Q: I’m in Arizona. My living room has four large windows and the sun just pours in. The place is like an oven. I’ve tried to put an AC unit in a window but it is getting expensive and looks awkward (it looks pretty ugly smack in the middle of my nice view). Any suggestions on what I might do instead of the AC unit? Thank you!

Bart L., AZ

A: Hi Bart,

Instead of trying to counteract the heat gain you are experiencing from the sun through your windows, you might want to try a few things that are more pro-active and will give you better results. Here’s what I suggest:

-External shading devices over windows (such as louvres or canvas awnings)
-Install UV-blocking film on windows: more info
-Mitsubishi Electric’s Mr. Slim ductless A/C unit : if you still require cooling, this is the way to go without having to place a unit in your window

Hope you can use this info! -Suzy

There was no greater time I felt as connected to the ocean than while I lived in Hawai’i. Every year, Jack Johnson, a native of O’ahu, puts on a concert to benefit the Kokua Foundation, which he founded to help support educate children in Hawai’i’s school system about sustainability. Message in the Waves is a video by BBC Hawaii. Check it out for information on how all the trash we throw away winds up harming our oceans and all the animals that live there. There are a number of shocking facts you will find out about plastic shopping bags and other items that may have you thinking twice about those reusable canvas bags your local grocery now sells. Yes, you have to pay for them. But they aren’t going to kill turtles and seals while you are using them to bring groceries home week after week.

If you don’t want to buy them, an alternative is just bringing bags you currently own. I know I must have four canvas bags laying in the back of my closet that go unused. If you do, dust them off. You’ll feel better about checking out at the grocer next time. An afterthought: it’s always good to get your kids involved in as many meaningful projects as you can. What if you asked them to devise a replacement for plastic bags? Maybe they find the old canvas bags and decorate them in ’save the earth’ spirit.

Check it out!

These Splaff Flopps are on sale for $26, and they are made entirely from recycled material. Check out the rest of their stuff on splaff.com

The Green Loop is cool for products that are green, but they are really pricey.

If you didn’t already hear, you may want to know about the recent controversy over energy-efficient flourescent light bulbs, ESPECIALLY if you have small children living in your home. It turns out that these bulbs, that save big on electricity bills, contain mercury, a poisonous metal that used to be found in household items such as thermometers until health officials realized how hazardous it is. If you read the small print on the flourescents’ boxes, you will find shockingly difficult methods for cleaning processes if a bulb should break. Some websites that I came across advised people to sweep it up and put it in a doubled-up plastic bag, while another advised that a glass jar with a metal lid was the only safe container for broken bulb fragments. This site also warms that a plastic jar is NOT a good substitute for a container.

Given the new light on fluorescents, it may be useful to think about where in your house fluorescent bulbs are safe to use, such as ceiling applications, and unsafe to use, such as floor or table lamp applications, where the bulb is in danger of breaking if the lamp is knocked over.

These are two articles I found with very different disposal methods (Be sure you read both articles and always use the most caution when dealing with hazardous materials. The plastic bag method of containing mercury does NOT seem to be the most effective method.): pros and cons of CFLs and the controversy

The benefits of fluorescent lighting in regard to energy savings is very positive. You should simply use caution, know the facts, and be very careful when disposing of your bulbs (especially because they tend to break if you throw them in with your regular trash). Call your local waste management and recycling centers to find out how you can safely get rid of them in your area. You can find the adverse health effects of mercury here.

In reference to green cleaning products; I came across these today.

Good things to ask about when inquiring information about products are:

• are there recycled materials used in the making of the product?
• is the product recyclable?
• do they recycle the waste made while making the product?
• how far did the product need to travel to get to your house? (fuel used to transport it)
• does it contain VOCs?
• does the company have any commitment to sustainability? (donate $ for research, education, keep products within some green standards, etc.)

Also check out our post about cleaning products in general.

Info about health and cleaning products.

From laundry detergent and dish soap to floor cleaner and air freshener, all the chemicals we use in our home find their way back into the ground and ultimately into our oceans. Many of these products give off harmful VOC emissions (volatile organic compound emissions). VOCs are usually carcinogenic, aka cancer-causing agents.  See VOCs. Other VOC containing household items? The list goes on and on, but they are primarily found in synthetic materials like those found in carpets, furniture, and laminates. VOCs contaminate air, and when a house has many VOC contributors, the inhabitants are in danger of experiencing sick building syndrome due to poor indoor air quality. In Chicago alone, 20 tons of VOCs are released into the air from cleaning products alone per day! To give you another example, Greg Norris, a professor at Harvard’s School of Public Health says, “The amount of VOCs from a single waxing of a floor can equal or exceed the VOCs emitted from the flooring materials over the life of those flooring materials.” Imagine how much better off we’d be if we all started using low- or no-VOC cleaners. Call some product info hotlines that you find on your cleaning product bottles and do some research for yourself. Tell them you have questions about the ingredients in your product, and want to know if it contains VOCs when you purchase it and if the product breaks down over time to produce more VOCs.