I wish gas was more expensive!

Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm disappointed that gas has dropped so low. We were making so much progress on focusing everyone on driving and their gas usage. Numerous people were educating themselves on good driving tips to conserve gas, carpooling, or avoiding trips all together. Hybrid and gas efficient cars were being purchased as fast as they could be produced, and certain auto companies were suffering because of their lack of understanding of their customers and the market.

Now, people are letting up, and reverting back to their old behaviors. Don't fall into that trap!

Just because gas is half the price, you are still using the same amount of fuel as before, and releasing the same amount of carbon dioxide into the air.

Continue to make public transportation, carpooling and gas-less transportation a priority, no matter how low the price per gallon falls. It will only be a matter of time before it climbs back up again!

Tough decisions about mulch?

The last major decision I had to make about my house remodeling project was the decision about landscaping mulch.

Eucalyptus?
Traditional?
Recycled Tires?

I had quite a bit of area to cover, so cost was definitely going to be a factor in the decision.

The traditional mulch was by far the cheapest, even with a delivery charge, but I was concerned about termites.

The eucalyptus bags at Lowe's seemed to be more environmentally-friendly, but I don't think there are any real answers out there yet as to whether the mulch is better than traditional cypress trees (are they harvested, or just the invasive trees).

The last option was recycled rubber mulch, made from old tires. The idea was by far the best option, but the price was 10x what a traditional bag cost. I think it's too much to ask that someone pay that much more just to go green. However, my goal with my house remodel was to make it stand out from the rest of the numerous houses on the market. As my project was winding down, I decided that I needed just one more "green" differentiator, and so I did some more research to find a local rubber mulch company, who could get me a cheaper price for a larger order.

The local company did not give me the price I wanted. I was able to find a company in Orlando (about an hour and a half away), that saved me 30% from the price at Lowe's. They routinely made shipments to South Florida, so shipping to my house was on the way, so I didn't feel as bad about the transportation impact.

Installation was relatively easy. The bags were 50-lbs each, but once emptied, the material was easy to spread, and much less messy that traditional mulch. When we finished, we were very impressed with how it turned out.

Again, it was a more expensive decision, but the aesthetic results and environmental benefits we obtained made it well worth the extra cost.

Throwing away trash takes a long time!

One thing that I didn't anticipate when remodeling my house was how long it would take to get rid of things I didn't want anymore. Instead of putting all the junk in my garage into a big pile on the curb, I spent hours trying to figure out how to salvage, or reuse, or recycle those items.

I even started to dread throwing anything away. I knew it would involve an internal fight with myself on whether I could justify throwing it away. It usually ended in the decision to not throw it away. Usually, it just left me with more questions. The few things I could justify throwing away still made me second guess myself for at least a couple days afterwards. You really can't go back, once you know what is the right thing to do.

Overall, I'm happy with most of the decisions I made. Goodwill and ReStore were the main beneficiaries. Although it took a lot more time and effort to figure everything out, I feel like I made a small difference. Even though I will still always question myself whenever I open the trash can lid, it's a small price to pay.

New Refrigerator

I tried to salvage the old refrigerator from my old house, but there was just too much odor coming out of it (long story), even after we cleaned it. It looks like it was built in the late 70's, so I justified that I could throw it out, on account of it's inefficient ways. I'll just look on craigslist for a used (but newer) fridge, and everything will be great. But then I ran into some problems. Who was going to pick up the new fridge? My mom has been helping me with the house, but moving a fridge is not that easy. Nor did she have a vehicle capable of doing so. It would be a lot easier to go to Lowe's and buy a new one, and have them deliver it. They're only $350 for the simple models. I could even put it on my Lowes credit card and not have to pay for it right now. But then my green mind starting giving me a guilt trip. So I kept checking craigslist...

I found a few fridges that would have worked perfectly, but each time I called or emailed, they were already sold. I was checking many times a day. I guess fridges are a hot commodity! Mind you, I was also getting the carpet replaced, so I could put the house up for sale. After a week of trying, I had no fridge, but the carpet was installed, and now I have a house ready for showing, and no fridge!

I said to myself "This is a special circumstance. Time is of utmost importance right now. I won't have time to wait for next available fridge. I need to get a fridge in there ASAP! I can justify buying a new fridge for all those reasons and not feel guilty, right?"

Wrong. I held out. And today a fridge came online, and I called, and it was still available! Was it the right dimensions? Yes! Can someone deliver it? Yes! How much? $200! I'll take it!

Replacing countertops

I am in the process of remodeling my house. Today's dilemna came when I was evaluating my choices of countertops. Like most green decisions, price was the biggest factor. I could either choose a cheaper quartz material ($2000), a new granite material ($2500), or a granite overlay ($4500). The more expensive it was, the better green choice it was (unfortunately). How could I possibly justify the extra $2000? Isn't twice the price too much to expect someone to "go green"? That's what I kept telling myself...

Let me first explain the benefits of the granite overlay. First, it was made of 70% recycled glass bottles. Second, it would reuse the existing countertops and I wouldn't have to send it to the landfill. Third, it used much less granite material than traditional granite countertops, so less was taken from the earth. Fourth, it was not porous like natural granite, so it was more resilient to damage from heat and knives. Fifth, and most important, it came down to principle. If I was really going to be serious about making a change, I had to feel the pain from time to time, and this was one of those times. It's easy to be green when the price is not an issue. The more we can support green companies, the more likely that price will become less of a differentiator.

I chose the granite overlay. It was 50% of my remodeling budget, but when they were finished, it was worth every penny. I also feel good about my decision, knowing that I made the right choice, not only for me, but for the environment.

Old shower tiles

I decided I needed to update my bathroom, if I wanted to even have a chance of selling my home. I have a shower/bath combo (standard in most homes), but I needed to update it. After talking to my handyman friend, we decided to rip out the bathtub and put a walk-in shower.

Two green decisions: What to do with the old bathtub and tiles? What to buy for the new tiles?

For the bathtub, I had no idea where to turn to get it "recycled" or reused somehow. I wish I knew who to ask, because I ended up setting it on the curb to be hauled away. I wanted to bury it in the yard and make a fish pond out of it, but I knew I would never have the time to complete that task. Strike one!

The tiles that were removed were saved into a box (my request). I spend a couple hours cleaning and sorting through the mess of drywall and paper backing to figure out how many tiles I had remaining. I wanted to give them away to someone, but we didn't have a ReStore type of place nearby that I could drop them off.
(Update: Later I realized we did in fact have a ReStore, I just never knew about it!)

I decided to go on craigslist and see if anyone was interested. Luckily, I had a taker, and I was able to give her some free tiles to redo her bathroom, and I was able to ease my conscience about the bathtub. Going green is definitely a process, something that takes diligence and patience. It would have been easy to just throw the tiles away and avoided a few hours of labor, but I'm glad I did it.

Finally, I had to find new tiles. I didn't have a lot of time to find what I wanted, and didn't have the money to get exactly what I wanted. The prices I was getting for tiles made out of recycled material ranged from $5-12 per square foot. This was quite the increase over the $1.50/sq ft price that I could get from Lowes. (Again, if I had known about the ReStore, I could have saved some serious money, and avoided another green mistake). I unfortunately chose the new tiles from Lowes.

Overall, one positive (the tiles) and two negatives (bathtub and new tiles). Not feeling real good about it. Lost this battle, but determined to win the war...