Everyday Green Home

We are very excited to have Tony Pratte, our regularly-scheduled guest host, joining us again for today's podcast. In this episode, Tony will be talking to us about landscaping for energy efficiency.

Tony likes to keep his mind active, so he is currently one class away from finishing up a project management program at St. Louis University. And his business is still moving, even with the current situation with economies shutting down because of new construction in St. Louis being construed as an essential business.

Protecting yourself, and others coming into your home

To protect yourself, and anyone else who might need to come into your home during this unprecedented time, like a plumber or an electrician, you need to follow some strict hygiene procedures.

In Tony's company, and with most other service providers, if an employee is sick, they have to stay home. Also, if someone at an employee's household is sick, and that employee shows up at a construction site, the employee will not be allowed to enter the construction site.

Looking at the outside of your home

Since it is spring now, and we're all spending so much more time at home, it's a great time to start thinking about what you could be doing on the outside of your home. You could consider planting a garden and getting everything outside cleaned up, after the winter.

Using landscape to improve the performance of your home

We all appreciate the beauty of the plants on our property, but we often tend to forget about the benefits they could be providing for the home itself, which in turn would provide benefits to us, the homeowners.

The concept of landscaping for energy efficiency is nothing new. It can be used to control the flow of energy in and out of a house, to reduce the amount of unwanted energy flow, to reduce outdoor water use, and for storm-water management, just to mention a few ways.

Although people have been doing it for centuries, many individuals today still don't realize that the landscape can be used to improve the performance of their homes.

The landscape can be used as protection for houses.

This can be done by planting a line of trees to the north of the building, to form a windbreak, or by planting tall, shady trees to shade the windows and to shade the roof from the direct sun, in the summer.

It's important to remember that the sun is higher in the summer and lower in the winter. So planting deciduous trees for shade is a great green solution because they will let the sunlight in, in the winter, and create shade in the summer.

Marla reminds us that the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, and the next best time is now. Trees can take a long time to reach their full height and provide good cover but they are truly well worth waiting for!

Deciduous trees

It's best to plant deciduous trees fifteen to twenty feet from your home, to block out the higher summer sun, and let the warmth of the lower winter sun in, to warm up the home.

Green design

With green design, one of the first things that are discussed is the site itself, and the orientation of the house.

Planting for your specific region

You can reach out to botanical gardens in your area, for information about the right native plants to use for your specific region. These native plants have evolved to withstand the extreme temperatures of their region. They are sure to not only survive but also to thrive in your garden and around your home. They will require less water and they won't need any chemical support, like pesticides or herbicides.

Become water-wise

Ensure that your automatic sprinkler system is set up to switch off in the rain. And that it is watering your lawn and garden, not the sidewalk or your driveway!

Or perhaps a drip-system could prove to be a better alternative for you than a sprinkler system. The drip-system is controlled, and it allows you to get the water onto the roots of the plants, rather than all over the leaves.

Harvesting rainwater

Rain barrels can be used to harvest the water coming off the roof.

Rain gardens help to percolate the rainwater back into the ground. They're a great way to hold excess water in your yard. Many municipalities have now mandated rain gardens for new construction.

Links and resources:

Milorganite 0636 Organic Nitrogen Fertilizer

Romanesco Broccoli Heirloom Seeds - Non-GMO - Untreated - Open Pollinated!

Chives Herb Heirloom Seeds - Non-GMO - Untreated - Open Pollinated!

Vegetable Spaghetti Squash Heirloom Seeds - Non-GMO -Untreated -Open Pollinated!

The University of Missouri's Extension Programs for Landscaping for Energy Efficiency

US Department of Energy

Grow Native Missouri

It's time to get growing! Jackie Marie Beyer, of the Green Organic Garden Podcast, joins us once again for today's show. Jackie has been podcasting for a little over five years now and she runs a one-woman-show. At the time of this recording, she had single-handedly produced 311 episodes of her podcast, while also working full-time as a teacher.

Jackie had what she describes as a "brown thumb" when she started her podcast. She's managed to turn that around over the last five years, however, and now she feels confident that she can grow a fair amount of food.

Today, Jackie will share some simple steps that you can take to create a supply of fresh, healthy, organic garden herbs and vegetables. She will explain which vegetables are easy to grow, and she will suggest some of the things you might want to put in your yard or landscape if you're new to gardening.

Jackie's book

Jackie and her husband, Mike, wrote a book called The Organic Oasis Guidebook, which explains how spending much of your time living outdoors is good for you, and good for Mother Nature too. Because what's good for us is also good for where we live.

In the book, you will find a challenge for new vegetable gardeners.

There are many reasons to grow garden vegetables

Starting a vegetable garden at home will not only give you constant access to a supply of fresh, health-giving greens, it can also save you a lot of money as organic vegetables that are sold at local farmer's markets are often quite pricey.

