Eco-Friendly Practices With a Seasonal Twist

Complements of All Holiday Treasures

Unfortunately there is no universal formula or “to-do” list to live a more eco-conscious lifestyle. Because there are so many ways to approach designing a more sustainable lifestyle it’s best for households to do an audit on a regular basis to really see where there is room for green improvement.

Timing your eco-lifestyle audit with the change in weather is a great way to ensure you’ve got a customized plan that adapts to the unique seasonal conditions. Below we’ve listed a few of the most popular “green tips” and given them a winter/holiday twist.

Packaging – Avoid purchasing products with too much packaging to go green year round – There are plenty of ways to customize this for the Fall and Winter. Be sure to make a statement when purchasing gifts and ensure they reflect your eco-values. We like this idea from Re-Nest that suggests using apple packaging for ornament storage.

Water Conservation – There’s nothing worse then pulling back the shower curtain or opening the bathroom door after a hot shower and feeling the cold air rush in. At HomeIntel we understand the appeal of long hot shower on a cold day. But with an appropriate exit plan and a little creativity we suggest you push yourself to get out of the shower this winter instead of staying in longer and wasting extra water and the energy used to heat it. We love Dwell’s idea of using a PHID (portable humanoid insulation device).

Energy Efficiency – A big topic when the weather gets colder is how to be energy efficient and have as warm a home as possible. Beyond programmable Thermostats there are a number of efficient options including space-heaters like this one from Vornado. The Daily Green outlines simple practices that make great weekend projects to help homeowners keep the cold out and energy use down.

For more ideas on how to be eco-conscious this winter check out this list of helpful and creative ideas – everything from winterized composting to bringing evergreens indoors to block the drafts.

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At Home Intel headquarters, our GoogleReaders and RSS feeds are always busting at the seams with new posts and updates from our favorite blogs and websites.  There are so many great information sources available for home and green design, we find our lists growing everyday. 

We think a good resource should provide a variety of information on different topics – whether it’s the newest trends, appliances and product overviews, DIY project ideas or just some beautiful, inspiring photos.

Here’s a quick core sample of some of our favorite resources.

Magazines:  We know a magazine is great when it makes us read it like a book – cover to cover.  We are just thankful these publications have websites we can check for updates between issues.

• Do It Yourself
• Natural Home Magazine
• Dwell
• Home & Design Magazine

Blogs:  What makes a design blog great? At Home Intel, we look for blogs with bite-sized posts that provide the right photos, links and lists.  These give us quick but powerful hits of inspiration that we couldn’t mark “read later” if we tried.

• Style-Files
• Inhabitat
• Southern Design Bee
• More Ways to Waste Time
• Times Topics – The Starter Garden
• Green Inc. Blog
• Design*Sponge
• Green Your Decor
• Charles & Hudson
• Re-Nest

Websites: Our favorite websites have organized layouts.  These sites have enough content to keep us lost for days, but we love them because they are so easy to navigate.

• Etsy
• TreeHugger.com
• pointclickhome.com
• GreenerChoices.org

TV:  We tried to narrow it down, but it’s just impossible.  We love everything about HGTV and Planet Green.

What are your favorite resources?  Let us know if you think there’s something we’ve missed!

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