Ok everyone wants to go green. What does that mean? What is Sustainable Living? What if Off Grid? Going green is doing 1 or more things that benefit the environment that you didn't do before. You don't have to go live in a tent, recycle everything and never bath to help our environment. There are many things you can do. Just changing your light bulbs to compact fluorescents and turning your thermostat down 1 degree in the winter and up 1 degree in the summer can save all kinds of energy. Go to http://www.greenflagstaffrealestate.com for more green living tips.

Off the grid means living where utilities aren't available. These areas are usually rural and the cost is way to high to bring utilities in. There are several areas around Northern Arizona Including Alpine Ranches, Howard Mesa, Behind Mountainaire, Elk Park Meadows, Lake Mary Meadows, Hart Prairie & many others. So what do you do? Some areas have shallow enough water for a well, otherwise you haul water or collect if off your roof. For power, use solar & wind (Flagstaff start with solar, we have more sun than wind contrary to popular belief) with battery storage and a back-up generator. Heat can be mainly from passive solar with a thermal mass to store the heat. Other supplements or if you just can't do passive solar (too many trees or live in an area with lots of cloudy days) you can heat with woodstoves, electric forced air or in-floor(may need extra PV solar panels) or have propane delivered and have forced air or in-floor heat (more energy efficient than electric). Swap coolers and AC can even be incorporated if done right. So is off grid living green? If you are collecting energy from the sun, collecting your own water & using passive solar, then you are cutting way down on energy consumption and thus being green. Well what about all that gas used in the car because you live so far out. This is a valid concern but has many variables. Is it off setting all the good? If you drive a Hummer with 3 miles to the gallon then maybe. Going green doesn't need to be an absolute life change. Everything you do helps.

What is sustainable living? Sustainable takes green living even further using biodegradable building products, local building products, no harsh glues, non-voc paints, non-toxic paints, natural flooring, passive solar, alternative building styles, etc... Generally speaking it's goes further than just being green. Straw-bale homes & Earthships are a couple of the popular alternative building styles. Learn more at: http://www.greenflagstaffrealestate.com.

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