Earth Day is a great time to reflect on how fortunate we are to live on this beautiful and bountiful planet.  It’s also a good time to remind ourselves how much impact we have on the environment – and how we can make a difference.

 

Here are four things you can do starting today to reduce your carbon footprint, make a sustainable impact, and help to protect the environment when building or remodeling your home.

 

1.  Donate reusable building materials.  The list is long on the many items that can be salvaged, reused and go on to have a new life. Some of the most commonly salvaged materials include: cabinetry, appliances, doors and windows, lighting and plumbing fixtures, lumber, and so much more.

 

2. Choose sustainable materials when building or remodeling.  Choices for ‘green’ products that use creative, innovative and unusual materials - and are beautiful - continue to grow. 

 

3. Perform an energy analysis on your home. This low cost diagnostic test will locate areas of energy loss in your home – plus identify strategies to lower your heating and cooling costs, improve the indoor comfort and air quality, and reduce its carbon emissions. 

 

4. Support local business and suppliers. Much of the energy embodied in materials comes from transportation. So when possible, source for your home building materials and products that have been extracted, mined, harvested, processed, manufactured, reclaimed, salvaged, constructed and sold in your local area.

Scott Adams (the creator of Dilbert) recently wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal on “How I (Almost) Saved the Earth”. Written with wit and humor, Scott laments the struggle to build a ‘green’ home or at least a greener home that looks good, is energy efficient and holds up to the elements. Is that even possible? Yes and no – depending on what your definition of green is.

 

True, the greenest home might be “the one you don’t build” and you live in the forest with the squirrels. But, being pragmatic, as Scott writes, a better definition of green might be…“living the life you want, with as much Earth-wise efficiency as your time and budget reasonably allow.”

 

Well said Scott! Woodmeister Master Builders’ Rational Sustainability is just that - a common sense approach to sustainable construction that utilizes the most advanced products, technologies, and certifications available today.

 

If we all take a thoughtful and serious approach to green building, we can create unique homes that are beautifully designed, well-built to endure for generations – and save the Earth too.