1. The aesthetic reasons

There’s nothing quite like a landscaped pool, particularly with a garden. These pools blend in to the landscape, adding their reflected light. If you’re a keen gardener, the opportunities are endless for creating beautiful canopy and water effects, very much like a water garden, except you can swim in it. The landscaping also helps reduce the wind chill effect and shelters the pool from prevailing winds.

Add some nice stone tiles, a rockery or several, flowering herbs and other good company in the garden, and you’ll make yourself a personal paradise. The likely result is that you’ll become amphibious, refusing to leave the pool except on special occasions, but that’s not all bad, either.

(Note to ensure problem-free landscaping: All standard landscaping precautions apply with pools. Don’t use trees with “roaming roots” around pools, particularly unenclosed runner bamboo. They can damage the pool structure, and leaks can be rather grim when they involve putting thousands of litres of water under your foundations. Also make sure they’re not too close to plumbing connections and pool pumps, because the roots can dislocate them.)

2. The health reasons

Pools are very good for your health. They’re a great way to indulge in valuable passive exercise, improve muscle tone, help breathing and circulation, and you can do all this while not really trying to do anything much. Even just floating around on an air mattress is good for you, because the floating relaxation can disentangle anyone’s posture, particularly if you’ve been scrunched up in an office all week trying to fit yourself and your work into a workstation.

The health factor is particularly important for people who live relatively sedentary lives. The pool is all exercise, but it’s non-invasive exercise, and it’s well suited to any fitness level. It’s very good for older people who are losing muscle tone and don’t want to battle strenuous exercise directly.

Water provides a good relationship with gravity for tired people, too. It takes pressure off muscles, joints and tired minds, and allows you to refresh in peace. If doctors could prescribe swimming pools for stress, physical and mental, they’d do it.

3. The value reasons

Everybody knows pools add dollar value to homes. They also add other values. The beautiful garden with pool is a real home setting, and it’s good for the soul, as well as the wallet. The pool is a particular sort of personal space, like a well designed study with all your favorite things. It’s a setting for a great life, where you can literally wallow in luxury and get your own priorities operating on your own terms. Everybody has a preferred environment, and the pool can help create exactly what you want, the way you want it.

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Home detox basics

There’s a large number of products in older homes which were the miracle products of their day and have since been identified as health hazards. They’re best removed ASAP.

These products include:

Old style broadloom carpets: These are petrochemical products, and when they get older, “toxic waste dumps” would be an appropriate description. Their product life is a maximum of 10 years. The problem is that between the slow compression of the underlay and the amount of material which gets ground into carpets over that period, they become major health hazards.

Modern modular carpets are much tougher, easier to replace, made on fully sustainable principles and have their own backing. (These are the “airport” style carpets. They’re extremely tough and hard wearing.)

Old house paints: The older the house, the more suspect the paint. Some old paints are pretty good, and perfectly safe, but others aren’t. Any suspicion of flaky paint means airborne particles. It also means possible penetration of surfaces, which can get expensive. Remove the old paint. Use modern non toxic house paints to cover all the issues.

Ventilation issues: Lack of proper ventilation is a great way of making pseudo-asthmatics out of people who don’t have asthma. It’s also a great way of encouraging molds, fungi, and other potentially difficult house guests which are health hazards as well as property destroyers. (Note: Always be alert for breathing issues if you detect mold. Young kids in particular can suffer a lot.)

PVCs: There are good PVCs and bad PVCs, but the older PVCs are usually all bad. PVC flooring, particularly in kitchens if there’s any sign of surface damage and deterioration, should be removed at once. Replace them with any modern flooring, preferably stone, which is environmentally neutral.

Laminates: Laminated home surfaces, depending on their age, can be OK, or the notorious “trailer” laminates, which produce toxic fumes. It’s best to err on the side of caution and condemn anything you’re not sure about. Replace with modern sealed surfaces.

Plastics: Like laminates, guilty until proven innocent, which is almost never. Wood is much better, far safer chemically, and easier to repair and manage.

