Your Questions About Green Living

what can i do to make my furnitures looking like new ones?

http://kin.naver.com/detail/detail.php?d1id=5&dir_id=514&eid=/0wkng35zKoNFGjP/Q5KmHktY07O7aLF

these are pics of my 2 bookcase 3 table, 1 bed table, 1 desk
what can i do to make these looking pretty next my new beige color couch?
i was thinking one of those wall sticker paper, but i don’t know where to get them and many people don’t know what that is.. iit’s like a decorative wallpaper but it’s sticky behind it, so it’s a sticker and u can just cut it and cover your old table or whateve to make it compeletly diffrent looking.
or..how about painting?i heard that to paint the furnitures you have to use nontoxic eco friendly paint? please help me with details!!!!

Need some ideas for my interior design final?

For my final I have to choose furniture for every room of the house (4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, living room basement, laundry room etc.), create an invention for something in my house, tell how my house is eco friendly, make a floor plan and make an elevation drawing of one room.
1. How could I make my house “green” other than recycling or solar panels. Everyone else is doing that.
2. Could you post a picture of your favorite piece of furniture you can find online. I have a lot of it picked out, but I am looking for some funky, fun out of the norm things. Think Ikea style.
3. Any ideas for my invention? All my ideas have sucked like a light that blows out bubbles haha(:

Do you think it’s possible for a family of clutterbugs to adopt a minimalist lifestyle?

I come from a long line of messies, who keep lots of unnecessary stuff that we will probably not use again, or wouldn’t miss if it was gone. I’m now a single mom of two teens, and they’ve adopted the family tradition. We’re not exactly hoarders, in that there’s plenty of space to sit down and live comfortably. Guests don’t mind visiting our home at all, and seem to like like to “cozy” and lived in feel of it. But we get pretty disgusted ourselves and depressed when we look around, and the task of decluttering seems monumental. We do it it spurts , but it never seems to stay that way.

Here’s the thing: We now live in a large, older home, but I want to build a very small, eco–friendly house soon. I would really like a house with clean, contemporary line, minimalist in terms of furniture and ‘stuff’. Actually, the house wouldn’t be big enough to accommodate a lot of stuff; only 900 sq. ft. I feel like we would be so much happier, and less anxious and stressed in that kind of environment. Is it likely that we can accomplish such a change in lifestyle?
Sometimes, I want to just let somebody come in, tell them what absolutely needs to be kept, and let them have at it. For us to just leave the house until they’re done.

Disowning my family, what can I do to support myself from now on?

I suffer from depression, but have come to terms with it and just try and get on with things in life. I have been at university since September, and love my course, despite the fact I have been ill (physically).

I have decided today though to disown my family. My parents split last year, and my Dad barely has anything to do with me (possibly because there is every chance a new woman is in his life). The only time I get correspondence from him is on Christmas and birthdays. I saw him for my birthday last month and offered to see him again, but he said he was busy, even though he is retired and lives in the same city as what I am studying in (Edinburgh).

I go up north home once a month or so to see my Mum and Nan, and things were ok, until I came back for Christmas. Ever since I came back, arguments have arisen; I was very upset to find that my car had been used by my Mum and the diesel not replaced etc; it’s in my Nan’s driveway as she has said I can keep it there, yet my Mum’s so called cheeky friend from Hungary had the nerve to park hers there, so mine was right by the road and there have been a few reported incidents of dustcarts driving recklessly on the roads there, so am concerned. I also discovered this Hungarian mate of my Mum’s will be living at home for two months. I dont like the friend and it has always been the case that if my Mum doesnt like my friends, I am not allowed to have them back. When I mentioned this she said “it’s not YOUR house”.

At the same time last year, we sold our much loved house of 15 years, everything about it was perfect. I hate the house my Mum lives in now, where my things are. At the old house, I had security and privacy, now it feels like I have nowhere to go, as she says it’s not my room etc. Today in particular was awful as I got up early to do my Christmas shopping. I had four angry missed phonecalls from my Mum fuming that I had accidently locked her out, yet she blamed me solely as she didnt have her key with her. When I got back, she wanted me to move my car from my Nan’s driveway as my cousins were arriving today so I did, but before I did, she said I was to blame for most things and am so selfish; there was a misunderstanding with my Nan, as I asked her if she needed anything from the shops when I was in town, to which she replied my cousins would get it, so left them to it. However, today she asked for cough medicine, and again, I got the blame for the misunderstanding. It was also mentioned that one of the nosy neighbours saw me twice and I “was so rude to ignore her”- even though the first time I hadnt seen her, the second I was speaking on my mobile and briefly acknowledged her.

I have said to my Mum that I no longer want to be part of the family, and she said that was good, as she wants me out. I am 23 and although this is the first year I have left home for uni, can stand on my own two feet, but do need some advice.

