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Green home renovation requires a lot of thinking and effective use of material. It is not necessary that you need to renovate your entire home yourself! There are professionals who will do that properly and effectively. What are the things that you need to consider during the whole process?

• While green home renovation, make sure you abstain from lead based paints and use low VOC paints.
• Make use of green materials like wood. If the Forest Stewardship Council certifies it, it is safe.
• Use construction items made form recycled goods like plastic, wood etc.
• Besides using eco friendly material while renovating, stress on installing skylights for letting in natural sunlight.
• Use solar energy to heat water and outdoor pool. This also reduces your electricity bills.
• Incorporate natural insulation in your home, this is energy efficient.

Green home renovation not only requires eco-friendly products, but also an attitude to say yes to the power of ‘green’.

Since electronics consists of different materials including metals and plastics, recycling them is quite complex. Valuable metals like gold and copper present in electronics can be used in creating new products and harmful things like lead and mercury can be properly disposed off.
Basically, there are two major ways of recycling electronics: recycling center and reuse. In the first method, you take the electronic products to the recycling center where the experts will properly recycle and dispose off the equipment. This is a more feasible option if the equipment has been broken and cannot be used any longer. In the method of reusing, the equipment that is still in working condition can be repaired and put to use again. You can also donate it to a charity or give or sell it to someone who needs it.
No matter which method you choose to recycle electronics, the main thing is that recycling it is better not only for you but also for the environment.

Just in case you needed another reason to fight global warming
That rat poking out from under your stove? The roach that said hello to you as you got up this morning? Close your eyes and imagine it’s twice as large as it used to be.

An ecologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago has concluded that the head shape and overall size of rodents has been increasing over the last 100 years, specifically in more densely populated areas or areas that have seen changes in temperature.

Oliver Pergams looked at more than 17,000 measurements from three different continents of rodents that had been collected between 1892 and 2001. What he found was up to 50 percent changes in size over the time period, with, “significant correlations with ‘people-caused’ parameters.” These include population density and climate change.

The study refutes the earlier thought that rapid change is not occurring, according to Pergams.

Instead it says that the continued warming of the earth, which contributes not only to the growth, but also will create more densely populated areas, will cause rodents to continue to grow until they knock on your door like in the Orkin Man commercials.

2008 National Environmental Scorecard now available

The 2008 Scorecard includes 11 Senate and 13 House votes dominated by energy but also encompasses other environmental issues.

You can see it here.

The official announcement of the scorecard comes at 10 AM, at a news conference at the National Press Club.
We’ll post all news hits we get in this space, as well — stay tuned!