It’s tempting, but stop! Don’t throw old CFLs in the garbage!
June 28, 2009
Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) are going to be part of your remodel, and your current lifestyle due to local regulations in most parts of the country. This weekend, I was reminded of how to dispose of an old CFL during a trip to Home Depot in Campbell, CA.
Last year Home Depot announced a CFL recycle program, that is available at all of their stores. Simply take your CFL to the store, and drop it into their recycle-disposal bin - free of charge. The bins are located near the Customer Service/Returns kiosks.
Home Depot will then ensure the compact fluorescent bulb is properly disposed of, so the mercury in the the bulb does not harm our environment.
So pleeeease don’t drop them in your kitchen garbage!
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.getwithgreen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.getwithgreen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Hugg]](http://www.getwithgreen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/hugg.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.getwithgreen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.getwithgreen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.getwithgreen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
Print This Post
The latest on Home Depot’s Eco Options green products and Ron Jarvis
December 15, 2008
What is orange, green, and good for a residential home remodel or improvement project? GetWithGreen thinks one answer is the ever growing inventory of Eco Option products located around the corner at your local Home Depot.
This past week Ron Jarvis senior vice president of environmental innovation with The Home Depot and GetWithGreen.com, sat down to talk about the Eco Options program, and retail trends in green home product market.
Ron’s home improvement career spans 23 years, starting early on with Lowe’s, followed by 13 years at America’s largest home improvement retailer, The Home Depot. For the last eight years Ron has been tracking energy products for the retail giant, and now leads the company’s Eco Options program, among other environmental initiatives, reduced energy consumption by stores, reduced waste and increased recycles as well as increased sustainability into all business functions.
Eco Options is Home Depot’s product labeling program that allows customers to easily identify products that have less of an impact on the environment. The 3,000+ products are located Read more
Print This Post
Dimmable Flourescent bulbs from Lithonia Lighting and Lighting Concepts
September 26, 2008
At West Coast Green this week, Light Concepts is showcasing the L7XFD: a dimmable, 6″ fluorescent recessed downlighting fixture. The latest innovation in recessed downlighting offers the energy savings and lamp life of a fluorescent fixture, and delivering that in a dimmable fixture. We are told this product is now available and retailing for <$100 per can.
According to the company, the L7XF dimmable is compatible with almost any dimmer switch and boasts a wide selection of trims. ENERGY STAR qualified and Title 24 compliant, Lighting Concepts says homeowners can save $100 against its incandescent counterpart, based on operating three hours per day at $0.10 per KwH over the life of the fluorescent versus incandescent bulb.
The company is also showing seven other fixtures for the decorative fluorescent market, including award-winning Elliptis and Izoro winners of the ALA Lighting for Tomorrow award in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The products can be purchased on Read more
Print This Post
DAYLIGHTING SYSTEMS: A Solatube installation review
August 16, 2008
Earlier this Summer, GetWithGreen.com selected a Solatube Model 160 DS Daylighting System for a residential hallway installation. A daylighting system was selected because a dimly lit hallway constantly required energy consumption for lighting — even during daytime hours.
Solatube was selected by GetWithGreen.com because of the sheer amount of clear information on the company’s and reseller’s website, and because it was so easy to find the product locally. It’s now time to update you on the install, and our final opinion of this specific daylighting system.
The Solatube 160 DS installation was a snap. Our GetWithGreen.com contractor installed the daylighting system within 90 minutes, and if you use a Solatube dealer this time could likely fall well below an hour! Our installation did require the wiring of electricity to the daylighting system, so that it could be used during the Read more
Print This Post
RECYCLE: The Home Depot is now recycling CFL Bulbs
June 28, 2008
As you work through your remodel, you can now drop off old compact flourescent light (CFL) bulbs to The Home Depot for recycling while you are picking up new home products.
This free service is the first such offering made so widely available by a retailer in the United States and offers customers additional options for making environmentally conscious decisions from purchase to disposal.
At each Home Depot store, homeowners can simply bring in any expired, unbroken CFL bulbs, and give them to the store associate behind the returns desk. The bulbs will then be managed responsibly by an environmental management company who will coordinate CFL packaging, transportation and recycling to maximize safety and ensure environmental compliance.
Print This Post
Pacific Coast Builders Show Announces Top 5 Green Products
June 18, 2008
PCBC, the largest home builder show, is coming to San Francisco next week and the announcements are starting to flow.
Members of the home building industry have voted and named the “coolest” homebuilding products in the annual Cool Products contest. PCBC 2008, the largest PCBC, the largest home builder show is on it’s way to San Francisco, and the announcements are starting to flow. Today members of the home building industry have voted and named the “coolest” homebuildinghomebuilders show on the West Coast, organizes the annual Cool Products contest for the more than 600 exhibitors at the conference.
Exhibitors entered more than 125 products in three categories - Consumer, Green and Industry products. Five products were chosen for each category by 679 home building professionals who voted online. All companies, products and booth information is available at www.pcbc.com/cool.
