The other day we printed off the checklist for the Central Washington Homebuilders Association “Built Green” program. Wow. I had seen this checklist displayed and filled out in some of the homes during last year’s Tour of Homes, so I wanted to look up what was involved with becoming certified.

It’s pretty interesting, with several levels of certification, some self-reporting by the builder, and some third-party certified. When looking through the list, however, my desire for any sort of certification reached nearly zero. It seems to be a lot of work, and frankly, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things to consider. I think we will continue to put our energies into pursing the viability of a ground-source heat pump, good windows and insulation, low-VOC paint, xeriscaping, etc. I’d love to do absolutely everything, but financial considerations and the energy that birthing and caring for a new baby are going to be our priority.

Hoping to gather some of my thoughts and dreams regarding a future all-white flower garden: White Desert Dreams

Today in the mail I got a postcard saying that the Green Guide, which I blogged about here, is discontinuing their print and online magazine. I thought it was a great and well-researched magazine. This economy is affecting so many things and I’m sorry to see worthy publications like the Green Guide and Smart HomeOwner disappear as well as the jobs supported by them.

I was just finishing up my Jan/Feb issue of Smart HomeOwner magazine and noticed a little blurb on the last page that said it’s going to be published exclusively online from now on. I went to the site and it said that due to economic reasons they are suspending print editions indefinitely. I emailed a couple of different contact emails that they have on the site but they both came back. Frustrating, b/c I just started subbing to the magazine and now I have no idea what’s up with my subscription. Anyone know anything? I understand economic difficulties, but putting something up on the website and having valid emails would be a nice start to communicating with your subscribers. I suppose I will contact them by mail.

Some sites I want to check out:

greenbuildingsupply.com

bioshieldpaint.com

“Think Green!” TV show from Designing Spaces

Picked this magazine up from a sub-contractor family member. I think I nearly squealed as I snatched it off their counter…they’d been throwing them away, so I was glad I spotted it. They’re going to save them for me now. I also found on the site you can download the PDFs of back issues, so I’m planning on doing that.

I found it mostly filled with information about products, which was informative and interesting, but I especially enjoyed the short article on “budget green building” – right up my alley! There was also a blurb about a reflective roof covering – I’ll have to look up the product name when I get a chance. Seemed worthwhile here in the desert.

We passed this development when passing through Oregon a couple weeks ago. I’m in love with it! The design and the solar panels scream “sustainable building” when you drive past and it made me smile. What a view of the river they have, too…gorgeous! Maybe sometime we can stop and get a tour…I can’t afford to live in them, since the town houses are around $400K, but I’m sure it would be neat to learn things and see the see the “solar system” in action.

LEED for homes info. Need to check this out later…

that this is the first hit when googling “dreaming green.” Heh.

Yesterday my husband and I were walking through Fred Meyer looking for a composter that was on sale. We have one we’re borrowing, and a couple more open mesh ones, but this one was a good price and we had the need for it…our current ones are overflowing. Our local store didn’t carry it but we were in a different city for a BBQ and stopped in to see if they had one in stock. They did…we got their last one.

As we were walking out we saw an Earthwise lawnmower that someone had apparently returned, as there were the remains of grass in the catcher. We had just been talking on our way down that we’d really like to get a mulching mower (we’re borrowing a lawnmower from our landlord and even with composting the clippings and using them for mulch we can’t keep up with what is produced from out large lawn), so we stopped and took a look. It was on a deep discount, and while we wondered why the person had returned it, we figured we always could, too!

It folded right up and fit in our car’s trunk. When we got home I tried it out by mowing a bunch of our backyard. It starts up instantaneously, is fairly quiet, and with the mulching plug you couldn’t even see the clippings. Yay! I was amazed…the gas mower I couldn’t even start or push, and our reel mower that we use for the lower lawn I’m barely able to push on the upper lawns, so this is a big change. I also like how if I do need clippings for some reason we’re able to put the bagging attachment on for collection.

Interestingly, the magazine that inspired our discussion about mulching mowers on the way down, ShopSmart, also gave it good reviews, under the brand name Homelite (which I didn’t realize was the same thing until after we’d bought it and were doing some research). So anyway, we haven’t tried the whole yard with it, but so far are very pleased.

But maybe we didn’t need that new composter after all, since part of what we were going to put in it was grass clippings! Ha!