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11 Ideas for Easier Recycling at Home

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Going green isn’t just meant for Earth Day. Going green is a way of life. However, Earth Day is a day we pause and commemorate, acknowledge and support environmental programs and Earth-saving strategies. It is also a great day to commit or recommit to employ earth-friendly practices in your life, at home and in the office. There are countless things you can do to “go green.” Most of these things are ease to incorporate into your life. Recycling is one of the easiest ways to go green. Recycling is the process of obtaining or retaining waste and converting it into usable, new materials. Some things that can be used to recycle are:

Recycling is actually a great way to conserve raw resources into energy. Recycling at least one ton of paper can save 7,000 gallons of water and 17 trees, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

As you see, recycling is an effective and simple way to help the environment. It is something the entire family can do too. Before recycling, call your local waste management services. Determine how to you need to sort and pack items for recycling. In addition, you want to know what day or days the waste management services collects recycling. Check with them to find out where you safely dispose of light bulbs, hazardous materials and batteries. These cannot be recycled or put in the trash.

Your local waste management service has different rules about how items must be sorted, cleaned and packaged. Metal, cardboard, plastics, aluminum, glass and paper can be recycled.

It can be tricky to recycle plastics because some can break down easier than other plastics. The number located on the plastic item will determine if it can be recycled. It will also determine if the plastic can be picked up for recycling.

Source: Fix.com

Although plastics are trickier to sort and recycle, it’s important to dispose of them properly. One important factor to establishing a recycling a program at work, school or home is to create a system that works for everyone. Here are a few favorites we like:

Source: DIY Swank

Recycling is about convenience, convenience and more convenience! When incorporating a successful recycling program, make bins easily accessible. They should be in an area that is easily visible and used like the utility room or kitchen where they can be seen and used.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens

Now, if you need a simple recycling system everyone can follow (even kids), use caster and baskets. These are easy to access and use. They slide out of site when not in use.

Source: Family Handyman

Use space by going vertical. You can hook bins on walls to utilize space. It will be easy to sort and store.

Source: Sweet Haute

Another way to make a successful recycling program is to make it fun. Use stylish bins and trash cans to recycle items.

Source: Sweet Haute

Another way to make a successful recycling program is to make it fun. Use stylish bins and trash cans to recycle items.

Source: The Neighborhood

You may not have time to personally decorate trash cans by spray painting them. How about using printable labels. These labels can go generic bins to help separate recyclables.

Source: Lil Blue Boo

Batteries are not to be recycled. They cannot be put into a trash can for non-recycling either. Instead, they should be properly thrown away at a collection center or a participating auto part store. The same thing should be done with light bulbs.

Source: Sawdust Girl

Make a special area of your home or office to use as a personal sorting center. This is where you can sort and clean recyclables. You may want to look at some personal recycling centers to get an understand of what you need.

Source: I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Many people do not have an area they can keep bulky recycling or trash in the home or office. If this is the case for you, create a dedicated spot in the garage or other area. It won’t take long before your family or co-workers are pitching in to recycle.

Recycling is full of great ideas to help the environment. Find the ones you like. Used them in your successful recycling program.

Wonderful Tips to Avoid Heat Loss from Your Home

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Heat loss is a big problem to homeowners. It comes with various issues including a skyrocketing energy bill. Most of the heat is lost through the windows and doors. Luckily, there are some ideas that can help you improve insulation and lessen loss of heat. When choosing fixtures, timber doors and windows are a wonderful option for their amazing insulating properties. Additionally, here are 5 tips to avoid heat loss from your home.

Install curtains

Thick close fitting curtains and blinds will keep warm air inside your home. The curtains and blinds hit the colder window class and cools it down plus lessening draught. Consider installing a pelmet above your curtain rail to enhance thermal insulation more.

Blinds offer tremendous versatility and boost insulation in your home. These leave a smaller gap between slats where less heat escapes from. you can open the curtain and blinds to let the sun enter and close them in the night to lessen heat loss. Installing curtains is a wonderful idea to enhance the security of your home. These windows have hook shaped locks embedded in the window frame leaving them untouchable.

Choose an appropriate glass type

There are various kinds of glass offering different thermal efficiency. Luckily, modern double glazed windows have low emissivity coating. This means they can reflect heat back into your home. Therefore, they are a wonderful option because they offer better thermal insulation compared to plain glass with no coating.

Opt for double glazed windows

You should consider double glazed timber windows and doors in Melbourne to prevent heat loss. Single glazed options lose about 20 percent of the heat in your home. double glazed options have a gap between the panes of glass full of gas such as argon, xenon, and krypton, which is a poor conductor of heat. This helps to lessen chances of heat loss. A reliable company should offer slimmer glazing units for a contemporary and elegant appeal.

