Green Home on Maui

Green items around our home and yard

Rethink Reduce Repair Reuse Repurpose Recycle !

Rethink:

Think about what you are doing...

How can it be done the greenest, most eco friendly way? A better quality product should last longer than a cheap version... Avoid plastics, toxics, things that cannot be recycled, including the packaging

Reduce:

Do you really need it?

Are there better options, with less waste and a smaller footprint? Repair: Can it be fixed? Sometimes it is cheaper to get a new item, but if it can be fixed... it should...

Reuse:

Check resale shops, Craigslist, scratch and dent... Dumpster diving... It's amazing, and sad, what people throw away...

Repurpose:

Are there parts that can be used or salvaged, perhaps as something different than originally intended?

Recycle:

If you don't want/need something anymore, and it still works, or is in good shape, have a garage sale or donate it... Most things should be recyclable with your local recycler...

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Here is our house, and solar panels in March 2013, from atop the hill across from us

Click herebamboohouse.htmto see more on the actual house and building it. For building the house we chose a spot that didn't need a lot of excavation work. It was flat, and pretty much treeless. We also went with a small house. Besides price as a big factor, the bigger the house, the bigger the footprint.

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This is our 20,000 gallon water tank. Rain water from our roof, that flows into our gutters is directed to this tank. It is then pumped, as needed, through a filter system, ready for use. We also painted it with "recycled" paint, which a local non profit group collects and makes available.

Our driveway was made using crushed, recycled, concrete. After it is spread on, you wet it, and compact it

The stove and refrigerator were scratch and dent items. The Fridge is also the best energy star we could find. The oven is a double oven, so one doesn't have to heat up a huge oven all the time. (Cabinets were a gift) Mismatched chairs from garage sales. Kitchen Island / Peninsula was made with leftover wood, a glass table top that was salvaged.Bamboo weave was a shade on clearance sale, which I repurposed. Lights throughout the house were mostly on clearance sales. We have LEDs in all of them.

Furniture all came from resale shops or Craigslist, or even salvaged. Rugs were salvaged. Sofa made from leftover wood and covered with a quilt from a resale shop. Fan was from a habitat for humanity store, for 10 bucks! TV was a repaired item, from the local electronics recycler.

2013 we found this picture. Someone threw it away! It was a little wet, so I just opened it up, and dried it out! I love it! Amazing, what people get rid of!

Tub was from craigslist. Shower floor was leftovers and salvaged from a local dumpster, chair too. Tiles outside by shower were salvaged, flipped upside down so they wouldn't be slippery....

Outdoor furniture was all second hand. I did buy new covers for these though.

We also have solar path lights... Compost barrels around the yard... Almost everything is second hand...

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Our garden tiers are made from leftover roofing. The fence/climbing is repurposed fencing from the cat sanctuary.

Garden edging is logs and leftover metal hurricane straps.

Retaining wall is made from logs from a downed tree.

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