthetics – some folks feel that having big solar panels on their roof hurts the curb appeal of the property.  

3.  A third reason most folks have not gone solar could be one or a combination of these simple reasons: they are not sensitive to environmental issues of today’s world or they are simply waiting for a kick in the (more…)

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