The Green Deal Company

I received an email recently and that was how I learned that there is this Green Deal Company which I understand from their website is the government (United Kingdom) initiative for greener energy.

Greener energy? That is exactly what the world needs. Currently, the whole world is largely dependent on fossil fuel for its energy needs such as petroleum or coal. The negative thing about fossil fuel for energy is that it emits CO₂ gas (carbon dioxide), a green house gas. As scientists learn more and more about global warming, they are becoming more and more confident that it is due to the green house effect caused by green house gasses such as Carbon Dioxide).

Other than fossil fuel, what other sources of energy can we use? Greener energy? That would be things like wind, tides, solar, hydroelectric, etc. These are still cost prohibitive and hydroelectric means inundating huge tracts of land. Nuclear energy? Currently, nuclear energy uses fission (splitting of large atom into 2 smaller atoms resulting in huge release of energy). Nuclear fission is "dirty", that is, it results in hard to manage radioactive by-products which may have half-life of thousands of years.

Nuclear fusion? Nuclear fusion is getting 2 small atom fused together to become a larger atom, again resulting in a huge release of energy.

The repulsive force between 2 positively charged atom is very big and to overcome these repulsive forces so that the small atoms can get close enough to fuse into one requires them to be heated up to very high temperatures. At these temperatures, there is no physical container that can contain these very hot plasma without melting.

Currently, scientists are experimenting with using electromagnetic fields to contain the very hot plasma. These require very expensive gargantuan structures.

The Green Deal Company website says they can help home owners, tenants and business owners apply for a GREEN DEAL so that they can use green energy for their homes and businesses.I know someone who says they have an alternative. Wonder if the Green Deal Company can assist in applying for a research grant to further develop my friends' idea. Perhaps worth a try?

Create storage space without expensive renovations

Are you the disorganized type like me? Do you have your things scattered all over the house cluttering up your home? Are your visitors greeted by shoes and sandals scattered on the floor in front of your home entrance? I hope the above is not descriptive of you, but unfortunately it fits me to a T. Well, I did discussed that issue with my architect and he came up with a plan with plenty of storage space. That is great, only snag is it will set my bank account by a huge amount.

What to do? Simplest is to create storage space out of existing space like under the bed. Yes, how about Bed Risers like the ones shown in the photo below:



With bed risers raising the bed higher thus creating more storage space under your bed, you can store much of your clutter under the bed.

For even more storage space without spending a bundle on house renovations, how about Room Dividers to screen off portion of your home like your bedrooms, behind which will become your storage space?



I think these are great ideas to manage clutter in the home. And finally those messy shoes and sandals. Simple, get Shoe Racks like the one in the photo below which you can hang behind doors. Presto, you have created storage space out of almost nothing:



Say bye-bye to expensive home renovations.

A Paradise Home with Swimming Pool

You have a home and a garden. What else is required to turn an ordinary home into a paradise? Perhaps a swimming pool? Water seem to have a magical calming effect on human. Wouldn't be like paradise if you can sit in your living room and when you look out of the window you see a nice inviting swimming pool like in the photo below:

Photo of swimming pool is property of Aslu

Imagine on a hot day being able to change into swimming gear and stepping out the house right into cooling water. Health experts all agree that swimming is one of the best form of aerobic exercise. With a swimming pool in your front or backyard, you can have the best aerobic exercise every day of the week if you so desired.

Yes it can be like paradise. However, neglect maintenance of the pool and you can very quickly end up with a headache instead. For maintenance, you will need Swimming Pool Supplies such as pool pumps, filters, cleaners, heaters, salt chlorine generators, etc. You should try to find a reliable source of swimming pool supplies to keep the swimming pool in healthy clean condition.

Modern Furniture and Love Seat etc.

