HAPPY EARTH WEDNESDAY INHABITAT READERS!
What better way to celebrate Earth Week (and give your living space a little bit of extra oopmh) than by adding a plush rug to your home – especially one you can get for free? If you’ve been keeping up with Inhabitat, you probably know that we’re teaming up with MBDC to celebrate the Earth this week in a big way by offering up sweet prizes like a handy cleaning package from Method and Casabella and a comfy Eco-Wise wool throw from Pendelton- and now we’re adding our newest prize, this Shaw Ultra Shag Area Rug, in the color of your choice! We’re giving one away to a very lucky reader so enter today – your feet will thank you for it!
TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY:
1. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER HERE > (If you are not already a subscriber). We’ll be announcing all the winners of our Earth Week Giveaway in our weekly newsletter, so if you want to find out if you won, you’ll need to receive it in order to claim your prize!
2. LIKE US ON FACEBOOK Just visit our page and click on the “Like” button at the top.
3. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW and share your best tip on how we can make our homes greener and healthier places to live. The deadline for this fabulous giveaway is Monday, April 24th. We’ll pick the comment we like best and announce the winner in our newsletter, so make sure you’re signed up!
It’s chic, it’s retro, it’s soft and it’s plush! The Ultra Shag fits with just about any decor, providing a fresh burst of color with a crisp recyclable nylon construction. Each rug is Cradle to Cradle Certified Silver and made from a recyclable Type 6 Nylon that will be collected by Shaw to put back into new carpet. On the underside of each rug you can find a phone number to call for recycling collection through Shaw’s program. Each year Shaw keeps 300 million pounds of carpets from hitting already overflowing landfills.
Developed by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle design recognizes the complex, abundant processes of nature’s ecosystems, or ‘biological metabolism,‘ but also articulates a parallel ‘technical metabolism’ for human industry. Both metabolisms can be characterized by eco-effective, continuous flows of materials, energy and water, and whole-community mutualism. The Cradle to Cradle design framework moves beyond the goal of only reducing an organization’s negative impacts (eco-efficiency), to provide an engaging vision for executives and comprehensive strategies for managers to create a wholly positive footprint on the planet – environmental, social and economic (eco-effectiveness). The Cradle to Cradle philosophy can apply to anything from houses to companies and to consumer products as well.
grow your own veggies and compost!
I knit and crochet, but rather than buying new yarn I prefer to either spin my own or unravel old sweaters and knitted items from Goodwill and re-use that yarn!
Use rags instead of paper towels, and bandanas instead of paper napkins!
Many of us have recycling down cold, but reduce and reuse are harder. Thinking about if you’re in need of “another” or a “new” leads to the 4th “R”…rethink.
I’m trying to minimize my water use by using a cup for rinsing in the bathroom, and a bucket for soaking and washing dishes.
Love the rug and have an 8 month old who is just learning to crawl so need this healthy rug for him to crawl on! The easiest thing to make our homes cleaner and greener is to donate all of your household cleaners to an area shelter then use your own elbow grease and home cleaning recipes to start cleaning your home without the chemicals. (See womensvoices.org for recipes and green cleaning parties!)
We keep cloth “kleenex” throughout the house in small baskets. It is gentle on cold-stricken noses, and easy to toss in the laundry once used. Plus, no garish tissue boxes to have to hide!
My best tip is to get some house plants. They improve the air quality in our homes among other benefits.
We make our own cleaners out of natural and kitchen items. I don’t use paper towels and I make my own wash rags.
For me, making my home greener and healthier means making choices that are soft on the wallet and yet still have big impacts on the environment. For instance, this past winter my husband and I added insulation in the rafters of the basement beneath a room where cold air was seeping into the room above. Now my 2 year old son’s room is warmer and the heater kicks on less frequently, reducing our home’s carbon footprint. Plus, we received an energy tax credit and also have lower gas bills!
i recycle everything in site. It’s in my own Bible
LOVE SHAW RUGS!
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Make your own cleaners – baking soda and vinegar work just as well as bleach, without the harsh fumes. Also, tea tree oil works wonders on mold and mildew.
An excellent first step in greening your house is to grab a note pad and a garbage bag. Go around to all the cabinets that store household chemicals and take a look at their labels. If it says poison, danger, warning or caution on the can or box, write down what function it performs and throw the unused portion in the garbage bag (if it is sealed tightly). When finished, seal the bag, put it in a well ventilated area (such as outside or in a garage) and look up when the next Household Hazardous Pickup Day is in your neighborhood.
- forsurveysonly at gmail dot com
Source: http://caelusconsulting.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/top-5-tips-for-green-home-cleaning/
How to make our homes greener? Invest in my solar fashion line which will reduce your use of electricity to charge your handheld devices. Investing in my solar fashion line will also invest in my green roof NPO, which also reduces your carbon footprint!
