Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
The Carbon-Free Home
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Many of the books on sustainable housing assume you are building a new home or can afford a bevy of solar panels. Here’s one for just about everyone. Its subtitle is 36 Remodeling Projects to Help Kick the Fossil-Fuel Habit, and that says it. — Zana
Description
You’ve read the stories and watched the documentaries. So you’re convinced–burning fossil fuels leads to global climate change; supplies of fossil fuels are diminishing in quantity and increasing in price. You’ve fretted and worried, but still go through your day consuming some quantity of non-renewable fossil fuels to accomplish nearly every task (and you may not even realize it). You want to do something besides worry but you are unsure where to begin.
Read this book–then grab your handsaw, tape measure, and drill, and get started! Read the rest of this entry »
The Human-Powered Home: Choosing Muscles Over Motors
The Human-Powered Home is not a book that everyone needs. But if you have a high-energy person in the family who might enjoy powering a lot of things around the house by pedaling a bicycle, take a look! — Zana
Description
“The Human-Powered Home is a level-headed book which focuses on informing and entertaining. There is no utopian hyperbole, just useful facts and anecdotes that provide the foundation necessary to take appropriate action. Dean has produced an accessible primer for novices in the area of people power as well as a book that is thorough enough to benefit even experienced tinkerers. – Joel Gillespie, Momentum Magazine Read the rest of this entry »
Holy Cows And Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer’s Guide To Farm Friendly Food
I haven’t read this one but it looks like really good background information. — Zana
Description
Holy Cows and Hog Heaven is written by an honest-to-goodness-dirt-under-the-fingernails, optimistic clean good farmer. His goal is to: Read the rest of this entry »
The Home Energy Diet
How to Save Money by Making Your House Energy-Smart is the subtitle of this book. At first glance at the title, I wasn’t sure quite what it would be! A book on dieting at home? — Zana
Description
With rising energy costs, homeowners are beginning to examine the energy efficiency of their own homes, asking questions about where energy comes from and how much it costs, how to choose new appliances and what options exist for renewable energy.
The Home Energy Diet answers all these questions and more while helping readers take control of their personal energy use and costs so they can save money, live more comfortably and help the environment. Energy auditor Paul Scheckel first explores energy literacy, and then describes how your home uses-and loses-energy you pay for via: Read the rest of this entry »
The Renewable Energy Handbook
Description
This revised edition of The Renewable Energy Handbook focuses on the unique requirements of off-grid living as well as using “green” energy for homeowners who remain connected to the electrical utility. The book contains chapters on:
- Energy efficiency and economics
- Home heating and cooling and domestic water heating
- Photovoltaic, wind, and micro-hydro energy generation
- Battery selection and inverters
- Backup power, wireless communications, etc.
It includes comprehensive specifications for many of the products available in the market today. Read the rest of this entry »
The Naturally Clean Home
Description
It’s time to “green” that cleaning routine! Millions of Americans are replacing harsh chemical cleansers with ecofriendly alternatives. Unfortunately, most commercial green cleaners are expensive, and they often come with dubious environmental claims.
Effective, nontoxic alternatives can be mixed up easily from kitchen staples — baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, herbs, and borax — plus a handful of easy-to-find essential oils. In the second edition of The Naturally Clean Home, Karyn Siegel-Maier offers 150 all-natural recipes for cleaning every area of the home — from bathrooms to bedding, and from carpets to cabinetry.
Siegel-Maier, a writer specializing in complementary therapies whose work is featured in such publications as Mother Earth News and Natural Living Today, presents quick recipes for cleansers that are nontoxic, biodegradable, and freshsmelling. Formulas are so simple that even a novice can make them, yet they are as effective as the commercial options. Best of all, these recipes are much less expensive than commercial cleaners; most can be made for mere pennies per use.
With the second edition of this popular book comes a host of hard-working new recipes, including Rosemary-Geranium Floor Wipes for electrostatic floor mops, Thyme to Make Your Own Carpet Steamer, Weekend Warrior Wicker Wash, Telephone Dirty Talk Tamer, Clear the Air Room Spritzer, and Lavender Lift Automatic Dishwasher Soap.
Siegel-Maier also offers recipes for outdoor spaces — like Shoo-Fly Shake to keep flies away from your backyard barbecue — and covers areas less commonly considered in the cleaning routine: garden, houseplants, computer, even the septic tank!
Whether scrubbing or scouring, degreasing or dusting, The Naturally Clean Home makes it fun to mix up chemical-free products that are easy on home and planet!
