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Many of us would love to build environmentally friendly additions or shop/storage/garage buildings. The trouble is that we do not know where to start.

One simple way is to start with a kit for your building. Building kits reduce waste because components are pre-cut & pre-measured. That way, there’re no construction materials heading to the landfill.

‘Reduce’ is one of the buzz-words for green construction. Reduce waste. Reduce water use. Reduce electrical use.

The next buzz-word is ‘Recycle’. By using recycled building materials & components we’re reducing materials heading to the landfill. By utilizing metal building materials, you can ensure that at the end of the construction’s use, the materials are completely recyclable.

We are all aware of the benefits of ‘Energy Efficient’ components. High Efficiency heating units will save you operating costs for years to come. Even High Efficiency lights fixtures & light bulbs will save you money on an on-going basis. And of course, purchase the most highly efficient appliances that your budget can afford. In this age of multiple appliances, there can be enormous saving in electricity which contributes to a greener environment.

‘Re-use’ wherever possible. By using reclaimed materials, you can save money… And creating a market for reclaimed materials again reduces landfill materials.

By simply installing water reducing shower faucets, you’re adding ‘green’ value to your construction or renovation project. Always use low volume flush toilets to reduce the amount of wasted potable water.

Plan to build energy efficient walls, roof systems & floors. There’re products & methods available to help achieve very energy efficient structures saving you heating & cooling costs by reducing energy consumption.

Design your structures to take advantage of passive solar heating. Use outside landscaping to achieve passive air conditioning. By example, a south facing window will add sun-warmth in the winter. With a deciduous tree planted strategically, that same window will not super-heat your room in the summer.

You can even clean up the air in your home or office with the proper use of planting materials. Many ‘green’ construction projects today are including green walls or walls completely covered with plants & materials to increase the air & life-style quality.

With a little planning & effort, you too can boast that your construction project was built with a greener environment in mind.

Prefab Metal Building Kits is a source of Must-Know information for anyone considering building. Whether you are considering a New Home or adding a new Metal Shop Building, PrefabMetalBuildingKits.com is your information source.

FUEL EFFICIENT
Wood pellet stoves are a clean burning & efficient source of heat energy. Many wood pellet stoves on the market have been rated to have burning efficiencies higher that 85% & have no issues meeting stringent local & federal air quality standards. Compared to wood stoves that have substantial soot & ash buildup after one use, pellet stoves can run for weeks at a time & still not produce as much ash as one days use with a woodstove.

ECO-FRIENDLY
The wood pellets that fuel these stoves are made from recycled sawdust that would otherwise be disposed of in landfills or incinerated in waste burners typically found at sawmills. Wood is also a natural renewable resource & by selecting wood pellets as a fuel source you’re helping to recycle forestry related waste byproducts.

CONSISTENT HEAT SOURCE
Pellet stoves deliver the wood pellet fuel into the stoves combustible chamber on a regular & consistent basis. What this means is that you have a very steady & consistent source of heat for up to 72 hours before you have to refill the hopper with more wood pellets. No more feeding a woodstove chopped wood every couple of hours & facing hot & cold heating cycles as the wood burns strong then dies out.

HEATING CONVENIENCE
Fill up the hopper, start & go. That’s it! No more messing around with kindling or chopped wood, stoking, & refilling every couple of hours. You can even run pellet stoves connected to a thermostat to regulate the temperature. Pellet stoves offer true heating convenience without the hassles associated with traditional wood burning stoves.

COST EFFECTIVE
Pellet stoves are the most efficient solid fuel source on the planet, & because the pellets are made from a wood waste product the cost is very inexpensive to run a pellet stove compared to other heating sources. The rising cost of other energy sources like electricity, oil & natural gas have also added to the gaining popularity of pellet stoves.

EASY TO CLEAN
Pellet stoves are simple to clean. Most have simple lift out ash pans that need to be dumped every couple of weeks, depending upon your usage patterns. Furthermore, there is no wood pile mess, bark scraps, or having to sweeping out piles & piles of ash.

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S.A. Smith is a freelance writer, contributor, & editor of the Pellet Stove Shop information portal which reports on the very latest energy news in the wood pellet stoves industry.

If you are considering constructing a new home, consider going green.

A lot of green construction initiatives are out there, which advocate building everything from pre- measured, pre-fabricated parts.

The savings for this are two fold ? the first savings is in ease of construction. By building everything from pre-measured parts, you save on labor & assembly. You also save on garbage hauling fees.

The second place where you save is avoiding building waste in your local landfill. Most homes are constructed by bringing raw lumber on site & cutting it to fit over the course of construction.

