House & Home

Clean Heat

As the need for electricity continues to grow faster than the average American waistline, people are tapping into a natural source that is as old as the world itself—geothermal energy.

Frugal Environmental Living

It’s not easy being green, but does it also have to be expensive? It’s a question I’ve frequently pondered as my husband and I have balanced our commitment to the environment with the realities of paying for graduate school, working in lower-paying nonprofit jobs, and suffering through periodic bouts of unemployment. Over the years I’ve evolved some basic strategies to walk more lightly on the Earth without breaking our budget.

Wild Water

For some real whitewater rafting, give northern Maine a try, and you may get an environmental education as part of the bargain. This is one of the few places in the country still without back-to-back McDonalds and malls. If you want groceries, better pray they have what you want at the general store, because it’s a long haul to anywhere else.

Calling all Composters

Compost consists mainly of humus, a dark brown blend of biochemical compounds created when organic materials decompose. It is a complex creation—a living, breathing community of bacteria, fungi, insects and other microorganisms. Applying compost to your garden adds helpful nutrients to the soil, guards against diseases and pests, can enhance soil’s ability to hold water and air and may even extend plants" growing season. And processing your own materials keeps them out of landfills.

Sleeping Soundly

Organic Cotton May be the Key to a Good Night's Rest It's easy to feel virtuous using 100 percent cotton bed sheets. What could be more pure than bedding made from a natural product, with no artificial fibers? Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Mothers & Others For a Livable Planet reports that cotton is the […]

So Sensitive!

Are you feeling tired most of the time? Does your spouse have a continuous cold and your child a mysterious rash? Chemical sensitivities could be responsible for these ailments. And your house—as well as the stuff in it—is likely to be the source of your discomforts. and its taste was reformulated in recent years to appeal to Americans.

No Tenting Tonight

Alternative Treatments to Control Termites If there"s wood in your house, chances are at some point you"ll have unwelcome houseguests: termites. Treatments to get rid of these trespassers can be environmentally nasty. Infestations in which the entire house is implicated are usually attacked with chemical fumigants. But concerns about ozone depletion and health risks associated […]

Oil and Water

Sixteen million American homes use a total of some 11 billion gallons of heating oil a year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That’s 700 gallons per year per household. And while many of those homes have their oil tanks tucked away in the basement, millions of others have them buried underground where, neglected, […]

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