Green Home!

Archive for June, 2010

There’s nothing quite so satisfying as being able to immerse yourself in total darkness before seeing a crystal clear studio logo pop onto the big screen while a blast of 5.1 digital surround sound overtakes your senses and rumbles beneath you. You are experiencing the rush of watching a movie in a theater. But not just any theater, it’s your home theater.

That’s right. No one kicking the seat behind you, throwing candy at your head or talking on the phone during the best scenes; if they do you can kick them out yourself!

In many ways the home theater experience far surpasses the big screens of movie theater chains. Not only the annoyances listed previously, but there’s also the factors of cost and convenience.

With the price of a movie ticket running somewhere around $10, plus the cost of snacks, you could easily afford your own home theater just by skipping those evenings out for a year or two. Depending on how expensive your tastes are possibly even sooner than that. And there’s no need to wait for the 7 o’clock showing or stand in line; you can start, stop and schedule your movie showings whenever it’s convenient for you.

As true home theater enthusiasts we’d been designing our perfect escape since before we bought our house. We were just looking for the perfect house to fit our dreams. We found it a few years ago and proceeded to design our dream theater with gusto. We had most of our cinema equipment (just needing a few finishing touches like the 5.1 digital surround and more monster cables) so we dug into planning everything from seating arrangement and style, to carpet color and decor, to the large hinged wall with secret escape route (doesn’t every kid want one?)

By doing most of it ourselves we saved thousands of dollars but it also took about a year to “finish.” Well, it’s finished enough for us to enjoy, we are always working on the little touches here and there. Many people hire professionals to design and build their theater’s, which saves a lot of time (but not always money.)

After a long hard day at work, or an evening of frustrating parenting, the need to escape reality can become overwhelming. Being able to drop ourselves into complete darkness and seclusion and then immerse ourselves in a full senses banquet of sights and sounds from Hollywood we can quickly forget our own headaches and get wrapped up in the big screen. Those two hours are sanity savers without ever needing to leave the house (or get candy thrown at our heads).

If you are in the process of trying to decide where to purchase a home appliance or home appliances, you likely are trying to figure out where you can obtain these products for the most reasonable price. In this day and age, there can be significant price variations associated with the costs of home appliances depending on where you elect to make the purchase of appliances.

Many men and women in the 21st century find themselves living on fairly restrictive budgets. This particularly is true if people are involved in raising a family. With that in mind, a good number of people have found themselves turning to the Internet and World Wide Web in their search for reasonably priced appliances.

When it comes to shopping online for home appliances, there are a variety of different options available. For example, if you are in the market for home appliances, you might want to consider surfing onto one or another of the auction sites in operation on the Internet. These different sites tend to have a wide selection of different types of products available for purchase at what can be at times most reasonable prices. This includes an array of home appliances in many instances.

In addition to auction sites, you may want to check out overstock websites on the Internet in your search for lower cost home appliances. These overstock sites have increased in number in the past few years. At these sites — much like the auction sites in operation online — a person in your position many times can select from a number of different home appliances made by different manufacturers and in different price ranges.

Many brick and mortar world appliance stores have established Internet based venues to market their products. At times, these retailers end up offering different types of home appliance products at most reasonable prices through their Internet venues. By shopping around these types of websites you likely will be able to find some great bargains on home appliances.

Keep in mind that when shopping online for home appliances you usually can have these products delivered to your home for no additional charge. Additionally, many of these Internet merchants that deal in home appliances can arrange for rapid delivery of products. Further, many of these merchants are able to arrange to have particular home appliances installed for a nominal charge or no additional charge whatsoever.

Economy as well as reliability is offered by conveyor belts. For a long and trouble-free working of the conveyor system you will need to ensure that the tracking or alignment of the conveyer system is perfect.

Tracking a conveyor belt just means making it work efficiently. According to conveyor belt gurus, in simple terms it means “the belt must move towards the end of the roll.” A belt is said to be tracked well when the edges of the belt remain within the width of the pulley and the roller components while carrying a full load.

To achieve this, users as well as installation and maintenance crews must take appropriate steps to ensure that the whole system is centered as well as level. All components like pulleys, snub rollers and idlers must fit perfectly square within the frame and be perfectly parallel. Ask the belt manufacturer to guide you on what the correct belt tension should be. This is what prevents slippage. Another important aspect is cleanliness of the belt. Any particulate matter stuck on the belt will affect tracking, as it creates an additional roll or pulley face.

Tracking must be done with great care. Begin with an empty belt, then recheck tracking with a full load. Adjust the tracking when the belt is running. After adjustment of the idler, run the belt at least 4-5 revolutions before deciding on any further adjustments. Overcorrections must be adjusted using the same idler, and not by moving any other idlers.

When troubleshooting tracking, consider the structure and components of the belt, the tension and joints, load balance, and belt stiffness. Look at the condition of the belt, the power and tension levels transmitted to the belt by drives and take up systems, alignment of idlers and rolling components, the workings of belt splices, cleanliness of the reverse side of the belting, and the direction of the load. Consistent tracking will lead to a safe and hassle-free conveyor belt system.

