Slowing Vampire Energy Loss
Halloween is approaching, bringing a night of ghosts and ghouls – or at least bored teenagers bearing shaving-cream. The phantoms on your doorstep may not be real, but indoors you are likely to encounter...
Category: Housing
Choosing Greener Homes
If you haven’t lived in an energy-efficient home, you don’t know what you’re missing. The benefits that green buildings offer – lower operating costs, healthier indoor air, greater comfort, and the satisfaction of a...
Anticipating Climate Refugees
At first, all eyes were on Hurricane Harvey. Then attention turned – momentarily – to the wildfires raging out West before riveting on Hurricane Irma. Cascading natural disasters in a warming world raise the...
The Great Promise of Tiny Homes
“Life started feeling very much like a double-edged sword – to be working so much to pay for a house we don’t own, are never at, and don’t have time to enjoy because all...
Mud Season Solace
I have a bowl of paper whites, Of paper-white narcissus; Their fragrance my whole soul delights, They smell delissus. E.B. White, “Window Ledge in the Atom Age,” 1946 Winter may finally be over,...
Beating the Heat without AC
It’s been a summer to savor—with an abundance of sunny days, dry air and invigorating breezes. The searing heat waves afflicting other parts of the country and globe can seem like shimmers of a...
Less Lawn, More Food (and Wildlife)
The lawn at our house is disappearing nearly as fast as delectable desserts do. Our half-moon metal edger has a big appetite. It nibbles back turf to enlarge perennial beds. It carves around the...
Right-sizing Our Homes
From food and beverage portions to vehicles, we’re a nation with a penchant for super-sizing. Our homes have succumbed to this trend – with the average new home size growing from 983 square feet...