Backyard gardening, patio gardening, indoor gardening, and raising food of our own is currently becoming very appealing to more and more of us! So much so that online seed suppliers are battling to keep up with the demand.

Starting with a new garden

If Jackie had to start a new garden now, she would plant one small, deep bed, one larger deep bed, and some kind of fruit.

She would grow carrots, lettuce, and peas outside, planting them in the second week in April. The lettuce should come up quickly, but the carrots could take a little longer. Sugar snap peas grow vertically so they're nice to plant if you have a smaller area to grow things in.

With lettuce, you have a choice. You can either harvest them whole or you can pick the leaves and they will keep growing. Jackie's favorite lettuce to grow is black-seeded Simpson. As long as you keep picking them, they will keep on growing until they start to bolt.

She would also plant a cherry tomato plant in a pot.

Planting fruit

The great thing about planting certain fruit trees, like raspberry bushes, blueberry bushes, apple trees, peach, and plum trees, is that they will come back year after year. They might need to be cut back a bit, or pruned, but for the most part, they will keep producing more and more as they get older. And it doesn't take too much effort to care for them.

Berries and cherry tomatoes are very easy to freeze as they don't have to be cooked beforehand.

The easiest way

If it's too much work for you to dig up a patch of your sod to make a vegetable garden, you can mark out an area, lay down some newspaper to cover the sod in that area and soak it with a lot of water. Then place some cardboard on top of the newspaper and cover it with compost, manure, or some very good soil. Within two weeks to a month, you will be able to plant right on top of the sod without having to dig it up. This can save you a lot of back-breaking work.

Talk to your neighbors

Most people are very willing to share their garden knowledge. So talk to your neighbors to find out what they're growing, and when they plant things.

Companion planting

Planting a border of flowers and herbs around your garden is very pretty to look at, it smells fantastic, and it helps reduce the number of bad pests that would otherwise come into your garden and eat your vegetables.

Planting sunflowers around your vegetables is also a good idea because they attract ants, which eat aphids, so the aphids are more likely to stay away from your food plants.

Some good companion plants are marigolds and nasturtiums.

Remember to always have something blooming in your garden.

Build your soil by planting cover crops

Don't have to let your bare soil sit for longer than twenty-four hours. You can plant cover crops in a small garden to build your soil if you only want to plant something in a couple of months but you want to dig the bed right now. The cover crop will put nutrients into the soil and you can remove it before it goes to seed, leaving you with a bed full of nutrient-rich soil.

Some good cover-crops are things like clover, buckwheat, sweet potatoes, and radishes.

If you don't have anything else to plant in their place, you can allow your lettuces go to flower rather than pulling them out.

Links and Resources:

Everyday Green Home

The GREEN Organic Garden Podcast - Check Out Jackie's FREE Organic Gardening Course!

The Organic Oasis Guidebook

FREE Organic Gardening Basics eBook!

Romanesco Broccoli Heirloom Seeds - Non-GMO - Untreated - Open Pollinated!

Chives Herb Heirloom Seeds - Non-GMO - Untreated - Open Pollinated!

Vegetable Spaghetti Squash Heirloom Seeds - Non-GMO -Untreated -Open Pollinated!

Today, Tony Pratte, our regular monthly co-host from The Soundroom, joins us on the podcast.

Because the world has been turned upside down right now, and things are a little crazy for everyone, we're going to be doing things a bit differently. For today's podcast, Marla and Tony will be reversing roles, so Tony will be driving the show, and Marla will be the co-host.

Things are changing– some things a lot and others not so much

Tony's regular daily routine, from 7 am to about 5 pm, has not changed all that much. He is in residential construction, a service which is deemed essential. So he is still going to job sites daily, even though the way that he shows up on site is a little different for now. For example, he is only dealing with one trade at a time, at the moment, although the foremen for the different trades all have to be present on-site, to co-ordinate everything that needs to be done. And Tony is now doing virtual electrical inspections, rather than physical ones. So, for the time being, the electrical superintendent films Tony going through the house, while the owners are sitting at home.

We're all spending more time in our houses so it's a great time for fixing things

We're all spending a lot more time at home right now than we used to in the past. Our homes have become everything for us right now. And, as a result, we are all living a bit harder in our houses and certain issues are coming up, making this a very good time for fixing things up in our families, and also around the house.

All this family time is allowing us to return to the way we used to live, and helping us remember some of the long-forgotten domestic skills we used to do in our homes, like fixing things, cooking, and baking.

The resources that are out there for making home improvements

Currently, there are many different services available for having the items that you need for your home, or your home improvements, delivered to your door very quickly.

Marla's influential role in green building

Many people don't realize quite how influential Marla is in green building, and with women in the building industry. So Tony would like you, the listener, to fully understand how everything that Marla does has come about.

Marla talks about how it all started for her

Marla and Tony met back in 2006, at the Home Builders Association, in St. Louis. That was when Marla officially started in the green building industry.

