How & Why to Get (or Create) a Green Job: Q&A with Van Jones
Van Jones' 'New Deal' could get America back to work while weaning us off oil and coal. We asked him four questions about how you can put his ideas to work for you, your business or a friend who needs a new line of work.
Making an Old Home Green
Few of us have the resources to build a more energy-efficient house from the ground up. So, I set out to make my home as environmentally sound as I could in every aspect.
Benefits of Green Landscaping
Eco-friendly landscaping is good for nature and widlife, but it can also be good for your pockets. Find out how green landscapes save you money and pay for themselves in the long run.
It’s Easy to Get Greener: Q&A with Ed Begley, Jr.
Actor-activist Ed Begley, Jr., talks about his favorite ways for anyone to live greener, based on his real life that’s just oddball enough to be the topic of HGTV's “Living with Ed."
'Garbage Warrior' Turns Trash Into Green-Built Houses
Renegade architect Michael Reynolds transforms beer cans, tires and soda bottles into unique homes with tiny power bills. The subject of the Earth Cinema Circle film 'Garbage Warrior,' Reynolds talked with Gaiam about how green homes can help the fight against global warming.
Ryan's Well: How a 6-Year-Old Started Changing the World
Ryan Hreljac was only 6 when he started saving his chores money to pay for a well for a Ugandan village. His can-do attitude grew into a nonprofit that's built more than 300 wells in developing countries.
Going Green Pays: Tax Incentives for Eco Choices
How to collect on eight different federal tax credits, rebates and incentives for buying green — from better windows and insulation a hybrid car, solar electric system or solar powered water heater.
7 Earth-Friendly Ways to Cool Down
Air conditioning can account for 60 to 70 percent of your summer electric bill — and use energy unnecessarily. Try these seven tips for reducing your energy footprint AND costs.
Top 5 Places & Top 25 Ways to Weatherize Your Home
The average unweatherized house in the United States leaks air at a rate equivalent to a four-foot-square hole in the wall. These 25 tips can save you 25 to 40 percent on your heating and cooling bills.
Spirit of the Sun: The Making of John Schaeffer's Eco-Home
How solar energy and eco-living pioneers John Schaeffer and Nancy Hensley built the home they'd always dreamed of -- a home that honors the earth and the pioneering spirit of their company, Gaiam Real Goods.
3 Tips on Buying Green Building Materials
Essential advice from green and natural building expert and author Dan Chiras on how to maximize the benefit and satisfaction from your choice to build greener.
Planning Is Everything: 3 Keys to Succeeding at Sustainable Home Design
Advice fromThe Real Goods Independent Builder author Sam Clark on how planning and collaboration can help you obtain local and recycled products, minimize waste, reduce costs, and end up with the home you really want.
Can You Afford a Green-Built House?
The future of green building depends, in large part, on green homes being affordable to build, furnish, and operate. Contrary to the myth that building an environmental home is a costly venture reserved only for the well-to-do, this option can be quite cost-competitive.
4 Pointers on Making Your Dream Home a Green Home
"You don't have to live in a grass shack to live sustainably," says green- and natural-building expert Dan Chiras. "You can live well while living lightly." Read on Chiras' advice for siting your home, choosing green building materials, integrating passive solar, and sidestepping three common green building mistakes.
Want to Live Greener? The Solar Living Institute Is Your University
SLI has taught more than 1,000 workshops, imbuing 25,000 students with practical, hands-on knowledge of solar and other renewable energy technologies. But beyond its practicality as an education center, SLI is an inspiring example of the benefits and beauty of living green.
Carolyn Alexander Proves Going Solar Isn't Just a Guy Thing
On-the-job training took on new meaning for a young electrical inspector in Frederick County, Md. When he drove up into the mountains of central Maryland to check the rough-in electrical work on Carolyn Alexander's newly built home, the last thing he expected was to be educated on solar by a woman.
Paradise Found: Caribbean Resort Owners Harness Sun Power
Mike and Petagay Hartman took great care to have the least possible impact on the ecosystem of San Andros Island in the Bahamas. Their award-winning premier eco-travel destination is the Caribbean's only full-service, 100% solar-powered resort.
5 Commandments of Sustainable Home Building
Almost a century of cheap energy has led to land-use patterns completely divorced from the inherent qualities of the land. The New Ecological Home author Dan Chiras says following these five rules when building make you part of the solution, not part of the problem.
12 Steps to Choosing a Site for Your Green Home
It's critically important to get intimately acquainted with your building site before your project begins. Natural building and sustainable design experts agree on these siting guidelines.
Go Tankless: Hot Water on Demand
Never take another cold shower! Get hot water instantly when you turn on the faucet -- and save both money and precious water. You can even get a tax credit.
How Much Power Will You Need from Your Solar Electric System?
Pointers on estimating the output capacity you'll need from a photovoltaic system to run your household using solar power. Excerpted from the Gaiam Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook.
Boost winter output from your solar electric system: MPPT controllers 101
A brief primer on how Maximum Power Point Tracking Controllers can extract 15% more power from your solar electric system year-round, and up to 30% more during winter � when you need it most. It's a smart way to take charge efficiency a step further than standard charge controllers can.
Inner-City Kids Get Down with Eco-Responsibility at SLI
Seeds of hope and change are planted as inner-city kids from San Francisco's Bret Harte School take a free field trip to learn about renewable energy and how to live greener.