We all know how easy it is for our week to get away from us. It seems strange because we live in such a highly technical age. Sometimes it feels as if all those toys that are supposed to help us live easier lives have actually taken over the world. Instead of a little more down time, we’re constantly being called on our cell phones, beeped, paged, and generally at the mercy of others every hour of every day.

Our regular routines are more difficult than ever to keep. When we’re not at work or school, we’re driving the kids to events. We also try to schedule a work-out, lunch with a friend, and recreational activities. It’s not hard to see where a weekly household cleaning schedule can fall by the wayside. So how do we keep up with that aspect of our lives?

One key is to actually write out a weekly household cleaning schedule. Seeing something in black and white gives us a much better sense of just what needs to be done. Once you list your chores, you can decide if you want to devote an entire day off every week to doing them. You may find that there are some things you can do during the weekday evenings, thus freeing up a little more time to relax.

Floors definitely demand a lot of our attention. After all, there’s a floor in every room. Some are carpeted; some may be tile, marble, or linoleum; while others might be hardwood floors with area rugs lying on top. Chances are you use a variety of tools and products to clean them. Most likely you vacuum carpets and rugs. For the wooden floors you would use mops with hardwood floor cleaners. Hopefully you use earth friendly floor cleaner on hard surfaced floors.

Cleaning Your Floors

Most of us feel a lot better about the whole house when all the floors are clean. There’s something really unpleasant about looking down and seeing dirt, stains, and piles of objects that aren’t in their normal place. In terms of our weekly household cleaning schedule, floors can take up a fair amount of time.

As with anything else, keeping up with problems as they happen, is an important factor. For instance, if you spill something on your tile flooring, grab your earth friendly floor cleaner right away and clean it up. If your pets shed regularly on your carpet, vacuum every couple of days instead of waiting until your weekly household cleaning schedule tells you it’s time. As with most things, preventative maintenance and prompt action can be big time savers.

Wood floors are beautiful and always add a special something to the appearance of a room. Just as with your carpeting, they don’t require a huge amount of work if you stay on top of the job. Usually, you can do them when you do the rest of your weekly household cleaning schedule; or maybe you’ve elected to do all of your floors on a certain day or night. Generally using mops and hardwood floor cleaners will do the job.

Fortunately, one of the things technology has done for us is to make our weekly household cleaning schedule easier. For instance when it comes to floor care, you can often do it in one step. In times gone by we’d have to wash the floor, often on hands and knees and then follow up with a wax or polish. It’s also great to know that research and developers are creating more in the line of earth friendly floor cleaners.

Kitchen and bathroom floors often take the brunt of the abuse in our homes. It’s usually better to work on them more often than our weekly household cleaning schedule dictates. When we cook, we often spill food and drink, as well as splash water around while we’re scrubbing vegetables or washing our hands. In the bathroom, hair spray and other products go with gravity and head for the floor. These rooms are ideal for combined cleaner/ polisher. Many homes use hardwood flooring or look-alike tile in which case mops with hardwood floor cleaners are appropriate.

Regardless of the flooring combinations in your home, you want to save time and make all the chores as easy as possible. You already have plenty to do on your weekly household cleaning schedule, so plan for it to go as smoothly as possible.

Whenever you can use earth friendly floor cleaners as well environmentally safe cleaners everywhere that you can.

Questions and Answers on Gardening

Question #1
How to Test Soil For Magnesium Level

This question is in response to last month’s emailed gardening tip. You mentioned to make sure to do a soil test to see what your magnesium level is before adding any Epsom salt to outdoor plants. You said, “Without knowing your current magnesium levels, you shouldn’t apply Epsom salt at all to outdoor plants. Many areas have almost toxic proportions of magnesium present in the soil, and continually adding more will end up poisoning the plants and the soil.” That’s great, but how do I test for Magnesium levels?

Jim Trueman, UK

ANSWER:
Hi Jim! Great question. Since most home “do-it-yourself” soil testing kits only test for pH, Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorous, in order to find out your calcium and magnesium levels you’ll have to take a sample to a local soil testing lab. Every county has one, and the cost is usually around $10 (£5). It’s fast and very accurate.

The weekendgardener…

Question #2:
Out Of Control Weeds

We have recently moved into our house, and the gardens are full of weeds. We have tried pulling them out, we have tried both chemical and organic weed killers, and tried solarization. Is there any other way. We just can’t seem to contain them.

Brad Martin, Lismore, NSW Australia

ANSWER:
Hi Brad! I can hear and understand your frustration. Nothing is worse than a battle of the weeds. Unfortunately, the best advice I can give you is diligence, and try mixing up your techniques a bit more.

The problem with a lot of chemical weed killers is they do a great job of killing what’s there, but if you simply leave that area bare, and don’t do anything else, new weed and grass seeds can blow in and take root in the now clean and open area.