The above photo of modern furniture's Mies Pavilion Loveseat attracted my eye. Why? It looked mighty familiar. I remembered drawing a 3D model of exactly the same design with AutoCAD and teaching Furniture Technology students "Introduction to CADCAM" (CADCAM = Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing) many years ago. I distinctly remembered the shape of the legs. It was exactly the same design but called a different name. It was more than 30 years ago and I can't remember the name for that seat anymore. It is a nice simple but elegant design.

At modern bedroom, I found more designs of simple elegant furniture design which would be easily amenable to 3D modeling which can also easily be done by students, like the example of a modern platform bed below:



At modern living room however, I found some challenging design like the ZU-drop stool below:



While the spherical shape will be easy to model using what in 3D modeling "primitives", the complex curve surface of the top of the stool will be very difficult to duplicate.

If I ever get the time, I would like to create a 3D model of my house with 3D models of all the furniture, modern or otherwise. I have some antique furniture with carvings that will be extremely difficult to model.

Bathroom furniture, cabinet, fittings, basin, tap

Organic farm needs lots of attention and lots of work, much more than what is needed in conventional farms where you just spray poison to keep pests away or add artificial fertilizers. After a hard day's work in the backyard organic farm, I think you deserve to retire to a beautiful bathroom to get all the garden soils that has attached to your body. How about brightening up your bathroom by adding Bathrom Furniture such as the Bathroom Cabinets in the photo on the left in this paragraph.

I have seen some beautiful basin that comprise a large plate of see-through glass and a sunken depression. It looks very modern. Now if you are not prepared to do fairly substantial renovation, it is difficult to change your present standard basin to something more modern. However, you can try to add some modern Bathrom Basin like that see-through toothbrush holder in the photo.

Commercial Mailbox for Home, Condominium, Appartment, Shophouse

Photo of is property of dcJohn

If your home is in a condominium, instead of having a single mail box, it is likely your mailbox will be one of many like the Commercial Mailboxes you see above.

Now even if you have your feet firmly planted on earth and staying in conventional single or double-storey landed home with a garden, perhaps you may be interested in security as perhaps you often get valuables like cheques, etc., being sent via conventional snail mail. In this case perhaps a high security Commercial Mailbox like the one you see in the photo below:



In many parts of the world, shophouses are popular where you may have a commercial shophouse on the ground floor and residential units in the higher floors. In this case, each residential unit may have its own mail box among many Commercial Mail boxes.

Moving House - Furniture Removal and Discount

Moving House

This, moving house, is one thing I dread. Small personal items are OK and easy to move, but when it comes to bulky electrical appliances and furniture removal, that is a different "kettle of fish".

Removal Services

The first thing one need to do is to draw up a list of bulky furniture that will be involved in the removals. Check the local classified for removal quotes and see if they give a discount. A discount given can make a great difference in your removal cost.

Photo of removal van is property of Gareth Saunders

Then prepare for the great day. Most of the small items should be organized and packed into small boxes like the above for easy removal.

Tips on moving house from Gareth Saunders

One thing I've found really helpful, if you're packing bits and pieces yourself is to organise for yourself a "packing box".

This is a small cardboard box (say 30cm x 30cm) into which you throw all the tools that you need when packing, such as:

1. Parcel tape (and parcel tape 'gun' if you have one -- they can be really handy); Gaffa tape can be handy too
2. Stanley knife (or pen knife, or scissors)
3. Cable ties or string
4. Screwdriver(s): flat blade and Philips/cross-head
5. Envelopes to put unscrewed screws and bolts into
6. Labels for sticking to boxes
7. Permanent marker pen (black)
8. Gloves (to protect your hands when lifting certain items)
9. Measuring tape (you'd be surprised how handy these are!)
10. Sheets of paper, for making notes/notices/labels/etc.

If you put everything back into the Packing Box when you're done packing something you'll know where everything is the next time, rather than having to hunt round the house for where you left each item.

I've moved house a number of times in the last few years and have found this approach really useful.

