Wednesday, September 3, 2008

New Material Coming Soon...

I am not a daily blogger as you may know and that is why I have been away. I have new posts coming up soon as well as updates on my exploits with the safety razor.
Thank you and good night.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Coming Soon

Sorry but I have been a little busy lately with summer projects (mostly cleaning). I will have new posts soon dealing with (1) my high electric bill and my efforts to reduce it (2) the books that I have been able to glean lots of information from and (3) my balancing of things I like to do and how they affect the environment. Look for these posts to come after Labor Day. Have a great Holiday weekend!!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Amanda is taking over for a photo op!


This is our Raven. She is a two year old black labrador mix that we adopted from the Franklin County Animal Shelter here in Columbus, Ohio. She has been an unbelievable companion for the two of us and we do almost everything together, like going out for ice cream. Raven gets ice water though.

Amanda and I also sponsor a crate at a local shelter called Pets Without Parents where $50 a year will help the animals that stay there get medical treatment, food, and shelter. We try to visit the shelter at least once a month and bring along a bag of puppy chow and kitty food.




On July 4th weekend, my folks came out to visit from Baltimore, MD. My father, pictured here, is finishing up the storm door that he and I installed. When I was younger I didn't really care for carpentry and electrical projects, but now that I am a homeowner I cannot get enough of my father's time. I really enjoy the time he and I get to spend together and I am learning a lot.

The stormdoor is made by Andersen and it has a screen that rolls up into the top of the door for easy storage. With the temperature not being all that hot this summer, we have been able to shutdown our AC and open the door and windows for cheaper cooling. The door also has two glass panels to help bring sunlight into the house as well as bring warmth in from the sun's rays.



Here is the SnapDragon Garden that Amanda and my mother worked on while my Dad and I were installing the door. Did you know that by planting more in your yard, you can decrease how much more you mow thus having a smaller carbon footprint?

The flowers you see came from three plants that were originally planted last year. Also, can you see the boxwoods? They're in there somewhere. The flowers are beautiful!



This is Amanda and I after we just ate with my folks and hers at the Stockport Mill in Stockport, Ohio. In case you're curious, I am the hairer of the two. I am also wearing the yellowish tan shirt.
The mill sits right on a dam that houses twin turbines that are powered by the churning water. The water that flows through that dam is an obscene amount and at the time of this post, I have forgotten. But by having this dam, Stockport is able to provide power for itsself at a much smaller carbon footprint.




Here I am putting edging around a maple in our front yard. The tree grew very well last year, but this year I felt it needed more love. Also the edging helps protect it from the mower. Currently we have six trees on our property. Four in the front and two Autumn Blaze Maples in our backyard that we got for our 2nd Anniversary. Pics of the Autumn Blazes should be up soon as I am finishing up the landscaping around them.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

July 4th Weekend

So my folks were in for the weekend and I got my father to help me install a storm door for our front door. It should work great in letting light and fresh air into the house. It is from Andersen and has a retractable screen that rolls up into the top of the door when you push up one of the glass windows.
Amanda and I purchased the storm door at Home Depot with money that we earned from a yard sale that we had back in the June. The door was approximately $229 dollars without factoring tax.

On a separate but related note, pictures will be up this week!! Can't wait.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Sunday, June 22nd

This past weekend, I installed a new dimmer switch in our Master Bathroom that will now allow me to not blind myself at 6am in the morning when getting ready for work. It also saves me energy with us having 10 bulbs of light in there.
I also installed a chlorine filter for our Master Bathroom shower. It definitely makes a difference in how I feel when taking a shower. I think that we're going to take it one step further though and add a water softener to house water system. Home Depot sells a GE one for about $550 plus installation.
And finally I installed a water saving showerhead in our guest bathroom. Made by Kohler our water consumption in the shower without comprimising the pressure. Can't wait to see what my folks think in two weeks when they're here for the 4th.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

State of our House

First the bad news... Our house is a single family home sitting on about 1/3 of an acre. We have neighbors on both sides. When my wife and I initially purchased our home, we cared about the environment but not enough to prevent us from making some unfriendly environmental purchases. Our biggest mistake, was the purchasing of our Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring for our foyer, dining room, and kitchen. Going forward, if we decide to make a new purchase on hardwood flooring it will be a sustainable wood like bamboo, eucalyptus, or even cork.
Along with that environmental mistake, much of our lighting is still provided by conventional bulbs. I guessestimate about 30 bulbs. But as they burn out, they are replaced by compact fluorescent. Right now, the CFs are in one kitchen light and the front hallway light. We did, however, replace two regular switches in the dining room and family room with dimmer switches. I have since bought another one to install in our Master Bathroom.

Now for the good news... Our appliances are all energy star with our washer and dryer being front loaders. That means that they use less water to clean our clothing. The washer, in fact, uses only 10 gallons per load compared to 45 gallons per load for a top loader. Both our washer and dryer are from LG.
Our house also came with low flow toilets. Although they don't save as much water as a dual flush, they are still better than older toilets that we grew up with.
And thirdly, we recycle everything we can. When we go out to eat at Sonic, we recycle their cups that the soda or juice come in. We recycle magazines, pizza boxes, envelopes, soda bottles and cans, etc. In the course of a week, we recycle more than we throw away.

Finally the future news... There are many projects and upgrades that we are planning to install in and around the house. First and foremost, I have recently purchased a composter from NatureMill (www.naturemill.com). They offer three kinds of composter with us buying the Pro Edition. I almost bought the Pet Waste one, bought the warranty on the Pro is three years compared to one year for the Pet Waste. In my future posts, I will provide a review of the product.
I have also recently bought a new razor from www.theartofshaving.com called a safety razor. This razor is meant to eliminate the need for disposables since according to National Geographic, we as Americans, dispose almost two billion a year. I will also provide a review of this product.

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In my next post, I will describe my Master Plan for our house. I will discuss our desire for a tankless hot water heater, solar panels, a water collection system, and much more. I also hope to provide pictures soon with my wife's help.

Monday, June 16, 2008

A little bit about myself....

My name is Andrew and I am 30 living in Ohio with my wife, dog Raven, and four cats. Both my wife and I are very passionate about the plight of our environment and we try very hard to lessen our own impact on it each day. This blog will be all about our endeavors as we transform our home into eco-friendly. I will provide pictures of our efforts as well as provide sources for others to use to find out about Going Green.
If you have any questions about what I post or talk about, feel free to ask me questions. I will do my best to answer them or point you in the right direction.
I am not an engineer nor a scientist, just a regular Joe trying to make a difference in this world.