With the effects of global warming becoming more noticeable, it’s very important to be environmentally conscious. Fortunately, there are many opportunities available to save money and help the environment. Green mortgages are one of these fantastic opportunities.

What is a Green Mortgage?

Green mortgages are special types of mortgages and are backed by the government; these mortgages are also known as energy efficient mortgages. These mortgages will help you have a home that’s more energy efficient; you get to borrow money for the sole purpose of making your residence more energy efficient.

Benefits of an EEM

One of the benefits of obtaining a green mortgage is the fact that you can upgrade your house. You will be able to purchase high-quality, energy efficient devices and items that you might not have been able to purchase normally. An EEM makes these upgrades a real possibility. Anything from insulating windows to eco-friendly HVAC systems can be used to upgrade your home.

Another benefit of getting an EEM is the amount of money you can save. Upgrading your home to an energy-efficient residence will help insulate your house more effectively. This will help you save money on heating and cooling. Energy-efficient HVAC systems and tankless water heaters will also allow you to save a lot of money because they are very efficient. Almost every item you use to upgrade your house will save you money, so a green mortgage has many benefits.

Green mortgages give you the ability to make your home very energy efficient. This will increase the value of your home.

Overall, homes that have become energy efficient with help from an EEM will be insulated and comfortable during every season, and the cost of utilities will be a lot lower.

How EEMs Help the Environment

Green mortgages help the environment in several ways. Homes that use a lot of energy because their appliances and HVAC systems aren’t energy efficient will cause larger amounts of pollutants to be released in the air. Energy is produced by fossil fuels, but using these fuels causes carbon dioxide and other gases like nitrogen to pollute the air.

Energy efficient devices drastically cut the consumption of energy, so a lot less pollutants are released into the air. Furthermore, energy efficient homes use less energy, so less of the Earth’s resources have to be procured. Green mortgages make homes more energy efficient, so these environmental benefits come as a result.

How to Obtain an EEM

If you’re looking to get an EEM, you must find a mortgage lender who can give you one. First, you need to know how energy efficient your home currently is and what improvements should be made. You can’t choose what should be upgraded; you need to have an Energy Rater come to your house. They will thoroughly check your home out, and rate it. A HERS report will be made, and what improvements you can make will come from that report.

EEMs have many advantages for people, their homes, and the environment.

It’s incredible to think that we spend about a third of our lives in bed. This makes it all the more important to ensure you get a good night’s sleep every night, aiding your mood, attention levels and appetite for the next day. However, if you’re struggling to drift off or stay asleep, then it’s time to rejuvenate your sleeping space. Here are a few tips to go eco and help create a healthier you and a healthier planet, so you can sleep easy:

1.) Perfect Furnish:

De-cluttering over-crowded surfaces is a great way to freshen up your bedroom. To still create a warm, cozy feel adorn your room with light, comfortable furnishings, such as upcycled blankets, throws and rugs, and re-cover cushions using spare materials. A softer, clear bedroom will mean a clearer mind, allowing you to shut off more quickly at night. You’ll be sleeping like a baby again in no time.

2.) Go Green:

Potted plants placed around the room will circulate the air and help to reduce stuffiness. Fresh flowers will also emit uplifting light scents, deodorizing the room naturally without the need for chemical aerosols and sprays, and will certainly brighten up the look of your bedroom too.

3.) Smart as Paint:

Decorating your bedroom with soft, neutral tones will help instill a sense of calm and tranquility into your sleeping haven. Consider using natural, non-toxic paints, which don’t produce harmful, pungent fumes and so are better for the earth and you.

4.) Good as New:

Before you chuck out that dusty old bedroom dresser or table, why not give it a quick coat of pure wood oil, or some colored natural paint? This will give your vintage piece of furniture a great visual lift and a whole new lease of life, adorning your newly spruced room.

5.) Mattress Matters:

The best way to ensure a good night’s sleep is to have the best and comfiest bed, so your body can stretch out and relax as you sleep. Mattress Online offers some fantastic eco-friendly mattresses, such as cooling organic cotton. Natural mattresses ‘breathe’, reducing the amount of harmful toxins inhaled from regular processed, synthetic mattresses. These can help to reduce some respiratory problems, ensuring your soothing sleep is a breath of fresh air.

Making some eco bedroom-friendly changes will make a big difference to your sleep, health and well-being. These are just a few ways to help you snooze while you help the environment, so the rest is up to you.

If you’re a tea drinker, you may be wondering what to do with all those leftover tea bags. This has only recently become a concern in our house. Before we started brewing our own Kombucha (fermented tea) we were just occasional tea drinkers, maybe a cup of sleepy time tea all around once a week or so. My 12 year old would also make iced tea here and there. We just composted our tea bags. As the quantity grew though I decided we might find some other uses for them. Here are a few things you can do with your used tea bags:

#1 – Compost. Tea bags compost beautifully in your garden or compost bin. Simply add them to your compost heap and let nature takes its course. If you have rosees you can also break open the bags and spread around the base of your bushes. Roses LOVE tea!

#2 – Under eye soother. Used tea bags, particularly chamomile bags, can be cooled and placed on achy, puffy eyes for a wonderful soothing relaxant. Works great to soothe pink eye too.

#3 – Use on sun burns. Peppermint tea bags are great for sunburns. Let them cool and then place the bags on the burnt areas. You can also place the bags in your bath water and soak!

#4 Dry Poison Ivy. Use a wet tea bag to rub on affected areas and allow to dry. This helps dry the area out so that it can heal faster.

