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The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home

We are what we eat, but we also are what we use to clean our homes, pamper our skin, and decorate our rooms, according to Renée Loux, accomplished raw food chef, award-winning author, and host of Fine Living TV's Easy Being Green. In her new book, Easy Green Living, she applies her whole-foods philosophy to home, garden, and beauty routines.

Renée Loux demonstrates that being green at home is easy, affordable, and better in every sense of the word. She discusses the daily choices we face that can keep the home, personal care, and beauty routines free of toxins. She exposes the dirt on cleaning products and common hazardous ingredients and reveals her recommendations for greener options, including her "Green Thumb Guides" for choosing non-toxic, eco-smart, and human-friendly products. Peppered with compelling and inspiring facts, Easy Green Living is full of "5 Step" lists, products and recipes for green cleaning, helpful charts, safer choices for every room, and inspirational advice so we can save the planet--one cleaning spritz at a time.

As recent special issues of Vanity Fair, Time, Newsweek, and other major publications have demonstrated, going green is an idea whose time has come. Whether addressing big-picture topics like renewable energy, or offering simple suggestions for everyday living, this complete lifestyle guide shows that healthier choices don't mean a radical or complicated life change--it is, after all, easy to be green.

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Everyone can make green home decisions on a budget with this inspiring, information-packed guide. Whether you are building, remodeling, buying, or just curious, here are real-world strategies for getting the greenest results from your budget, with hundreds of ideas for a home that is built to last, comfortable and healthy, money- and time-saving in the long term, and kind to the planet.

What shade of green is right for you, your resources, schedule, and setting, and how can you achieve it? What questions should you ask? What approaches and resources are best for the Northwest? From your home's exterior to its operating systems within, from siting to interior design, this is the basic training that has given many the confidence to proceed.

Award-winning sustainable design and building consultant and teacher Kathleen O'Brien and architectural designer and sustainability consultant Kathleen Smith offer their "top picks" for each phase. Their perspective is both down-to-earth and cutting edge. They've also each faced their own green home challenges in a single family house and a duplex, and other case studies show affordable energy-efficient green homes both old and new.

Brimming with ideas, clear and logical, with tips, checklists, and resources for green home planning, construction, remodeling, and maintenance, extensively illustrated with photos and diagrams, this is the essential green home manual for novice and professional alike.

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Orders for Masonry will ship by May 31, 2012.

Masonry provides clear, accessible instructions that readers can use to do popular masonry projects the right way themselves. This book shows how to design, build and repair masonry like an expert, with the latest techniques and materials, step-by-step directions, safety advice, and hundreds of color illustrations. It is a must for anyone who wants to learn how to work successfully with concrete, brick, block, tile, or stone. Readers will learn the methods that professional masons use to construct walls, sidewalks, patios, barbeques and more. Basic techniques are described for working with mortar, making repairs to brick, mending concrete, attaching fastening, and removing stains. A section on building with concrete discusses what can go wrong and why, with sage advice on preparing for the project, forms, pouring and finishing, footings, and making adobe. This well-illustrated book reveals the secrets of working with rugged materials, with advice on selecting bricks, salvaging stone, breaking up masonry, and erecting scaffolding. Readers will discover the best way to pave a path, build a wall, or veneer a concrete slab with tile. Building instructions are included for concrete block, natural stone, decorative brick, serpentine walls, and brick and stone arches. Thorough coverage of masonry repairs and maintenance is also included, plus useful tips and special tricks of the trade.

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What's the difference between a weanling and a yearling, or a farrow and a barrow? Country and city mice alike will delight in Julia Rothman's charming illustrated guide to the curious parts and pieces of rural living. Dissecting everything from tractors and pigs to fences, hay bales, crop rotation patterns, and farm tools, Rothman gives a richly entertaining tour of the quirky details of country life. From the shapes of squash varieties to the parts of a goat; from how a barn is constructed to what makes up a beehive, every corner of the barnyard is uncovered and celebrated. A perfect gift for gardeners, locavores, homesteaders, and country-living enthusiasts alike.

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28 projects seamlessly merge stitching, sustainability, and resourcefulness with simple, clean design

Advancements in technology have increased the pace of our lives. As a response, a vibrant Do It Yourself movement has risen to reclaim age old traditions that reconnect us to slower and simpler times. A sewing renaissance has been set in motion at a time in history when economic instability and an awareness of the importance of using sustainable resources is peaking.

