How many environmentalists does it take to tell you to screw in a CFL bulb? Too many. In fact, if one more person evangelizes about saving the planet with an energy efficient light bulb, we might just ralph up something green.

Don’t get us wrong; we’re all for energy efficient bulbs — that’s why we made the switch eons ago. But now that we all have our eco-bulbs screwed in right (and if you don’t, please get with the program), what’s next on the home front? Below are a few local resources to help decrease resource use, improve air quality and lessen our big footprint on this small earth.

• Conventional home cleaners are loaded with toxic chemicals — bad for the environment, your family, and especially harmful to the health of professional housekeepers. If you’re lucky enough to hire help, provide your cleaning person with safe cleaning products from your local natural foods store or choose an earth friendly cleaning service like MaidGreen (madegreensf.com). For more tips on how to clean green, head over to lime.com/green_home.

• Cozy up to organic bedding and know that it’s not only better for our soil, water, and air, but a way better alternative for the health of the cotton farmers. Check out Earthsake (earthsake.com) in Berkeley for an array of bedding choices or A Happy Planet (ahappyplanet.com) in San Francisco, which carries green home accessories, textiles, furniture and bedding.

• If your floors are getting funky but you’re loathe to shower them in unpronounceable toxins, give SF’s Healthy Choice Carpet Cleaners a call. They’ll get your carpets, rugs, stone, tile and grout sparkling clean without the chemical stank (naturallysafecleaning.com).

• Craigslist (craigslist.org) is the ultimate source for furnishing a home on a budget and buying used is the best way to save resources. Make it easy on yourself by setting up an automated search-based RSS feed using bloglines (bloglines.com) or Google Reader to avoid having sort through all of the posts.

—Summer Bowen

How many environmentalists does it take to tell you to screw in a CFL bulb? Too many. In fact, if one more person evangelizes about saving the planet with an energy efficient light bulb, we might just ralph up something green.

Don’t get us wrong; we’re all for energy efficient bulbs — that’s why we made the switch eons ago. But now that we all have our eco-bulbs screwed in right (and if you don’t, please get with the program), what’s next on the home front? Below are a few local resources to help decrease resource use, improve air quality and lessen our big footprint on this small earth.

• Before buying brand new building materials, swing by a few of Seattle’s many sources for used and inexpensive alternatives. Seattle Habitat Outlet (seattlehabitatoutlet.org) is a Salvation Army of sorts for building materials that provides low cost new and used materials, with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity. Also try The RE Store (re-store.org), Second Use (seconduse.com), and Earthwise Architectural Salvage (earthwise-salvage.com).

• Meyer Wells (meyerwells.com) builds modern furniture from reclaimed urban trees. By using recovered trees that have fallen down in urban areas, the designers get beautiful older growth grain and texture, and save unused wood from the chipper.

• While we advocate bicycles and public transport in lieu of driving cars, we realize that many of you haven’t yet or are unable to escape the shackles of fossil-fueled four wheelers. The least you can do to reduce your eco-tireprint is head over to Advanced Mobile (advancedmobileusa.com) for a water-wise car detailing.

• Craigslist is the ultimate source for furnishing a home on a budget, and buying used is the best way to save resources. Make it easy on yourself by setting up an automated search-based RSS feed using Bloglines (bloglines.com) or Google Reader to avoid having to sort through all of the posts.

—Summer Bowen

How many environmentalists does it take to tell you to screw in a CFL bulb? Too many. In fact, if one more person evangelizes about saving the planet with an energy efficient light bulb, we might just ralph up something green.

Don’t get us wrong; we’re all for energy efficient bulbs — that’s why we made the switch eons ago. But now that we all have our eco-bulbs screwed in right (and if you don’t, please get with the program), what’s next on the home front? Below are a few local resources to help decrease resource use, improve air quality and lessen our big footprint on this small earth.

• Redesigning your home with the earth in mind? Check out home stores All Shades of Green (allshadesofgreen.net) or Green and Greener (green-and-greener.com) for green design options and eco-friendly finishing touches.

• Conventional home cleaners are loaded with toxic chemicals — bad for the environment, your family, and especially harmful to the health of professional housekeepers. If you’re lucky enough to hire help, provide your cleaning person with safe cleaning products from your local natural foods store or choose an earth friendly cleaning service like Aromaids (aromaids.com) or Green Clean (greencleanla.com). For more tips on how to clean green, head over to lime.com/green_home.

• Ditching your current digs? Forget the Styrofoam packing peanuts and polluting vans. Go Green Moving (gogreenmoving.com) uses a biodiesel moving truck and partners with EarthFriendlyMoving (earthfriendlymoving.com) for low-waste recycled and reusable packing solutions.

• While we advocate bicycles and public transport in lieu of driving cars, we realize that many of you haven’t yet or are unable to escape the shackles of fossil-fueled four wheelers. The least can you do to reduce your eco-tireprint is head over to Lucky Earth (luckyearth.com) for a nontoxic “waterless” car wash.

—Summer Bowen