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Can  You Have Green Laundry with Clothes Dryers?   Clothes dryers are very convenient, but they’re also big energy users, and thus expensive to use, and not green. So it makes sense to look for alternatives, and use green laundry practices. Of course we all know that if the weather is good, and if you have the space, line drying clothes (or using a clothes rack / clothes horse) is the healthiest and the greenest and the cheapest method (see hanging tips). Using the sun to dry your clothes (solar power) is free. But what if you don’t have a...

My son will be “graduating” from Montessori to matriculate to pre-K at his sister’s school this May, and, while I’m excited for this transition for many reasons, I am also wistful about closing the door on our Montessori years. If you’ve been reading for awhile, you know that I love the Montessori way (my siblings and I all attended Montessori, as have all of my nieces and nephews — and my mother was a Montessori school teacher for many years). I’m specifically drawn to its emphasis on scaffolding independence and cultivating “grace and courtesy” in the way we interact with...

Occasionally during this Ronny Yu series I will go on tangents about films that are not directed by Ronny Yu, but are related to the topic at hand. I’ve been meaning to revisit my maybe-favorite-Brandon-Lee movie RAPID FIRE for years, and thought it would fit in well here. To be honest I forgot that I already reviewed it in 2009, but that’s okay, this is a better review. It was worth a reboot. Lee followed his movie debut in LEGACY OF RAGE with LASER MISSION (1989) and SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO (1991), but it was the Yu film that attracted...

  Ad-Free BlogWell, it's not from the lack of trying. I try to remember that the finished basement took us 20 some years to complete, and now we are trying to repair and replace so much at once. Mechanicals: We upgraded the plumbing and sump pumps. Now the sump pumps have their own line running almost 90 feet to the west side of the house. [TAG0] oldnewgreenredo Our plumbers also increased the size of the (larger white above) pipe, so we won't have any sump pump water running through the same system as the kitchen pipe on the far left. [TAG1] oldnewgreenredo...

Looking for simple wood pallet projects? If you need some home improvement projects using wood pallets, search no more because you’re in the right place. 18 Wood Pallet Projects To Give Your Home That Rustic Look Wood Pallets are mostly used for shopping, however, it has become a very useful material for a lot of DIY wood projects that can perfectly fit one’s home. It can be disassembled into wood planks that can be useful for any size of projects starting from simple things you need for kids through clever and elegant furniture solutions. Below you will have an amazing...