Health and FitnessGoing Green Starts At Home
In modern times, many of us have taken a step back and examined the way we"ve been living. How much gas do we consume? Are we wasting water? Our health has risen in our concern lately, too. The impact of poor food choices and living with too much work and not enough exercise has sapped us of energy and left our bodies tired.
So, some of us have made a change. We"ve traded in gas guzzling SUVs for fuel efficient hybrids. Maybe you"ve even started carpooling. You water your yard only every other day to keep from wasting water, especially during the summer heat. You"ve left fast foods with the calories and cholesterol problems they present behind and gone green and gourmet.
Today you"re exercising, eating right and feeling proud about all you"re doing to keep yourself and the earth healthier. But do you realize that your home might be more damaging than your car ever was?
- Wasted Resources
There are many areas in a home that cause waste. A dripping faucet or toilet that runs can waste gallons of water a day - more than you probably use watering the lawn. Leaving on the lights wastes electricity. This not only impacts your electric bill, but has an upstream cost as well. However that electricity is being produced, more of the natural resource involved is consumed.
Another area that many simply don"t think of as being damaging is home improvements. As home owners, there are constantly small things we do around the house to make the home more appealing and more comfortable. For example, one extremely popular choice today is to change the flooring in various rooms.
There are many flooring options available, but almost all have more impact than you might think. Carpets are often created from synthetic materials which are produced in the same manufacturing units we criticize for pollution. Hardwood flooring is beautiful but causes the destruction of hardwood trees - some of which take over one hundred years to grow to full maturity. The hardwood flooring also uses chemicals and adhesives that are damaging to the atmosphere.
Even tile can cause harm. Stone must be harvested from the earth, sometimes brutally, and the same is true for many tile materials. There is one flooring option, other than bare dirt, that has the environment in mind. Bamboo flooring is similar in appearance to hardwoods, but ecofriendly.
- Green Flooring
Bamboo flooring is created in planks, much like hardwood, but bamboo is not the same as a large hardwood tree. Bamboo is actually a weed. Not only that, but it is a fast growing weed. Farmers in Asia have been battling bamboo for years as it threatens to retake valuable farmlands, and have been burning the pieces they cut down.
Of course burning bonfires of anything is unhealthy for the atmosphere, so fortunately there is another use. Bamboo flooring is created using these weeds. The flooring is beautiful and very durable - perhaps more so than traditional hardwoods. You"re living green, isn"t time your home reflected your sense of pride as well?