Active Eco-Friendly Posts « Eco-Friendly

How To: Make a wind turbine using a ceiling fan

Scott Brown teaches us how to make a wind turbine using a ceiling fan in this video. First, place steel banding around the middle of the ceiling fan base. Now, cross all the combinations of the wires and keep them close together so you don't confuse them. Hook these up to DC terminals so you get around 50 volts on both of them. Hook them parallel so you keep the voltage down to around 50 volts together. Then place the wires into a connector that has a pipe connected to the bottom. This will c...

How To: Make a Milk Jug Green House

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make a mini greenhouse milk jug. Begin by cutting the milk jug in half. Make sure to leave one side uncut, leaving the top of the jug on. Then pour some potting soil into the milk jug and plant some seeds into the soil. Make sure to plant the seeds deep into the soil and then pour some water onto the soil. Now tape down the top of the milk jug. This video will benefit those viewers who enjoy planting and gardening, and would like to learn how to ma...

How To: Save the Bee Population from Colony Collapse Disorder

The bee population is in trouble. Colony Collapse Disorder is a mysterious malady that is decimating bee colonies all the country and could kill them completely, which would leave all of the plants and honey-loving people of the world in serious trouble. This video will give you some tips for encouraging the bee population, which is really one of the most green things you can do in this, the bees' time of need.

How To: Make a Window Garden to Grow Food in a Small Space

Growing whatever food that you can yourself is tremendously good for the environment because industrial food production has all sorts of ecological problems. If you live in an apartment, it might seem impossible to grow your own food. Think again! This video will show you how to make a window garden in your apartment and use it to grow herbs and other small crops, decreasing your carbon footprint and making your meals more green.

How To: Make Green Modifications to Your Toilet to Save Water

Toilets are one of the greatest boons to public health of all time, but they do use a ton of water when they flush. If the old adage "If it's yellow, stay mellow. If it's brown, flush it down," disgusts you, but you still want to find a more green way to flush, then watch this video. I will show you how to modify your toilet at home, making it use less water without sacrificing flushing efficiency. Don't waste money on a low-flow toilet or destroy the planet. Watch this video.

How To: Kill Cockroaches in a Green Way

Cockroaches are one of the most durable and and irritating forms of life on Earth. Many turn to toxic chemicals to get rid of them, but that's not very green is it? This video will give you some eco-friendly tips for preventing infestations, trapping insects, and disposing of them once you've caught them. Yes, cockroaches are part of nature. No, that doesn't mean we're not going to kill them.

How To: Take a Green Shower and Save Water

Bathing is one of the most enjoyable and least environmentally responsible part of many people's days. Fortunately, showers use less water than baths, so we're better off than we used to be. This video will show you how to green your shower even further, reducing your water usage as well as your water and heating bills, and increasing the longevity of our water supplies and planet.

How To: Install a solar powered wireless security camera

Video tutorial showing how to make your own solar-powered wireless security camera using an off-the-shelf solar panel and any wireless webcam. See creator site for more detailed graphics.

How To: Separate Your Recycling

Recycling your garbage is noble and, in many places, mandatory. But it also can be very confusing. This guide will clear up the rules.

How To: Remove Super Glue

If you've ever gotten super glue stuck to your fingers, you know what a pain it can be to get it off again! Don't worry - there's a simple household item you probably already stock that can take care of your super glue super mess!

How To: Take a BIC lighter apart for recycling

For on-the-go lighting of birthday candles (those surprise birthday parties really get you), homemade explosives (because making stuff explode is fun), and cigarettes, a cheapo BIC lighter is a totally awesome fix. But most BIC lighters run out pretty quickly and get tossed without second thought.

How To: Make an All-Natural Insect Repellent with Cacao Leaves

Science investigatory projects suck, or at least seem to at first. But you shouldn't let school drag you down. Instead, use your homework assignment as an opportunity to solve a problem you've always been interested in. And it doesn't hurt if the end result is eco-friendly, either.

How To: Make a solar food dehydrator

Rick van Man of Container Gardening For Food details his techniques for making a solar-powered food dehydrator out of such household debris as scrap wood and old pint cans. The finished product looks amazingly professional! Truly a must-watch for any DIY-inclined gardening enthusiast.

How To: Reduce Phantom Loads to Lower Your Electric Bill

Phantom loads are what happens when you leave electronic devices plugged in when they are not in use. Even if you do not have your electronics turned on, they are still putting out an electric charge. These phantom loads can be prevented with a few simple changes.

How To: Make an energy saving water wall from water bottles

Watch this video to learn how to create a beautiful and practical water wall (or water bottle wall) for energy savings at home. it helps to cut down the amount of sunlight that enters your home. You can make a frame that will fit into your window.

How To: Fold a plastic shopping bag in on itself for easy storage

Many Americans save all of the plastic bags that they take home from stores. They get used sometimes, but mostly they just accumulate in some corner of the kitchen until there are so many that you are FORCED to throw some away. If you have this problem, watch this video to learn how to fold plastic shopping bags in on themselves into a tiny package that takes up less room and is easier to grab than a balled-up bag.

How To: Make your own cucumber and papaya soap

Papaya soap can be great for reducing the appearance of scars, but it can sometimes be difficult to find. This tutorial shows you how to make your own papaya cucumber soap at home. All you need is a juicer or blender and some glycerin melt and pour soap.

How To: Control your ant problem in safe way

Are you suffering from an ant problem? Do you spray them with the nearest product or drown them in water? You'll think you've gotten rid of the problem, but there back again and again. In this video, you'll learn how to get rid of them once and for all the safe way.

