Recent Kristin Arrigo Columns

Toilet conversions, helpful tips can conserve water

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Bathrooms make up a major part of your home’s water bill. When it comes to water conservation, there are the new inventions and then there …

Companies offer eco-friendly whiteboard

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Spring is a great season renovate one room at a time. Painting the walls is another way to give an uplifting look to a room. …

Too many holes in screen manufacturers’ offers

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Ew, a bug! How’d that get in here? Perhaps, there’s a hole in your window screen. Window screens are an important part of letting the …

Consider yourself lucky to have clover part of lawn

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The lawn after winter is like a zombie waiting to come back to it’s normal life form: It’s patchy and discolored, and you know if …

Do spring cleaning in range of eco-friendly colors

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Spring cleaning can be done in eco-friendly fashion at any comfort level from light green to dark green. Light green is a term used to …

Where there’s wintry drafts, there’s Chimney Balloon

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The aggravation of finding indoor air leaks makes you feel like you’re plugging up holes in an old boat. As soon as you stuff one …

Water sensors sensible where harsh winters threaten

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, February 14, 2012

You don’t have to be the Wicked Witch from “The Wizard of Oz” to know that water can destroy things. If you’ve ever dropped your …

Eco-friendly mudroom great do-it-yourself project

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Remember when the phone would ring and you could hear it ring while you were outside shoveling, and you would run inside to answer it, …

Plenty of solar options for staying warm in winter

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, January 10, 2012

After the dawning of the New Year, doing nothing sometimes sounds like the best idea. It’s cold, and the enthusiasm of bringing in the new …

Resolved: For 2012, adopting an eco-friendly mindset

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The most popular new year’s resolutions are quitting smoking and losing weight. But quitting anything or losing weight is really hard to do. Picking something …

Looking for the friend who has everything ... but a Nest

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, December 13, 2011

What makes the best Christmas gift? An iPad, an iPhone, an Xbox? Because they are so costly, Christmas is the most popular time for receiving …

Grease from holiday cooking shouldn’t go down drain

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Thanksgiving is just the beginning of food-related celebrations, parties and feasts, including a series of cooking for gifts, and hospitality. There, lingering afterward – like …

Rooftop cell towers may pay poor dividends for all

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, November 8, 2011

If you’ve thought of ways to make an extra dollar from home, then perhaps you’ve thought about solar energy and selling the excess electricity back …

Straw bale houses have great soundproofing, insulation

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sometimes I watch “Ghost Hunters,” a reality show that suggest that old houses don’t just make creaky noises because they are old, but because they …

Interest heats up in 2 eco-friendly insulation products

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Anything new normally has an invisible trial period. You trust it, that is, you believe it is what it says it is, but you are …

2 ideas for storing, keeping food cool and saving energy

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, September 27, 2011

How many trips to the fridge can you take in one day? Maybe not so much if your refrigerator was outdoors. Keeping extra refrigerator storage …

Firm’s plan to build solar panels on moon not so looney

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Shimizu isn’t a new breed of lap dog; it’s a corporation that has designs for lunar power to deliver a cleaner energy resource for …

Many uses for corn besides being a part of your dinner

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I wonder how many corn stands you could count on your ride home during the month of August? The power of suggestion will have you …

Solar collectors can heat your pool for extra months of swimming

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Want to get in an extra couple of months of swimming? A solar thermal collector is a device used for heating the swimming pool with …

Wood composite makes eco-friendly patio cover

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, August 9, 2011

If your goal is to do nothing this summer, it’s nice when you can do it outside. A patio cover is a way to sit …

Living, breathing buildings able to heal themselves

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, July 26, 2011

It’s getting easier to have a home that is completely living and breathing from the foundation up thanks to bacteria. Extremophile bacteria is being added …

Ways to have fun on water without mess of gasoline

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Fun people have boats. Willy Wonka had a boat. When people talk about their weekend, all they have to say is “took the boat out,” …

BPAs from containers giving pause on what to drink

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Are you feeling a little too full for last year’s bikini? The answer could be in the water, rather, the plastic bottled water, laden with …

Recycled pavers good 1st step to summer comfort zone

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Things are transitioning from spring to summer. Project or punishment, the need to create a comfortable space outdoors is a summertime thing. Patios are popular …

Seasons greetings from ground covers, ‘no-mow’ grass

Kristin Arrigo | Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Things I want to do this summer include going to the beach and getting a tan. Things I don’t want to do this summer include …