Plumbing: The tendency of people to recycle plumbing fittings is dangerous. Some of these fossils would be a health hazard to dinosaurs. Check your pipes for any dino-era fittings as well. Replace anything which looks worn or corroded.

Electrical wiring: Old style electrical wiring was usually good for its day, but in terms of power usage, modern homes eat power. The old wiring isn’t necessarily up to the strain, and some of it will need replacement anyway. Get a licensed electrician to check it out on principle.

These checks are “contents insurance” for your home. They’re also contents insurance for your lifestyle- the fewer the toxic hazards, the better the life.

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Photo: Drew Makepeace

Since its humble beginnings in the early 70’s, the wheelie bin has become a vital fixture in homes across the world. Its early use was primarily for commercial purposes to help transport materials from one place to another. However, its ergonomic design quickly caught the eye of council officers looking for a better solution for household waste disposal. Not only could they carry more waste and be transported easily, but the wheeled design meant that it would reduce the back injuries suffered by refuse collectors who were lifting the metal bins that were common at the time.

European standards

In the 80’s, the wheelie bin became increasingly popular in millions of houses across the UK. The design of the wheelie bin therefore had to evolve to accommodate the vans which collected the waste. The bins had to be lifted by the lip at the front which had to be designed for maximum rigidness and mechanical strength. The underside of the lip was therefore reinforced by numerous ribs in the case of the thermoplastic bins. The early standard for these bins was the German DIN Standard 30740 and DIN 30700 parts 1 + 2 and later RAL-RG 723/2. Today, the specification of wheelie bins is now governed by the European Standard EN840, Part 1 of which covers the construction and dimensions of two wheeled bins with a range of capacities.
Although the bins can come in a variety of sizes, today, the 240 litre bins are the most common size.

Wheelie bins and Waste management strategy

Across the UK, many local authorities made wheelie bins at the core of their waste management strategies. Recycling of waste material has become of the most critical and key issues facing the UK today. By recycling, the amount of waste that is traditionally sent to landfill is greatly reduced. In addition, all recycled material can then be re-used into new and practical objects for everyday use. Therefore, a wheelie bin is the perfect product that can be effectively used for facilitating the recycling process. This is the reason why the UK’s largest wheeled bin manufacturer, MGB Plastics, works with local authorities and waste management companies to increase awareness of these issues. MGB Plastics is also the only company in the sector that not only collects decommissioned wheelie bins but it also dismantles, recycles and reuses all of the waste material.

Next month, MGB Plastics will exhibit most advanced 240 litre wheelie bin in the UK today at the Recycling and Waste Management Exhibition on 15-17th September 2010

Photo: Joe McIntyre

This innovative bin has a stronger more durable design with the availability of many optional extras such as RFID tags and printing. Since its humble beginnings three decades ago, the wheelie bin has come a long way and will continue to play a major part in leading the waste management and recycling agenda.

Source: Free Articles Directory Submission

About the Author
It is one of the most iconic pieces of household furniture that is found today in millions of homes across the UK

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Keeping yourself healthy is a lifetime journey. A healthy mind and body is one of the secrets of a happy life. There are also diseases that somebody occurs because they don’t know the facts or how to prevent from it. Find the Health Facts for diseases information and take care your self; you should be a good health people.

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1. Reconsider your laundry habits: A typical American household does 400 or so loads of laundry a year. At 43 gallons for a full load, that’s a lot of water! Plus, 90 percent of energy consumed is used to heat the water. Try consolidating your family’s laundry so that you are always doing full loads and use cold water for both wash and rinse cycles as much as possible. Clothes dryers are huge energy hogs: how about line-drying instead? Your clothes will last longer and smell fresher too.

2. Fridge facts: 18 percent of a household’s electricity usage goes toward keeping that all-important refrigerator up and running. You can help it cool more efficiently by keeping coils clean and moving the fridge four or more inches away from the wall to keep the motor from overheating. If your unit is more than 10 years old, it’s time to invest in a newer, more energy-efficient model.

