Name: Lara
Location: Clarksville, TN
Profession: Realtor
Welcome to Lara and her family, who have made many meaningful green moves already, with plans for more. From the basics to big plans, this is the way we've noticed that "going green" works - you start out with a few little things and find yourself inspired to make more and more changes as you realize how good it feels to implement an eco-friendly lifestyle. Check out Lara's green moves below the jump...
Green Move #1:The Basics: Zero VOC Paint, CFLs, Green Cleaning and Recycling
The things I do on a day to day basis are the things that most people do. I paint with zero or low VOC paint. The most recent room is my middle child's bedroom as seen in the photos (Olympic premium). I use CFLs, I clean with green products I try to replace items the greenest, most efficient way possible. The number one thing I do is to reuse and recycle. I recycle everything. Unfortunately, where I live trash pickup is a service you pay for so the city does provide recycling bins and the trash services do not recycle. They do have recycling centers to take everything from paper, cans, glass to most recently, used vegetable oil. When purchasing items for my home I try to find quality used items when possible.
Green Move #2: Green Bathroom
In our recent bathroom addition we chose the Toto eco 1.2 gallon bowl. Adding another bath would seem wasteful but because we are a family of 5 ! ( with two teenage girls-it was a bathroom or my sanity) I tried to compensate for the bathroom by limiting my showers to under 5 minutes. By doing so, I haven't had any increases in my water bill.
Green Move #3: Lose the Paper
I kicked the paper towel habit and use towels and newspaper to clean my home, I also bring my own bags to grocery shop.
Next Biggest Challenge/Frustration: Composting, Lawn and Transportation
There is a lot that I would like to do in the future. I would like to compost my leftovers which should be easy to do for my own food as I don't eat meat (the rest of my family does). I would also love to lose the lawn and replace it with a xeriscaped, native landscape. My biggest green challenge is the awful SUV I drive. It's paid for and while the market is slow I will have to wait to replace it with a Jetta or Passat TDI that will be converted to run on waste vegetable oil. In the meantime, I try to carpool with co-workers to meetings and other work related activities when possible.
Inspiration: Path to Freedom
In my inspiration photo the home featured is from the Path to Freedom website. These folks produce ALL their own food plus food to sell, over 6,000 lbs annually on 1/5 of a acre on a city lot. They are truly amazing.
Thanks, Lara!
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INFO:
Please send us photos and info on how you live green@home. This is not a contest, just a way to build up an AT inspirational database of sorts on how real folks are living greener at home.
Simple, straightforward ideas are welcome, like how you deal with your recycling bin in a small kitchen, and so are ambitious projects - like your amazing green roof. We hope to have a big archive of ideas to inspire us all by the end of the month.
PRIZES:
In exchange for sharing your green@home ideas, Ecover will reward the first 100 ApartmentTherapy readers, who submit photo/essays demonstrating ways in which their lives are green, with their choice of Ecover Liquid Laundry detergent
Raksha Bella will reward one lucky sweepstakes winner with a complete bedding set made from all certiefied Indian organic cottons. The set includes a queen-sized duvet cover, quilt, two pillow cases and two European shams in the winner's choice of three designs. The Classic Collection from Raksha Bella features sumptous textiles in traditional Indian prints, handblocked with lowimpact and vegetable dyes. Choose from the Raj Paisley (available in Indigo or Rum Raisin), Tree of Life (in Canton & Mimosa) or Indian Rose (in Dusty Cedar, Cress Green or Indigo). A retail value of $1,165.00.
HOW TO ENTER:
To enter the Green @ Home Giveaway, please submit below. Submissions will be posted from July 7th to August 1 and winners will be notified by August 8th.
RULES:
Please, only one submission per person. Duplicate submissions will be discarded.
This is not a contest.
The first 100 posted submissions will receive a gift from Ecover.
The winner of the Raksha Bella Sweepstakes will be randomly drawn from all complete entries (even those that aren't posted).
Winners must claim their prize within three business days after the date of notification of such prize. A Sweepstakes winner's failure to respond to the prize notification within the specified three business days will be considered such Sweepstakes winner's forfeiture of the prize and an alternate winner may be selected from the pool of eligible entries. If an entrant is found to be ineligible, an alternate winner may also be selected from the pool of eligible entries.
To enter, you must be a U.S. resident, age 18 or older to enter. Employees, partners and vendors of Apartment Therapy and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter. We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology. When applicable, the winner may be required to execute and return within five business days an Affidavit of Eligibility and a Liability and Publicity Release to be eligible for the prize or an alternate winner will be selected.
