I read a post from a while back on Design Mind describing the shocking service received from a green builder.  The truth is that a lot of builders deliver shocking service, green or not - and as a builder/architect/designer I have seen it all!  I am usually kept busy fixing and saving where other builders and contractors have messed up.

 

But WHY does this seem to happen so often?

The main reason is miscommunication.  This is assuming that the contractor is not an all-out crook intent on taking your money from the start.  

 

So listen to this:

1. The owner knows what he wants, but because he does not know the ins and outs of building, DOES NOT SPECIFY DETAILS, like 

*exact patterns and layout of tiles; *exact distance required between tiles; *precise position of the taps if wall mounted; *plaster...

More and more South Africans are becoming so concerned about the swamps of waste polluting the country that they are fortifying their kitchens with not just one - but a barrage of bins.

Yet, say some of South Africa's foremost recycling experts, many of these well-meaning ecophiles have no idea just how much of their separated waste ends up on landfill as a result of incorrectly managed home-recycling systems.

You have to make sure you recycle clean stuff, or only send recycling companies materials that they can use. Otherwise you're just diverting waste to landfill by another means.

Frozen-food boxes are one of the most common items in any household fridge and look just like paper. But this kind of packaging, says Sholto-Douglas, is wasted on the paper bin...

Did you know, composting at home for just one year can save global warming gases equivalent to all the CO2 your kettle produces annually, or your washing machine produces in three months? Makes you want to start piling up garden clippings and vegetable peels - but is that all there is to it?  

Yes!  Even small yards can accommodate a compost heap. All you need is a container.

What do you keep Compost in? The compost ‘heap’ itself is usually a large container in which you store your compost. These can be bought or made and any large container will do. They can be made from wood, tin and plastic and people will often use things they’ve picked up from elsewhere, perhaps and old wooden barrel. However, with local councils often being the driving force behind many environmental initiatives, such as recycling, they will often provide you...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — After undergoing anywhere from three to 10 wash cycles in industrial-sized machines, the average pair of jeans uses 42 liters of water in the finishing process. But by making simple changes to the jeans finishing process, Levi's has been able to dramatically reduce the water needed to produce each pair of jeans -- 28 percent on average, and as much as 96 percent in some jeans products.

Levi's calls the new line "Water-Less," and the company unveiled the jeans and the process changes on Wednesday.

Among the ways that the new product line trims water use: • Reducing the number of washing machine cycles by combining multiple wet cycle processes into a single wet process • Incorporate ozone processing into the garment washing...

If you think about how we lived in the days before electricity, candle light was enough for us to navigate about our houses at night. So why do we need floodlights inside and out to duplicate the daylight?  

I am not suggesting we all go off the grid and not use computers or TV or anything else that is convenient – I am merely saying that we have the technology available to cut our electricity consumption so we should use it!   We only need solar powered arrival lights, inside and out – as well as solar powered night lights. The security lights should have motion sensors so that they only work when they are really needed.

...

LEAD SA is a great campaign - and you can be instrumental by planting your own vegetables.   Sounds like a dubious way to lead the nation, but it will improve your health and by leading the trend, the health of those around you.  

How is this happening?  Well increasingly more contaminated water is entering our rivers and dams from  sewerage treatment plants which are  dysfunctional as well as from informal settlements.  This water is then no longer suitable for human consumption or irrigation - toxins enter the plants and then in turn the humans eating those plants.  Many animals are already dying from drinking this toxic water.

“Animals in the Kruger National Park and ecosystems across the country are under threat. Tourism is compromised by the eutrophication of rivers and dams. Water treatment costs are escalating due to poor raw water quality.

...

Before we started our little free-range-egg operation I was under the impression that it was easy to sex a chicken.  I aimed my sights on pullets, not tiny chicks, so it should have been easy, right?  Hah!  I ordered five females from the local pet shop and took the children along to fetch them.  We were so excited that we couldn't resist another three which looked so sweet.  With eight potential egg layers in a box and a bag of food we headed home and released them into their specially constructed chicken run.

I must add here that we were complete novices and didn't even know that chickens like to fly (they fly?!) UP at night to roost.  Before we could shoo them into their house they disappeared.  One moment they were pecking around happily and the next they were gone.  All eight of them.  We were baffled!  A frantic search everywhere confirmed that they had escaped en-masse...

More than just a building company, Build It Green promotes self-reliance and responsibility. We believe in people: we know that we can change the world.   Look at Primedia’s LeadSA campaign – all it takes is ordinary people choosing to not litter or drive drunk, and to make the right choices. That is why we hand out seeds to motorists at intersections – because if one person starts a vegetable garden, soon a whole family can be eating from it. Their children will learn to grow vegetables and pass it on… and visitors to their home will enjoy the incredible taste of freshly picked vegetables, and the idea will spread. Once that idea spreads, it opens the path to recycling kitchen scraps to make compost, and recycling the rest of the household rubbish.

It’s about saving money as well as being self-reliant....