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1. Quick Tip: Just In Time for Tax Season - Toilet Rebate!
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2. Lexus HS 250h Hybrid On Sale This Summer
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3. Is There an Ideal Sustainable Home?
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4. Owning, sharing energy for the 'hood
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5. National "global warming teach-in" returns to Oregon
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6. Desire (for money, sex or just more stuff) isn't good or bad, it just is: Hear more at Illahee
Quick Tip: Just In Time for Tax Season - Toilet Rebate!
jchait - Home & Garden
Keetsa has the goods on how you can get a rebate ($100) on a eco-friendly toilet. Good news if like me, you live in Portland, Oregon. If you don’t happen to live in good ol’ pdx, check with the resources below to see if you qualify for a rebate on an energy saving appliance in your neck of the woods.
Can I Get a Rebate for Trading in Old Appliances
Energy Star rebates and special offers
DSIRE - offers, “Fast and convenient method for accessing information about renewable energy and energy efficiency incentives and regulatory policies administered by federal and state agencies, utilities, and local organizations.”
Lexus HS 250h Hybrid On Sale This Summer
khallgeisler - Bikes & Cars
Lexus held the second press conference of the 2009 Detroit auto show, where the HS 250h Hybrid was revealed. Coming as it did immediately after GM’s noisy press conference, Lexus was all quiet confidence. It has brought out a new hybrid every year since 2005, and the HS 250h is the first dedicated hybrid model from Lexus — there is not conventional gasoline-only counterpart. It’s hybrid or the highway, baby.
Lexus didn’t give a price for the new four-door sedan (it always waits until the last minute), but it did say the HS 250h is aimed at entry-level luxury car buyers who said in surveys that if there had been a hybrid in their price range, they would have bought it. Like a hybrid genie, Lexus is hoping to make their wishes come true.
As for its green cred, there aren’t any EPA mileage numbers, though the company says the HS 250h will get higher mileage than a Smart car. The interior plastics are plant-based, from the panels to the foam and upholstery. Thirty percent of the interior is recycled, while 85% of the entire car can be recycled at the end of its lifespan.
Is There an Ideal Sustainable Home?
jchait - Home & Garden
Sustainable housing is not a new idea, but there are many different ideas surrounding the term sustainable building, some of them always changing (think LEED). People have varied sustainable plans when designing a house, but in reality you can narrow sustainability down to some basic ideas.
The best sustainable housing is…
Sustainable at each level. From choosing a site and clearing the land. Your choice of materials and your building ethics (i.e. recycling waste). Your energy system and landscaping. At each level of the planning and building process there are sustainable aspects you can consider.
A sustainable home has a light footprint and takes up less space. You can sort of build a green McMansion but that majorly defeats the true purpose of sustainable design.
The best sustainable materials are locally acquired, efficient, and recyclable. You can go further by choosing materials that have been reclaimed and by using only what you need. For example, two sinks in the bath, may be overkill.
Sustainable housing requires less fuel to heat or cool and maximizes natural vs. non-renewable resources for energy. Wind, solar, proper landscaping, window quality, and more are all ideas surrounding sustainable energy for housing.
Sustainable housing makes the most of water use with things like water efficient appliances, rainwater systems, and low-water landscaping.
Interior design is also a consideration. Non-toxic paints, clean air techniques, reclaimed floors, sustainable furniture, and more all contribute to overall sustainable design.
In my opinion, sustainable design also adds to the land integrity instead of claiming aesthetics from said land. This is not an across the board idea, but it makes little sense to overtake nature with design.
To learn more about sustainable design read:
- Beware of Greenwashing While Building Your Eco-Friendly House
- Build A Green Home for Less Money
- 25 Tools, Ideas, & Activities for Off-Grid-Living
- 50 Sustainable Home Design Features & Resources
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