Green Lifestyle Consulting

My Favorite "Green" iPhone App: TreeHugger

2010-03-03T22:16:00.000-05:00

A few days ago TreeHugger released their new iPhone App with the same name. I have been using the mobile TreeHugger site for months on my iPhone with reasonable success, but the iPhone app is so much better. The TreeHugger app provides a very straightforward, clean access to the wonderful content at TreeHugger.com. I've tried numerous approaches to keeping up with articles at TreeHugger.com

Vegan Buttercream Icing and Chocolate Cake

2010-03-02T14:10:00.001-05:00

Many people are vegan for environmental reasons and we could write many posts on the topic. However, I'm currently not eating dairy or soy because of the baby. As a result, I've been discovering many new vegan treats, particularly in the cereal bar and dessert lines. I have been finding that many mainstream items don't have any dairy (or soy) in them, which has been making my life much

Let Your Voice Be Heard (UPDATED)

2010-02-23T12:30:00.000-05:00

There are many ways to do good for the environment, and there are many things that you can do as an individual. However, there are some things that are best done by governments, such as pass laws to fund large clean energy projects or set emissions limits. When there is something you want to see the government do, the most effective way to let your voice be heard is to call your local, state

Energy Saving Tips for Renters

2010-02-22T23:33:00.001-05:00

One of the questions we've been asked numerous times is What can I do as a renter to save energy? A general rule of thumb is anything that is good for a home owner is also good for a rental property, but it is limited by what you are allowed to do by your landlord. The EPA has a Top 10 List for Renters that is worth a read for renters and home owners as well. Even if you are limited as a renter

First Days with our TED-5000 Home Energy Monitor

2010-02-21T19:45:00.001-05:00

Understanding your home energy usage is an important step to to reducing it. You can get a good first start by just looking at your energy bills and thinking about why there are peaks and valleys and how this year compares to last. To go beyond looking at your bills and save even more, you need a little help from some tools. The beginner tool for measuring your electrical usage is a

Recycled Toilet Paper

2010-02-19T23:07:00.000-05:00

Toilet paper is one of those things I just can't see us doing without in today's world. Unfortunately most toilet paper on the market is made from virgin paper, which means it is straight from trees and does not have recycled content. Fortunately there are a number of good options for recycled toilet paper available in your supermarket and online. We recommend that you buy a small quantity to

Electric Snow Thrower in Action

2010-02-17T23:23:00.000-05:00

Last week, when the mid-Atlantic was buried in snow, most of Boston shut down in anticipation of snow that never arrived. This week, after actually receiving enough snow to shovel (about 8"), I took the opportunity to get some photos of our electric snow thrower in action. In about 35 minutes, we (I had occasional help from my 5 year-olds) cleared about 8" of snow from the parking area in front

Resource: EIA Energy Kids

2010-02-16T21:39:00.000-05:00

Teaching our kids about saving energy and the environment is very important to me and Alicia. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has an extremely useful site aimed at teaching kids about saving energy called energy KIDS. The information is very useful for adults as well. It provides a good overview of how energy is generated and used in the US. A couple of my favorites sections of

Our Green Little Secret for Turning Up the Heat in Bed

2010-02-15T20:40:00.000-05:00

We have a secret for staying toasty warm in bed so we can turn down the heat at night. Our green little secret is an electric mattress pad. In the olden days they used to heat up bricks and stick them under the covers to warm them up before crawling into bed. Thankfully we no longer have to sleep with bricks to stay warm. An electric mattress pad works similarly to the electric blankets our

Roses are Red, Not Green, Give Chocolates Instead!

2010-02-08T13:26:00.008-05:00

The number one reason to give chocolates instead of roses is of course TASTE! Have you ever tasted a rose? I don't advise it, especially with all those thorns. In all seriousness, roses, especially those flown in from Latin America for Valentines day are not environmentally friendly and have a whopping environmental impact. So, how bad is the environmental impact of roses? Let's take a look.

Getting Started with Bulk Purchasing of Dry Goods

2010-02-02T21:06:00.003-05:00

I recently wrote an article on bulk purchasing that focused on buying things in larger quantities. Two of the comments pointed out the environmental and local economic benefits of buying dry goods in bulk, however, I had never done this! Somehow I had decided that that food in bins couldn't be as clean, or as fresh as packaged goods, and even if it was, it must be more expensive. I challenged

To Cloth Diaper or Not To Cloth Diaper?

