The new stimulus package includes a 30%, upto $1500 tax credit for installing Energy Star certified metal roofs by 12/311/2010.  Metal roofs last longer than asphalt roofs and are made of recycled steel.  You can also install them over your present roof. Contractors are also hungry for work, so their rates should be much more reasonable now.

Clearly this type of greening is only appropriate if you need to replace your roof.

Amazon has the new car care products and biodegradable Green Motor Oil from Green Earth Technologies. It is made from American-grown renewable animal fats.

Construction debris can make up over a quarter of a landfill. Here are some tips for reducing construction waste from our recent remodeling project.

We have covered donating unwanted items in the past.  Craigslist proved very useful in giving away old kitchen cabinets, countertops, extra wood, and many other items.  We also moved into our garage for much more organized storage.

Our contractor was instrumental in diverting old items toward for use on other projects he was working on. Many items went to a local church.

We were left with extra construction supplies such as adhesives and sealers, parts, etc. We returned as many as we could to vendors and gave the extras back to our contractor for future projects.  No sense in adding stuff that would never be used to our storage space.

cnet tv has a nice video with tips for recycling electronics.  The big problem area is finding a responsible recycler that will not dump items in 3rd world countries.

photo credit: Craig Rodway

Many municipalities including ours, require a certain amount of recycling when doing remodelling.  We had to select from a short list of approved vendors when choosing a debris box.  I researched the area and found that there are now many more firms with environmentally responsible waste removal in the San Francisco Bay Area.

EcoHaul is a firm that focuses on socially and environmentally responsible waste removal and disposal solutions.

Blue Sky Hauling also tries to divert as much as possible from the landfill.

iReuse focuses more on businesses.