apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Vermont's Rutland Herald introduced us to Alexander Lee, the person behind Project Laundry List.

We spotted an ad for Ecohaul on a bus shelter this morning in Berkeley.

Looks like they're a Bay Area hauling service that promises to be greener than the rest. The prices are reasonable, if not cheap, and they promise to take stuff the donation services won't touch...

We've just moved to Berkeley, California, where the city runs a fantastic food waste recycling (that is, composting) program. Stephanie blogged about the little green bin that showed up on her doorstep about a year ago...

We've got too many roommates of the eight-legged variety. What to do?

We've been trying to figure out whether it makes economic sense to replace an old 1.6 gallon per flush toilet that needs repair with a nifty new dual flush model. Given the drought here in California, and our desire to divert water to our lawn, we were curious to find out if it would make sense. It was almost as difficult as the problem above...

Like to garden? Live in or near San Francisco? Want to make a strong statement about the Slow Food movement?

The Post-Materialist, blogging at the T Magazine site, found green inspiration in these way retro cottages with their anachronistically green box beds and high-back chairs...

$1.40 isn't a bad price for a decent quality CFL, but the PGE rebate (for Bay Area electric customers) makes these FEIT Conserv-Energy bulbs cost 65¢ each. That's actually less than incandescent light bulbs at the grocery store. As for the color temperature?

We're moving and trying out with different ways to go green in the process. We liked the idea of U-Haul's reusable boxes. They are preprinted with labels for multiple moves so that they can be easily reused. So why is this box sitting with our recycling?

We’ve met Orit (oh-REET) Yanai through our friends at EcoHome Improvement, and she’s the best kind of artist: intense, passionate, with an eye for detail.

If you want to learn how to apply American Clay Plaster, we can think of no better teacher.

The best part? Orit travels, so it's not just us Californians who can benefit from her expertise.

We were at Costco yesterday, picking up move-in supplies for the new place. We couldn't help but notice the increasing number of green (or green-ish) products in the aisles. Still, it was surprising to see a dual-flush toilet. The brand is WaterRidge, and it sells for $199 at our Costco in Richmond, California.

We thought that tile looked familiar...

If you've decided to switch to an induction cooktop—or if it's now at the top of your list for a kitchen remodel—there's a reasonably priced option now available in the US. The best feature of the Electrolux Hybrid Induction cooktop may be that only 2 of its burners are induction, meaning that any non-magnetic pans you have can still be used...

Astroturf and other synthetic alternatives to grass are getting a green makeover. Whereas fake grass was once pitched as a way to save maintenance costs, now it's touted as a way to reduce carbon emissions and water consumption. But parents in San Francisco aren't so sure they want all that plastic in playgrounds...

Here's the setup: we were listening to NPR a week or two ago (KQED in San Francisco.) They were reading letters to the editor, and apparently had earlier run a piece on people adding exterior insulation to refrigerators in order to increase their energy efficiency.

The idea was simple and appealing: simply glue foam insulation or cut wool carpet batting to size, apply to fridge, then sit back and save money.

We immediately envisioned a Fridge Cozy empire of hand-sewn, organic wool and cotton fridge cozies in trendy patterns, but, sadly, our reverie was quickly broken.

If you're buying a house or refinancing, it's worth looking into a green mortgage. There are several kinds of mortgages that qualify as green, depending on whether your home is energy efficient, close to public transportation, or just green in general.

A green mortgage can be a bit harder to find, though, so we've pulled together a few tips.