Gareth

Moving House Removal Furniture

Housewarming present - authentic imported furniture

Housewarming presents (gifts)

My daughter will be moving into their new home coming July. I have been giving her digital presents like digital secretarial bird for her birthday present. If I give her one more digital present for her housewarming, I think I might get clobbered over the head. Now I need to think of something more solid than a digital secretarial bird. Perhaps a real solid designer modern furniture for her new home may soothe her feelings. But what kind of furniture?

Furniture for kids

I have a grandson Lewis Chew who is just going to be 1 year old. But I suppose I can get some furniture for kids which either will fit his age now, but most likely they already have them. Perhaps I should get him furniture for when he grows up to be a toddler or teenager.

Furniture for the entertainment center

I know they like to relax by watching television, etc. Perhaps I should get them some furniture for the entertainment center. My first grandchild already is able to recognize himself in photos and videos and I believe ready for watching TV. Perhaps his parents can now introduce him to Sesame Street with him sitting on a toddler seat for the entertainment center.

Father's Day Presents for the Home and Garden - decorative relaxing items

My attitude regarding presents or gifts

Go to My first grandchild at his grandfather's birthday gathering. Unless one have the courage to list down what one may want for his or her presents, it is not uncommon for items which are either left in a corner to collect dust or one gets duplicate or even triplicates of the same item. That was the reason I started Environmentally Friendly Presents or Gifts.

My wish list for Father's Day

Father's Day is celebrated on the third Monday of June which is just round the corner. Let me set up my wish list for Father's Day.

Photo of rope hammock is property of Yard Envy's rope hammock

Another on my wish list is decorative bird houses so I can put them beside my rope hammock and enjoy the birds while rocking and relaxing on my rope hammock. I would suggest something similar to the one you see below:

Photo of decorative bird house is property of Yard Envy

This is the last one on my wish list for the time being, is a teak patio furniture for my own relaxation as well as to entertain guests. Teak or Tecktona grandis is a very durable timber as well as being very beautiful with nice grain and can be polished to a smooth shinny surface. It will outlast me and it will pay my children good to get this for my father's day present as they will be buying them cheap while teak trees are still plentiful. By the time they are ready to take over, teak will be so scarce that it will be too expensive for them to buy it due to supply-demand with the scale skewed heavily over to the demand side.

Reader's Digest Gardening Family safe Section

I started reading Reader's Digest 30 over years ago. Reader's Digest is a great publication and provided great reading for condensed version of family safe and inspiring stories and was my favorite printed magazine. However, time has changed, and almost everything has gone online. Reader's Digest is no exception, and here is [Reader's Digest]'s Gardening Section.

My other blog is Natural Remedies or Food as Medicine. Reader's Digest have an easier natural remedy - Gardening to Beat Diabetes. You don't have to eat anything, food or medicine, just gardening to keep in shape.

I have another blog - Enviroman Says, an environmental blog. Not surprisingly, Reader's Digest have an answer to that too - Going Green at Home.

I remembered clearly Reader's Digest had a section - "Laughter is the best medicine". Reader's Digest has continued that tradition online by have a section "Funny, Clean Jokes and Cartoons. Its online version is Laughs! So after a strenuous day at the garden, relax and enjoy some family safe cartoon at Reader's Digest Online.

Mailboxes, problems and solutions

My problem mailbox is still a problem. See the photo below:



See the letters sticking out? Well, for one, a passer-by can just take it away. Another, when it rains, the letters will get wet. So what may be a solution?

Perhaps mailboxes like that wacky one shown in the photo below?

Photo of is property of Tommy

The slot definitely looks much larger than mine and I guess the postman will have no problem stuffing my mails all the way into the mailbox. But where can I get such mailboxes? Wonder if whitehall products may have something similar as they sells all kind of mailboxes, address plaques, even other things like home and garden decor, personalized doormats, even bird baths and bird feeders. I think I should check out that website and see what they have to offer in terms of mailboxes which will not leave my mails sticking out, liable to be stolen and getting wet when it rains and I did not take my mails into the house.