3. Plug the leaks: Whether it goes out the chimney or under the door, you may be losing a lot of your hot or cool air through leakage. Add more insulation, close the flue, install more weather stripping, or invest in replacement windows. These are changes that will pay off over time through reduced monthly energy bills, and you’ll feel great about putting an end to all that waste.

4. In the shower: It doesn’t cost much at all, and the simple act of installing a high-efficiency shower head will save an average household about 7,800 gallons of water a year! A lower flow head will save a whopping 44 gallons per shower: that’s nearly half the water usage of a conventional shower head.

Photo: drcorneilus

5. Go high-efficiency with heating and cooling: Today’s furnaces and air conditioning systems are head and shoulders over the models that were installed just 15 years ago. If you’re still using older models, you’re literally throwing hundreds of dollars a year away. Depending on the efficiency level of the models you choose, you can knock 20 to 30 percent or more off your monthly energy bills. Contact your Utah heating contractor or a contractor in the state where you live for more details.

About the Author
To contact your trusted Utah heating contractor or a professional in the state where you live. Please visit our website to know more about our Utah heating contractor and air conditioning, electrical, plumbing and heating services. To know more about utah’s heating contractor specialist , visit our website http://www.anyhourservices.com now !

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Although trash bins of various shapes, sizes, and materials have been around for centuries the wheeled trash bin, also known as a wheelie bin, is a relatively new invention. In fact, the ones we commonly see at the curbside didn’t make their way to the market until the 1970s. Prior to that residential trash bins were carried to the curb or hauled on carts.

The standard two-wheeled bin for residential use usually has a capacity of 240 litres and measures 107 cm high, 58 cm wide, and 74 cm deep. Less popular models can have capacities of 120, 140, and 360 litres. Polyethylene is the preferred construction materiel though larger steel bins are sometimes used for industrial applications. The development of the wheeled bin was intended to make waste disposal easier on both the consumer and the trash hauler.

Several innovative designs were introduced to accomplish that goal, including the metal bar installed on the front of the bin. The bar is used to lift the bin using a hydraulic arm, emptying its contents into the truck. Hinged lids open backwards to accommodate the lifting direction. A handle installed high on the rear allows the bin to be tipped back over the axle and moved easily, even when full.

For larger capacities, 4-wheeled bins range in capacity from 500 to 1280 litres. These light-weight polyethylene bins give consumers greater capacity and portability where a large steel dumpster would be impractical. In commercial uses prone to vandalism or other serious damage risk, galvanized steel is often used in place of polyethylene. Like their two-wheeled counterparts, 4-wheeled bins are emptied by lifting and rotating forward until the contents fall into the truck. Metal side-mounted brackets accomplish this task nicely.

Photo: Sladey

The term “green bin” is used in some places to denote one used only used for biodegradable materials like compost. This type of bin is widely used in Canada. A bright blue bin with the well-known triangular recycling symbol is commonly used in the U.S. for recyclable plastic, glass, paper, and cardboard. Colours for normal residential waste bins can be black, dark green, grey, red, brown, and purple. One of the only real concerns with the use of wheeled bins is direct sunlight or fire.

Polyethylene plastic does not perform well in high temperatures, causing risk of malformation when exposed to direct sunlight for a long time. Should a fire break out inside one of these bins, the fumes from the melting plastic could be potential harmful to any people in the area. Mgb plastics also provide kitchen caddies for food waste management, these may be viewed at mgbplastics.com

Wheeled trash bins have made all of our lives a little bit easier. With no more dragging the old bins to the curb and heavy lifting by trash collectors, disposing of our waste may even be somewhat pleasant. Or not.

Source: Free Articles Directory Submission

About the Author
Waste management is a reality of life whether we like it or not.

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In today modern world this is increasingly getting easier with the development of new technology and their many more companies specializing in environmentally products. To ensure potential customers are aware of this, environmentally friendly services and goods are often marked with eco friendly labels.

