Yesterday Cynthia picked up a new magazine down at Drive Organics.  It's called "Granville", and it's a free publication about Sustainable Living in Vancouver. 

There were some really interesting articles in it - including a description of some of the efforts people are making to 'Green' their homes.  I was fascinated by the idea of adding solar water tubes under the roof to heat water... and very interested in the description of the nearly 'off the grid' Cob Home that is being built near Victoria. You can view this article at:  http://www.granvilleonline.ca/ 

While many of us may not be prepared to go quite that far yet with renovations, there are some practical and 'sustainable' changes that we can each make to 'green' our homes. The most 'easy' one is to update lightbulbs.  As we've all heard recently, switching to compact fluorescent lightbulbs can make a noticeable difference in energy usage.  Be wary though - they contain mercury, so we all need to recycle them instead of putting them in the garbage (IKEA and Home Depot both have recycling bins).  Be conscious too that you may not be able to use compact fluorescent bulbs in some older homes without updating the wiring...  I personally can't wait to see further innovations in LED technology that will resolve many of these issues!

Another great source of information about 'green' homes is http://www.thegreenguide.com.  You can find all sorts of information here, from whether it is more environmentally sound to repair or replace our appliances to the whole Plastics (BPA) debate.