Playground equipment in the home for children and grandchildren

Are your a parent, meaning you have children, or are your a grandparent with grandchildren? Well, I am both, well, at least a grandfather of one with another on the way. I use to have swing sets in my garden. That was once upon a time a long time ago. They are now all grown up and in fact one of them have become a parent herself and another one will be a parent soon. Where have the swing sets gone, I do not know. But my grandson will soon grow up together with the one on the way, and when they are big enough, I will probably want a swing set in my home for them to enjoy just like their parents when they were children. However, this time, I will probably go for a tire swing as I am environmentally conscious and believe in reduce, REUSE and recycle and there are lots and lots of used tyres waiting to be REUSED.

However, for the moment, they are not big enough to be able to sit on a swing, and I would probably have to think of something more suitable like other playground equipment that they would actually be able to enjoy. Then perhaps I will get more frequent visits from my first grandson and my soon to be born second grandson.

ShopWiki, Wikipedia or Google of online shopping

Practically every surfer on earth knows about Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia which humbled the mighty Encyclopedia Britannica. The latest is online shopping Wikipedia for home and garden.

ShopWiki for Home and Garden

What exactly is this Shopwiki.com? According to the website, it looks like a revolutionary Wikipedia, or more accurately the Google of online shopping for home and garden knick knacks and other stuff. Most general online shopping wait passively or semi-actively for products to be included in their website or perhaps actively canvass for paid insertions in their websites. Not so for ShopWiki, says the owner of ShopWiki. ShopWiki is proactive. They don't sit on their butts and wait for merchandisers to come to them. They say they have spiders to crawl the Web for products, just like the search engines. Not only that, ShopWiki will place everything a shopper might need irrespective of whether they earn anything from the insertions. In this way, they say, they can have a pretty comprehensive range of products available for purchase online. Don't know about you, but to me, that sounds pretty revolutionary.

Now I used to make pretty delicious turbo-broiled chicken for myself and my family using my own invented and unconventional recipe (I am an unconventional man). What I did was to use a juice extractor to extract the juice out of peeled garlic. Use the garlic juice extract together with seasoning like honey, tom yam paste, oyster sauce, etc., together with the garlic pulp (I try my best to use everything, throw nothing away), for marinating the chicken for a few hours, then turbo-broil it in the turbo-broiler. Note that garlic is a very powerful natural antibiotic and I am confident that I can marinate for a long time without any problems. With this unconventional method, a recipe you will find nowhere else, not only will we have healthier chicken to eat as quite a lot of the chicken fan would have dripped to the bottom of the pan, we also ended up with an aromatic and very tasty chicken which my whole family loved. Don't know about you. I love the smell of garlic.

Only problem is, both the turbo-broiler plus the juice extractor are no longer with us. That makes me itching to look for replacement. Look for replacement. Perhaps Shopwiki.com has the perfect solution. There is a search box in that site. Let us give it a trial. I typed "turbo broiler" into the search box and searched. Result? turbo broiler search result from ShopWiki.

How about juice extractor? They have that too. A search revealed fruit extractor ShopWiki search result which turned up 237 results, a pretty impressive figure.

Epoxy floor coatings for the home

What is epoxy?

I got familiar with epoxy when I had to teach "Adhesive and Adhesion before I retired as an associate professor. Epoxy is a very versatile thermosetting polymer which is not only used as a very good adhesive, but is also used in coatings, paints, making various types of composites which when reinforced with fibers like fiberglass, are then used for things like industrial tooling, molds, marine applications, aerospace even including outer space.

Epoxy floor coatings

Epoxy resins can be used for high performance flooring which include heavy duty industrial flooring as well as domestic decorative flooring. Epoxy may be combined with marble or colored chips to make terrazzo flooring or colored aggregate flooring. For existing floors, the versatile polymer may be used as an epoxy floor coating. If you are a handyman prepared to get your hands dirty and save some money, perhaps diy epoxy floor may be in their consideration.

