Interiors

Bathrooms

DIY bidet installation video

More and more people are installing bidets at home, so Ecohome took a look... does the idea of a jet of water blasting your nether regions seem a hard leap to make at first? Well, the times they are a changin’. Should we consider adding a bidet? Although quite popular in Africa, Asia and Europe, the bidet has been…

Cleaning and maintenance

Keep homes cleaner & safer with smart home features & UV light

Smart homes can help reduce the transmission of bacteria and viruses by reducing the number of surfaces we touch in our homes, and for most things we do touch we can zap those with UV light and sanitize without chemicals. Coronavirus or COVID-19 is changing how we live, obliging us to practice social distancing and…

Flooring and stairs

Natural non-toxic hemp flooring by HempWood & Tennessee Wood Flooring

Natural building materials such as hemp flooring or HempWood contribute to healthy indoor air quality; they can also act as carbon storage & preserve natural resources & forests traditionally used for wood flooring products. Natural building products such as hemp flooring are gaining in popularity for those who want…

Interiors

Are laminate countertops good for a sustainable green home?

Laminate countertops are traditionally a "cheap" counter option, favored by cookie-cutter home builders, but as there are now better laminate countertops out there for sustainable green homes, we thought we'd give them another look & see how to choose. Are laminate counters good? Laminate countertops were a…

Kitchens

Formaldehyde-free green kitchen cabinetry for a non-toxic home - price comparisons

Kitchen cabinets can off-gas formaldehyde and countless other chemicals for years after they have been installed. Here is a price comparison of some Green Kitchen cabinet choices for better indoor air quality (IAQ). Green kitchen cabinets - why does it matter? To improve the air quality of your home , that's why…

Paints, finishes and natural coatings

Natural wood finishing oil is non toxic too

Kunos oil from Livos is a natural finishing oil for floors, counters, furniture & decks - enrich wood surfaces safely, protect them from stains & water ingress. Being safe to breathe, natural oils are suitable and safe for pretty much everyone, but of particular value in the homes of pregnant women, young children…

Walls and ceilings - interior surfaces

Wood ceilings or drywall - how to choose your ceiling material & what's the difference in cost?

Wood ceilings are a beautiful natural material with no off-gassing and no treatment necessary so why do we systematically choose drywall. Wood ceilings - what's the the skinny? Ahhh, the charm of a wood ceiling, seriously, what's not to like? The intent of this page is less about talking you out of installing gypsum…

Kitchens

Choosing green kitchen countertops for sustainable homes Including LEED v4 & Passive House PHIUS+ certified

Kitchen counter alternatives to pressed wood: composite paper, aluminum, recycled porcelain, glass and quartz. Here is a look at their durability and cost. The most common kitchen counters you will find in homes are traditional laminate countertops. And they certainly live up to the adage ‘you get what you pay for’…

Interior design and furnishing

Storage ideas for small spaces

Design and furnishing ideas to make the best use of empty spaces in a home. From underneath a bed, under a subfloor or the underside of the staircase, there are many underutilized areas in a home that can make life in a small home a lot less cluttered. Here are some ideas on how to transform dead space into storage…

Recycling and composting

Waste management: compost and recycling

How to sort and dispose of household waste responsibly – food waste, paper, glass, paints, solvents, batteries, etc.… here is where to send stuff so it does the least harm. Ideally, we would produce no waste. Unfortunately, that is an ideal that is hard to achieve for many of us. We can all strive to come as close…

Cleaning and maintenance

Tips for keeping air clean during renovations

Dust and chemicals in building materials can trigger permanent respiratory issues such as asthma; here are some ways to safeguard your air and health while work is going on. Construction is a dirty business, and living in a home under renovation can aggravate asthma and other respiratory illnesses, it can also lead…