Use warm edge spacer bars

A perimeter spacer bar sits between 2 panes of glass holding them apart in double glazing. Spacer bars have desiccant for absorbing moisture that might be in the unit. It is made of aluminium for its high conductivity and ability to lose heat fast.

Keeping your home well insulated is a wonderful option.

Warm space bars made of pre desiccated structural foam help enhance the temperature in the internal edge of glass by up to 65 percent. This is better than the use of aluminium spacers. Additionally, warm spacer bars reduce noise by about 10 percent to keep your home quieter and warmer.

Consider draught proofing

These windows allow the breeze to move at acute angles along your house. Therefore, with curtains windows, you will catch side breezes inside your house.It is a wonderful idea to consider modern windows and door but you have to realise that there is a chance of your home getting draughty with time. Consider installing draught proofing to enjoy more energy efficiency, sound proofing, and no chance of draught in your interior.

Mind your style

Choosing the right colour for curtains windows is a personal decision. Therefore, always ensure to choose a colour that effortlessly reflects your style. Luckily, wooden windows offer a wide range of colour options. It is very important to consider the design you are seeking to achieve. Crisp white is a wonderful option if you want a simple but timeless appeal on your home

Final thought

There are various consideration when choosing the best windows for your home. Keeping your home well insulated is a wonderful option. It comes with a variety of benefits including enhancing the appeal of your home, lowering energy bills, increasing comfort in your interior, and making your home more attractive to prospective buyers. A wonderful trick is to opt for double glazed timber windows that help lessen heat loss.

4 Tips For Keeping Your Home Energy Prices Low

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Heating can be very expensive nowadays and keeping the heat contained within your home can be a challenge. You will see that energy prices manage to hike year after year and it is important to keep the heat contained in a home where there is particularly cold weather outside to assist with your overall energy costs.

Ensure efficient heating system

Modern houses normally have a good heating system and there is a lot of regulation around this to ensure that when people are buying new homes, the efficiency has been taken into consideration from the manufacturers. There are websites like myjobquote.co.uk that you can use in order to arrange local boiler engineers to come out and review your current heating systems to ensure they are effective.  They would also offer services such as a boiler power flush if it is required – again supporting the effectiveness of your appliance.

If your boiler or radiators are not working greatly then a boiler service cost quote may be required in order to make sure they get repaired and are working as well as possible. If any of your heating equipment is faulty and not working correctly then you will overcompensate in terms of the heating you put on in the home which would then significantly increase your costs.

Take action on drafts

If there are any potential drafts and air seeping out of the home, then it will affect the warmth of your home and ultimately your energy bill.  Be sure to take action when you recognise any of these problems.

Some common draft points will be doors and windows and are usually pretty noticeable if there is a problem. Nowadays most homes have double glazed windows and secured doors where this shouldn’t be an issue. If your house has a chimney, then this is another potential area for cold air to get in. If not in use you may wish to consider sealing this off in totality.

Set timers for heating

Putting the heating on and off all the time could also be affecting your bills. Consider getting a timer where you can control the heating at intervals that suit you. Clearly, this wouldn’t be suitable all the time and if you are in the home and there is additional heat required then you can “boost” to allow more heat to come out for longer.

Setting the timers will assist with being disciplined on a routine and you can know pretty accurately what it is that you will be spending every month.

Energy monitors

Energy monitors are becoming really popular nowadays with the users able to then see immediately how much energy they are consuming.  Most energy providers now give this service where you can get one of these appliances installed (generally for free or a very little cost).

The government is also doing a lot more to try and encourage every household to have one of these to help with the energy cost hike challenges.

5 Actionable Tips to Use More Renewable Energy

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The world doesn’t seem to stop when it comes to consuming energy. As each country experience growth and development as a society, their needs for power increases to keep up with the pace of their expansion. The process is a natural one.  It’s even socially encouraged, but that doesn’t change the fact that it takes a toll on our planet. More of the world resources are exploited and processed to become fuel.

While denied by many of these industries for a long time, the ugly side of energy consumption has been exposed for the whole world to see. It has increased the awareness about the need to embrace alternative energy and waste solutions that are renewable and cleaner to avoid contamination and slow down the degradation of our many natural ecosystems.

Many of the initiatives to use clean energies are embraced in multiple countries. Some of them are backed by governments and private industries looking to preserve our planet and fix some of the damage caused by our constant demands of resources. Many people believe that individual efforts don’t count. The fact is that every single bit of help they can get adds up a lot. Here are five actionable tips you can follow to make proper use of renewable energy on your premises:

1. Embrace Solar-Powered Technologies

If you haven’t realized it yet the sun is one of the most powerful energy sources in the world and no one can charge to use it. This is why many developers focused on creating technology that makes the best use of the power delivered by the light and radiation offered by the main star in our solar system.

Nowadays, you can get solar-powered vehicles, and solar panels to distribute energy at your home. Such technologies can be a bit expensive but is durable as nothing else in the market, plus it is a one-time investment at best!

