Posted on: June 10, 2009
Go-to Green
Turn over a new “green living” leaf with eco-friendly ideas that may be more practical than you thought
By Morgan McMillan
CTW Features
Image courtesy Filipacchi Publishing; American Standard
Au naturel: Harness Mother Nature’s readymade green qualities to make your home healthier and cleaner (and keep your bills in check). Let natural light and sustainable, repurposed woods and materials reinvent your space.
Living green has taken a sharp turn in the last few years and bowled itself right down consumer lane. Once the architect's tool, green living has expanded itself to where tips and products are readily available in your local home store.
Jean Nayar, author of “Green Living by Design: The Practical Guide for Eco-Friendly Remodeling and Decorating” (Filipacchi Publishing, 2009), says she has been writing about living green for a long time. “I look forward to the day when 'green' is not the new 'black,' as it has been so often described lately, but rather the old 'blue,' tried and true,” Nayar explains in her book's introduction.
Tips like the ones she presents in her book as “passive techniques” offer to help the everyday consumer live a little bit greener. “Now is the time for green,” she says. “I think any kind of help the average person can get on sifting through the maze and misinformation is better for everybody.”
Use some of these elements of green living to think about ways to incorporate energy efficiency into your home. “Everybody should want to get on Mother Nature's good side,” Nayar says. “And if you can do it, why wouldn't you?”
Text courtesy of “Green Living by Design: The Practical Guide for Eco-Friendly Remodeling and Decorating” (Filipacchi Publishing, 2009)