#5 – Use on cuts and razor burn. Used tea bags are also great on cuts and bruises. You can use any variety but green tea, peppermint and chamomile have good soothing qualities.

#6 Scented sachets – If you like strong, fragrant herbal teas then open the bags after brewing and spread the contents on newspaper to dry. Add the dried tea to homemade perfume/potpourri sachets.

#7 Add to potted plants. The bags can be added to pots just above the drainage layer at the bottom. They will retain water allowing you to water less and they will leach valuable nutrients into the soil for the roots.

#8 Clean house. You can rub tea bags on mirrors and windows to get rid of hand prints and smudges. Tea can also be used to clean the toilet. Just give the bags a second soaking in the loo and 30 minutes later, scrub as normal. No chemicals!

#9 Soak smelly feet – Add multiple tea bags to some warm water and soak feet for 20 minutes. Perfect for when the kiddos play outside all day with no socks on!

#10 Hair conditioner – Re-soak your tea bags in some warm water for 10-20 minutes. Use that water to do a final rinse of your hair. This will condition it and make it super soft.

Do you have any creative reuses of your own to share?

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time then you know I am a big time movie fan. My first job was at a movie theater (which I then became manager of) and this was by design because a job perk that I got to see as many free movies as I wanted…me and unlimited friends and family. For years I saw just about every movie released. I often think it would be nice to get a movie theater job again because movies have become so expensive. Heck, I would gladly take on a part time job picking up popcorn and mopping up sticky soda pop if it means I get tons of free movies again. I have been cleaning up snot, puke, and other gross stuff as a mom for years. That would be like a vacation.

For me it is all about the story. Movies transport me to another world and I get to live someone else’s exciting, dangerous, and inspiring life for a couple ours. I love my own life too, don’t get me wrong, but ever since I was a kid I have just loved living in the fantasy worlds created in books and movies. I have already started my mental list of movies that I absolutely must see this summer and at the tippy top is the animated eco film called EPIC. I am sure it will be the block-buster movie of the summer for families.

It looks to be the ultimate in story, fantasy, and fun while also having a hugely important message about the environment and stewardship. We have to get messages like this across to kids in a way that really reaches them and resonates with them. It is getting harder to do with all the distractions that abound today but I think this movie will accomplish it. If I can pair my love of movies with my passion for environmentalism AND take my kids along for the ride…well sign me up for opening day!

EPIC is a 3D CG adventure comedy that reveals a fantastical world unlike any other. It is made by the same geniuses who brought us ICE AGE and RIO (which we all adore) and it tells the story of an ongoing battle between the forces of good, who strive to keep the natural world alive, and the forces of evil, who want to destroy it. A young girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe and she teams up with an elite band of leaf warriors and a crew of comical, larger-than-life figures, to save their world…and ours as well. This film stars Beyoncé Knowles, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Christoph Waltz and Amanda Seyfried. It comes out May 24th.

Team ENERGY STAR is currently running a promotion (much like they did last year) to get kids excited about energy efficiency and they are doing a clever tie in with EPIC. They are hoping to help kids associate their own actions to save energy with protecting the planet, just like the heroes in the movie. Maybe they won’t find themselves in a fantastical world where they have to fight alongside leaf warriors but their actions DO matter. They DO make a difference. They can do their part at home, every day. This ENERGY STAR initiative is really about empowering kids (and families) to protect the climate and reduce pollution with easy, money-saving actions.

So how do you get started? Well, you probably already care about these issues and are working towards energy conservation as a family already. To join ENERGY STAR though and make it a focus this summer, visit their web site and download all the interactive materials they have for us, including a nifty Action Kit and a Home Check-Up list. Children are also encouraged to share their energy-saving stories. If they decide to do so then they will become eligible to win some great energy-saving electronics that further reinforce the message that saving energy can change the world.

So are you ready to make it a team ENERGY STAR summer and see the movie EPIC as a family? I know we are!

Watch the trailer below…

DISCLOSURE: I will receive four tickets to see EPIC in exchange for writing about this amazing initiative.

When you eat a lot of fresh fruit and produce you tend to see lots of fruit flies hanging around your house. My husband insists that there have to be eggs on the fruit and that is how they get into the house. I prefer to believe that the little guys can smell the ripe fruit from miles away and sneak inside the house to feast. Who wants to imagine they are buying fruit with egg sacs all over it??? Yuck! Either way it is gross to walk by your bowl of apples or bananas (or whatever fruit you like to eat), grab one, and then see dozens of little flies take flight.

Families with small children especially battle them because little slices of orange, apple cores, and banana peels don’t always make it to the compost or garbage bin right away. Sometimes in the warmer months we have to set up several homemade fruit fly traps in different rooms but MOSTLY we have to deal with them in the kitchen, where the fruit lives.

It has begun. This morning, after spending most of the weekend out of town, I discovered a melon that had gone bad. As in ooze dripping onto the floor bad. Fruit flies were having a wild party. Within 10-15 minutes I was able to wrangle those rascals into a jar and with just a few items around the house.

Homemade Fruit Fly Trap

You need:

Mason jar
Vinegar (I use ACV or rice vinegar)
Paper – A single piece folded/wrapped into a cone
Fruit – a single piece of really ripe fruit (I used a chunk of apple)

First you need to get rid of any over ripe fruit and thoroughly clean up any resulting mess. You have to take away their food so they will want to go into the jar. After that is done add the vinegar and fruit to the jar and then insert the cone, narrow part down. The fruit flies will be attracted to the vinegar/fruit and will make their way down into the jar but will not be able to get out. They will either drown or you can walk the jar outside and release them. Hope this helps!