For years the idea “bigger is better” has been favoured by a number of people, and for many things: homes, cars, boats, etc. But in Japan, small has always been a characteristic the country is well-known for, and it seems Japanese architects have taken “small” to bigger extremes.   With a growing population of hopeful homeowners, “ultra-small” houses are made available in Tokyo—designed to fit on plots that are about 30 square meters (the same size as a parking space for a single car). Brought to life by architect veracity, and to cater affordable homes, the following article and video explores Japan’s ultra-small housing units as both resources discuss how the homes’ rooms are built, their unique features, as well as how they have been highly valued by Japanese home-buyers and homeowners (ultra-small homes are making up to 70 per cent of some architect companies’ business).

(Article Source cnn.com by Kyung Lah)

Fuyuhito Moriya is 39 and still lives with his mother, but in circumstances you would call a tad unusual.

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When retrofitting a home, consider green home improvements. Not only do they provide a number of benefits and stay true to the environment, but state organizations and local energy companies are now initiating a variety of tax incentives and grants to homeowners who go for environmentally friendly home improvements.

In Alberta there is a rebate program launched by the provincial government called Alberta’s Climate Change Central Program, which powers homeowners to perform energy-and water-saving home improvements. As the following article suggests, these upgrades decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and can save a person an estimated 30 per cent on their home’s utility bills.

Below Alberta’s Climate Change Central Program is discussed, highlighting the program’s conditions, limits and eligible rebates.

(Article Source ecoliving.scotiabank.com by Viviane Kertész)

Program deadline

The post-retrofit home energy audit (see below) must be completed, and paperwork submitted, by March 31, 2011.

Program conditions

In order to participate in the program, homeowners must first have a pre-retrofit home energy audit performed by an authorized energy advisor. Upon completion of the home improvement, the energy advisor performs a post-retrofit energy audit, verifying that the improvements were properly executed. The advisor then submits the paperwork to the government, which in turn issues a cheque to the homeowner.

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To meet future energy needs and see a global transition to sustainable energy sources it is crucial for people to use energy as efficiently and effectively as possible, or at least try.

The province of Saskatchewan has done just that. In efforts to “go green”, SaskPower is offering incentives to promote environmental awareness during the Christmas season. In Regina, financial incentives such as gift certificates have encouraged people to take an eco-friendly step by trading their incandescent seasonal light strings and/or halogen floor lamps. Not only is this type of program good for the environment because it saves electricity, as the below article suggests, but it helps people reduce and save on electricity.

(Article Source the Leader-Post by the Leader-Post Staff)

It’s almost that time of year again…the time of year where the only way we can get around the city is after truckloads of salt are distributed on our roads. Now that society is more environmentally aware, it is a wonder why we are still pouring the corrosive, erosive, and destructive salt all around our communities.

The following article explores the damage the salt can have not only on our belongings, but on our health and even the well being of our pets, and shares less destructive methods of getting our roads and sidewalks ice free.

(Article Source EcoGreenBags)

If you live in an area with heavy snowfall during the winter months, you know the after effects from every winter: a huge mess of road salt. Road salt is extremely corrosive and destroys everything it comes into contact with, like:

• Roadways
• Sidewalks
• Landscaping
• Waterways (runoff causes huge environmental damage) (more…)

Since the turn of the millennium hydrogen fuelling stations have been opening worldwide, and supporters hope that the trend towards a more environmentally conscious gas-pumping facility will show the public how hydrogen is an conservational option to petroleum.

The following article explores Canada’s continual movement towards adopting green alternatives, highlighting Saskatoon’s first hydrogen project and net zero house, and focuses on how the approach could virtually eliminate waste and dramatically reduce industry’s environment impacts.

(Article Source The Star Phoenix by Paul Hanley)

With rising concerns over the increasing demand for energy, a substitute source of energy has become a solution for many, even Barack Obama. Defining a fair amount of his presidency on movement towards a greener economy that has clean energy and environmentally friendly jobs, Obama has agreed to put solar panels back on the White House roof for the first time since 1986 when former President Ronald Reagan had them taken off.

The following article explores Obama’s efforts to push green living, and discusses when the solar panels are to be installed to the White House.

Article Source (Inhabitant) – Looks like President Obama has finally given in to the pressure — the White House is about to go solar – again. In the 1970’s President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the first home only to have President Ronald Reagan remove them later. Coalitions — like this one — have been pushing for Obama to bring solar back to the first residence as a sign of his commitment to renewable energy. The new solar array is expected to be installed by next spring and will heat the first family’s supply of hot water as well as supplement power for some of the the first family’s energy needs. (more…)

It was once possible to reach self-sufficiency by having a high school diploma and by being motivated and hardworking. To succeed in today’s economy, you need not be only motivated and hardworking, but you also must understand the direct connection of sustainability and self-sufficiency in the 21^st century.

The following article highlights what exactly self-sufficiency is in the 21^st century and what is means when half the world’s population now resides in cities.

Article Source (By Kim Davis, Canwest News Service) – I grew up raising chickens and rabbits, tending large vegetable patches and living in homes built by my father. Neither frugality nor the pursuit of self-sufficiency motivated my parents: they did what they did because they had a bit of land, my father was a builder and we lived in a small town. Ours was not a “back-to-the-land” household of people who wanted to cut ties with the establishment and live independent of the system.

For many people, that household is the household that comes to mind, of course, when talk comes ’round to self-sufficient living: rural acreage, hand-hewn homes, Mason jars of sprouting seeds, home-schooled kids, maybe a clunker of a vehicle on its last wheels. (more…)