A few years before that, Marla experienced something in her family that really cemented her pursuit of better things for better homes, and better things for her family as well. While Marla and her family were on a short cruise, her daughter developed an angry red rash all over her arms and legs. They took her to the doctor when they returned home, and he said that it looked like a topical reaction to something she had touched. Marla realized that it must have come from the sheets, so she began researching what had been used to clean the linen on the cruise ship. She eventually hunted down their MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) and discovered that they had been using a highly allergenic additive in their laundry detergent. As a result, the doctor recommended getting all the additives out of anything that would touch her daughter's skin, going forward. That included laundry detergents, soaps, and body lotions.

It was very difficult to obtain those items without any added fragrance or dyes, fifteen years ago

The birth of the Green Home Coach

Between the experience with her daughter, and working for her friend's energy efficiency company in the green building industry, Marla finally felt that she had come home. She realized that she could help people by sharing all the information that she was obtaining for herself and her friend's business.

In 2010, Marla and her friend parted company in business (although they are still friends) and she started working on what eventually became the Green Home Coach.

The Green Home Coach has subsequently been very well received.

The biggest myth

The biggest myth that Marla wanted to dispel was that going green has to be hard, and it is expensive. The truth is that it's not difficult at all and it does not need to cost you a fortune. And you really don't have to do everything at once either.

Marla's mission

The center of Marla's mission, and her business, is to empower people to take action.

Everyday Green Homes

Everyday Green Home is there to serve the people who really want to know that they're doing the very best they possibly can in their homes.

Marla has curated the Everyday Green Homes collection and she's vetted all the Everyday Green Home products.

Marla's three tools for having a better home

• Listen to this podcast.
• Read Marla's book, Living Green Effortlessly, Simple Choices for a Better Home.
• Shop for the things that are better for your home at the Everyday Green Home online shop.

People who are in the home industries, or those who want more education can benefit from Marla's training at What Makes A Green Home Green, which is a basic introduction to the different parts of green homes, and how they all work together to make a better home.

A big announcement

Sadly, the Green Gab podcast is coming to an end. In its place, there will be the Everyday Green Home Podcast. This name change is to align the podcast more closely with the other parts of the Green Home Coach and Everyday Green Home.

Links and resources:

Everyday Green Home

Green Home Coach - Podcast

Green Home Coach - Resources

Home Builders Association - St. Louis

There's so much happening in the world right now, as we find ourselves in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic. This led Marla to reach out to today's guest, Jackie Marie Beyer, of the Green Organic Garden Podcast, because there is always something we can do, and Jackie has some really helpful information to share with all of us today.

Jackie is Marla's resident expert about all things gardening. She lives in Northwest Montana, and she works as an elementary school teacher. Today she will be talking to us about some things that we can do for Mother Nature, and to help people learn.

Starting with the Green Organic Garden Podcast

Jackie started her podcast back in 2015, intending for her husband, who is their head gardener at home, to teach people how to garden. Apart from growing a few geraniums, Jackie used to know almost nothing about gardening at the time.

Now, she has reached her 311th interview on the Green Organic Garden Podcast. In the five years that the podcast has been running, Jackie has interviewed hundreds of the most incredible gardeners who have all shared their knowledge. And although she works full-time, Jackie has found that she is spending more and more time in the garden each year.

Growing vegetables is a separate learning curve from gardening

Some gardeners like to grow only flowers, and others prefer doing vegetables or landscapes.

Jackie's husband grew up on a cattle ranch. He now has a "mini-farm" going at their home and his goal is to grow as much organic food as possible to supplement their family's needs.

Becoming a more effective and efficient gardener

On the Green Organic Garden Podcast, Jackie interviews experts on all aspects of gardening. And they share their secrets to becoming a more productive, effective, and efficient gardener.

A teacher's life

Jackie has been considering what things will look like if nobody is allowed to go back to school on Monday, after Spring Break, so she's been looking for new and exciting things to post online for her students.

Kids love gardening, and Jackie loves posting authentic garden-math problems and challenges for her students. She started doing it one winter, two years ago when her school was closed for a snowstorm, and she made some videos for her students about counting all the loose change that they could find in their homes.

Carrots are easy to grow but hard to plant

Carrots are one of the easiest vegetables to grow, but they are hard to plant because the seeds are so tiny. Children's fingers are much smaller, however, so they can plant the seeds, and space them out, quite easily.

An innovative way to plant carrot seeds with the right spaces between them is to cut strips of newspaper and, using a paste made from flour and water, stick the carrot seeds onto the strips of newspaper, about an inch apart. Then simply plant the strips of newspaper and keep watering them. Then, wait for the carrots to start growing.

Growing things indoors

Jackie's favorite things to grow indoors are herbs, in pots. And she loves to always have a basil plant growing on her windowsill, where it is easy to water it.

