Green Home Authority

For several years now there has been controversy mounting over whether plastic water bottles are harmful. There are theories that leaving a bottle in a hot car will leach chemicals into the water you drink, there are concerns about the affects of BPA, and there is evidence that plastic bottles caps are killing tens of thousands of birds every year as they are mistaken for food.We did a story recently on the new BPA free Nalgene and CamelBak bottles in combination with portable filters, but what about the times when you can't bring your reusable bottle? There are many sporting...

Having recently purchased a baja style prerunner modeled 1986 Toyota Pickup (based on the European Hilux model) I was aware that the smog emissions might not be the best. Surprisingly, even this truck which is over 20 years old still gets over 20 miles per gallon and is quite efficient. While not everything on this truck is stock... my friend and I were able to clear emissions in the Bay Area and have been enjoying the jumps and offroading in Hollister California. Check out the video below, just for fun. The truck is named Maybeline and our hope was to...

In our last story we covered ways to reduce energy and resource use by 50% doing things like adding an aerator to your sink and swapping out your old fashioned light bulbs for CFL's. Some of the tips were fairly obvious but one stood out from the pack as being both relevant and easy to implement. A company called SPRANQ has created a line of computer fonts that work for both Mac and PC that reduce the amount of ink required for printing. This font line is called Ecofont and it's available in two different flavors, the free basic version...

Sometimes just knowing what to is the hard part when it comes to energy and resource savings. Take a quick look over this short list, you may already know some of these saving techniques but we're willing to be at least one will be new to you.ShoppingNext time you get the urge to shop, grab your laptop and browse the online aisles. Shipping a 10-pound package overnight by air uses nearly 50% less fuel than you'd use going to and from the mall. Do even more by opting for ground shipping which uses 20% less energy than air shipping. Many...

I'm a big fan of reusable water bottles, ever since the days of Nalgene sport bottles I've been carrying one with me. They are fun to toss around, easy to clip to bags, and quite durable. I feel great about not using throw away bottles, even though they can be recycled they are a lot more wasteful in terms of shipping and packaging. Taste can be an issue with localized water, or if you fill up with OJ or soda, but many people own a Brita or PUR water filter pitcher to help with that... We'll get more into this...

So we all know that taking disposable plastic bags from the grocery store is bad for the environment. We sometimes resort to paper bags, since they are more recyclable or reusable, but the problem doesn't end there. Eventually over 95% of plastic and paper bags are thrown away... or blown away to end up stuck in trees or suffocating dolphins. These days many stores, even Trader Joe's, choose to double bag larger loads so the problem is really only getting worse. Remembering to use "bring along bags" is hard and inconvenient, but there is a solution emerging, read on.I'll be...

While we try to focus on the more positive aspects of clean technology here at Green Home Authority, this is one question that our friends with beach houses just can't ignore. Over the past several years, even the past decade, scientists have hypothesized that global warming was indeed taking place and that CO2 trapped in our atmosphere would create a "greenhouse effect" which in turn would warm the earth... thus melting icebergs and warming the ocean.Simply put, as land based icebergs melt they phase shift from a solid (ice) into a liquid (water) and run downhill into the world's oceans....

As a fan of NBC's hit show 30 Rock and a lover of the planet I enjoyed episode the fifth episode of season two entitled "Greenzo". David Schwimmer (Ross from Friend's) get's a new job promoting GE's green appliances in the form of a green superhero named Greenzo. Unfortunately, he goes overboard and begins insulting everyone about how gross their overconsumption really is and devolves into a self obsessed megalomaniac.At one point in an intense standoff Greenzo confronts Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) with "Wait! What's in that styrofoam cup, huh? The Earth's blood? Gimme that!". Tragically, styrofoam cups and individually...

Forest fires cause a lot of damage, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) the ten year average in California alone is 9,649 fires per year consuming over 299,458 acres. That's not to say that fires themselves are bad, in fact they are necessary for the germination of certain kinds of trees and there are even some species in California, such as the giant redwood and sequoia, that are fire resistant. When people interact with the environment however, they sometimes upset the natural cycle of small forest fires - creating prolonged "no burn" periods which allow biomass fuel to...

Last week I had a conversation with my favorite engineering friend Lee Devlin. Lee's articles have been featured numerous times here on the CleanTech Authority Network and he's the guy I turn to when I need advice about EE challenges. This time I was asking Lee about Vampire Power loss, which is a phenomenon that occurs in millions of homes nation wide in the US and other countries.When you leave appliances plugged in they drain power or create heat which wastes power. I was wondering, aren't there smart outlets that stop the flow of energy for appliances when not in...