Green Ways to Heat Your Home

With heating oil prices constantly on the rise over the past several months, many people have started looking for alternative ways to heat their homes, but most end up coming right back to what they started with. Avoid becoming one of the many who gets stuck using home heating oil, and do your part to help out the environment at the same time with these suggestions for heating your home the green way.

Use Your Fireplace

Perhaps one of the most obvious ways to steer clear of heating costs but still heat your home is to use your fireplace or a wood stove more often than you currently do. While some may argue that it's not exactly a "green" heating alternative because of the amount of wood each device requires for burning, it's actually not so bad.
There are logs out there that you can purchase specially that are meant to burn longer than regular wood. There are also synthetic logs on the market that still burn longer than their natural counterparts. And by using a fireplace or wood stove, you're dramatically reducing your energy costs, thereby saving the environment from enormous greenhouse gas emissions.

Invest in a Pellet Stove

Perhaps the most efficient way to heat your home aside from a traditional fireplace, as well as a more green answer than burning wood, is a pellet stove. Pellet stoves are generally inexpensive to install because they don't require any ventilation from a chimney, but they can be tricky to put in. They're newer than fireplaces and easier to keep running to use as a full-time heating source during colder months.
The Environmental Protection Agency names pellet stoves the most environmentally-friendly heating device because they burn cleanly. They actually pollute so little that they don't even require EPA certification for their emissions. They burn little compressed wood pellets that are cheaper to buy than firewood or even electricity.
A pellet stove does require some electricity, though, to keep the motor running to burn the pellets, but it's a tiny fraction of the cost of electric heaters.

EcoSmart Bio-Ethenol Fireplaces

These trendy new fireplaces burn bio-ethenol fuel instead of wood or gas, making them incredibly eco-friendly. Plus, they're so new and modern that they make an awesome aesthetic addition to any home.
EcoSmart fireplaces can either be built into an existing fireplace so it looks like a real fireplace, or they can be free-standing so you can do as you please with them. They're a great alternative way to heat your home because they do produce real, warm flames - just without the harmful emissions. The bio-ethenol that they do burn is a completely renewable and sustainable resource.

Fill in the Cracks

If you feel any drafts coming into your home while it's cold, make a point of filling in the spaces where the cold air comes in. This is easily accomplished by stuffing blankets or (safe) insulation into the cracks.
You can also cover your windows with plastic that keeps the cold air out. It may look a little strange, but all you need are some good, decorative curtains that take attention away from the plastic. And speaking of curtains, buy a set that's thermal to trap the heat inside and help keep the cold out. You'll be able to manage the heat in your home much better if you try just these simple changes.

Cuddle Up

The easiest way to stay warm during the cold months - cuddle up under a nice comfy blanket! Better yet, get a buddy or a significant other to snuggle up next to and share some body heat. Pets also make wonderful natural heaters, so get close!

4 Great Reasons to Recycle

When you finish a can of soda or a bottle of water, where do you throw the remains? Does the container go in the trash can with the rest of your garbage, or in its own separate container for recycling?
The answer should be the latter, and if it's not, then you should really reconsider your disposal methods. Recycling can never do any harm, and in fact, here are 6 reasons why it's a great idea to separate out those plastic, aluminum and glass containers from the rest of your trash.

It's Good for the Environment

Probably the most obvious benefit, recycling is the best thing you can do for the environment. Studies show that nearly 60% of your garbage that you throw away on a daily basis can actually be recycled, otherwise it ends up in landfills where it's left to decompose to nothing. Problem is, it takes forever for recyclable materials to decompose, so all they do in the landfills is take up space where other garbage should be going.
By keeping your recycling products out of the landfills, you're leaving more space for your actual garbage, keeping extra garbage off streets and sidewalks. It will also take less energy to recycle an old product and use it for another purpose than it would to create a new product for the same purpose, so recycling saves energy.

It Saves Money

Think about if you were to use every container you're done with over and over again for different purposes. It makes sense, right? Maybe you finish a jam jar one day, and you need to store some leftover soup the next day. If you saved your jam jar, you can save yourself a trip to the store for some Tupperware by just using the jar you already have.
If you buy bottled water, think of other things you can use the bottles for before you throw them away. Maybe you drink 1 case of bottled water, then purchase a filter for your faucet or a filter pitcher and continue to refill your empty water bottles for several months following their purchase dates.
You can also do all kinds of fun arts and crafts with kids using recycled products. Kids can figure out some of the most creative things to do with recycled bottles, so instead of having to go out and buy extra arts and crafts products, use what's already in your recycling bin next time your kids have an itch to craft.

It Makes Money

We've all seen the little 5 cent deposit for can return messages on the sides of our bottles and cans, but how many of us actually collect up our containers and take them to a recycling center to redeem our change? A few cans or bottles can really add up to a good payout!
Start collecting now! Create bins to store all of your recycled containers in, and twice a year take the contents of the bins down to your nearest recycling center to deposit them. You'll be surprised how quickly the change adds up - depending on how many recyclables you collect, you could end up walking away with up to a couple hundred dollars!

It's Easy

Recycling is probably one of the easiest things on the planet to do. All you have to do is be conscious of what you are throwing away. Before you toss something in the trash, think to yourself, "Could I actually recycle this?" If the answer is yes, sort it into a recycling pile. Recycling trucks come back just as frequently as garbage trucks, so it's really no hassle for you to collect your recyclables and bring them down to the curb every week just like you would your trash.
The next time you go to throw an empty container away, think of all of the other things you or someone else could be doing with it, and seriously consider starting a strict recycling routine.