Waste Not, Want Not

One of the great things about a green home is that it reduces the amount of waste, from construction to daily usage by the family that lives there. Recycled materials, from recycled concrete to recycled bricks and siding made of recycled materials reduce waste in landfills. Compost bins for the use of the homeowner reduce the amount of waste in landfills and allow a place to put compost for fertilizing flower beds, landscaping and small vegetable gardens or greenhouse plants. Water collection systems recycle the gray water that has been used for washing dishes or laundry to water landscaping plants, thereby reducing the amount of fresh water used for the purpose of watering landscaping or gardens.

This recurrent theme of recycling keeps us from adding to the pollution problem, and helps us ensure that we can pass a cleaner environment to future generations. The truth is that out environment has been polluted by our overuse of natural resources. When these resources are gone, they’re gone. When we build a new home, one of the many things we should be considering is what we are leaving behind when we ourselves are gone. Do we want to leave future generation an apocalyptic, polluted world, or do we want to make it better than it is now, and leave it better than we found it for our children and future generations? If we do not waste materials that could be recycled and we don’t waste natural resources, we’ll leave the land and its inhabitants better than we found them.