To grow herbs indoors, Jackie prefers to use an organic seed starter, like Espoma Organic Seed Starter Potting Mix. You can put some of it into a planting pot with some pebbles at the bottom for good drainage and some dirt. Put it in a sunny spot and be sure to water it every day.

Arugula is another good plant to grow indoors because the leaves are full of flavor and you can start eating them when they are still tiny. The arugula plant will continue growing until the leaves reach their full size, similar to lettuce leaves.

The herbs that Jackie loves to grow indoors

Jackie loves to grow basil, parsley, rosemary, arugula (her favorite), cilantro, and cherry tomatoes in pots indoors, on her patio, or her windowsill.

Is it better to start growing seeds or starter plants indoors?

If you can get hold of some starter plants at a farmer's market, they will mature faster than seeds will. And some seeds will propagate faster than others.

Rosemary and lavender are a bit more difficult to grow, so it would be best to grow them from starter plants.

Sprouts

Jackie likes to start making sprouts in December. To do that, you can buy a sprouter and place some organic sprouting mix, or some radish, alfa-alfa, broccoli, or any other sprout seeds on the bottom, and soak them in two inches of water for twenty-four hours. Then, pour the water out and rinse the seeds in clear water every day until they have grown enough to be eaten.

Bigger container gardening

It is possible to grow herbs and vegetables in all sorts of containers, indoors or even on the patio.

Referral Links and Products:

https://www.amazon.com/Romanesco-Broccoli-Heirloom-Seeds-Pollinated/dp/B01JSH1MVQ/ref=everydaygr025-20

https://www.amazon.com/Chives-Herb-Heirloom-Seeds-Pollinated/dp/B01JT2J4BA/ref=everydaygr025-20

https://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Spaghetti-Squash-Heirloom-Seeds/dp/B01JZUNL2O/ref=everydaygr025-20

https://organicgardenerpodcast.com/

Free E-book on Organic Gardener Basics

The Organic Oasis Guide Book -

Espoma Organic Seed Starter Premium Potting Mix

Tina Gleisner, our regular guest from Home Tips For Women, joins us again today to talk about home maintenance. For the last seventeen years, Tina has been working in a variety of different ways within the arena of home maintenance, so she has become a treasure trove of knowledge.

Women are taking responsibility for maintaining their homes

In years gone by, many women used to think that home maintenance was a man's responsibility. Fortunately, it's no longer like that today.

Tina knows a lot about homes, how to maintain them, and how to take care of them. And she also knows how to relate all of this to women because she's aware of what they are capable of doing, and she understands the way that women get things done around the home.

Understanding how to maintain your home doesn't mean you have to do all the work yourself

When Tina started her handyman business, she found that there were lots of women who were too afraid to pick up the phone and call a contractor, even though they were having a serious problem. This is why it's very important, as a woman, to understand how to maintain your own home. And understanding how to maintain your home does not mean that you have to do all the work yourself.

Priorities

Your number one priority with home maintenance is to get the work done, whether you do it yourself, or you hire someone else to do it for you. This means that the degree to which you need to understand the problem is a lot less. This is why Tina focuses on the concepts, terminology, and the importance of doing certain things. And why she shares enough basic information to empower you to talk to contractors with confidence.

If a contractor refuses to listen to you or to accept that you know what you're talking about, you can take a picture to prove their ineptitude, and send it to the management of the company that they work for, along with the details of your complaint.

The top three reasons why outdoor maintenance is so important

1. You need to protect your investment.
2. You need to consider the safety aspect of the outside of your home, especially if you have children.
3. When it's time to relax, you want to be able to do that without having to think about any of the things that still might need to be cleaned, repaired, or maintained.

Maintaining the outside of your home

1. Safety:

You need to be safe when dealing with your outdoor maintenance activities. First, inspect the tools that you will be using, like ladders and gardening tools, to make sure that they are in good condition and ready to use. It's also a good idea to get your lawnmower check-up done before you need to use it, or you could end up having to wait two or three weeks until it's done.

You could consider pooling and sharing tools that are only used occasionally with your others in your neighborhood.

Remember to be very careful when using a high-pressure washer to clean your decks and other wooden surfaces. This is the kind of task where you could be better off with making use of the services of a professional.

Check the front and the back of the house to see that there is enough lighting, all the handrails are tight, and nothing is lying around any of the pathways and entrances that someone could trip over.

2. Back yard:

If you're going to be grilling your meals outdoors, you will need enough seating and a comfortable place to cook, put plates down, and to do whatever you need to do to enjoy your experience.

Patios will need to be cleaned and decks might need to be stained and sealed. You could consider getting a professional to do it for you.

You might want to put some screens around some of your outdoor space if you're having a problem with bugs. Or you could use a natural insect repellant.

3. Gardening:

To water your shrubs, you could run some drip-lines through the garden. You can even set up a timer so that the shrubs are watered automatically.