I used to make homemade CNC machines, but those were desktop mills and lathes which I even play with in my bedroom. It is extremely fascinating to be able to type a few lines of codes into the computer and watch the machine do exactly what you commanded. However, with desktop CNC machines, you can only fabricate tiny items. There are many I know who bought used heavy duty mills like the one you see in the photo below:

Photo of 3 axis milling machine belong to Bill Ohl

buy stepper or servo motors, fabricate their own motor controller (actually even the same one I made for my desktop 3 axis mill can be used), convert the manual 3 axis milling machine to CNC (Computer Numeric Computer) and machine all kinds of very respectable size stuff.

There is no way I can put that monster into my bedroom, not even the living, dining or kitchen. If I ever get such a monstrous machine, the only place I can put it will be in the garage. And when you are doing machining, you will be moving lots of heavy stuff around. For such purposes, applying garage floor epoxy would be a great idea.

Patio furniture for your home

I can just imagine myself relaxing in a patio furniture like the one you see in the photo at the left of this paragraph (note: photo is property of Patio Furniture.) For me, it will be almost like being in paradise, cool breeze blowing to cool you down, fresh air, gazing at nice green, and if I get wealthy enough, perhaps even gazing at my own home swimming pool. But on second thoughts, no home swimming pool for me, for I have a Zero Waste blog and I have to live up to what I publish. Green garden OK, but a hardly used swimming pool that need expensive maintenance, hateful chemicals, lots of water which can be put to better use, a definite No No. By the way, that is one of the Laguna Collection you see in that photo.

Incidentally, I had a bungalow (detached house) designed by a Harvard University trained architect who added a pergola, but I was stupid enough to take it out of his design, much to his disappointment. Otherwise, I might be enjoying myself in one of that patio furniture under the pergola in my very own bungalow (detached house). In my country, there are what they call terrace houses (houses all connected to each other in a row with a common wall and roof), semi-detached house (2 houses joined at a common wall and sharing a common roof) and bungalows (as mentioned above, a stand alone house).

Plants beautify and green your home and garden

Most people like greens, that is, trees, plants, flowers, etc. In the first place, these are the living organism that gives us the live essential - oxygen. Some even claim that looking at greens help our eyesight. Whatever it is, it makes a house cozy, beautiful, green and simply natural. One can put plants in the outdoor - in the garden. One can even bring them indoor, and a home with its interior decorated with indoor plants is a much more pleasant home to be in.

Of all the countries I visited, the one I am most impressed with is Switzerland. There are many things I liked about Switzerland, one of which is their beautiful Swiss Chalets which normally are beautifully decorated with flowers like the one in the photo below:

Photo is property of Irene

Window box planters

In my country too, we have Window Box Planters like the one you see in the photo below:

The photo above is property of Peter Chen. You are free to use the photo provided you make an an active link to Peter Chen, this post or Home, Garden and Backyard Organic Farm

Indoor plants and indoor planters

I like indoor plants in both homes and offices, like those below:

Above photo is property of Clarissa Ines

Having Indoor Planters makes a home or office become so much more natural, pleasant, and just..... (at a loss for words). I am not very sure about this, but many think that indoor plants help put more life giving oxygen into homes and offices. Whatever it is, I think homes and offices with indoor plants are refreshing. Nothing more to add other than I just like it.

Garden plants and garden planters

Having green plants in the garden is also nice. What is a garden without plants? However, one can plant plants in the ground or grow them in Garden Planters. I think growing plants in garden planters have the advantage of mobility. You can move them around. Don't like it here? Move it over there! With plants rooted into the ground, you will have to dig them out, making sure you don't damage the roots too much, and transplant them, plus you have to pray that they survive the transplanting.

House renovation, contemporary and modern bedroom furnitures

I was fortunate in having bought a house in the early 70's. Property prices have increased so much, but salaries did not keep up. If I am to purchase a house today with current starting salaries, I will be in great difficulties.

