Sierra Club Green Home

When we purchase food, toys, household-use items, and other products for our infants and children, we rely on the manufacturers to create safe merchandise. Some toys are not what they seem, however. In fact, many contain substances that harm infants and children. California recently joined 10 other states in banning the chemical BPA from infant and children’s products. Here is some background on BPA and its brushes with the law. (Photo by)

Those of us who live in cold climates understand that insulation plays an important role in keeping our homes warm and comfortable. However, air leakage into an attic is often much harder to diagnose and consequently overlooked as a major concern. Both R-value and air sealing are equally important in creating a solid thermal boundary between the interior of your home and harsh exterior conditions.

Solar panels and small wind turbines generate energy for the home—and excess energy can be sold back to the grid. Geothermal pumps also heat and cool the home, harnessing the earth’s temperature deep beneath the foundation. Here’s how to get started with these residential renewables. (Photo by Jon Callas on Flickr)

Long-term exposure to chemicals inside our homes can be harmful to our families. This guide to greening your home tells you what to do with the toxic stuff and offers DIY tips for cleaning products. (Photo courtesy of Caelus Consulting)

When it comes time to paint your walls, step number one is finding a product that won’t emit harmful chemicals in your home. That means paints with the lowest possible emissions of “volatile organic compounds,” or VOCs. Such paints are widely available, and you can learn all about them in our article, “Paints, adhesives, and other finishes.”

Be it basic Berber or retro shag, carpet feels good underfoot, absorbs sound, and can add color and style to a room. No wonder it covers nearly 70% of the floors in the United States.

But some indoor-air quality experts suggest thinking twice about blanketing your floors with wall-to-wall fibers. Some new carpets emit a host of noxious chemicals that you’ll be breathing for months and even years after they’re installed.

Many associate a sustainable home with solar panels, expensive floor renovations, various purchases of Energy Star appliances, and other costly investments. But greening your home doesn’t have to be costly and time consuming. Even though pricey investments, like going off the grid, can have great ecological and economics benefits, it’s important to accomplish the basics of going green first.

When it is hot you have more to worry about than a high air conditioning bill. The humidity in the air combined with the heat can be a disaster for your health and your home. When it is 100? outside you obviously want to spend time indoors, but with indoor air-quality lower than outside air-quality you need to look at investing in a dehumidifier to help.

You’d think a newborn baby would have a fresh start when it comes to toxic chemicals. But chemicals move across the placenta, so a baby emerges with some of the same pollution in its system as its mother. Tests of umbilical blood have detected chemicals that cause cancer and birth defects as well as those that are toxic to the brain and nervous system…

Yes we know, everything causes cancer, nothing is safe for our kids, a lot of paranoia, right?

Sometimes these concerns are for real. A chemical of significant importance to parents and scientists these days is Bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA is a common chemical used in plastics for increased flexibility and molding.