Planning ahead can result in fewer trips to the store and better results.

Remember to reward yourself when everything is done!

Links and resources:

Tina's website - www.hometipsforwomen.com

Our guest for today is Jessica Jacobs Thompson, and today's podcast is about the product that Jessica and her sister, Jana, produce and sell, called First Saturday Lime.

About First Saturday Lime

First Saturday Lime is a healthy alternative to pesticides. It is a once-a-month application, just like most other pest controls. It took years of research and testing to develop this product, which is 100% non-toxic and non-flammable, and it contains no health hazards at all. Jessica and Jana suggest that it should be applied on the first Saturday of each month and on that day, they go onto social media platforms and do all kinds of fun promotions.

How it all started

Jessica and her sisters grew up on a farm. Their mother was a professor and their father had a lime company, for farmers in the state of Oklahoma. After graduating, Jessica spent some time in the medical field. One day, soon after Jana had taken over their father's lime company, she and Jessica spoke about finding the formula for a safe alternative to pest control. With her background in health, Jessica understood the importance of using preventatives, so she soon convinced Jana to go into business with her to start producing this product.

What First Saturday Lime is

As the owner of a lime company, Jana deals with all different types of lime, and First Saturday Lime is a lime product. Most of the lime products that are usually available on the shelves are either hydrated lime or barn lime. When limestone is taken out of the ground and pulverized, it's known as barn lime and although it is safe to use, it is very weak and it contains a lot of impurities, so it cannot be used for pest control. Hydrated lime, on the other hand, is very strong and so it can be used as a sanitizer or for pest control. If you or your animals touch it, however, it will cause burns as it reacts with water. Jessica and Jana have the formula to process hydrated lime so that it is no longer reactive to water. It then becomes just as safe to use as barn lime, and it is very effective for pest control.

Getting known

They tested the waters by initially making a thousand bags of their pest-control product and promoting it on Amazon. Once the bags sold out, they knew they had a viable product, so they decided to go ahead with their business. Now, they are in their second year in business.

Using the lime product in restaurants

The First Saturday Lime treatment is an external one, so it's used on the outside of the home or building. The treatment involves simply pouring a two-inch barrier of the product around the base of the exterior of the facility that's being treated. That creates an effective boundary against pests that lasts for a month. Then the barrier needs to be checked each month, to make sure it hasn't been blown or washed away.

How First Saturday Lime differs from other products that you see in the stores

First Saturday Lime does not react with water, even though it's a fine powder. So if it gets wet, it will dry and continue to be effective, as long as it does not blow away. It is pulverized because the finer it is crushed, the more effectively it works.

The best time to start treating with First Saturday Lime

Spring is the perfect time to start treating with First Saturday Lime. Remember that it is always much easier to perform prevention than to have to treat an infestation problem.

If you have pets, you can put some First Saturday Lime in a yard-spreader, on the lower setting, and you can treat your whole yard once a month. This will protect your outside area from ants, and your pets from fleas and ticks. This will also kill any larvae that may be lurking in the yard.

And if you keep chickens in your yard, First Saturday Lime will keep the mites and lice away, and it will destroy the bacteria and odors that go along with chickens.

Some other uses for First Saturday Lime

First Saturday Lime can also be used as a soil enhancer. It will amend the PH levels in the soil, raising them to a maximum PH level of 7.

It can also be used in water troughs or bird-baths to control algae and mosquito larvae build-up, and it will keep the water clear.

Links and resources:

Jessica's email - [email protected]

Go to www.firstsaturdaylime.com and put in the COUPON CODE greenhomecoach to get your own First Saturday Lime to try.

There are also tons of tips on the website for using First Saturday Lime!

Purchase - First Saturday Lime (20lb)

Purchase - First Saturday Lime (5lb)

We have Gay Harris as our guest for today's podcast. Gay and her husband, Mickey, are the founders and owners of a company called Superior Air Quality, and they are the suppliers of Green Screen HVAC Filters.

How it all started

Mickey and Gay have been working together for years. A while back, when they were both working for a company that was doing some insulation work in Austin to create better airflow in attics, the original owner of Green Screen came and spoke to them about adding the Green Screen as one of the products on their tool belt. They decided to accept the offer, and from then on, the Green Screen business just grew and grew. Gay and Mickey became the sales managers for the business, and they ended up working for the company for nine years. Then, about three-and-a-half-years ago, the original owners asked Gay and Mickey to take over their business because they wanted to retire. Gay and Mickey have been committed to the Green Screen for more than twelve years now.

What the Green Screen is, and how it differs from other filters

The Green Screen is an air filter for your heating and cooling system. It goes into the air conditioning unit in place of either the regular, pleated air filters or any other kinds of filters that are available.

When Gay and Mickey started selling for the Green Screen company, they looked at all the independent studies that had been done on filters, to make sure that there was nothing better available out there. And because of the superior construction of the Green Screen, they did not manage to find anything better.

