January 27th, 2010
About a year-and-a-half ago, we signed up for Residential Real Time Pricing (RRTP) with Commonwealth Edison, our electricity provider. Many utility companies across the country offer similar programs, so please check with your local provider for energy-saving opportunities on utility bills.
RRTP uses ComEd’s Basic Electric Service Hourly Energy Pricing. With it, the price of electricity [...]
January 5th, 2010
I think it’s appropriate to take a “clean, fresh” look at our new laundry room, just like the start of the new year feels to me.
Back in October, Pete and I laid the Marmoleum tile, an all-natural linoleum flooring, and our washer and dryer arrived soon afterward.
We opted for the pedestals, both for additional storage [...]
October 15th, 2009
Okay, okay, remodeling a home for climate change could be somewhat of an oxymoron: there can be a lot of waste heading for the landfill, for one, however some disposal companies will recycle construction and demolition (C&D) debris. Since 2007 the City of Chicago has required contractors to recycle at least 50% of their C&D [...]
October 15th, 2009
I’m happy to participate in Blog Action Day for Climate Change, because here at Bungalow Chronicles, we make an effort to lower our carbon footprint (I kind of hate that term, but whatever) every day. It didn’t happen overnight — and it doesn’t have to — but once we got started it became easier and [...]
July 1st, 2009
If you grew up in the 1960s or ’70s, then you must remember Captain Kangaroo’s sidekick, Mr. Green Jeans, who would bring cute little animals on the show?
Well, this post isn’t about him, but it is about being green with jeans, as in Bonded Logic UltraTouch Natural Cotton Batt Insulation, made using the by-product of [...]
June 24th, 2009
When our attic renovation was still in the planning stages, I began researching insulation options. It made my head spin: closed cell foam, open cell foam, blown-in cellulose, venting or not venting the roof…
I knew for sure that I didn’t want to use fiberglass batts. From my own research, unless the batts are installed correctly, [...]
April 30th, 2008
As Earth Month comes to a close, there are still plenty of things we’d like to do to reduce, reuse and recycle, such as:
Replace showerhead and faucets with low-flow units
Replace the toilet with a dual-flush, low-flow unit, like the Aquia from Toto or the selection from Caroma
Finish replacing all lightbulbs with CFLs. Research shows that [...]
April 29th, 2008
When we planted our arborvitae recently, we discovered that the PO had the downspout from the house attached to plastic tubing which is buried under the grass and empties out to the alley. Tsk, tsk. That’s going to change.
Thanks to a post I read a while back at Our Tiny Oak Park Bungalow, I [...]
April 10th, 2008
Say you have a bunch of old VHS tapes lying around, on which you’ve recorded various episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
Or a drawer full of empty CD jewel cases.
A bunch of old Zip disks perhaps?
How 1995 of you me.
All of this junk takes up a lot of space, [...]
April 2nd, 2008
Like Humphrey House and the other residents of Oak Park, we are also fortunate here in Morton Grove to have a recycling program that accepts virtually everything without our having to sort it all: office papers, newspapers, cardboard, chipboard, virtually all plastics including grocery bags, styrofoam containers, glass, cans (including the lid) — even aluminum [...]
March 28th, 2008
I have a confession to make, and I’m not proud of it. In fact I’m downright ashamed that I didn’t check my facts long ago, because I love doing research.
I thought I was doing a good thing by reusing paper grocery bags as trash bags. I thought, ‘Why buy plastic trash bags, which are [...]
May 23rd, 2007
I’m a flatlander. While others wonder how we can stand the flatness of Illinois, I have a deep appreciation for it. I especially love driving down I-57 toward Champaign-Urbana around sunset. The colors in the sky are beautiful and all you see for miles is an open expanse of land, mostly farmland. The horizon is [...]