Home solar panels can drastically cut or even eliminate electricity bills, reduce a home’s carbon footprint, increase resale value, and may even help a home sell faster. The cost of rooftop solar systems has fallen dramatically in recent years, and most homeowners have the option of buying the system, leasing it on reasonable payment terms […]
eco-friendly
Posted inBlog
Why Buy Organic? Part 1: Fruits and Vegetables
What is the big fuss about buying organic produce and organically grown meats, as opposed to those products that are conventionally grown? Budget-conscious buyers will usually opt for the lesser-priced option, which typically, but not always, is conventionally grown. Next to price, the problem becomes even more complex due to labeling and various standards for […]
Posted inAt Home
Make Your Holidays Merry… and Green
The holiday season is a wonderful time for family gatherings filled with cheer, delicious treats, gift exchanges and… trash. Do your part this holiday season to get more out of the former by producing less of the latter. Here are a few tips to cut the waste out of the season: Wrapping paper Nonfoil wrapping […]
Posted inAround West Sound
Buying Fair Trade for the Holidays
So you want to buy ethically this holiday season, but you’re not sure how? Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church has you covered. On Nov. 18 and 19, the Gig Harbor church is hosting its annual Festival of Hope, a community-wide event dedicated to selling only fair-trade products and telling the stories of artisans from around the […]
Posted inFood & Entertainment
The Great Peninsula Cider Festival
Now in its fourth year, the Great Peninsula Cider Festival is one of the largest cider-themed events in the Pacific Northwest. Nearly three dozen regional cidermakers will share almost a hundred hard cider varieties at this year’s festival on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 from noon to 5 p.m. at Sehmel Homestead Park in Gig Harbor. […]
Posted inThe Outdoors
What’s Contributing More to Climate Change, SUVs or Our Dinner Plate?
It may surprise you to learn the global impact of the humble cheeseburger. The climate impact of food has not been discussed as much as driving or deforestation, but there is an increasing awareness of the role that our food plays in climate change. Food production; the clearing, growing, harvesting, transporting, packaging and processing of […]
Posted inAt Home
One Thing You May Forget to Do with Your Programmable Thermostat
Programmable thermostats are designed to help manage energy use, but most of the U.S. households with these controls do not choose to program their thermostats, according to a bulletin by the Information courtesy Energy Information Administration. Based on information collected through EIA’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) for 2015, only 12 percent of the nation’s 118 million […]
Posted inAt Home
The Great Debate: What Eco-Friendly, Chemical-Free Cleaning Products Should You Use?
Spring-cleaning is more than just a phrase; it is serious business for many people. After being cooped up in the house all winter with a growing to-do list — and, for some, a case of Seasonal Affective Disorder — it can be refreshing to give your life and your home an overhaul as soon as […]
Posted inGarden
Our Bees are in Trouble
Bees are in trouble — in recent years, the bee population has plummeted. A compilation of problems is to blame: Bees are essential to the production of one out of every three bites of food that we eat. A growing body of science has implicated neonicotinoids (neonies), the world’s most widely used pesticide, as a […]