The Green Screen layers the dirt into the filter according to the size of the particles, so the air can still get through the filter. In the national test, the Green Screen collected about twice as much dirt as the allergen-feeding kind did. And it has thirty percent better airflow!

Face loading

With the pleated filters, all the dirt particles, small, medium, and large, end up on one surface. This is known as "face loading" by the industry. It means that more fabric is necessary for the filter to collect more dirt particles, and the more pleats there are, the more you have to pay for the filter. And once these filters start filling up with dirt, the airflow starts getting dammed up pretty quickly. So it becomes very expensive to replace these filters so often.

The problem with other filters

The residential filters that you can buy at the store either collect particles, because they have tighter woven fabric, or they let the air go through. And neither one is a good solution because if they let the air go through, they also let the dirt go through. And if they collect the small particles, they're not letting the air go through. So when Gay and Mickey found the Green Screen, they fell in love with it!

Getting off allergy medicine

Gay and Mickey were able to go off their allergy medicine because the Green Screen helps to remove even the microscopic dirt particles. Their average customers have noticed that there's about fifty percent less dust in their homes when they use the Green Screen.

The location of the filter

When you're buying or building a new house, you're never told that the location of the filter has a lot to do with how much, or how little dust is in the house. The filter that's closer to the ground will collect more of the heavy dust. And the higher you go, the less heavy dust will be collected.

The Green Screen filter works well for all the levels of dust, including the microscopic particles.

Where the filter should be located

It's best not to put the filters up in the attic. Although placing them there will keep the unit clean, up there, they won't keep all the dust away.

If you're building a custom home, it's best to locate the filters about the foot off the ground. That way, you will have way less dust in the house.

If you'd like your environment to have less dust, put your filters where they will catch the most dust. And although it's a bit more effort to change a lot of filters, it's a great idea to have one in every room in the house.

A simple tip to keep the dust away and the air in your house cleaner

Every evening, between dinner and bedtime, turn the thermostat fan from "auto" to "on". And if you're vacuuming and dusting, turn the thermostat fan on and leave it on for about twenty minutes after you've finished.

The number one maintenance issue in your whole house

Gay encourages you to always remember to change the filters in your heating and cooling system because it's the number one maintenance issue in your whole house, and it's also the only thing that's protecting your expensive air conditioning unit.

It is very simple to keep your air conditioning unit going much longer and healthier.

Links and Referral links:

Superior Air Quality's website - https://greenscreenairfilter.com/

Referral Links:

www.GreenScreenAirFilter.com - COUPON - GreenHomeCoach

https://greenhomecoach.com/book-living-green-effortlessly/

We are very happy to have Lindsey McCoy, of Plaine Products, with us today. Lindsey's story is not like that of most entrepreneurs. Her background is in non-profit management.

Plastic everywhere

Lindsey met and married her husband in the Bahamas, and when she moved there, she did environmental education work. She kept bumping into single-use plastics everywhere in the Bahamas because they don't have the same sort of infrastructure there as there is in the United States, which makes the trash 'disappear', so you see a lot of litter lying around all over, and also in the water. Lindsey started doing things to minimize plastic in her life. The one place she couldn't find a solution for was the shower. And all the little plastic bottles that go in there were making her crazy.

Moving back to the States and launching Plaine Products

Lindsey and her husband moved back to the United States. Lindsey then contacted her sister and asked her to help her do something about the hundreds of millions of plastic shampoo bottles that were going into landfills every year. Her sister agreed although neither of them had any idea of what they would be getting into. Two years later, they launched Plaine Products.

Lindsey's motivation

Lindsey got her idea because she realized that at some point, every piece of plastic we have ever used is still on this planet. And she wanted to do something about it. She also became an advocate for Green Beauty.

It just takes a little more time

It takes just a little more time to not automatically buy the products you've always bought. These are habits that we can all change relatively easily.

Some alternatives for the shower

Glass bottles are a little tricky in the shower, as they could break, and they are not kid-friendly.

There are solid bars of soap and shampoo available but these don't necessarily work well for everybody.

If nothing else is available, it's advisable to buy the biggest plastic bottles of shampoo that you can find because that will result in less plastic to get rid of in the end. And if you're in a city, there are often places where you can get your bottles refilled.

About Plaine Products

Plaine Products are toxin-free. They consist of natural ingredients and they are free of any chemicals that you can't pronounce. They are free of parabens, sulfates, and palm oil, and they're cruelty-free and vegan certified.

Think Dirty has rated the Plaine Products with a zero, which means they are completely safe to use.

Aloe is the main ingredient used in Plaine Products.

Plaine Products work very well!