If you do a search on Google for environmentally products you will find a large number of sites offering an abundance of products including; Toys, Games, Bodycare, Books + DVDs, Cleaning, Energy + Recycling, Gifts, Home + Garden, Natural Paint, Bedding, Clothing, Home furnishing + Improvement, air purification, natural pest control to aromatherapy to name but a few!

It is fair to say that can be a reduction in quality with some of the products compared to what we can be accustomed to with those that are scientifically or chemically enhanced. However long term it is things that need to be considered as out natural resources are not infinite, some of which will eventually run out.

All being well future scientists will develop new techniques to advance and enhance our lives using environmentally friendly methods, however until we reach that stage it is well worth considering the wide range of eco friendly products that are available to us.

Photo: ginnerobot

A good place to start is with out children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc so become aware of looking after the environment from a young age. To do this can introduce some environmentally friendly toys and games alongside there latest WII, Xbox or Playstation!

The WII at the very least is good exercise! However hopefully they can also gain much pleasure from their green toys as well.

Source: Free Articles Directory Submission

About the Author

Kind Toys is a leading supplier of Green games and eco friendly toys.

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Log homes are the original green building solution made directly from the earth’s natural resource. This abundant, beautiful and renewable natural resource is 100% green. Since we spend much of our time indoors, it is critical that our indoor environment is healthy and safe. Many building products today are made of man-made chemicals and emit high levels of volatile organic compounds.

Health experts are becoming increasingly aware and alarmed that these man-made chemicals are showing up in our blood and lungs. The logs are most natural and don’t emit other pollutants. Soil, water and air combined with the energy from the sun, in a miraculous process of photosynthesis, are everything needed to make a tree grow.

From an ecological point of view, solid wood is the only building product that is renewable, biodegradable, recyclable, energy efficient and extremely beautiful. Logs and other solid wood, as basic building components, generate the least amount of air and water pollution, emission of greenhouse gases and solid waste. For example, steel and concrete require 2.4 times and 1.7 times more energy than wood to produce and 1.42 times and 1.67 times more airborne emissions with potential toxic or negative health effects.

With energy costs on the rise and no end is sight, it makes good economic sense to design and build with conservation in mind. There is a great deal of documented evidence supporting the energy efficiency related to the construction of log homes. Studies conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and other testing organizations have compared log homes to other types of construction such as conventionally framed and masonry.

Test results prove the energy efficiency gained through the thermal mass of solid wood walls. Log walls better utilize the available energy in both summer cooling and winter heating. Most people building log homes plan to own and live in them for an extended period of time. Their log home may be a family retreat or a retirement home that they intend to own for the rest of their lives. The turnover rate of log homes is much lower than the average conventionally built house.

With such a long term outlook, the decision to build and live in an energy efficient log home makes good sense for the health of the environment, you and your family. In the long run, sustainable building products that are ecologically friendly are the only viable answer to a cleaner environment. Advances in forestry practices have steadily increased the supply and growth of plantation and private forests. In North America, the growth of new forests has outpaced the demand and can remain at a sustainable rate.

Photos: loghomebuilders

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Why would I consider alternatives to traditional air conditioning?

Traditional air conditioning uses hydrofluorocarbons which are in the process of being phased out because of the damage they cause to the ozone layer. According to the US Department of energy, controlling the temperature in buildings year round emits over half a billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, adding to the expanding global warming situation.  We are also generating about 24% of the nation’s sulfur dioxide through temperature control, which is a major component of acid rain. From a green stand point, the less air conditioning used, the less damage we will cause to the environment. Even newer air conditioners approved by the EPA emit harmful gasses, although they are less harmful than their predecessors.

There are some health considerations as well. Re-circulated air can increase the level of mold spores and chemicals in the air that your breath. People who are constantly in temperature controlled environments are shown to be more susceptible to upper-respiratory illnesses and sinus problems.  Socially, individuals who are accustomed to air conditioning may chose to avoid activities that expose them to the natural environment making them less likely to spend time outside and participate in outdoor activities.

