Well, "sustainability" is basically a life-cycle thing... in a broad sense, there's consumption, use and waste.
So you can either look at what you have in your life which consumes, and try to reduce that consumption - electricity, "raw" resources, what have you. You probably have heat - the best way to cut down on heat energy consumption is to optimize latent heat generation in the house so that as little as possible needs to come from "other" sources. So, get windows which point the right ways, make sure the house is VERY well sealed and insulated, invest in tripple-glazed windows and so on. Then get a heat system which requires the least amount of actual generation - radiators against inner rather than outer walls, or radiating floor systems. You also need good circulation - the amount of energy used is equal to the cube of the rate of flow (this is a piping thing).
Or you could limit waste. Look at what you have in your life that still generates truely end-of-life material. How much garbage, recycling and compost do you put out? Can it be reduced? What can be bought in bulk which you don't already use? Can you use cloth napkins/paper towls/ hygenic products?
Unfortunately for us 21st-century types, technology is a great source of waste... computers and their bits don't really have a post-consumer life. But you can still do little things, like have a flat-screen rather than LCD monitor (far fewer toxins) and make sure you have a machine which can be broken down so that you need to replace only small bits at a time.
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zvi
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-25 07:36 pm (UTC)So you can either look at what you have in your life which consumes, and try to reduce that consumption - electricity, "raw" resources, what have you. You probably have heat - the best way to cut down on heat energy consumption is to optimize latent heat generation in the house so that as little as possible needs to come from "other" sources. So, get windows which point the right ways, make sure the house is VERY well sealed and insulated, invest in tripple-glazed windows and so on. Then get a heat system which requires the least amount of actual generation - radiators against inner rather than outer walls, or radiating floor systems. You also need good circulation - the amount of energy used is equal to the cube of the rate of flow (this is a piping thing).
Or you could limit waste. Look at what you have in your life that still generates truely end-of-life material. How much garbage, recycling and compost do you put out? Can it be reduced? What can be bought in bulk which you don't already use? Can you use cloth napkins/paper towls/ hygenic products?
Unfortunately for us 21st-century types, technology is a great source of waste... computers and their bits don't really have a post-consumer life. But you can still do little things, like have a flat-screen rather than LCD monitor (far fewer toxins) and make sure you have a machine which can be broken down so that you need to replace only small bits at a time.
I'd also like to second the "educate" plan...