The Plaine Products process

The process is very simple:

• Go to www.plaineproducts.com and choose the products that you want.
• Your products then get placed in a box made of recycled paper and sent to you.
• The first products that you buy will come with pumps. When you re-order a product, you will receive a refill bottle without a pump.
• Along with your refill bottles, you will also get a return label to put on the box with your empty bottles. You can then return these to Plaine Products for free, where they will be washed, refilled, and sent back out into the world.

The point of this process is that it is very simple, easy, and convenient for you.

Lindsey has seen the plastic problem up close

Lindsey had the opportunity to go on an all-women expedition, called eXXpedition, to research the amount of plastic in the oceans. The incredibly cool, around the world sailing voyage consists of thirty legs. It takes two years in total to complete, and ten women get the opportunity to sail each leg, along with the professional sailing crew and the mission leader.

Lindsey got to do the leg from Aruba to Panama, in December 2019.

The voyage involved doing research, counting pieces of litter, visiting the dump at Aruba to see what the infrastructure is like, skimming the surface of the ocean with a tool designed to pick up plastic from the water, and capturing water from a depth of 75 feet to check the amount of unseen micro-plastic particles in the water.

Lindsay liked that the leaders of the eXXpedition are talking about solution-based science. So they are trying to figure out what kinds of plastics are out there and how quickly they are breaking down so that we can know what kind of plastic to stop using. Ultimately, the only real way to keep plastic out of the ocean is to use way less of it and to use it responsibly.

A double-dose of nastiness

Unfortunately, plastic lasts forever so it does not dissolve back into the water. It just breaks into smaller and smaller particles. Toxic chemicals like to attach to these plastics, making them a double-dose of nastiness for the fish who eat them. And this moves all the way up the food chain.

Recycling

Recycling plastic can usually only be done once, unfortunately. And only nine or ten percent of all plastic is recycled.

Aluminum, however, can be recycled infinitely without any loss of quality.

Doing the best you can

At Plaine Products, they have a "progress, not perfection" mantra because you don't have to be perfect. We can all, however, do our best to be responsible when it comes to making choices. And we can all do whatever we can to minimize our footprint and to keep our planet clean and green.

Links and resources:

Lindsey's website - www.plaineproducts.com

Lindsey's email - [email protected]

Think Dirty - https://www.thinkdirtyapp.com/

Green Beauty - https://greenbeauty.com/

eXXpedition - https://exxpedition.com/

Referral/affilliate links:

https://www.plaineproducts.com/ref/marla/ (Coupon Code for 20% off: greenhomecoach)

Or

www.greenhomecoach.com/plaineproducts (Coupon Code for 20% off: greenhomecoach)

You can also find Plaine Products at Marla's online green store at www.everydaygreenhome.com

Tina Gleisner is back with us today for her second interview in our series on home maintenance. In her first interview, Tina spoke to us about home maintenance in general. In today's podcast, she shares more of her deep knowledge about home maintenance, and she continues to empower women, in particular, to take good care of their homes.

The most important point

The most important point to remember about taking care of your home is that you are the chief home organizer. This means that you don't have to do everything yourself. Your number one priority is to see that all the important things get done.

Critical jobs

Certain very critical jobs need to be done in a home, that we just don't have the tools or the experience to do. So we shouldn't even attempt to do these things.

Spring maintenance

The focus of today's podcast is on spring maintenance because spring is a great time to do several things on the outside of your home. Many of these things will require the assistance of an expert.

Organizing your checklist

It's always best to start by inspecting things around your home. Then, make a list of all the things that need to be maintained or repaired. Planning what you're going to do, and who you're going to hire to come in and help you, can minimize the costs of your ongoing home maintenance and repairs in the long run.

Checking the roof

If you're not comfortable on a ladder, or if there's a chance that you could fall, it's best not to go up onto the roof yourself. To check your roof, you can stand back and take some photos of it with your phone. You can then go to your computer and blow the photos up to see all the details. If you save the photos, you can use them again the next year to see if anything on the roof has changed. For most new roofs, just doing some spot-checking every year, for the first ten years, without actually going up there, will be sufficient.

If you live on the coast, or in an area with harsh weather all the time, your roof will not last as long as it would in an inland area with mild weather.

There's an organization called National Women In Roofing, that will help you to better understand all the different classes of roof shingles, explain what your roofing insurance will and will not cover, and answer any questions that you might have.

If you need a new roof, it's never a good idea to put a second layer of roofing shingles on top of what you already have because there may be hidden damage to the plywood underneath the shingles.

Remember to ask questions!

A tip for recycling old roof shingles

Many communities have a Roof to Roads program where they recycle asphalt shingles to be used for the building of roads. So, if you're removing an old roof, look into recycling the old shingles.

Protecting the wood and checking for wood-rot

If you can catch a problem early, it could save you a lot of money and effort, going forward. So check the wood around your windows and doors, and any decking or other wooden trim around the house, for signs of wood-rot that might be starting. If you find anything, it can quite easily be sanded and painted to protect the wood and prevent any deterioration.

