The Green Guide and eartheasy.com

Picked up National Geographic’s new Green Guide magazine today at the bookstore. I learned quite a few things from it and have already subscribed. In an article on CFL’s they suggested some found at eartheasy.com…poking around I found this interesting low-flow showerhead that also features a “trickle/savings mode” when the water reaches 95 degrees. I’m thinking this would be a great option for my husband since being the first shower-taker of the day means it takes awhile for his shower to be warm enough. I also really like their low-flow handheld showerhead (we use a handheld when bathing the girls), their indoor composter, and this barrel composter.

lowimpactliving.com

My friend google brought me to this site, lowimpactliving.com . Haven’t had much time to check it out, but wanted to post so I can check on it later. If you know of any similar sites, let me know.

goodtobegreen.com also looks like an excellent site…

Tankless hot water heaters and a couple new forums…

I read this post about tankless hot water heaters on houseblogs.net this afternoon. We have natural gas in this house (which I’ve never had before) and was hoping to avoid it in the new build as I’ve heard it can be associated with problems for asthmatics, but it seems the gas heaters are better than electric. Rinnai tankless heaters were recommended and we do have a nearby supplier/installer for them, according to the Rinnai website. They do not make electric ones. My hairdresser from this post has put in a tankless heater and plans to put little ones by the individual hairwashing stations. Two friends recently installed them heaters and love them, so we’re getting a lot of good feedback. I’m going to check with them whether they’re gas or electric.

Also found this forum called Green Building Talk, which I joined. Right now the amount of information is making my head spin…

Natural Home Magazine forums

I’ve read Natural Home Magazine for years and it is a continuing inspiration for me while I “dream green.” Recently they added forums. I am looking forward to connecting with like-minded folks and hopefully some people who have BTDT!

Interiors

I love dwell magazine and those modern, clean lines, glass with stainless steel etc. but am also very much in love with the traditional craftsman bungalow. Maybe a bungalow on the outside with a modern inside? Heh. Anyway, I was reading the November issue of dwell, which has to do with green building/energy/etc., while my computer was broken (husband figured out how to fix it – yay for online help forums!). I have lots to comment on from that issue, but wanted to start with afmsafecoat.com paints, an ad found at the back of that (and other magazines I subscribe to such as Natural Home Magazine) issue.

When we moved into this place we painted our room with a low-VOC paint. I’ve long thought when we build I could at *least* do low- or no-VOC paints for the interiors. The ad caught my eye as I’ve been considering interiors lately so I checked their website out. I was surprised to find not only no-VOC paints but other products such as carpet care and sealers, shampoo, caulking, lacquers, etc. And guess who my some-what local retailer is? ecohaus seattle, of course.

A link on ecohaus brought me to their product page about occupancy sensors, like the ones you find in Starbucks bathrooms. I was just thinking about those the other day, so it was interesting to come across them. Seems like that would be a fairly easy thing to incorporate. Anybody used these in their houses? Even though I expect them in Starbucks they still surprise me a little when I walk in. And do they go off, like outside motion sensor lights, when you don’t move for awhile? I’ve never had them go off on me at Starbucks, but I detest when that happens outside at night. Maybe they work differently.

buildinggreentv.com

Really, my own TV show? I’ll have to check the site out more when I get a chance. Has anybody seen this show?