22 Little Tips That Will Make a Large Difference

Getting your house to be the "Green" dwelling you would like it to be can seem extremely daunting. The new and expensive appliances, changes to the insulation, and time and effort it takes is enough to make someone think twice about helping out the environment. Instead, the folks over at This Old House have provided some excellent inexpensive tips for creating a more eco-friendly home while saving you lots of time. Such drastic changes aren't as necessary when you can make this small ones that will still have a large impact. Click here to read the article or begin below.

"22 Little Ways to Go Green"
By THIS OLD HOUSE


It seems everybody knows you can help the planet—and save yourself some cash—with big changes: adding spray-foam insulation to open walls, say, or installing a tankless water heater. But there are lots of simpler, lower-cost ways to improve your eco-scorecard, too. Here are some low-stress steps to take around the house to reduce your carbon footprint, create a healthier home, and lower your monthly bills to boot.

WORKSHOP
1. Unplug your power tools. Figure out which cordless tools (like drill/drivers) get the most use, then unplug the chargers on all the rest. Most cordless tools have nickel cadmium (NiCad) batteries, which will hold some charge for up to a year. They lose 15 to 20 percent of their juice each month, but only take a couple of hours to power up again. Newer tools with lithium ion batteries lose just 2 to 5 percent of their charge each month, so they'll be ready to go even if you haven't charged them in ages.

2. Spread sawdust on your floor. Take the superfine shavings captured by your dust collection system, wet them down, then push them around with a stiff broom to sweep your concrete garage or workshop floor. The mix is as good as a power-guzzling shop vac at picking up dust but doesn't swirl it into the air. 

Click here to read the rest of the tips.