quilt3311

My personal opinion is the whole "green" thing is a hoax. I do not buy new just because its "the in" thing to do. My home is 105 years old. We remodeled it and built new cabinets (all oak) plus built in platform bed and built in wall units on both sides of the bed (ceiling to floor-has one area for hanging clothes-7 large drawers)also oak. Designed it all and built it all, stained and finished it all. Took all the woodwork off and refinished it. Its the old foot high decorative woodwork. etc, etc. House is fairly small, but its all mine and we did it with out own two hands.
Have friends with huge houses (for two people) and when I visit some, the house seems cold. Its beautiful but just doesn't have the coziness of older homes. Just my opinion here.

Lady-T

I agree! My niece just built a 6,000 (yep 6,000!!) sq ft home...
Gorgeous! Stunning!!.....but cold :-( It's like a huge hotel.....

It feels like a "model house" for tours.....just not very 'homey'.

SherryLea

I must be older than the most of you (63) We didn't have an inside toilet or running water we drew our water out of a well. I had 3 brothers and we allslept in the same room. Mom hung blankets over the door where the coal stove was to keep one room warm enough to get dressed in in the mornings. That is about a Green as I ever plan to be. I am careful not wasteful but if everyone wants to really save the planet do as others here have said get some common sense.

Lady-T

Woohoo! you tell 'em SherryLea
I'm 54 and a LOT of what you said is soooooo familiar!
I have 4 sisters and 2 brothers. At one point we all shared the same room! I remember all too well my years spent sleeping 3 to a bed!

OmaForFour

AMEN TO THAT! And when they do have kiddies running around, imagine all the fingerprints on those stainless steel appliances, especially the dishwasher and fridge!

Chasing Hawk

32 yrs old? was it this model?

GrammaO

This thread is interesting...I spent 18 years as project manager/office manager for a residential general contractor and have built a lot of homes. They ranged is size from 1000 to 10,000 square feet and I learned a lot! If you forget the term 'green' and substitute 'effecient' it seems to help in the common sense department. I realize not everyone can afford to custom build but even when buying a new home, or remodeling, there are some things you can do that cost very little up front and save huge in the long run. Some examples are:
6" exterior walls vs. 4". The extra cost for lumber and insulation is minimal but the house is much better insulated.
Dual-pane windows eliminate heat/cold transfer in summer and winter.
Install ceiling fans. Circulated air is more comfortable. Reverse them in winter to push the warm air near the ceiling down.
Older appliances can still be made to operate more efficiently by limiting the number of times you open and close the door.
One more: motion detector switch for the main bathroom> light turns on when you go in and turns itself off when you leave> no more lights on when room is not in use>
:D

jolo

my two cents worth, look at all the large homes that are repoed all the time. My old appliances will be used till they die. lol

katiebear1

All you can buy now are the low flush toilets. We had to replace 2 of ours a few years back. And it usually takes two flushes.

Barbm

growing up there were 9 of us kids, 3 bedroom, 1 bath house. I learned to shower quickly, share the bathroom with 3 sisters. I also knew that if I wanted to get to my section of the room I had to wade through their messes- I was the only neat freak. my bed was always made (2 sets of bunk beds in the room- I had top bunk- all the way to the right) and my clothes always picked up.

I now must have my bed always made and my side of the room is always clean. hubby- lets just say, his clothes wait for him.

we had to replace our freezer recently- the other was 14 yrs old. I bought energy star, but got it on sale, free removal of the old, free delivery and a $30 rebate. I was happy.