Show Notes: Design With Impact – On the House
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Show Notes: Design With Impact

By on June 22, 2019
design with impact

Design your home with impact!

Everything makes a difference.

Your doorbell? It has an impact.

Your air quality? It has an impact.

How you recycle and store garbage? Big impact!

The pots and plants you keep?

Major design impact!

So read on, MacDuff, and learn more about how you can design with impact for your home!

Easy Home Updates for Instant Impact  

We all want our homes to “show” better, whether we’re selling a house, moving into new homes or apartments for rent, or staying in place for years. Learn more about how these updates can impact your design by reading more about them at Family Handyman.

  • Upgrade light fixtures
  • Replace a doorbell button
  • Trim trees that block views or light
  • Restore grout
  • Replace outlets and switches
  • Replace cabinet hardware
  • Adjust cabinet doors
  • Fix doors

 

Breathe Happy: How to Improve the Air Quality in your Home  

Your home’s indoor air quality could be lacking, and there’s no shortage of reasons why. If you’re wondering how to improve the air quality in your home, here are some tips to help you breathe happy. 

Reduce Sources of Pollution 

Unless you live somewhere remote, chances are you’re exposed to a bit of pollution every day. Improving indoor air quality isn’t much different than improving outdoor air. It all begins with reducing your home’s carbon footprint. 

What are some sources of indoor pollution that could be hindering your home’s air quality? Gas stoves, laundry machines, and dishwashers are a few examples. They add nitrogen and release pollutants by burning electricity and fossil fuels. 

These appliances certainly make chores more convenient and easy to do. But you can reduce how often you use them. 

  • Instead of running the dishwasher, for example, you can hand wash your dishes.
  • You can use a gentle and eco-friendly dish soap that won’t harm your home’s water system.
  • You can also adjust your gas stove or replace it with an electric stove. 

Does your home have exposed asbestos or insulation? If your home isn’t ventilated, you could be breathing in fibers and harming your health in the process. 

The floors in your home could also be releasing fibers into the air. Vinyl floors, for instance, are some of the most toxic. Considering installing eco-friendly floors made of bamboo or ceramic wood. 

Replace Your HVAC System 

If you’re wondering how to improve the air quality in your home, check your HVAC system. A system that isn’t ventilating properly can cause dust and pollution to build up.  

Do your energy bills seem higher than usual? It may be time to repair or upgrade your HVAC system. 

Luckily, newer systems are not only more energy efficient. They’re designed to support and maintain healthy air quality in homes. 

Keep a Clean House 

Improving indoor air quality starts with a clean house. Carpeting can easily collect allergens and pollutants if you don’t vacuum. Even if you don’t have carpeting, you should aim to sweep your floors regularly. 

Use gentle cleaning supplies to reduce the number of chemicals released into the air. Don’t use cleaning supplies that contain fragrances, aerosol, or artificial ingredients. 

Adding plants will not only brighten up your home. Plants will also naturally purify the air in your home.  

Understanding How to Improve the Air Quality in Your Home 

No one wants the stench and feel of bad air to greet them when they walk through the door. If you gasp every time you enter your home, it’s time to say goodbye to bad indoor air quality – and hello to a cleaner and fresher home. 

 

Summer Recycling Tips  

 There are so many confusing recycling rules! These tips will help you figure them out. 

Know what to toss in the bin… 

The best practice is to keep it simple and focus on basic items:

  • You can probably place plastic soda bottles and aluminum cans into your recycling bin, no matter where you live. Glass bottles, paper and cardboard are also fairly safe bets, though many communities require them to be separated from other recyclables.  
  • Plastics can be really tricky. Items that have the “recycling symbol” stamped on them ― the triangle with the number in the middle ― aren’t necessarily recyclable. “The number on the container is really for people to identify the type of resin it is. That’s not helpful for the common consumer,” Marshall told HuffPost. 
  • Keller agrees, noting that his company tries to use words that people actually use when talking about recyclable plastics: water bottles, milk jugs, detergent bottles, butter tubs. Rigid plastics like those tend to be recyclable. 

… and what not to. 

It’s just as important to understand what doesn’t belong in your curbside collection bin. 

  • Most municipalities post their recycling rules online. You can look yours up by going to the website BeRecycled.org, which lets you enter your ZIP code and returns a list of local websites with official information. It’s very handy.  
  • Marshall said that big recycling companies all over the country struggle with the same problem items: hoses and cords, plastic bags, propane tanks, needles and clothing. These things shouldn’t be mixed in with your household recycling.  
  • Flexible, stretchy or crinkly plastics should not be put in the curbside bin either. They’re a smaller part of the problem, but the guidelines around these items tend to be confusing.  

Do a quick cleaning, but you don’t have to go crazy. 

Try to empty or scrape as much food out of containers as possible. You can even rinse them out. But you don’t have to wash them thoroughly, especially if you live in a drought-prone area. Just make sure they’re relatively clean when you throw them into the bin. This is particularly important if you live in an area where your paper, plastics and cans all go in the same bin ― food residue or water can ruin perfectly good paper.  

Don’t bag it. 

Unless you live in a place that requires you to secure your recyclables in plastic bags, keep them loose in the curbside bin. New York City residents, for example, are supposed to place their recycling in plastic bags. But many municipalities don’t allow this.  

“A lot of the time, it’s not safe for our employees to rip those bags open, or it takes too much time,” said Keller. “A lot of bagged stuff goes right to the landfill.”  

When in doubt, throw it out. 

“Not everything is made to be recycled,” said Marshall, noting that bad recycling practices also drive up the cost of recycling services.

If you’re not sure whether something can be recycled, don’t place it in your curbside bin. Yes, it might end up in a landfill. But that’s where it’d go if you tried to recycle it anyway.  

For things you’re unsure about, like batteries, lightbulbs and propane tanks, there might be a local program near you that will help you dispose of them. (Ask Google or BeRecycled.org.) Plastic bags can be returned to grocery stores in many cases.  

If there are no local programs, then they go in your trash can.   

 

Compose Interesting, Beautiful Outdoor Planters  

We have some ideas that will inspire you to be confident and ready to start creating singular containers that work well with your patio, deck, backyard, or wherever you want a touch of nature. 

 Design your patio or porch garden or flower beds for BIG impact using the design tips below! Learn more about them by visiting Martha Stewart’s article. 

  • Choose plants by their shapes.
  • Customize color.
  • Think about foliage.
  • Consider spacing.
  • Pay attention to proportion.
  • Pick out planters.

 

Mentioned Links

~ Thank you~ 

A very special thank you to all of our callers! We live to answer your questions, so keep them coming! 

Thank you to our Technical Support: 

  • Danny Bringer – Chief Engineer 
  • Carol Carey – Executive Producer 
  • Sam Reed – Associate Producer 

Thank you for tuning in to learn about designing with impact! And check in next week for more cool tips! 

“Design With Impact” Show Notes for On The House with the Carey Brothers aired June 22, 2019. 

Missed our live show? Don’t worry! Because we have a podcast of the show. It’s the same thing we aired on the radio, but ready for you whenever and wherever you are! Check it out here. 

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