How To: Use green techniques to get rid of ants

If you don't want to use toxic or environmentally unfriendly ant poisons and bug sprays to control your ant problem, you can make a greener bug repellent using household items and natural ingredients. Salt, chalk, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, white vinegar, oranges and petroleum jelly can all be used to keep ants out of your house, yard, garden or picnic.

How To: Make a bicycle wheel windmill

In this video, you'll learn how to make your very own bicycle wheel windmill. This completely recyclable creation which can easily be made from that old bike that's just been rusty away. Put it to good use and make this great eco-friendly windmill. Step by step you'll learn exactly what to do to make this windmill spin.

How To: Build your own windmill with household materials

In this Home & Garden video tutorial you will learn how to build your own windmill with household materials. Materials needed for the windmill are a template, scissors, straw, some yarn, some pennies, a paper cup, rubber bands, pencil, single hole punch, a skewer and thumb tacks. Take the template, cut it out along the solid lines and punch holes on the corners as shown in the video. Now with a thumbtack and a pencil make a nice hole at the center of the template. Fold the template along the ...

How To: Eradicate Unwanted Junk Mail from the Post Office Forever (Or… Repurpose It!)

Unwanted advertising is everywhere. Annoying pop-up ads, overly loud late night commercials, spam...it never ends. And before spam, there was junk mail. Junk mail is even worse because unlike TV commercials and internet ads, it's physical. You can't just delete or ignore it—and it's an awful waste of paper. So what can you do about it?

How To: Saving energy with solar power

Use solar energy, wind energy, and recycled water to saved energy in your home. Learn about saving energy in your home with natural or solar power in this free video.

How To: Turn newspaper into starter pots for seedlings

Green gardening is using things you find around the house for your planting. Recycle your old newspaper to create small seed pots that will biodegrade in the surrounding soil after you transplant them. This is an easy technique for starting your plants from seeds.

How To: Recycle a milk carton into a tabletop lantern

In this video tutorial, viewers will learn how to make a milk carton lantern. This lantern uses recycled items. The materials required for this lamp are: a milk carton, unryu paper, colored newspaper, raffia, ruler, glue gun, hole puncher, X-acto knife, glue stick and scissors. Flatten the milk carton. Draw a rectangle with each panel and measure about 1/2" form each of the sides. Measure about 3/4" from bottom and top. Cut out the rectangles with the X-acto knife. Glue the newspaper to the c...

How To: Construct a solar panel from solar cells in a series

If you want to save money on your electric bill, try building some of these solar panels using solar cells wired in a series. You can save money by using extra glass you or a friend may already own if it isn't being used. Soon you can harness the power of the sun by creating your own solar electricity.

How To: Build a tin can Stirling engine

The Stirling engine is a relatively old type of external combustion engine that has never really found a niche despite its unique advantages over conventional internal combustion engines. This video for the DIY-inclined will show you how to make your very own small Stirling engine out out of a tin can and some other basic materials. It may not power your house, but you will be able to amaze and educate your friends with this awesome little device.

How To: Make a DIY paper tray from compact discs for your home office

Your home office is missing something… hmm… maybe something to hold your recycled printer paper, and what better to hold your recycle paper than a recycled paper tray? Nextraker shows you a neat hack involving a few dust-collecting compact discs that will make a eco-friendly paper tray to organize your desk. It's a amazing what you can do with a few old CDs.

How To: Save money & water with your toilet flush

This video tutorial is in the Home & Garden category which will show you how to save money & water with your toilet flush. The first step is to turn the water off. Then remove the lid of the tank, disconnect the bowl refill supply and make sure that the overflow pipe is open. The next step is to take the new sink, attach it to the water supply point, place the drain in the overflow pipe and position the sink over the flush tank. The modification is done. Now turn on the water supply and your ...

How To: Build a cardboard chair

We recycle cardboard, but Gomi Style is going to re-use the cardboard and create chairs with the fine found material. The gang at Gomi style made a two different types of chairs from tossed out cardboard, simple and easy

How To: Fuse plastic bags into a laptop case

Recycle plastic bags! Watch this video to learn from Threadbanger how you can turn those wasteful and polluting plastic bags into something useful. Upcycle them into a laptop case. It's convenient and something you'll always have a need for. So why not? Watch this video and you can see how to turn this toxic product into something beautiful and utilitarian.

How To: Make Cheap Solar Panels from Solar Cells (DIY Energy Savings)

Sputnik, Apollo and the Space Race. If you watched the State of the Union address last night, you probably heard President Barack Obama mention those three things.

How To: Build a home-made wind generator using basic tools

Suffering from high energy costs or simply looking to live in a more environmentally sustainable fashion? In this video tutorial, you'll find instructions for building your own wind generator using simple hand tools. For more, as well as step-by-step instructions to building a your own rotary wind generator, take a look at this how-to video.

How To: Easily install reflective window film

If you have a set of windows in your home that are always facing the sun, then that can be a problem. Not only can it damage any furniture that may be in the way, but it can raise the tempature in your room causing you to use more energy to cool it down.

How To: Make the Best Kitchen Multi-purpose Cleaner

Think you have a stain on your stove or countertop that just won't come off? Think again! This simple trick will have your kitchen surfaces gleaming in no time!

How To: Make Safe Homemade Glass Cleaner

Supplies 2 parts water

How To: Make your own aquatic tabletop biosphere in a mason jar

Feeling inspired by the incredible Biosphere 2 project? Make your own aquatic biosphere and witness the incredible phenomenon of a self-contained marine ecosystem right on your desk. This is a simple project that won't take more than an afternoon to put together, but could last for years.