It is more important than it has ever been for individual members of society to take responsibility for our planet. Whether you are an environmentalist or a scientific research and experimental development expert, each person has a duty to protect the planet that we all share. This consists of everything from reusing your grocery bags, to hanging clothing to dry instead of using a clothes dryer that sucks up energy, to riding a bicycle or carpooling to and from work or school, to packing your own lunch versus buying fast food in Styrofoam disposable containers. There are many ways we can contribute to making our planet more sustainable, especially when it comes to home building. There are many great and informative books on the subject, as well as a wealth of resources online. Planet Earth Homes is a great book that compiles years worth of research and knowledge on the subject of responsible home building, and is a great reference work covering many self-sufficient categories such as: solar energy and how to use it in your home, wind power, organic vegetable gardens, home recycling, water conservation, lagoon cleaning, wood heated stoves and furnaces, making the most of natural lighting, and much more. This book is an invaluable source of information for designing and building your own home using energy-saving, renewable energy, and all things related to sustainable building. Reading through this book, or others like it, is a great way to inform yourself on the issues before you begin, and probably has more information that you need. This article hopes to do the same thing, to provide you with useful information on building a green, self-sustaining home that you can be proud of. Having a solid relationship with your contractors and builders is a great way to get the best results and the most innovative home as an end result. If you are hiring employees from a foreign worker program and there is a language barrier, make sure you are on the same page with your builders from the get go. Living entirely 'off the grid' (which means that you do not rely on any incoming source of energy such as hydro or gas) is the ultimate energy saver and green living technique (not to mention financial savings). More than anything else, being off the grid represents security and a great dedication to bettering your carbon footprint. You may have to spend money to start with, but the results are well worth it. Being off the grid also means having your own power when everyone else's is out because of a power failure, something that occurs frequently in most major cities as well as remote towns. It means you can rely on not only your own power system, but the food you grow, and the water you drink. You won't be affected by the rising cost of utility bills, and you can continue to live normally despite any fuel shortages. Living off the grid does not mean that you will live in complete isolation, with no connection or method of getting information on active exchange traded funds - your connected and wired lifestyle does not have to change one bit. Other things to consider when it comes to responsible building are installing a living roof, organic farming, and raising livestock. Depending on your lifestyle and amount of free time, you can sustain your family without much from the outside world. This is really a matter of personal choice, just like choosing the right commercial mortgage lender, it may take some time to commit to a decision. Growing organic food is environmentally friendly, healthy and best of all, delicious. Plus you can spend more time outdoors, enjoying the beautiful summer days in your garden. Whether your finished home will have one of these amazing gardens or not is your choice, but building the home in a sustainable way is the most important thing you can do for the planet and for future generations.
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