The same (to a lesser extent) is done with flooring, drywall & siding.

Good green construction techniques use the mantra of “measure twice, cut once” to its logical extreme, & can eliminate construction waste (and the attendant fees) by as much as 80%.

Green construction also ties into how the house is designed as a home & living space, & how it uses energy.

A house can be precisely placed to maximize thermal warming in the winter, & shade placement in the summer.

Similarly, green construction helps with energy bills.

By building the houses out of precisely measured prefabricated components, the insulation effects can be greatly improved ? most homes, when it comes to insulation, have the equivalent of two full sized doors open in terms of air flow.

Green construction, done right, solves this problem, & a well insulated home is less expensive to heat in the winter, & cool in the summer.

Proper heating & cooling design/installation methods are a major contributor to good green construction practices.

A more recent trend in green construction is photovoltaic cells as an integral component of construction, rather than as an unsightly add on to the home.

These can reduce utility bills (through net-metering) or provide cash flow to the home owner through an offset-tariff, & will, over the course of twenty years or more, pay off the cost of their investment.

Ultimately, doing a green home means doing a completely green home ? you can not do it part way. It does not mean you have to “give up” the life style ? but it does mean an initial investment in planning & a commitment to hold on to the home for a while to recoup your investment.

Fortunately, green homes retain resale value very well.

Green construction is more than energy efficiency.

It also leads to a longer-lasting, healthier home & a better lifestyle.

Ed Bishop brings over thirty years of experience to the art of designing & installing engineered living environments for homeowners & offers the widest array of solutions to improve the safety, comfort, quality & efficiency of new & existing homes.

Please visit http://www.heating-and-air-conditioning-guide.com

As concern over global warning increases, businesses are under pressure to reduce their impact on the environment. While it’s easy for a factory to identify how they can reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, what about the average office? One simple solution is to remember the three R’s, reduce, reuse & recycle.

The biggest output from any office is waste paper. It’s estimated that the average office worker produces 1.5 pounds of paper per day. And despite the promise of a paperless office, the sales of office paper continue to climb. While some paperwork must be stored for record retention guidelines, most of this paper ends up in the trash.

Every office can work on reducing the amount of paper they throw away. Some simple changes can make a big impact. Keep just one network printer in a central location & it will reduce the number of unnecessary print outs. Eliminating printers in every office not just reduces paper consumption but eliminates maintenance costs.

You should also attempt to make all intra-office communication electronic where possible. Don’t just look at memos but any process that requires a piece of paper being printed.

Why not reuse all of the paper that doesn’t contain sensitive or personal information. The unprinted backs make great scratch pads for the conference room. Just set a box next to the printer to collect all the bad copies. You can also create memo pads by cutting the sheets in four & stapling them together.

Even after you have taken steps to reduce paperwork & re-used where possible a certain amount of wasted paper work is inevitable. This includes junk mail, envelopes, retired files & day to day work.

Although most businesses are interested in recycling there’re some complications. So… Several privacy laws govern the proper disposal of private information. The principal of these is the Fair & Accurate Credit Transaction Act, FACTA. It requires shredding for anything that contains personally identifiable information.

FACTA has led many offices to buy a shredder & then dump the contents in the trash. An easier solution to combine security with recycling is a paper shredding service. A shredding service will not just recycle all the paper an office produces but they will shred it in compliance with privacy laws.

The hidden benefit is the office saves the expense of purchasing inefficient desk side shredders. There is more. These cheap shredders are not just slow but end up in the trash when they inevitably seize up.

And do not forget to buy recycled office paper. Purchasing 100% post-consumer office paper lightens your carbon footprint by 5 pounds of carbon dioxide per ream. It also causes 35% less water pollution, uses 40% less energy, & produces 74% less air pollution according to the EPA.

To find a paper shredding service in your are visit Shred Nations

Nature serves humans & is the source of our bare necessities. Nowadays, the global trend is towards saving nature. In the light of this awakening, the trend is changing in textiles from manmade materials to eco-friendly ones. There is more. The demand of the consumers is also changing from polyester & conventional cotton to eco-friendly garments.

These kind of eco-friendly garments are made from different products like Lycocell, Ingeo, Organic cotton, Hemp, Bamboo & Soy. The fibre which is made of wool-pulp cellulose is known as Lycocell. This is a good alternative of rayon.

Hemp fibre doesn’t need pesticides. Just a small quantity of water is enough for the production of this fibre.

Ingeo is a fibre made of bio-degradable material. This is a fibre made by man by converting corn into polymer. Organic cotton is the material which is made by using organic materials. No pesticides are used in its production. The amount of water being used is also twenty-five percent less than what’s used in conventional cotton production.

