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Becoming a ‘greener’ nation has evolved from an idea to a trend to an almost inescapable aspect of daily living in America — and much of it starts right at home. Whether to fatten your wallet or save the environment, there are a number of initiatives you can implement almost immediately and some without any initial investment, allowing you to feel the savings right away.

On Aug. 4, the Village of Orland Park introduced a community-wide green initiative called Smart Living Orland Park, encouraging residents to be green, while also providing them the resources and tools to do so.At the low-cost end of things, swapping traditional bulbs for CFLs reduces costs on two levels.

Word travels quickly in the small fishing village of Port Washington, Wisconsin. So when Mardy McGarry wanted to build a playground for kids with special needs, she knew it wouldn’t take long to generate interest in the project. But she never expected that 2,800 people—a third of the town—would roll up their sleeves and use their vacation days to bring her vision to life.

“A lot of learning comes through play,” says McGarry, 52, a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She’d seen the wood chips and sand of traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks.

McGarry started researching play equipment and contacting design firms. When a chunk of land became available, the city council agreed to designate a portion for a playground if she would build it. McGarry asked classrooms of kids for their wish list. “They all said pirate ships,” she says. She also asked physical, occupational, and speech therapists for their input. And she brought on board her friend Sue Mayer, whose eight-year-old son, Sam, has Down syndrome. “Neither of us is good at math, which is why $450,000 didn’t sound like a lot of money,” McGarry says of the initial estimate.

As we travel around Mexico in our little motorhome I have been reflecting on the diversity of architectural styles that are evident. There is much history upon which modern Mexico is laid, from the rich legacy of colonial churches to the traditions of the indigenous inhabitants that has persisted. The Mexican culture is a blend of these influences and is expressed through some obvious patterns of architectural expression.

The earliest influences are the indigenous, and these have both hard and soft forms. The enduring buildings from the very old days tend to be the spiritual and political centers that have been excavated, such as the pyramids at Teotihuacán, Palenque, and El Tajin. These massive projects were clearly undertaken with unified vigor and intended to remain for posterity. They were crafted from carefully shaped stones placed with symmetrical perfection. Most of these archeological sites reveal some degree of evolution or remodeling that had taken place over time, and often the older periods of work show more refined craftsmanship.

The net cost of owning a green home can be comparable to that of owning a conventional home – sometimes even less.
On average, green homes can add 2.42% additional upfront costs as compared to conventional homes, according to the Costs and Benefits of Green Affordable Housing Study 2005, New Ecology and the Tellus Institute. Many green homes are built with no additional upfront costs. A 2008 study conducted by McGraw-Hill Construction and the Green Building Council found that the mean price of green homes purchased by survey respondents was $296,000; the median was $239,000.
If there are any increased upfront costs, those costs will typically be quickly recouped, and homeowners will be saving money for the rest of the home’s lifespan.