The (usually) long, and harsh winter season is coming to an end, and we can finally open our windows to let some fresh air in and that dry, stale winter air out. Flowers and plants are blooming and starting anew themselves. So, we often feel the need to do the same.

As part of our yearly ritual, we tend to use our renewed energy to go through our closets and start pitching stuff that we’re either sick of, doesn’t fit, or doesn’t mesh with our current style.

A lot of times, it’s just easier to throw things away, but reselling or donating is really something that you should consider when doing your cleaning this spring. With a slow economy and a renewed interest in antique or vintage furniture, there is a big market for your old, unwanted goods.

There are plenty of people searching for used goods and furniture, because they know that’s where the deals are. Many people see the value in doing a little searching in order to score a great deal on an item that they would have spent 40-50% more on brand new. Classified sites, like Craigslist, as well as the usual suspects like garage sales, consignment shops, Goodwill and other thrift stores make it easier than ever to pass along your used goods…and for others to find these goods.

Connect with Niche Markets Online

The internet has created an entirely new avenue for anyone to turn their hobby into a business. There is great content for inspiration, and the ability to market products to a grander audience. Social sites, crafty bloggers and E-commerce sites, like Etsy and Artfire, are great for pushing products and ideas for little to no cost.

You might even make a little bit of money too. Why junk it, when chances are, there is someone out there that can fix it up. Not long ago, I had a broken leaf blower, that normally I would have tossed in the trash. However, I decided to hop onto Craigslist, and create a small ad asking for $10 for my broken leaf blower. Within a few hours, I received a call from a guy who was obviously more handy than I am. He came over to the house, told me that he fixes broken tools and resells them…perfect. This is America, after all.

John Ehlenbeck is a small business owner, and writes for Ethosource, a premier provider of used office furniture.

© 2012 Business For Green

Sculpted rugs are usually more expensive and they have a tendency to be dated. There have been recent additions of sculpted flowers. Instead of being part of an overall design this may just be something that mimics an actual blossom. It might even be in a circular or abstract shape. It can look like a rose. This sculpting adds more of a 3-D element so it’s more realistic. You won’t find this in larger area rugs usually just because it is so expensive, but it’s an option for smaller decorative pieces.

You do want to be somewhat careful and still get a pretty traditional pattern or stick with a color palette that you can live with for a long time. Usually with other fabric like curtains and throw pillows you can be more adventurous. However your area rug is probably going to be in your room longer than either of these items.

A faux wood grain rug can work in almost any style of room depending on the color palette. It does have a very modern and whimsical effect to it, especially when it’s in black and white or even blue and white. However, just the fact that it is wood grain is a more modern way to do the country look. Ironically, this isn’t popular in furniture anymore as people are opting more for painted and glazed pieces. However, bringing them in with man made materials and an oversized pattern makes it much more contemporary. So whether it’s a true natural rug or just inspired by nature embrace the color palette that comes with this design.

© 2012 Business For Green

It’s a relatively new concept that like most “new concepts” has been around in nature forever. Self-cleaning pools utilize the natural water cleansing of sediments, plants, and algae to keep the water clean and fresh. Rather than dumping harsh chemicals into the water, or relying on expensive and unnatural filters, mother nature has provided all we need for beautiful and healthy swimming pools.

How Green Swimming Pools Work

The key to green swimming pools is what is referred to as the “regeneration area”. This is a portion of the pool that is kept separate from the swimming area, and essentially looks like a water garden. Reeds and grasses and other plants which thrive in aquatic environments are planted here, and help to remove particulates in the water.

This regeneration area is build on a thick bed of aggregates, which the water much filter down through before being pumped back into the swimming pool area. Beneficial microbes that live in the sediment further help to filter the water.

For further protection, or to reduce the area needed for the regeneration area, ultraviolet light can be used to kill any microbes in the water after filtration. It is possible to build a green swimming pool without this UV treatment, but in those cases the regeneration area should be roughly equal to the swimming area.

Green Swimming Pool designed by Bioteich Baignades Naturelles (www.bioteich.fr)

© 2012 Business For Green

Well, perhaps the greenest of all heating systems is geothermal. Using the heat of the earth itself, there is little to no environmental impact with geothermal heating systems. However, geothermal isn’t available in many locations. In fact, it’s only available in very limited areas.

This means that other forms of man-made energy have to be relied upon in the majority of homes. This generally means burning fossil fuels, either directly in a furnace in the home, or at a power plant which produces electricity that will be used to heat the home.

Burning at Home vs Power Plant

You might think that having a power plant burn the fossil fuels is going to be more efficient than having many homes burning it. To some extent that may be correct, as the distribution of the fuel can be more efficient. But it’s not the only efficiency difference.

The biggest inefficiency in either case is in the conversion from heat energy to electrical energy. This maxes out at about 66% efficient. The conversion from electric to heat energy isn’t 100% efficient either, though it is rather close. This means that you have to burn almost half again as much fossil fuels to get the same amount of heating energy into the home. Certainly not efficient!

