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Brighten Your New Year…Go Green With Lighting and CFL Light Bulbs

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:52:28 +0000

No matter how well designed your home is poor lighting can have a negative impact on the ambience and even paint scheme. Misplaced lighting, as well as a poor choice of bulbs, can cause squinting and color schemes, and even things like food, to appear to fade into unwanted shades. One lighting source in use, and in controversy, today is the newer compact fluorescent lights called CFLs, or other wise known as “green” lighting. ‘Low-energy’ light bulbs are smaller version of the fluorescent tubes that are used in commercial settings.

In theory, CFLs use up to 75 per cent less electricity than the ‘light equivalent’ incandescent bulb, although many experts believe that even used in the correct manner, the direct energy saving may be more like 25-30 per cent than 75 per cent. Also CFLs may last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Whether you decide to switch out a few bulbs or the entire household, indoors and out, here are a few points to consider about the new green bulbs.

LIGHT LEVELS – A CFL bulb that uses 13-18 watts supposedly produces the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb, but this is in controversy. In practice, to replace a 60-watt incandescent you need a 20-watt CFL to achieve about the same lighting level.

LIGHT QUALITY – the illumination quality from a CFL is truly a judgment call. The light is different than that of an incandescent. CFLs may appear gloomy, yellowed or dull to some people while to others it is described as soft, warm and even.

HEAT SOURCE – When considering removing all incandescent bulbs remember that incandescents actually contribute a very noticeable amount to the ambient warmth of your home. A surprisingly high 85-90 per cent of an incandescent bulb’s energy is converted into heat. Consider how many bulbs you have in your home and you can quickly deduce that a very high amount of heating is produced in the evenings when everyone is home. This additional heat can affect the air conditioning costs negatively and the heating costs positively.

ACCURATE LIFE SPAN – Since a number of factors can drastically reduce the life of your CFL bulb, thus reducing any cost advantage, it is advantageous to educate yourself on the nature of the bulb. Some things that reduce its life expectancy are:

Turning the bulb on and off too frequently
Using the bulb upside down because the light rises and overheats it.
Using it in a recessed or enclosed position because of the overheating issue.
The cold (they also take a few minutes to warm up so may not be optimal if you need quick access to a garage, chilly basement or stairwell.
Using an incompatible incandescent dimmer system, electronic timer, motion detector or light detector
Using them anywhere that vibration affects them

TOXICITY VS. GOING GREEN – Ironically, some of the controversy over these “greener” alternatives is caused by the fact that they contain environmentally dangerous toxins. Some people even believe they cause headaches. Because of the toxic elements they must be disposed of properly and with some inconvenience. CFL bulbs contain 5mg of mercury or approximately a pin head‘s worth of mercury. Old thermometers contained 500 mg. The instructions for clean up if you should break a CFL bulb seems ominous when you read you must open the windows and leave the room for 15 minutes, don rubber gloves and not vacuum a hard surface because it will spread the fumes. It also advises that you pick the pieces up with duct tape then wipe everything with wet towels, followed by a double-bagging ceremony. You must then drive them to a specialist recycling center.

UV RAYS – CFLs emit a small amount of ultraviolet light that should be considered when using around people with medical conditions that make them highly sensitive to UV light.

Going Green: How To Recycle and Reuse Like the Shakers

admin — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:07:49 +0000

The Shaker community was not just famed for furniture but for their thriftiness and respect for resources. The Shakers were going green and recycling long before it was recognized as environmentally sound. The Shakers believed that if they respected what God gave them He would provide them with enough to share their abundance with the needy. Not even the smallest slivers of wood were ignored in their recycle and reuse philosophy. Their functional furniture and buildings would often be reconstructed for use by another member or for another purpose.

Today we can honor the Shaker’s beliefs not only by decorating our homes in their high quality and well formed designs but by following some effortless recycle and reuse plans ourselves.

Here are some very simple and practical ways for us to recycle, reuse and reassign materials like the Shakers did:

Backpacks: Cleaning out the kid’s closet from last year? If the backpack cannot be handed down to another student or redecorated for another year of use the American Birding Association accepts donated backpacks. Scientists use the backpacks while tracking neo-tropical birds.

Makeup cases: How many free makeup cases are in your closet or drawers? Convert them to a stylish art kit or pencil holder.

Business Card Holder: Display more photos in your purse or desk by reusing a discarded business card organizer.

Cell phones: Less than twenty percent of cell phones are recycled each year. Most people don’t even know they are recyclable. Not only can they be refurbished for abuse victims and soldiers but many can continue to be reused as a personal organizer that allows you to have an electronic calendar, phone book and clock. Remember a working cell phone even with no service provider can still call 911.

Empty metal food cans: By cutting off both ends they make holiday cookie cutters and biscuit cutters.

Milk cartons: Fill a milk jug with varying levels of water to create free and recycled home weights for exercising. One gallon of fresh water is about 8.36 pounds.

Yogurt cups: Yogurt cups make great measuring cups and they are great for taking camping or backpacking.

Cardboard 6-pack: These containers are great for picnic supplies, art supplies and even transporting hair supplies like sprays, mousses, brushes and curling irons.

Dish Rack: Rather than tossing out that old dish rack why not use it to organize your child’s coloring center? Crayons and markers stack nicely in the attached silverware dryer and the books stack nicely inside the dividers.

Wire Clothes Hangers: Some dry cleaners or laundromats can reuse these hangers. Just ask in your area.

Going Green With Amish Furniture

admin — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:23:19 +0000

April 22 is Earth Day and it has never been more important or in fashion to go green than it is today. So, this is the perfect time to reflect on what you can do to give our mother Earth a big old hug and thank her for everything she does for us every single day.

One thing you can do that is green friendly is to purchase Amish made hardwood furniture for your home and office. The Amish are the ultimate Earth friendly builders because they choose to make their furniture without the assistance of electricity and instead use handmade techniques that have been handed down for generations. By making furniture without electricity the Amish are helping to save the environment by reducing pollution and energy consumption.

Amish furniture is also made out of solid hardwoods, such as red oak, white oak, cherry, and maple, rather than a combination of manmade materials. Factory made furniture is produced using dangerous chemicals and poisonous toxins that are released into the environment, which are most certainly not Earth friendly.

In addition, Amish made furniture is more durable than mass produced furniture which means that it will last a lifetime. This means that you will not need to replace your Amish furniture with newer furniture over the years which will prevent future drains on the Earth’s resources.

So, if you really want to go green over the long term, think about investing in some high quality, handmade Amish furniture. That way every time you sleep in your Amish made bed or sit in your Amish made chair or eat at your Amish made table, you can know that you’re helping to save our mother Earth each and every day.