Here are the Cool Products from the Green Category, and stay tuned as GetWithGreen writes live from PCBC in San Francisco…
2008 Cool Products - Green Category:
1. Rinnai Corporation’s Rinnai LS Series Tankless Water Heater - Offers 30% to 50% energy savings over traditional tank-style units and can supply hot water when you need it, for as long as you need it, while contributing to a greener environment.
2. Eagle Roofing Products’ Eagle Solar Roof powered by SolarSave Integrated Solutions - This solar system integrates seamlessly with Eagle concrete roof tile and maintains the aesthetics of the roof, maintains the integrity of the roof system, prevents leaks and protects the home or building.
3. Cree LED Lighting Solutions LR6 Light Bulb - Has a 20-year life span (50,000 hours under Read more
Print This Post
TUBULAR SKYLIGHT: Start saving lighting electricity with Solatube today
May 26, 2008
GetWithGreen.com set out last week to purchase a tubular skylight. We needed a tubular skylight for a remodel we are doing, and we chose a tubular daylight device because we wanted to reduce the need for electricity to light a hallway.
Using the list of tubular skylight manufacturers GetWithGreen compiled last year, we selected Solatube. Solatube was selected solely because their website provided the most complete information about tubular daylight device. After a great introductory conversation with Marjorie Clark at Sunlight Concepts, Inc. (Solatube reseller and installer), we decided to drive down and make our purchase.
There are many options when purchasing a tubular daylight device. Here are the items you will need to consider:
- How much space are you attempting to light? The Solatube products come in a 10″ diameter (Model 160 DS) and a 14″ diameter (Model 290 DS). Tricky in their naming, the 160 DS means that it lights roughly 160-200 square feet, and 290 DS means it provides coverage for 300 square feet. For our hallway we decided that a 10″ skylight would fit the bill. The 160 DS retails for $350, and the 290 DS for $450. Your contractor will likely receive a discount on these products.
- Light or No Light. Solatube sells an optional electrical light fixture that installs inside the skylight for night-time use. This is a really nice option if you are Read more
Print This Post
LIGHTING: LED lighting from the LIGHTFAIR International show
May 21, 2008
Next week in Las Vegas, the lighting industry will be gathering in for LIGHTFAIR International. LIGHTFAIR is one of the top lighting shows for architectural lighting, and this year efficiency, eco-friendly, and green lighting are on the most talked about list.The announcements are starting to roll out about energy saving bulbs, and LEDs are the ones we are watching at GetWithGreen.com. Just today Renaissance Lighting announced their commercially available 4-inch solid-state LED downlight (Model: ED04). This LED recessed product offers more than 16 million color combinations without glare or visible LEDs.
As the newest arrival on the general illumination scene, solid-state LED lighting has yet to make a major market impact commensurate with its potential for outperforming and even replacing other types of lighting — until Read more Print This Post
HOME AUTOMATION: Automating your home with Crestron “go green” plan
February 29, 2008
“Heating and cooling systems in the U.S. emit 150 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, and also generate 12% of the nation’s sulfur dioxide and 4% of its nitrogen oxide, the chief ingredients in acid rain,” according to data that accompanies Crestron’s recent “Green Paper” entitled Intelligent Efficiency: Crestron Makes Life Greener. How can we control the usage of these home systems (heating, AC, lighting, sprinklers, audio/visual) better, and optimize the duration and timing they remain in operation? Home Automation. I had my first exposure to home automation while working with Kaleidescape whole house video/audio systems (not ENERGY STAR rated) some years back, and later working with Siemens. Home automation systems and controls (like Crestron) can cut down the energy you use in your home. With a home automation system you can automate the lighting in your home, as well as Heating, AC, computer and audio/visual to only operate during times it is needed, and to shut off automatically. According to the Crestron paper, the potential savings on energy in your home can be 3% for scheduling and dimming lights, and 4% for automating thermostats — based on a 4,000 square foot home where lighting accounts for 10% of total energy usage and heating/cooling accounts for 31%.
In addition to the green paper, the Crestron team has a ”green” area of their website, www.crestron.com/gogreen. GetWithGreen.com recommends taking a look at these systems and controls as you do your remodel. A good time to get them quoted is once your architectural drawings are completed. Typically you will purchase the systems through an audio/visual specialist in your area.
With their recent announcement, Crestron also published a 7-page “Green Paper”, entitled The paper discusses
Download the Crestron paper. Note you will need to Name, Email, and State to get access.
Print This Post
LIGHTING: re:modern offers a few eco-friendly lighting solutions
December 22, 2007
GetWithGreen.com was recently contacted by the eco-friendly online retailer re:modern. We took a look at their homeowner products, and we found a few greener lighting options designed and made by Jerry Kott. These designs are made from recycled glass, and would fit nicely into your remodel project if you are leaning toward a more modern design. If you are going with a modern look for your remodel, take a look at re:modern.
Print This Post