Of course, if the electricity is being generated by cleaner sources, it can dramatically impact whether localized or centralized power generation is more efficient. Geothermal electric can be extremely green power, and hydroelectric can be greener than burning fossil fuels as well. (Though there are large environmental impacts when dams are built on rivers.)

So it’s hard to say in a general case which form of energy distribution is most efficient. You will have to consider many factors that impact your specific circumstance to come to an understanding in that regard.

What type of Home Heating is Most Efficient?

It’s much easier to compare the type of home heating vs other home heating to determine which is most efficient. Wood stoves, gas furnaces, electric furnaces, forced air, and radiant heating are all different types that can be used in the home.

• Wood Stoves: Not very efficient and rather dirty to burn. Much of the heat generated is required to go up the chimney and exit the home, to continue to draw fresh air to the fire.
• Gas Furnaces: Very efficient and clean burning. Though the distribution of the gas can be very expensive, and burning of fossil fuels increases the amount of carbon in the air.
• Electric Furnaces: Somewhat efficient, and very clean at the home. May or may not be clean overall depending on how the electricity was generated.
• Wood Pellet Stoves: Efficient and somewhat clean burning.

Types of Heat Distribution Systems

• Forced Air: Noisy and somewhat inefficient. Much of the warm air ends up localized. Also can cause problems because it dries out the air. Adding in a humidifier decreases efficiency.
• Hydronic Heating: Efficient and quiet. Radiant heating allows for natural convection to distribute heat from radiators. Efficiency is increased when using in-floor heating rather than small radiators, as the area is heated much more evenly.

© 2012 Business For Green

Air conditioners can use up more electricity than the rest of the house combined. The average home uses 2.5 kilowatts per hour, while a central air conditioning system can draw more than 6 kilowatts per hour.

There are effective ways to bring those numbers way down though. Understanding where the heat comes from can allow you to short circuit the build up of heat in your home, and thus reduce the load on your air conditioning. Also, you can create cool outdoor environments to spend time in during the hottest times, further reducing your need to stay indoors with the air con on.

No Need to Cool What Hasn’t Been Heated

Perhaps the most effective way to reduce your electric use on hot summer days is to make sure the sun isn’t heating up the house in the first place. Shade trees can be great for this, but can take decades to grow. Other solutions can be put into effect much more quickly.

Awnings for your windows, doors, and even for decks can be very effective at helping to reduce the amount of solar energy that heats your home. Because the awning intercepts the sunlight before it hits the house, that heat energy is dissipated into the air. This keeps the heat energy of direct sunlight from entering in through windows or open doors, or from heating up the siding of your house.

A similar and even more effective tactic can be by trellising leafy vines up the side of your house. Arbors such as these not only shade your home with the leafy canopy, but help the environment out in other ways as well. Sometimes these vines can produce flowers or fruits, offsetting the need for supplementing your diet or vases with outside sources.

© 2012 Business For Green

Color can have some effect on this of course. The amount of sunlight that siding absorbs can dramatically impact the amount of insulation necessary as well as the energy use of air conditioners in the summer or heaters in the winter. This is often a consideration that isn’t taken into account when choosing a color for a new paint job, but it definitely should be.

The materials used can also have a dramatic impact on the energy efficiency of your home.

Even Greener Siding

Perhaps the most interesting form of “green siding” available is not siding at all. Instead, it is the use of vines growing on arbors or trellises on the side of the home. These leafy vines can help to cool the house in summer by blocking most of the sun’s energy before it can warm the siding.

In the winter the vines die back and allow the sunlight to warm the house. This makes for a very natural approach to the energy concerns of homeowners throughout the seasons. It can also make for a beautiful and unique look for the exterior of your home.

© 2012 Business For Green

The truth is though that many of the most effective green technologies are as old as civilization. These are the “passive” energy savings that can be easily obtained by simply landscaping and decorating your house in an efficient manner.

Energy Efficiency from the Rooftop

The area of the home that absorbs the most energy is the roof. Lots of insulation is needed to keep this energy from transferring as heat into the home. Worse yet, even properly insulated the roof heats up and then stores that energy to be released later contributing to local temperature increases.

There is a simple solution to this problem. You don’t have to worry about heat which is reflected rather than absorbed. By having a light colored roof, you are reflecting more of the sun’s energy than a darker roof would. This can help you to offset the cost of air conditioning in the summer, which is one of the biggest energy drains a home can have.

Care needs to be taken in cooler climates though. The heat from the sun is a valuable resource during cold winters, and can help to eliminate or offset part of the need for energy consumption from other non-renewable resources.

So when building a home, or re-shingling the roof, make sure you take the climate and energy needs of your home into account when deciding on the color of your roof!

© 2012 Business For Green