The two biggest problem areas

The two biggest problem areas for wood-rot are the window-sills if the water does not roll off them fast enough, and the vertical piece of wood that is directly under the exterior doors. The longer the problem remains, the more the repair is likely to cost.

Tina has an article on her website that goes into the different levels, and costs, of wood-rot on window frames. She also has a series on her website about all the different areas of wood-rot in a home.

Roof flashing

The flashing on the roof is usually made of thin material, like galvanized steel, and it is there to direct water away from the critical areas on the roof.

Spring home-maintenance

Doing outside home-maintenance in the springtime is important because you're going to start spending a lot more time outside at this time of the year.

Two main things need to be emphasized in the springtime.

1. Finding and dealing with any damage that may have occurred during the winter.
2. Looking out for the safety of your family while they are spending time outside. This includes checking the walkways, decks, hand-rails, and outside lighting.

Tina's spring check-list

Tina has a very useful checklist available on her website to give you lots of different ways to look for potential problems in your home.

Some things to look out for:

1. Concrete is porous, and it sucks water up, so keep a look-out for any rising damp.
2. Push gently on the wood around your doors and windows with your fingers to check for sponginess. That would indicate that there is some wood-rot going on there. If you find any wood-rot, you will quickly need to do something about it.
3. Check to see if the weather-stripping around your windows and doors needs to be replaced.
4. Check to see if any of the screens for your windows or doors are torn and need to be replaced.
5. Check your garden hoses and check to see if the irrigation system is working properly.
6. Make sure that your air condition system is working properly and that your fans are turning in the right direction.

Remember that a clean home is easier to maintain, and it helps everything to work more efficiently and last longer.

Links, Referral Links, and Products:

Tina's Website

Tina's Email

Use This to Replace Outdoor Hose Bibs! Aquor Frost-Free House Hydrant V2

Spring Home Maintenance Checklist

Top 20 Spring Home Maintenance Projects

National Women In Roofing

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. That means that if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I believe in and usually use myself.

Shabby Chick and Everyday Green Home are partners

Everyday Green Home and Shabby Chick Cleaners have partnered up, and today, we have Shabby Chick, Amber Malcom, with us to spend a few minutes talking about some of the seventeen Shabby Chick products that are featured on Everyday Green Home. These cleaning products have all been designed to make cleaning your home green and simple.

About Amber

Amber Malcom is a natural lifestyle products enthusiast and entrepreneur. When she and her husband moved to a farmhouse, in 2014, to raise their three kids, they had a very hard time cleaning the house up properly on a tight budget.

Looking for a natural alternative

After a fruitless struggle with trying to find commercial cleaning products that worked effectively without being hazardous to their health, Amber started looking for natural alternatives. She spent countless hours researching, trying out different combinations of ingredients, and product testing. Finally, her hard work paid off.

A whole range of products

Shabby Chick now has a whole range of pleasant-smelling, grime-busting products available, that can safely be used around children. Amber is committed to excellence and she takes utmost care in creating the very best and most effective all-natural cleaning products.

About some of the Shabby Chick cleaning products

There are 17 Shabby Chick products featured on Everyday Green Home.

- The All-purpose cleaner is for non-streaking surfaces and for areas that can take soap, like your countertops.

- The Amazing Stainless Steel, Glass, and Appliance Cleaner is for streaking surfaces like glass, mirrors, and appliances. It will clean them up and make them pretty and shiny.

- There are room, air, and fabric fresheners, and also a poo spray called Stank Stopper.

- The Snake Oil Antiseptic Spray is a pure and healthy antibiotic product made of alcohol and six essential oils.

- The laundry detergent comes in a pouch with a handy tablespoon for measuring. (Two squirts equals a tablespoon.) The secret to success with the laundry detergent is that it has to go into the tub before the clothes go in.

- The dish soap is different. It smells of vinegar, however, if you can get over the smell, you'll become obsessed with its cleaning power.

Selling the natural cleaning products at local markets and craft shows

Amber began selling a few bottles of her natural all-purpose cleaner at the local craft markets and craft shows over weekends. The sales went well and Amber went back to doing research, trying out different combinations of ingredients.

Coming up with different products

The next product that Amber developed was Shabby Chick's Dangerously Effective Glass Cleaner. That was followed by Shabby Chick's laundry detergent, and then Shabby Chick's very effective, all-natural kid's insect repellent, Critter Glitter. And the list goes on and Amber keeps coming up with new products.

More and more demand

As time goes on, there is more and more demand for Shabby Chick's popular, natural cleaning products. Before, the products were sold only at local markets. That grew to fairs, then to trade shows all over Oklahoma and Texas, and now Shabby Chick's cleaning products are also available in retail stores in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas.

Links and resources:

Shabby Chick can be found on www.shabbychickcleaners.com or www.everydaygreenhome.com

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. That means that if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I believe in and usually use myself.