Easy Green: Country vs. City for Ecofriendly Lifestyles
Urbanites, take heart: You've got some green advantages over your country cousins
Houzz Contributor. You can also find me on Lolalina (http://www.lolalina.com/), my blog devoted to all of the things that make a house a home - decorating from the heart, living with intention, and savoring life's simple pleasures.
Houzz Contributor. You can also find me on Lolalina (http://www.lolalina.com/),... More »
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It's easy to idealize the country as the perfect place for living a green lifestyle, with fresh, clean air and plenty of room to live off the land. And while those features are certainly there (and quite appealing for some), the surprising part is, there are great ecofriendly lifestyle options that go along with urban and suburban or rural living. Find out here how to take advantage of all that your own area has to offer, no matter where you live.
by B. Jane Gardens
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Country living sounds green ... but is it? While there are many benefits to living in the country, one big negative from a green perspective is the fact that you likely need to get in the car to get just about anywhere. If you live in a rural or suburban area, try these steps to minimize car use:
• Carpool to work with neighbors
• Send little ones to school on the bus
• Work from home or telecommute part-time
• Cluster errands to reduce time in the car
• Carpool to work with neighbors
• Send little ones to school on the bus
• Work from home or telecommute part-time
• Cluster errands to reduce time in the car
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| Use your land to the max. With ample property and distant neighbors, in the country you can grow much of your own fruit and veggies, or even (depending on zoning laws) keep livestock. Being able to pick beans and lettuces for dinner and collect fresh eggs at breakfast is eating local at its finest. |
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| The green secret of city living: walkability. Living in a dense urban area offers one distinct advantage over rural neighbors — namely, the ability to walk nearly anywhere. And where you can't reach by foot, it's likely you can use public transportation, virtually eliminating the need for a car. You can even get the Walk Score for your neighborhood, which takes into account things like proximity to markets, parks, shops and restaurants. Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where this home shown is, scores a 98: "Walker's Paradise." Read more about neighborhood walkability |
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Embrace a lack of space. Living in a tiny city flat makes it easier to buy less stuff. So the next time you find yourself bemoaning the lack of a decent kitchen or full-size closet, you can at least be reassured that you are doing your part to conserve resources. After all, small spaces not only take less stuff to fill, but they also require less energy to heat and cool, and use less water than larger homes.
| Get creative with urban gardens. City neighborhoods are seeing edible gardens springing up everywhere from rooftops and fire escapes to postage stamp backyards and community spaces. Greening up the city is a wonderful way to eat local, to be sure, but less obviously, it is also a boost to air quality. Even if you have room for only a few pots on the balcony or windowsill, choosing to add a few potted edibles can make a difference, adding fresh air to your home and fresh greens to your table. |
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Grow vertically in the city. Thanks to innovations like wall pockets (shown here), you can even grow a garden right on your wall, inside or out.
The buzz on bees. Gardens need pollinators, which is why some city dwellers are even choosing to add beehives to their gardens. Bees take up very little space and can provide fresh, local honey to boot.
The buzz on bees. Gardens need pollinators, which is why some city dwellers are even choosing to add beehives to their gardens. Bees take up very little space and can provide fresh, local honey to boot.
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| Go green in the suburbs. Owning your own single-family home does hold a few advantages over living in apartment buildings and condos: You can make more lasting structural changes without asking permission from a co-op or homeowners association. For a quick addition, try using a rainwater collecting system to store water for use in your garden; or for a bigger investment, you could even have solar panels installed on your house. |
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by Aloe Designs
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| Give up some lawn space for a kitchen garden. The edible garden movement is growing by leaps and bounds, and in many suburban areas it's no longer uncommon to see tomatoes and peppers growing in the front yard and expanses of grass given up in favor of raised vegetable beds. A family of four doesn't need a huge garden to provide fresh, local food to supplement regular market trips, so why not give it a try? Tour this efficient backyard edible garden in Vancouver |
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Chickens in suburbia. Just because you don't have acreage doesn't mean you can't also do a bit of suburban farming right in your own backyard. Local ordinances vary, so be sure to check with your city before bringing home a backyard flock — and educate yourself on the proper care needed to maintain healthy hens.
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Expand your vision of the "homestead." Even if you live in a city or don't like to garden, anyone can freeze and can fresh, seasonal food from the farmer's market. Widen your perspective and the range of changes you can make right where you are.
Tell us: What do you love about where you live? What do you find is easier or harder about going green in your area?
Tell us: What do you love about where you live? What do you find is easier or harder about going green in your area?
Ideabook published on Dec. 12, 2012.
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A kitchen is one of the easiest things to organize for yourself. Just look at how you already use it. My own cooking makes primary use of 4 things: the back right stove burner, the oven, the microwave, and the slow cooker. So do I need a full size stove with 4 burners and an oven big enough to cook 2 turkeys at once? Probably not. Can I get rid of the stove I have? Also probably not, particularly if I want to sell the house.
But I can repurpose. I could make, or have made, a detachable "kitchen island" cutting and prep surface to fit over the four burners and buy a single one. I could also buy a smaller countertop oven and an extra oven shelf for the big oven and turn it into a pot and pan storage cabinet.
If you cook much, you probably have a "go to" pot that has multiple uses. Mine is a cast iron deep skillet known as a "chicken fryer" with a shallower skillet of the same diameter used as a lid. Think of all the ways you could use to cook with this pairing: frying pan, deep fryer, Dutch oven, casserole dish, bain marie for double boiling, vegetable steaming with a cake rack insert, and so on. I have actually done all of these things with my chicken fryer. So make a place for it to live where you can see it and put your hands on it instantly, and deep store (or deep six) the rest of the pots. Take the utensils that are actually in your hands--slotted spoon, meat forceps, jar wrench, ect.; and store them upright in a decorative ceramic crock next to the "go to" pot. Then put the utensils that you keep "just in case" in the lowest cabinet drawer that is there "just in case". Also, consider doing the same sort of thing with eating utensils and dish washing utensils.
These same principles can be extended to any room used for anything once you have learned to apply them to the kitchen.
The school however is GREAT so we are here--for now!--with the second generation attending. 15 kids PER CLASS ROOM. We are however looking to move ALL of us South and have been making vacation trips to scout various areas. Again it will be the SCHOOL that makes the final decision--we can fix up anything (have done it before!) or possibly thinking of living in an RV (for us soon to retire types!) and touring the country on our motorcycle.
Don't judge--this would be parked most of the year with us inside and far more efficient than the house we live in now! And the bike gets much better gas mileage! You never know where life might take you--I would have been hysterical at 18 if you told me THIS was where I would be and THAT was what I would be thinking of doing!