With this in mind, award-winning blogger Maya Donenfeld offers a guide to working with her favorite recycled materials. You’ll find linen, burlap, wool and more with details on their history, deconstruction techniques, sewing tips, and information about their environmental impact.

Reinventing everyday materials into extraordinary items of beauty and utility for the modern home and family will excite new and experienced sewers alike. To add an element of personalization, Maya draws on her experience leading print workshops to share easy methods for transforming gently-used fabric with paint and ink. Stenciling templates and thorough instructions are provided, as well as encouragement to invent your own designs. Stories, a favorite recipe, and nature activity are tucked between and around the projects to offer the reader an invitation to slow down, and create with intention.

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Bird-Friendly Nest Boxes and Feeders features 12 simple and classic designs for building traditional birdhouses and feeders, plus valuable insights on creating the perfect backyard bird environment. More than just a set of plans, it covers how to attract the right kinds of birds and ensure that they will keep coming back.

This book includes complete plans for making basic, practical bird-welcoming structures, accompanied by patterns, illustrations and full color photographs. Each project is perfect for individuals striving to create the most natural bird environment possible. Woodworkers from beginner to expert will find projects appropriate for their skill level.

This book provides pages of valuable information for keeping feathered visitors happy. From understanding the proper dimensions for a birdhouse, to choosing the right seed for attracting desired species, to learning how to keep squirrels away, the tips and tricks found here will help guide bird lovers to create a backyard oasis. Readers will get valuable instructions on mounting techniques, types of paint to use, and cleaning tips, plus environmental insights and interesting avian trivia. This book stands out from ordinary birdhouse titles with technical detail on subjects like cavity size, proper hole size, and the ideal distance from hole to cavity floor.

The twelve plans in this book ordinarily sell for $12.99 each online, a $130 value. Each birdhouse project has been shop-tested by the author's customers, and has proven habitable by the many birds around his Minnesota home.

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PlyDesign presents 73 ideas for sleek, smart home furnishings that you can make from off-the-shelf sheet materials using only basic hand and power tools. With designs contributed by more than 50 creative builders across North America, the projects include tables, stools, workstations, benches, laptop stands, shelves, art panels, organizers, headboards, doghouses, dollhouses, and more. A photo of each finished project is accompanied by a list of needed tools and materials, cutting and assembly diagrams, and clear step-by-step instructions.

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Do you have questions about woodworking? Spike Carlsen has the answers! Woodworking FAQ has everything you want to know, whether you're a beginner planning your first project or an experienced crafter putting in cabinets or making furniture. This book is like a master carpenter standing at your elbow to answer questions as they arise, including: How do I make base molding fit tightly on the inside corners? How do I prevent splintering on the end of a board when I rout it? How do I taper cut a table leg? Is there any way to take the wobble out of a chair without taking the whole thing apart? With its comprehensive information, friendly question-and-answer format, and convenient lay-flat binding, Woodworking FAQ will be the most important tool in your workshop.

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In The Homeowner's Handbook to Energy Efficiency, John Krigger and Chris Dorsi help readers set realistic personal goals for reducing energy consumption. Their methods for making homes more energy efficient will also improve comfort, safety, durability and resale value. They guide homeowners through the process of assessing current energy usage, as well as predicting the benefits and estimating the costs of remodeling options. With projects ranging from simple fixes to large-scale renovations, this book offers solutions for the energy-conscious homeowner, regardless of budget, technical ability or time.

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In today's world, when making home improvements, there is more to consider than simply changing the way your home looks or functions. Environmental issues should be part of every decision you make, from selecting fabric for soft furnishings to designing and siting a home extension. Eco House Book provides all the information you need to reduce your home's carbon footprint and directly improve your quality of life.

Most homes are not decorated, designed, constructed or serviced with eco-friendliness in mind. But you don't have to start again from scratch to make a huge difference in the impact your home has on the environment. We can do a great deal to convert our existing homes into greener, healthier places to live. Eco House Book explains how relatively small changes can be made (e.g., simple energy efficiency improvements, water saving tips) as well as more dramatic overhauls (such as redesigning room use, converting basements and extending your home).

Reducing the vast amounts of energy and water that homes consume on a daily basis receives special attention. You'll find advice on low-energy lighting strategies and decorative choices, improving insulation, the latest green heating systems, alternative ways of generating power, and electricity-reducing appliances.