2. Crowdfund Clean Energy Projects

Many communities are willing to go green and use clean energy sources when they are presented the right project. Most of the times the neighbors’ just need to see a well-laid plan explaining why using renewable energy sources will be more affordable for them in the long run.

A solar-powered community project in Laos

The environmental angle can also be helpful, especially for those homeowners that live close to natural reservoirs and wish to keep the value of their properties by safekeeping the environment.

3. Support the Society of Concerned Scientist

This is an amazing initiative to get businesses and the world to become more educated and use more renewable energy.  I am not affiliated with the society at all, but it may be one of the most actionable ways to help the environment because they have built up a lot of support and assets.

Check out what they are doing here.

4. Use Water-processing Technology

Many households and modern housing projects can make use of this technology to recycle the water sources they use and avoid the unnecessary waste of such vital liquid.

The basic principles of this initiative require investment in processing plants and large tanks that can either be installed on the foundations of your home or at the side of it. Your house will always have clean running water, and you won’t take much from the natural sources near your place.

5. Wind Power for Home or Business

Many locations around the world are using wind-powered turbines to generate electricity, and it has become a business opportunity for many entrepreneurs around the world. The plants are easy to install, and the energy is very cheap to produce.

Wind-powered energy has generated an excess of power in certain locations such as China, Germany, Australia and some regions on the USA with these plants selling they’re overproduced to regular energy plants. The power provided by these alternatives is cleaner than most and very easy on a family budget.

How to Choose Weather-Resistant Siding for your Home

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weather-sidingThere used to be only a couple of options available to cover the exterior of your home. Nowadays, new products are hitting the market with fervor. The problem is that with added options come both advantages and disadvantages. It is no longer just a question of wood, aluminum, or vinyl siding.  Now you have better and longer-lasting materials to choose from, but the price can vary significantly, and it can become overwhelming to choose a material based on budget, weather conditions and aesthetic desire.

The biggest problem with exterior siding, especially in warm or humid regions, is going to be its weather resilience. Water build-up is going to be one of your biggest enemies.

There are four types of siding to choose from. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. If you are limited either by your climate or the money you must spend, below is a breakdown from farming tips canada, to help explain which might be the best for your area, seeing as how the harshest home sidings are tested on the farm.

Vinyl siding

Vinyl siding is going to be one of the least-expensive materials you can put on the exterior of your home. That makes it one of the most common types of materials used. The advantages to vinyl siding aren’t just the price. It is impervious to water and many insects. The biggest disadvantage is that it can melt, burn or crack. In high winds, it can also make rattling noises. Also, if you are going for an upscale look, vinyl doesn’t have the same aesthetic appeal that other siding materials can deliver, and it typically isn’t used on higher-priced homes.

Plastic siding

Plastic siding is a relatively new alternative. The advantage of plastic siding is that it can resemble more expensive roofing material and requires very little upkeep. It is much thicker than its vinyl alternative, but that makes it more expensive. Although it’s costlier, if you are looking for a good weather-resistant siding, it is a grade above vinyl and may save you money in the long term as it is less prone to damage or necessary repairs.

Fiber cement siding

Fiber cement siding is also a new material on the market. It is typically a blend of cellulose, sand and cement and gives a much more aesthetically appealing look to the house. It looks much more like real wood than both plastic and vinyl. Its advantages are that it is insect- and fire-resistant. However, if you live in a harsh climate, it is probably not going to be your best choice.

Plastic siding is one of best options for weather-resistant conditions

Plastic siding is one of best options for weather-resistant conditions

Water that can accumulate from the freeze-thaw cycle can damage the siding if you don’t maintain it correctly by painting it with water-resilient paint. You can buy it pre-painted, but it is much costlier and the colors that you must choose from can be somewhat limited. The pre-factory paints tend to last longer. Although higher-maintenance than plastic and vinyl siding, it still requires less maintenance than wood siding.

Wood siding

Wood shingles and clapboard are considered the most aesthetically pleasing materials for your siding. They are also going to be the costliest and require the most maintenance. They have a traditional charm that you can’t get from other materials. Clapboard is going to be less expensive than wood siding, but it is still pricier than other alternatives such as vinyl, plastic and cement board.

Wood shingles are not going to be the best weather-resistant materials for harsh conditions. It is not uncommon for them to succumb to insects, be less fire-resistant and to twist or warp when subjected to harsh climates. Overall, it requires the most maintenance too. Painting frequently is a must. Although being capable of being factory-primed and painted, it will take periodic maintenance to keep it looking good and safe from exterior conditions.

Conclusion

Of all the choices, available, plastic siding may be the best for weather-resistant conditions. Offering you a hardy material, it can stand up to a lot. It may not be as aesthetically appealing as the other options, but you don’t have to worry about maintaining it or having to replace it. Whether budget is an issue or not, plastic siding offers the best protection against the harsh conditions of nature.