You also have to realize there are perennial and annual weeds, which means that at any time of the year, some kind of weed will be growing. The trick is to keep after it year-round and in a season or two, you will see a huge decrease in the problem as you kill each weed’s growing cycle and start to get the upper hand.

So what I would suggest is to pick a general weed killing method, I like solarization because it’s chemical free, but many people opt for RoundUp or another systemic weed killer.

Once you have killed everything back, come back in and put down some corn gluten, I mentioned this up on question # 6, see above if you didn’t read it.

Corn gluten is great because it will keep any new seeds from germinating. Keep in mind, it will keep all seeds from germinating, so if you are planning on starting a vegetable garden from seed, this will be a problem.

If that is the case, and you can’t put down a pre-emergent, put down a good layer of mulch, 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) to keep any new weeds smothered.

Hang in there, you have the right idea, and in time, your garden is going to look great.

The weekendgardener…

Question #3:
What Is Heavy Soil

I want to start a water garden. I went and bought a Papyrus plant. I was told to repot plant and to use “heavy soil” and water plant fertilizer. Can you tell me what “heavy soil” is? And what type of fertilizer to use that can be used with fish in pond?

Ramona Diorec, Honolulu, HI, USA

ANSWER:
Hi Ramona! Good question. Soils come in various “textures” meaning there sandy, loam, and clay soils, which some people can refer to as light, medium, and heavy soils.

Heavy soils (the same as a clay soil) are called that because they contain more clay, are sticky, and have little pore space, drain slowly and retain water and nutrients longer, which tend to make them more fertile than other soils, and are ideal for pond plants.

A medium soil (the same as a loam soil) which is considered the ideal garden soil (not for pond plants, but general gardening), because it has a nice balance of 3 particle types, clay, silt, and sand, giving it a combination of large and small pore spaces allowing it to have air for healthy root growth, and to drain well and lose nutrients at only a moderate rate.

Lastly, a light soil (the same as a sandy soil) contains particles that are fairly large and irregular, and have large pore spaces between the particles giving the soil lots of air, which drains very quickly losing nutrients and water. That’s why plants in sand need watering and feeding more often.

In your situation, you will want to use a heavy clay soil, and there are such soils packaged specifically for aquatic plants, so ask for that. In a pond situation, using the wrong type of soil can cause numerous problems, so start your plants out correctly with the right soil.

Now, just a few extra tips for you. One of the problems with ponds is that they can get a brown tinge to the water. This is because the soil has come out of the pot, which can happen in a high wind when the pot blows or falls over spilling soil into the water, or the soil washes out of the bottom of the pot. To avoid this problem here are a couple of things you can do:

1. Use a shorter wider pot (sometimes called a “pan”) because it is less likely to blow over than a taller pot, especially if it is a taller growing plant (like some Papyrus); and make sure that you add some medium sized stones on top of the soil to keep the soil in the pot. The stones will also add extra weight which will keep the pot from tipping over in the pond in the wind.

2. Line the pot with burlap, weed barrier mat or a few layers of damp newspaper. After the bottom of the pot is lined then add your soil and plant. This helps keep the soil from washing out the drainage holes into the pond. Once the plant is potted up, soak the entire pot in a bucket that is large enough to cover the top of the pot for about 24 hours. This will allow any loose soil to be washed off into the bucket of water and not in your pond.

3. When you are putting the plant in the pond make sure that you slowly lower the pot into the water rather than just plunge the pot into the water. By lowering the pot slowly this will keep the force of the water from washing the soil out of the pot and into the water.

The final part of your question was about fertilizer. There are many made especially for ponds, just ask for fertilizer for Pond Plants. It will be safe for all aquatic life, and it won’t turn water green from algae growth.

The weekendgardener…

Question #4:
Leafminers on Tomatoes

I have 5 pots of “patio” tomotoes growing in large pots on my balcony. All 5 plants have tan “schrigely” marks on them, as you can see in the picture. Not all leaves have these marks. Also, the newest growth leaves on top of plants do not have these marks (yet??). Any suggestions as to the problem? Thanks.

Bob Coyne, FL, USA

ANSWER:
Hi Bob! First of all, thank you for sending a picture with your question. It always is so helpful to be able to see exactly what you are talking about.

What you have are called Leafminers. They like to feed on bean, beet, cabbage, chard, lettuce, pepper, tomato, and other vegetables; also many ornamentals, especially chrysanthemum and nasturtium.

The larvae tunnel through the leaf tissue making hollowed-out, winding mines. They can kill seedlings, but the good news is that on older plants, such as your tomatoes, the larvae are more of a nuisance, and a cosmetic issue, than a serious problem.

There are a few things you can do:

1. Handpick and destroy mined leaves.

2. Remove any egg clusters you may see on the undersides of the leafs as soon as they are visible in the spring.

3. You can also spray neem oil. Read more about neem oil.

The weekendgardener