8 Reasons to Go Green with your Home

8 Reasons to Go Green with your Washington Home
From the Herald.net

The Herald has an awesome article about how going Green with your home can be cost efficient and lead to healthier living.

Here are eight reasons to consider installing green features on your home:
1. Reduce fuel consumption Reducing energy use means burning less of nonrenewable resources such as coal, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. This can be achieved by installing energy-efficient appliances or simply changing a light bulb. Exchanging one compact fluorescent bulb for one incandescent bulb saves about 500 pounds of coal during the life of the bulb, according to Aaron Adelstein, director of the Built Green program.

2. Improve stream quality To prevent storm water runoff, builders can use gravel or pervious pavement to construct driveways. These materials allow rain-water to soak naturally into the ground instead of running off into streams, where it can create erosion and sedimentation problems. “There’s real elegance in pervious pavement’s logic and simplicity,” said Andrew Marks, executive director of the Puget Sound Concrete Specification Council.

3. Dump less waste Green builders take extra efforts to recycle materials and send less waste to landfills. “On average annually, the residential construction market puts 136 million tons of waste into landfills each year,” Adelstein said. “The less wood you’re wasting, the less wood you have to cut.”

4. Improve indoor air quality Avoiding products that release toxins creates healthier air inside your home. Using low- or no-variable organic content paint is an easy, cost-effective way to lower indoor air pollution, said Aileen Gagney, asthma and environmental health program manager for the American Lung Association of Washington. Building floors of sustainably harvested wood instead of installing carpet can also reduce indoor pollutants, Gagney said. “Carpets are some of the most toxic materials in the home, and where do we put babies? On the carpet,” she said.

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