2010-01-26T23:48:00.001-05:00

We had a tough time deciding whether or not we would use cloth diapers. We thought they'd be expensive, that the laundry would be too much, that they'd smell or that I'd be grossed out by them, but through the debates, we kept coming back to the fact that they are just much better for the environment than disposables. I know that some people argue this point, so I've asked Jon to write up some

Keep Out The Drafts Quickly and Cheaply

2010-01-19T20:42:00.001-05:00

Last night the wind was blowing here in Massachusetts, and it was blowing hard. I'm working on a post about windows, and whether you should replace them, but right now, in January, I think most people want to know what they can do today to keep out the drafts. My favorite quick solution is plastic film over the windows and rope caulk (usually "Mortite") for the big gaps. Both of these items can

Stand with Haiti

2010-01-15T10:07:00.002-05:00

With all the news about Haiti, we wanted to share with you our personal information about one of the groups already on the ground in Haiti and encourage you to donate there. Partners in Health has been working to help the people of Haiti for nearly 25 years. Their mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. Partners In Health (PIH) works to bring modern medical

Good for the Environment and Your Budget: Buying in Bulk

2010-01-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

My mom likes to tell me that my pantry is so full I should stop shopping for the next year and just eat what we have. However, we do rotate through our bulk food, I volunteer with Red Cross Disaster Services so I feel like I should be prepared, and I know that buying in bulk is good for the environment. Larger packages means less material is used to hold an equivalent amount of food (or

The Shorty Awards

2010-01-11T22:34:00.000-05:00

What you ask are the Shorty Awards? These are awards for the Twitter Community. They are not done by twitter.com but rather a company called SawHorse Media. The idea is that twitter users nominate and vote for the best producers of short content on Twitter. How do you vote? Simply tweet the following sentence: I nominate @TwitterUser for a Shorty Award in #blogger because... For example,

More Green Stuff from CES 2010

2010-01-10T20:38:00.001-05:00

Following up my earlier post about Shades of Green from CES, here is a look at some more thing I noticed. Thanks to Engadget and TreeHugger for their coverage. Smart Grid Home Controller This nifty device bridges Zigbee power meter and Z-Wave home automation. This is totally for the geek, but I do love to see more devices like this that provide the ability to monitor and log energy use and then

Shades of Green from Consumer Electronics Show 2010

2010-01-07T22:38:00.000-05:00

In flipping through the Endgadget coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010 in Las Vegas this week, I noticed a few green products that are worth mentioning. There are way too many ebook readers and LED & OLED based HDTVs so I won't even begin to discuss those, but here are some more interesting things that caught my eye: Energizer solar power and other rechargeable products

1 Flush, 2 Flush, How to Make a Dual Flush

2010-01-06T21:04:00.000-05:00

Toilets typically consume 27% of household water usage according to the EPA. For an average family of four that's 75 gallons of water being flushed down the drain per day, literally. The best thing to do for the environment is to replace older toilets (those manufactured before 1993), which use 3.5-7 gallons per flush (gpf), with modern WaterSense (the H20 equivalent of EnergyStar) toilets that

Greening Your Home Before Travel

2009-12-23T17:25:00.000-05:00

As we prepared to leave for the holidays today we realized that there were several things we could do to save money and energy while we were gone. While Jon is driving, I have a spare minute to write about some of the things we did and you should consider doing as well. We have three heating zones in our house, and therefore three Energy Star programmable thermostats. Jonathan went around

Jon's 2009 Green Gift Guide

2009-12-21T10:35:00.005-05:00

Have you been struggling to find the perfect gift for that eco evangelist friend? Here are some ideas that any Eco Guy or Gal would be happy to receive: The Energy Detective TED-5000 home energy monitor From my research this home energy monitor is the right balance of affordable, expandable and practical for that eco person who wants to know when and how much electricity being used in the

Green Snow Removal

2009-12-20T15:01:00.000-05:00

In New England, snow is a part of life and dealing with it is something you have to do. We currently have about a foot of snow and it's still coming down steadily. So what are the greenest ways to move it out of your way? Greenest - Snow ShovelThe greenest (and cheapest) is the tried and true snow shovel and a bunch of work. Shoveling snow is great exercise, but can be back breaking. You can

Insulating Our House Really Worked!

2009-12-17T21:25:00.000-05:00

This fall we finally insulated our walls and increased the insulation in our attic. We had blown in cellulose put in. It rocks. Today the high was 25°F outside plus a wind chill in the single digits. Our upstairs thermostat was set to 55°F during the day and it never fell below 62°F upstairs (according to the thermostat). I found it fairly comfortable when I came up to put the baby down for

Thinking Green When Traveling

2009-12-16T23:15:00.000-05:00

While recently attending a conference in Denver, CO, many green travel tips occurred to me and I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of green things already in place. Many of my thoughts below cluster around the idea of "Use only what you need" which is what I found posted on stickers in the Colorado Convention Center bathrooms. Green Traveling ThoughtsDrink local beer & wine Say "

Energy Bucks Program

2009-12-12T23:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Jon heard a PSA for the Massachusetts Energy Bucks program and he suggested that it was probably something I should talk about in my seminar and blog about it. I laughed because it's an important program that I make sure to plug in every presentation. Unfortunately it's a Massachusetts-only program, but it's a great one and I expect that other states have similar ones. Energy