The fabric being produced from bamboo is soft & has anti-bacterial qualities. There is more. The fabric made by using different soy products like soybean oil, soy-milk & others are similar to silk in look & even in feel.

All these eco-friendly materials are produced using less water than others. There is more. They are manufactured without using any pesticides & bio-degradable materials. So… So, even the working environment is good for the health of workers.

It is a common belief that natural cotton is the most environment-friendly. In reality only those cottons are environment-friendly in the production of which no pesticides & chemical fertilizers are used. Chemical fertilizers & pesticides pollute the soil & thus they harm the environment. When cotton is dyed using chemical dyes, it contains heavy metals. There is more. These heavy metals contaminate the soil & crops. There is more. Thus the cotton being produced by these kinds of materials isn’t eco-friendly. Only those fabrics & materials are known as eco-friendly ones which do not harm the environment in any way & do not pollute the air, water or soil.

Soy fibers are fibers obtained from soy plants. Clear? In the year 1999, soybeans were used in a different way. He made underwear from the fibers made from soy plants. Clear? It was a good & economical alternative to conventional cloth. This cloth was smooth to touch & was very popular in the U.S. & Europe. China is a leading exporter & manufacturer of soy fabrics in the world, which is growing day by day.

Fibre2Fashion.com - Leading B2B Portal & Marketplace of Global Textile, Apparel Fashion & Retail Industry, Provides Business Opportunities News, Software Solutions, Jobs, Fairs & Events, Articles.

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Copyright ? 2007

Questions for the environmental pet owner

1. Do you use biodegradable poop bags for your dog? ‘Normal’ carrier bag can take over 100 years to fully breakdown.

2. Do you pick up your dog’s faeces? Apart from the obvious fact that dog faeces look disgusting they can harbour disease & worms. There is more. They can contaminate grazing areas for other animals & damage the natural environment.

3. Do you use biodegradable cat litter? Cat litter is available in materials such as wood, paper & corn all of which break down.

4. Do you reuse your Burns bags? Even though Burns bags are biodegradable these can be often used again, perhaps for garden rubbish.

GO GREEN!

? Switch off lights when you leave a room.

? Turn the tap off when brushing your teeth.

? Take showers instead of baths.

? Recycle your paper, cardboard, plastic, tins & glass.

? Compost your kitchen & garden waste.

? Use energy saving light bulbs. There is more. The Energy Saving Trust state that these last 12 x longer than normal bulbs & can save you ?7 a year on your annual electricity bill.

? Reuse or recycle your carrier bags.

? Don’t leave your TV & other appliances on standby. According to www.lookingafterthepennies.com ‘if virtually everyone in the UK turned off their TV overnight it would save more than ?66 million worth of in electricity each year, which would floodlight 250,000 Premiership football matches’

? Unplug mobile phone chargers when not in use. According to one web site 95% of the energy used by the UK’s mobile phone chargers is wasted energy? Only five percent is actually used to charge phones, the rest is used when the charger is plugged into the wall but not switched off at the socket. That’s over 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions that could be avoided if we all just unplugged our chargers after use ? the equivalent of almost 500 football pitches’ worth of forest every year.

? Insulate your house.

? Walk or cycle to school, college or work

? Eat locally grown produce.

? Only boil the amount of water you actually need.

? Only use washing machines & dishwashers when you have a full load.

? Try & use washing machines & dishwashers on economy setting.

? Turn your thermostat down by 1?C. The Energy Saving Trust state that this can cut your heating bills by up to ten per cent & save you around ?30 per year.

These are just a few ideas; there’re many more things you can try. However, if we all start to make a small effort it will make a difference.

John Burns is a qualified veterinarian who for the past fourteen years has also been producing a natural, holistic & complete food for dogs & cats, Burns Real Food - free of artificial colours, flavourings & preservatives.

As a practising Veterinary Surgeon, John became increasingly concerned about the quality of pet foods on the market, & how nutrition was playing a part in the poor health of the pets that he was seeing in his surgery.

Burns Pet Nutrition are known for being an ethical company with excellent customer service & nutrition support which can be accessed via their website http://www.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk

Solar power is becoming popular as people become aware of individual responsibility for protecting the environment & the increased costs of traditional energy sources. Even though there is much debate about the extent to which humans are responsible for climate change it should not stop people from making an effort to use more sustainable & environmentally friendly energy sources. One thing that is sure is that fossil fuels are a finite resource. And so… Sooner or later they will run out & alternatives will have to be found. Solar energy is one such resource that will not run out. This article will discuss solar water heaters & how the can save you money a help you do your bit for the environment at the same time.