So firstly, I need to get my stuff into storage. Does anyone know prices for storage rooms (UK)? I have six medium to large pieces of furniture. Also, I have a car, but the uni forbids me to keep it on campus (silly green policy, even though my car is the most eco friendly car going with low CO2 emissions). How can I get around this? I am frightened if I leave it back at home, she will have it towed away or something.

Any other suggestions most appreciated. Please dont mention about God etc though, as I dont believe in that, thanks.
Well Jean Luc- seeing as that’s quite a rude and personal question to ask- growing up was difficult and I had to work that bit harder at school/college over a period of years to get to where I want to be now.
Sanchez- Why dont you grow up?!! Selfish my arse. If you knew the course I was doing, maybe you’d change your mind.
Actually Sanchez, I think you will find I am not. I am prepared to listen to people, but not prepared to be insulted like some of the folk on here have. Sounds like you are having a wonderful Xmas as well to have a pop at me!
Awomack- Already done that I’m afraid!

Could someone correct my translation in UK-English? It’s for exam.Thanks a lot!?

Imagine that you are answering the final question from very popular quiz…and the last question is…Which is the fastest growing plant on this planet having almost the same strength as the steel? Hmmm…Maybe you cannot bring to your mind the answer quickly. Ok…But when you will hear some other amazing facts about it, you will probably remember it. The correct answer is – bamboo.
A brief introduction: bamboo is a woody perennial evergreen plant that is actually part of the true grass family. There are over 1000 species of bamboo on the earth. Bamboo can be found all over the world in varied climates, from the cold mountainous regions to the hot tropical areas. They can be found in North and South America, throughout East Asia, northern Australia, and southern Africa. Although they can grow to towering heights – ranging from miniatures to 60 meters, bamboo is not actually considered a tree. Bamboo along with being one of the tallest grasses in the world is also the fastest growing plant in the world, capable of growing up to 1 meter per day!
In addition to these characteristics, bamboo also boasts incredible environmental benefits. Despite its lowly reputation, bamboo may be the strongest stuff on the planet. Its growth pattern makes it easily accessible in a minimal amount of time. Bamboo provided the first re-greening in Hiroshima after the atomic blast in 1945.
A grove of bamboo returns 35 percent more oxygen into the air than an equivalent stand of trees. By taking in more carbon dioxide and emitting more oxygen bamboo naturally battles global warming and climate change. Bamboo does it year around because it is an evergreen. Fuel made from bamboo would have a neutral carbon dioxide impact because any fuel made and burned from bamboo will release the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that was consumed by the bamboo while it was growing. In an age ridden with fuel wars, and an ever-declining ozone layer, natural products like bamboo have taken a front scene in the international energy crises, primarily for production of renewable ethanol and diesel.
Bamboo is exquisite component of landscape design. Its anti-erosion properties create an effective watershed, stitching the soil together along fragile river banks, deforested areas, and in places prone to earthquakes and mud slides.
Another important benefit of bamboo cultivation is that it helps sustain China’s endangered panda population. Giant pandas usually eat only the four or five kinds that grow in their habitat of southwestern China.
Bamboo is strong–it’s one of the strongest building materials in the world. Yet despite its strength, when made into clothing, bamboo is softer than the softest cotton and smoother than the smoothest silk. The bamboo fiber is eco–friendly, without any chemical additives. It takes 150 grams of chemical fertilizers to produce one cotton t-shirt. In contrast, bamboo requires very little water because it is 300 percent more absorbent than cotton and it requires no harmful pesticides or insecticides. In addition, growing bamboo actually enriches the soil with nutrients while growing cotton depletes it. More importantly, bamboo fiber is a unique biodegradable textile material. As a natural cellulose fiber, bamboo fabric can be 100% biodegraded in soil by microorganisms and sunlight. The decomposition process does not cause any pollution in the environment.
What other about bamboo? Thomas Edison also successfully used a carbonized bamboo filament in his first experiment with the light bulb.
In Limon, Costa Rica, only the bamboo houses from the National Bamboo Project stood after their violent earthquake in 1992.
It is interesting also that…bamboo furniture is light, durable, and affordable…bamboo shoots provide nutrition for million of people worldwide. In Japan, the antioxidant properties of pulverized bamboo bark prevents bacterial growth and it’s used a natural food preservative….current research point to bamboo’s potential in a number of medicinal uses, especially in cure of some types of venereal diseases and cancers…bamboo is a mystical plant as a symbol of strength, flexibility, tenacity, endurance, luck and compromise. Throughout Asia, bamboo has for centuries been integral to religions ceremonies, art, music and daily life.
With time and dedicated research, perhaps our future will be a bit brighter due to the widespread use of bamboo. We will be not surprised to see a bamboo plantation pop up in a field near us!