Feb 2, 2011 | Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, LEED Certification, Water
As I am scrounging around for another few points to hit the Gold level threshold for our soon-t0-be LEED Certified home, I am advised to do an easy thing, that is worth two points: install aerators in all of our sink faucets (except the kitchen sink). Aerators lower...
Aug 26, 2010 | Green Home Living, Toxins & Chemicals
As part of our overall landscaping design, we wanted a significant portion of our property to be native grasses and wild flowers. Why? It’s pretty. But it is also a very sustainable choice compared to lawns. It requires no fertilization (no chemicals), no...
Aug 19, 2010 | Green Home Living, Toxins & Chemicals
A significant part of our outdoor landscaping was designed to be a native grasses and wildflower area that would require very little irrigation, no mowing, and be beautiful. As this is our second summer in the house, the area is not yet well established. Our...
Aug 12, 2010 | Green Home Living, Toxins & Chemicals
We just received a letter from the City of Minneapolis informing us that we are in violation of a city ordinance that requires all grass to be less than 8″ tall. Now, we have a nice little lawn in the front of the house and we mow it once a week – it...
Jun 29, 2010 | Food, Green Home Living
Our vegetable garden is flourishing! I did review the books on how far to space plants apart when I planted our tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, kale, and marigolds all in the same planter, but I didn’t totally trust the guidelines. This is part of the...
Jun 28, 2010 | Green Home Living, Toxins & Chemicals
All of the walls in our home are white, except for the area above our shades, which is black. We have been wanting to bring a little color into our house, and paint is a fun and easy way to do it. The problem is, which paint do we choose? When we were building our...
May 3, 2010 | Food, Green Home Living
Well, this has been a long time coming. My husband and I have always lived in apartments or condominiums, both before we met and since we got married. We have never had room for a vegetable garden, but to be honest, we never really wanted one. But as we embarked on...
Apr 19, 2010 | Green Home Living, Toxins & Chemicals
Our basement floor is exposed concrete. We did this because I have experienced many basements that smell like mold and that make my eyes itch for days. Water has a tendency to find its way into basements, and if it gets under carpet, it does not dry out and can get...
Mar 1, 2010 | Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living
This week I have started preparing all the paperwork for the April 15th tax deadline. I wanted to make sure we could take all the tax credits that surely were coming our way after investing so much time and money into building a soon-to-be LEED Certified home. It’s...