How can I cool my house without air conditioning?

There are many ways to control the temperature of your living environment without relying on any system that mechanically cools air. Some of these may seem labor intensive or expensive at the beginning, but a larger investment now may save a significant amount of money in the future, not to mention considerably reducing your carbon foot print. Below are some of the more popular methods:

Landscaping – Adding trees in strategic areas around your house can significantly reduce energy costs every year. Deciduous trees placed on the south and west sides of your property can create a wind break, shade in the summer and allow light and radiant heat through in the winter. Vines and shrubs can also provide shading and cooling and may grow more quickly than trees.

Drapes and Blinds – Placing light-colored fabric that allows light through over your windows may help reflect much of the sun’s heat but still allow light through. Closing blinds on the windows that are getting direct sunlight during the day can also significantly reduce the sun’s effects.

Paint – The color of your house can also be a significant factor. Houses painted with dark colors will absorb much of the radiant energy during the day and transfer that heat into your house. Painting your house a lighter color can actually cut down the temperature and reflect the heat away from your house.

Insulation – Making sure that your house is properly insulated not only can keep your house warm in the winter, but also help keep it cool in the summer. Improving insulation and making sure all the nooks and crannies are sealed can prevent warm air from seeping in. Attic insulation can keep hot air from radiating down into the lower floors. You can also install a radiant barrier on the underside of your roof. This foil paper is stapled to the roof rafters to help reflect heat from the interior of your house.

Fans – One of the biggest ways to help cool down your house is to utilize a fan. Ceiling fans are some of the most effective as they create a draft throughout the room that creates a cooling effect. Window fans can also be very effective in many climates. Place a fan in the window facing out, close all of the nearby windows and open all of the windows at the other end of the house. The fan will pull hot air out of the house and cool air into it through the opposite windows. You may also want to look into getting a house fan. These fans are installed in the top floor ceiling and pull air up through your house and into the attic. These fans can create a draft through the entire house and pull cool air in from all open windows and doors.

But what if I live in a very hot area, or want air conditioning?

If you are in the market for an air conditioning system to cool your house, there are several new and ‘green’ options to explore available to the everyday consumer.

Evaporative Coolers – These are more commonly called swamp coolers and work very well in dry and arid areas. They cost less to install and use about a quarter as much energy as a traditional air conditioner. They do require more maintenance but it is not difficult or expensive. Evaporative coolers should not be used in humid climates as they will only add to the humidity in the room. Because they continually use water in the process, it is also not suitable for areas where limited water supplies are a concern.

Radiant Hydronic Cooling – This method uses the floor and ceiling to absorb the heat from the rest of the room. This is done by placing panels under the floor or in the walls through which chilled water is circulated. Unfortunately, for homes in humid areas, this method can cause condensation to build up in the house and is therefore more suitable to arid climates as well.

Geothermal Cooling – One of the up and coming green ways to cool your house, geothermal cooling is achieved by running a pipe into the ground, much like a well. Water or an anti-freeze/water solution is pumped through the pipes, pulling heat from the building and cooling it underground. These systems can be 20% – 40% more efficient than traditional air conditioners and can cut your energy costs by up to 50%.

If you think that going ‘green’ may be the best decision for you, contact a local contractor with HVAC training who specializes in alternative and green systems for the house. They will be able to provide professional advice for your specific situation.  You can also talk to a landscaper designer or local nursery for more information on the best plants and locations to utilize for shading and wind management. No matter how much or little money you have to spend, there is a green option that will fit in your budget.

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By the way, you could install a bench and mirrors to give you the feeling of being in a dressing room. When a walk-in closet is maximized in its storage capacity, these useful room can handle a whole lot of stuff in a personal area. This will creates a feeling of being in a dressing room. You could add sunroof or lighting so that you can see yourself from all thinkable angles.

However, if you want to make your walk in closet, there are many factories that will come in with professionally redesign your closets and I would like to suggest closets Richmond.

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