Tomorrow morning, March 22, 2010, is a historic occasion for the Austin, Texas Metro Area. At 5:25am, the new Capital Metrorail redline train leaves Leander, Texas’s TOD on its way to Austin, Texas. I will be at the Leander Station at 4:30am to help. I am excited about the event and the prospects for all […] Continue reading → There are five green construction methods that you can easily adopt include buy locally, use energy efficient appliances and devices, use recycled and recyclable materials, make your home eco-friendly and then maintain what you’ve built so you don’t have to use more resources to replace what you built. Continue reading → Friday, March 12th, 2010 from 4:30 to 6:30pm there will be a tour of GREEN buildings at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. The Double LEED® Building Tour Higher Education Institution Facilities is being held by the Central Texas Balcones Chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC-CTB). The Admissions Center building is LEED-NC Gold Certified and the Center for Lifelong Learning is LEED-NC Silver Registered. Continue reading → How do you help those in need and help the environment at the same time? 1house at a time is a great organization that helps Austin, Texas homeowners in need avoid foreclosure on their homes by lowering their utility and food bills. High utility bills often represent a family’s second highest expense. Homes chosen for […] Continue reading → Now, honey bees are in trouble. They need your help more than ever. Without honeybees pollinating US agricultural crops our food supply will be in trouble. “Colony collapse disorder” has decimated entire populations of honeybees. Thankfully some people are concerned enough to educate the public and help the bees. Continue reading → Holistic Management International Texas is a great resource for managing your farm or ranch in a “greener” way. They offer many classes and workshops in various Texas towns. Continue reading → If you live in the northern part of Austin, Texas or even elsewhere, the Williamson County Texas Audubon Group (WAG) is a great organization to further your interests in nature and or birds. I just retuned from a Williamson Audubon Group meeting at the New Church on County Road 245 in Georgetown, Texas. A large crowd, including myself, were entertained by guest speaker and local, award winning wildlife photographer Greg Lasley. Mr. Lasley said he has had his photos published in over 100 books and magazines which include American Birds, Texas Highways Magazine, Wildlife Conservation and many more. His book, Texas Wildlife Portraits was available for purchase and signing. Continue reading → What are VOCs and what can we do to avoid having them in our homes? VOCs are Volatile Organic Compounds, and no, this is not the type of “good” organic we want in our Texas Organic Home. VOCs are pollutants in our homes and can effect the indoor air quality of our homes. The resulting poor indoor air quality can have both short and long term ill health effects. Continue reading → Pets can be a great addition to the Texas Organic Home. The Williamson County Kids N K9’s program helps the WILCO Academy teens to learn many skills such as dog handling and training as well as patience and tolerance. The Kids N K9’s program helps the shelter dogs since they will never be euthanized because of the training they receive by teens.
Continue reading → My yard meets the criteria for Austin’s Award Winning Green Garden Program yet I am not a City of Austin water customer so I can’t share my yard in that venue. The City of Leander gets the water from the same place, Lake Travis but we buy it from Leander, not Austin. Part of being a Texas Organic Home is to have a green yard. By green I do not mean a huge, water hungry synthetic yard but a water conserving, sensible and beautiful yard that is safe for humans, pets and wildlife due to lack of synthetic chemicals. Continue reading →