All prizes will be awarded. No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except that Apartment Therapy reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize. Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state and local taxes on the value of their prize. To receive a complete list of winners or a copy of the Official Sweepstakes Rules, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Apartment Therapy, 22 Howard Street #4i, New York, NY 10013.
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Comments (9)
She's doing a lot of nice things - I like the low VOC paint and desire to drive a TDI (hurrah for biodiesel!). However, the first thing I noticed is the vinyl siding on her house.
Vinyl siding is the most un-green thing you can do. The manufacture of vinyl chloride is a nasty, toxic process which causes cancer in factory workers and those living in the neighboring community. Polymerization of VC to make PVC results in dioxins, another problematic toxic pollutant. This makes PVC "consistently among the worst materials for human health impacts" according to a report by the Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee of the US Green Building Council, who has also recommended the avoidance of PVC matierals to qualify for LEED status.
Finally, there is nothing renewable about plastic: it doesn't biodegrade, and ethene (the precursor) is made from the petrochemical industry and uses a lot of fossil fuels for energy in the manufacture. Wood or Hardie plank are really the best bets for clapboard style siding.
PS - for more information about vinyl siding check out the documentary Blue Vinyl which details the manufacture and environmental impact of PVC manufacture. Also check out the movie's sister site, My House is Your House.
Like most of these green at home entries, this one is mostly common everyday stuff. There isn't really anything particularly innovative about it. I'm not being disparaging to the contestants--there's nothing particularly special or innovative about the green steps I've taken either. And some of the things I'm able to do (like composting) are due to the services provided in the area I live, so I respect and admire those who have to work harder to achieve them. And I like the fact that AT is highlighting people who, like me, can't afford to replace an older car with a new hybrid, but try to drive less anyways. Because that's a reality for a lot of people. But while replacing CLF's and recycling and all this is a really good thing to do, it's not going to be enough to reverse global warming by anyone's measure. We need new, affordable technologies that will drastically cut emissions on a national scale.
O, and as an aside, I disagree with the poster above on your vinyl siding. The damage to the environment due to it's production has already happened. There's nothing you can do about that. The dioxins have already been produced. It would be better, I think, to wait about five years when there might be a way to safely recycle the vinyl and the "greenness" of the replacement options will be better understood.
I agree wholeheartedly! Ugly, terrible for environment. I saw blue vinyl and felt that pang of guilt even though the prior owners were responsible for the glaring white ugly vinyl. The vinyl was there when I bought it 10 years ago and while I would love to get rid of it...where would it go? In the landfill? To habitat then on someone else's house? I don't know what would be the best option. Any ideas are most graciously welcomed. It is a 70's ranch and underneath was the plywood type siding, which would have been awesome but it is unfortunately is damaged beyond repair.
been awesome but it is unfortunately is damaged beyond repair.
wow, is damaged beyond repair is what I meant to say
I'm sure the vinyl was there when she bought the house, so obviously it would be more wasteful to replace it at this point. But an interesting point to make for people remodeling/building new houses in the future.
Hi laramarie -
Sorry, let me clarify - I imagine the siding was there when you bought the place. And, it would be very wasteful to re-side the house especially when there is no good way to dispose of the matieral; what's done is done.
I hope I have not offended you, I didn't meant to. Most people don't seem to realize that vinyl is bad ("vinyl is final), and see it as a pro. I've made it my life's mission to to discourage people from vinyling their house. :)
There are some really interesting green choices for exterior protection now. But Lara's doing the right thing by keeping the vinyl siding on as long as it does the job, she is saving on unnecessary consumption.
I'm impressed with Lara's green practices. It sounds like she has to bring her recycling to recycling centeres - that's a much bigger commitment than mine - I recycle, but that just involves carrying items down the hall.
Lara, I think you'll find composting very easy.
ilovebutter: I'm not offended at all. I try...to convince builders to go with hardie but they look at me like I have three heads. You can't even try to get them to go for any LEED. This is Tennessee and I was impressed by the fact that one subdivision did SIPS (the houses were over 3000 sq feet-but it's a start!) Part of the reason behind that is that our local electric is alot cheaper here. I was born and raised in Chicago and I know family members who still live in Chicago pay alot more for energy so people do not have any incentive to build or insist on energy smart homes here. It will catch up with Tennessee eventually as oil prices continue to skyrocket.
greer: My recycle center is only a mile away and only a pain when I don't go every week. I wanted to do vermi-composting but I'm afraid the worms would die in my garage in the winter.