The basic principle of a solar hot water heater is that the water passes through a solar collector or solar panels that heat the water. The solar collectors or panels are in direct contact with the sun & this energy is used to heat the water. The water then passes to an insulated storage tank that conserves the heated water for later usage.

There are two variations on this principle : active & passive systems. There is more. The active system uses a pump to move the water from the collectors or panels to the storage tank. The passive system has no power source to move the water but moves the water through gravity. Depending on the heat of the water in the storage tank a standard, electricity powered heater can be often used as a failsafe or in case there is a heavy usage of water. In theory how ever, solar hot water can supply up to 90% or the households heating requirements if the climate is right.

The biggest drawback of solar hot water systems is the initial cost of installing the system. There is the cost of the solar equipment & then any changes to the original hot water piping throughout the house. Again this will change with time as solar energy becomes popular. Indeed in California more new houses are fitted out with solar panels as standard than ever before. This will only increase as we go forward.

Most of the equipment needed to create solar hot water heating will last for up to 25 years. Clear? Indeed if the collectors & panels are of good quality & looked after they should outlast the storage tank. During this time the house owner should have made back the initial investment on savings in electricity bills. Another note on the initial outlay of installing a solar powered system is that many governments offer rebates or grants to people that install this kind of energy resource. This can make the choice more attractive.

Solar power can be applied to many house & garden products. Clear? In recent years the cost of these appliances have become very affordable & helped to save money on monthly energy bills. Learn more about solar powered appliances at http://www.solarpowerappliances.com/ . The site has more on the solar hot water heater , uses of solar energy for pool heating & solar attic fans for house preservation. Adrian Whittle writes about using solar power & appliances that can utilize renewable energy sources.

Make your wedding a special day - for you & the planet. To help, we have put together a list of suggestions & pointers towards your ethical big day, from the ceremony & catering, to an eco-friendly honeymoon.

Ethical Weddings can include using:

? A venue operated on environmentally friendly principles or supporting a charity or community project
? A caterer using organic & local produce
? A dressmaker or designer using organic, hemp or recycled fabrics
? A florist working with organic or fairtrade flowers
? An environmentally friendly means of transport such as horse & cart
? Stationery designed on recycled or hand crafted paper
? Wedding rings that use recycled gold or fairtrade silver or by purchasing diamonds that are conflict free see Kimberley Process
? Not accepting traditional household wedding gifts such as toasters but accepting donations to charity on your behalf
? Using biodegradable confetti

Im now going to expand on a few of the points above:

Wedding Lists

The first casualty is the traditional wedding list, a monument to conspicuous consumption featuring dinner services & crystal to be replaced at fashionable weddings by charity lists, with tree plantations & donated cows for communities in the developing world. If you’re green fingered, how about plants, trees or garden vouchers.

Wedding Stationery

Use recycled paper for wedding stationery, or attempt Recycled Paper. To save paper, you could design a website, & send a postcard to guests referring them to it… Wedding photos can be easier to share if you go digital too.

The Dress

Another option is to hire the gown & other wedding outfits instead of purchasing it & then putting in the warbrobe just to pull it out for the occasional look!

Drink

Buy organic or fairtrade wine for your guests & enjoy the revelry while nature & communities benefit. Order wine, spirits, champagne, beer & soft drinks from an independent on line organic retailer while avoiding the supermarkets that make millions in profits.

Food

Support local, seasonal & organic food production - & ask your caterer to do the same. Avoid disposable plates & make certain empties end up in the recycling bin. Ask your cake-maker or local baker to use local & organic ingredients where possible.

Transport

Find a venue as close to home as possible to cut down on transport. Horse drawn carriages are not just good at seaside resorts but also on your wedding day. If you dont have the ceremony & reception at the same venue, encourage guests to share rides to the reception or provide a coach or bus.

Honeymoon

Think about romantic destinations you can visit that are as close to home as possible to reduce the number of road & air miles. Clear? If you decide to go longhaul, then find an eco friendly or ethical hotel to stay in.

Find ethical, green & eco products to make your green wedding in the authors website.

Davinos Greeno works for the organic & ethical directory that lists 100s of Organic & Ethical Companies & we also have Organic Articles for you to read or publish.

Do you know how far the apple in your kitchen traveled before you picked it up at the grocery store? According to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, apples in American grocery stores typically travel 1,726 miles before reaching your kitchen!

Just think about the fuel needed to transport produce like this across the country or across borders. Also think about the pollution generated by the vehicles carrying this produce. An apple a day may keep the doctor away but the fumes accompanying it will definitely hurt us!

