Is the Climate Change Talk in Paris just Talk?

Today in Paris 150 heads of state including President Obama are meeting to discuss climate change. These leaders are in Paris hoping to negotiate and agree on strong measures that will reduce rising emissions worldwide.   As part of this negotiation the world's leaders are hoping to develop a system that will allow other nations to verify emissions reductions in participating countries.  That should work great!  Excuse my Volkswagon related sarcasm but I don't hold much faith in this concept.  I'm not saying nations don't want to reduce emissions rather I'm trying to point out it's much easier said than done.  When under the scrutiny of other nations, let's face it some countries in this world seem completely ok with cheating,  That's clearly going to happen with an agreement like this but my biggest concern is that we don't have all the solutions to our environmental problems, we're not even close.   Do these leaders understand that?  Of course, the summit will focus on fossil fuels which is only about half our total emissions.  A fossil fuel alternative like solar power is a viable solution, wind power is awesome too but how sunny and windy is it in all parts of the world? I'm guessing but I think it's pretty safe to say all these nations will not currently have viable alternatives that will allow them to reduce emissions. That's why this summit is just talk for me.    

I'd feel much better if this was a summit about solutions and not emissions numbers.  Solutions like how can we manufacture steel without it being the No. 1 emissions producer on our planet?  How can we create an electrical grid that doesn't lose half our energy?  How can we produce building materials without incurring the severe environmental effects caused by mining and deforestation?  Some might say we have more environmental problems that need to be solved than we have solutions.  Sustained success in reducing the world's emissions is going to take a lot more innovation than talk.  Just a thought...

DIY Green Friendly Remodeling

Can you do it yourself when it comes to eco-friendly remodeling?   Most definitely you can!  In this blog we'll share a few things that you can do to make your remodeling project as green friendly as possible.  Fortunately the trends of today align with what's good for our planet.

You've probably already heard this one but it really could impact our planet if more of us did it, repurpose and reuse everything you can.  Being able to create repurposed items in your home like furniture and woodwork will add unmatched custom features to your home.  It will also fit into the popular styles of today.

Eco-friendly building materials, use them if you can find them.  Procuring eco-friendly building materials is a little trickier today than it should be but if you do some research you may find that you can purchase some things locally.  Backing up a step it's important to understand what's eco-friendly when it comes to building materials and what's not.  Look for things made from recycled materials, pretty much anything created from recycled materials would be consider eco-friendly.   Building materials made from renewable materials like bamboo and cork would be considered green friendly.

Finally, keep it non-toxic...  We have so many toxic things around us in our homes and offices and they all usually end up buried in the Earth somewhere not too far away. Well that's after they may or may not have impacted our health.  Indoor air quality can be five times worse than the air quality outside.  The toxic things in our home probably have a lot to do with that, it's time to take a stand and go non-toxic!  Whether it's flooring, paint, furniture, cabinets or even things like wallboard and countertops, non-toxic options are out there.  They cost a little more but are well worth your health and peace of mind.  Thanks for reading!