We try to make all the foods we usually buy prepackaged. The two big ones for us is yogurt and granola. (btw-they’re better when they are homemade) We’ve also made/sewn our own reusable sandwich/snack bags and cloth swiffer-fitted dusters. Both the bags and the dusters can be thrown in the laundry for reuse.
For a very easy way to have a greener home I swear by microfibre cloths. They help cutting down on cleaning products! In most cases, a moist microfibre cloth gets rid of the dirt, for more “advanced” dirt use a little universal cleanser or even a bit of dishwashing liquid.
Many good comments above –
Adding green, leafy plants are good for the home environment… The help to by adding moisture to dry environments -which keeps dust down; adds O2 to the environment; and make your house look beautiful
I basically have stopped using all harsh cleansers, now just vinegar and baking soda. Also, house plants that clean the air, they filter indoor air! I sue power strip for things like chargers etc and then turn off the power strips. I turned my water heater way down to “vacation” mode. Lots of little things add up…
Share. Many of the tools we have come to view as needs in our lives are not used so frequently that they cannot be shared with nearby neighbors. Sharing has the added benefit of strengthening relationship – the foundation of community.
Well, I haven’t made my house much greener (since I’m in an apartment), but my cousin is getting married soon and I will purchase some very green things for their wedding presents.
Specifically, I plan on getting a Vu1 ESL lightbulb and a Philips AmbientLED A19 lightbulb, both of which are the first non-CFL lightbulbs that potentially be equivalent to an incandescent in light quality. Both are also as or more efficient than a CFL with no mercury.
I’m also going to get them some Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries with a charger, and a bright LED flashlight.
I figure that these things are better than the typical wedding gift of a toaster, they’ll last longer, and it’ll be green and lower their bills, to boot! (newlyweds will have some expensive bills!)
recycle and get plenty of green plants for better air
bring living plants into the home
My best tip on how we can make our homes greener and healthier places to live would be to follow the maxim of “reduce, reuse, and recycle”! Really, the top priority ought to be that we reduce our overconsumption of goods!
Keep chemicals to a minimum, and store them in a place away from food and play areas with clear labels that the kids can identify as things they should not touch. Indulge your inner botanist and bring as many plants as you can in and around the areas where you spend time. It makes the air feel better, and it makes everything look a little nicer too. If you can’t afford a tropical forest, plant some grass seed in some low, wide planters. Kids love to use it as a stage for their small toys to play on, and it looks modern and fresh. Open up the doors and windows as often as possible, and breathe it in. It’s tough to remember to do so on a work day when everything seems overwhelming, but its the best remedy for a long day and a commute.
With a baby in the house, we have gone green with a vengeance, trying to maximize our use of friendly products. That means a lot when one realizes that *everything* goes in a baby’s mouth. Of course, rugs are particularly challenging to clean, so you never have enough of them….
Rinse out ur recycled items and remove the caps before placing in your bins
invest in sustainable furniture, recycle, and reduce your eco footprint by not being too wasteful! gardens love compost.
Choosing recycled products such as the Ultra Shag Area Rug from Shaw is a key component of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”-and essential to any successful recycling effort!
Choosing recycled products such as the Ultra Shag Area Rug from Shaw wherever possible is a key component of “Reduce,Reuse, Recycle”, and crucial to any successful recycling program!
we use mason jars to store our grains, legumes, etc. This way we can see what we have and nothing goes to waste. We use reusable sacks and buy from bulk bins.
My best tip for a greener and healthier home would be to invest in a shoe mat and take your shoes off either before or right when you enter your home. You will be reducing the dirt and toxins you drag from the outdoors throughout your house
shrub it up! fill your home with houseplants and breathe the fresh air that comes from having living all around you
eat less or no meat at all. the world says thanks for that.
Reduce your consumption and waste. There are many, many ways to do this. Grow and make as much of your own food as possible, compost, eliminate use of paper goods and switch to cloth, move your thermostat up or down a few degrees to accommodate the seasons, reuse every thing–print on both sides of paper, reuse containers, etc.
I try to minimize my water use, recycle, reuse paper, plastic containers.
Like grass this is shaggy and green, only this rug doesn’t need trimming.
My best advice is taking a few small steps at a time. It can feel so overwhelming to try to “go green” all at once. I make a plan with reasonable goals. I have a list of many of the different ways to have a greener home such as using energy efficiency bulbs, using eco friendly cleaning products, etc.
I check off a few items each month to see how much progress I’ve made. This gives me a feeling of accomplishment and lets me see what my next step is toward my greener home.
This ensures that my plan for a greener home will succeed, then doing it haphazardly.
Not buying any fabric or textiles brand new unless it is hemp, otherwise used.. 100% of the time.
I would sure like show off this rug in my Montana home!
I really love reading your comments guys.I learn a lot from you.
Thank you so much
Regard,
Epoyjun
I try to get everything used these days. Also, I’ve just learned to say no to my impulse to buy a whole lot more. Being broke has helped a lot in that department.