The impact on the environment is one issue, but we also have to worry about preservatives that are used to keep this apple nice & crispy during its very long journey to your grocery store. To keep produce fresh during the long haul across continents & oceans, produce companies have to use chemical preservatives. It’s well documented that preservatives are hazardous to human health.

So what can we do? Well, you can attempt your best to buy local produce whenever possible. Even though America has lost more than 5 million farms (USDA figures) since 1935, there’re still many farmers who have generated markets for themselves in the cut throat world of global competition.

Since produce from your local farms are traveling very short distances there is less pollution created in their transport. There is also less packaging & processing involved which also helps to lessen the amount of garbage we put into the environment & ourselves!

There is hope. Many small farms surrounding suburban communities or urban city centers have weekly or daily farmers’ markets. These markets connect regional small farmers with suburban & urban dwellers. Check to see if there is a market like this in your community. Often times the cooperative sponsoring the market can not afford to spend a lot on advertising so you have got to search out their location. Try your local business improvement association or municipal office to see if they might be easily able to help.

It really is enjoyable to mix up your food shopping routine by purchasing your fresh produce & meats at your local farmers’ market. In many cases you can negotiate prices (which is fun). I also find your fellow shoppers are generally in a happier frame of mind when they areperusing farmer’s booths than when they aresteering a shopping cart through crowded aisles at the grocery store. If you are like me & treasure the rural areas surrounding your urban region, then you also likely feel the sense of sadness each time a farm is sold for yet another residential or commercial development. Here’s your chance to do your bit to save the ‘family farm’ (and help curb urban sprawl).

Find out the location of your nearest farmers’ market, note the dates that they’re open & plan to be there bright & early to get the freshest, tastiest food choices of the day! Your family will thank you, you will be supporting your local economy & helping to save the environment.

Sharon McMillan is a writer & advocate for the healthy ‘new urbanist’ lifestyle. She’s a suburban mom of two who has developed a career around marketing & promoting healthy productive communities for families & businesses. If you have comments or questions please visit http://www.newurbanmom.com or contact Sharon directly at sharon@newurbanmom.com

Organic dog food is the best option if you really need to rely on commercial preparations. Commercial dog foods usually contain high levels of sodium, preservatives, artificial colors & other additives that are toxic to your pet. Organic dog food products provide a guarantee that the product is natural & doesn’t contain these toxic additions. Furthermore, the ingredients may be free of pesticides but you would need to check to make sure.

Some organic dog food products are better than others, providing high quality ingredients & ensuring that only whole grains & high quality proteins are used. Manufacturers can make all sorts of claims about their products, so you’ll need to take some time to research which organic dog food products are best. Once you have found a few products that look genuine, attempt them. Monitor your dog’s health carefully. If he has more energy & looks better after a couple of weeks using a particular organic dog food brand, that is a good indication that the product is good.

However, canned organic dog food products are still processed & dry organic dog food is even more so. It’s important for your dog’s health to incorporate some raw food & healthy scraps in his diet as well. Sardines are good for providing essential fatty acids & your dog will probably enjoy them. You may also wish to consider a nutritional supplement for your dog to ensure he is getting adequate nutrition.

Here are three good reasons to use organic dog food:

1. Non Toxic. Good organic dog food products are free of harmful chemicals that can lower your dog’s immunity & compromise his health. Liver & kidney failure can result if your pet’s system is exposed to too many toxic chemicals, particularly when they also are not obtaining adequate nutrition. Just by avoiding harmful additives & exposure to poisonous chemicals, you are dog will be much better off. By also feeding him a highly nutritious, natural product, you’re making it possible for him to live a long & healthy life.

2. Nutritionally Sound. A genuine organic dog food product will not just be as natural as possible & organic, it will contain high quality ingredients that offer your dog sound nutrition. The internet is a great place to source quality organic dog food products. Read the information carefully. Do they use whole grains? Do they guarantee high quality protein? Do they offer any guarantees to consumers? The best products are likely to be made by small manufacturers whose business is serving the best needs of your pet.

3. Your Dog Will Be Happier. At the end of the day, do not we all want our pets to have happy lives? If your dog eats a healthy diet, he will have more energy & naturally be more active. This is the cycle leading to good health. If your dog is suffering from any degenerative illness that is diet related, it’s possible to reverse it with a healthy, balanced diet & exercise.

Genuine organic dog foods can make all the difference to your dog’s health & well being. Ultimately, if they can be combined with raw food & added home made meals, your dog will probably be the happiest dog on the block!

Lee Dobbins writes for Dog Breeds 123 where you can learn more about different types of dog breeds & dog foods including organic dog food.