Prepping your home for a long vacation is a great way to save some dough. You can (and should!) unplug vampire devices and shut off and empty your always-on water heater to shave a few bucks off that month's utility bill (Don't turn off the A/C though). But if you come home and turn your hibernating tech on in the wrong order, you risk doing serious damage to your water heater. Here's what you need to know. More

It's hot here in Austin. Really hot. No matter how powerful our A/C unit, we could all use a little help during the heat of the day! On the hunt for a stylish table fan for our workroom, I assembled ten of the best fans that I found. More

Our Green Your Drainage series has covered a number of ways to divert roof runoff, but what if that rainwater never has to leave the roof in the first place? In this fifth and final post of the series, we're talking about the basics and benefits of green roofs. More

July 4th is a time when American families across the country congregate in their backyards for fireworks and burgers. Conspicuously absent from the revelry is the front yard. When you think about it, unless you're on the local parade route, no one really hangs out in the front yard. And it's not for lack of space. More

What if we told you that there's a home heating system on the market that can slash your heating and cooling costs by 60 percent? You're interested, right? Well, here's the thing... it really pays off for young people with many years of climate-controlled life ahead of them. Geothermal heating pumps are crazy expensive to install. More

Most people elect to turn off their air conditioner when they leave for long summer vacations. Besides being green, it can also help you save significantly on that month's power bill. But we've got one friend who lives in Phoenix, Arizona and insists he'll never leave the A/C off on his trips back to the east coast. Why not? It's because of his computer.
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In the fourth installment of our Green Your Drainage series, we’re focusing on ways to collect and reuse roof runoff with the help of rain barrels and cisterns. More

Last month I wrote about greener ways to grill and one of the suggestions was to skip the lighter fluid. Taking my own advice, I was scoping out the household goods section of my neighborhood grocery store last weekend when I saw these biomass firelighters. More

These gorgeous MOSStiles have it all: they're living pieces of art that need almost nothing to stay as beautiful as they start. Which sounds perfect for people like me, who can't seem to keep house plants perky in perpetuity. These lovely tiles need a mist every once in a while, but that's about it. And the color selection will make you green with envy! More

One of the best ways to deal with rainwater on site is to let it infiltrate straight into the ground. Last week we talked about the design and benefits of rain gardens, but what about areas that need to be more durable, like driveways, sidewalks and patios? If you have a paving project on your summer to-do list, keep reading! More