However, that does not mean I do not have problems. My current house need renovations and I faced many dilemmas and indecisions. If I do renovate the house, do I do it in a way to fit my style of living and what I like or do I renovate it according to what the majority of potential buyers may like? That will be the issue that will determine how the renovations will be done. If I design it according to what I like, it will be in contemporary style and will suit the climate of my country, not what is in fashion. However, I am no longer young. My children may decide to continue to stay in the house or may decide to sell it and purchase their own. If the decision is to sell, I will not get the price I want for the house because generally the majority of home purchasers are looking for modern stuff plus stuff which are in fashion which is usually not suited to the climate of my country.

Whatever it is, I will probably going to need new Bedroom Furniture. The reason is I have ended up with a strange combination of bedroom furnitures because all of them were bought over a long span of time and do not complement each other.

If my decision is to renovate it with the possibility of the house being eventually sold, I would probably have to purchase a new set of Modern Bedroom Furniture.

If I decide to renovate my house according to what I want, I will probably have to purchase a new set of Contemporary Bedroom Furniture

Tough decision. Maybe so tough that I may eventually end up not renovating the house at all as one of my children said in a family discussion about the house that if there is any possibility of selling the house, then might as well not renovate it at all. That is fine with me as I am quite satisfied with my home as it is even though it can do with a lot of improvements. The next question will be, will those children still living with me be able to stand the condition of our home as it is without renovations. Let use see what happens in the future.

Discount, innovative, coaster furnitures and such

Had a peep at this furniture online merchant Home furniture and something perked my interest. Having a blog with blog title Zero Waste, I would be obviously be interested in saving money and it appears that site offers Discount Furniture plus Lifestyle Solutions where I spotted "patented Cradle Converter® and patented Vise-Protection System®" and I have another blog titled Patents and innovative products. I am all for patent as I myself have 2 patents, won the MINDS-Henry Goh Environmental Innovation award plus helped my university win a silver and bronze medal from the Geneva International Invention Convention. It would be nice to have both innovative plus discount furniture in my home.

Further, I like Coaster Furniture as I can roll coaster furniture all over the house without begging Sylvester Stallone with his bulging muscles to come to home to help move the furniture. What convenience. No need to depend upon Sylvester Stallone, Hercules, reluctant helpers, etc. I can move the coaster furniture anywhere I like all by myself. Does that interest you? If not, let me know why by leaving a comment in this post.

Mailboxes, Address Plaques for your Home

We may be living in the era of Internet and emails, but while the volume of snail mail (physical mail, letters in envelopes) is still here with us, and will be with for a long time. I, I am sure, will continue to receive checks in envelopes via the conventional mail system delivered plus that unavoidable junk mail. BTW if you are fed up with junk mails, the wastage and the environmental problems it caused, hope you will sign the Online petition to abolish junk mail.

Now snail mails or conventional mails can only be delivered by slipping the mail under your door (not feasible if your garden and home is fenced up or for bulky physical mails) or into mailboxes.

on the set up of your home and garden, your preferences, perhaps your budget too, there are various types of mail boxes you can use for your home. I use what they call a column mailbox because my garden is fenced up with a pair of swing gates hinged on two columns or pillars on both sides of the gates, and the column mailbox is incorporated into one of the column or pillar. Now I don't know about your country, but in mine, road signboards are difficult to find or missing, and the great majority of the houses, if they bother at all, put only the address number on the column or pillar (some, especially shop houses, don't even have numbers). This can be frustrating especially if you can't find the road signboard and you don't know what road you are on. This is where address plaques with both number plus the road incorporated into the address plaque and screwed onto the column or pillar can be very useful for guests looking for your house, or even for those looking for other houses on the same road.

instead of going for column mailboxes, especially if you live in a country which is relatively crime free and you can afford to leave your garden and home unfenced, you can opt for curbside mailboxes. Note that the garden and home in the photo is not fenced up and the curbside mailbox is just beside the road for the convenience of the postmen to drop your important mails into the mailbox. Wish I can have that for my home, but that is a dream.