Living Like Ed Ed Jr. (best ereader for pdf and epub txt) 📖

of surfaces. We said, “We’ve got to have this tested. It’s got to use some kind of funky chemicals.” But we had it tested, and found out it really was nontoxic. That cleaner became the first product we marketed under the Begley’s Best name. We were so happy with it, we started a business around it.

It really is nontoxic. I use it all the time without wearing gloves, and it’s never even hurt my manicure, which is really important to me. You spend some money on a manicure, and you don’t want it to peel off, especially on the same day.

Ed has gone so far as to drink the stuff, which I would NOT advise. I guess Ed will do anything to make a sale!

While I definitely don’t recommend that people drink my cleaner, or any other cleaning product, no matter how pure it claims to be, Begley’s Best is made from environmentally responsible, natural ingredients that will not harm you, your family, or the environment, and you can drink to that!

Seventh Generation makes a nice laundry detergent, and Begley’s Best cleaning concentrate works great as a laundry soap, too; just use a quarter cup per load. We sell it in a 64-ounce jug, so you’ll get forty-eight loads out of each container.

The cleanliness of your home doesn’t have to suffer from making the switch to more eco-conscious products, either. These natural cleaners dissolve grease, grime, and dirt quickly and safely. They can clean your bathroom, your kitchen, even your carpets. And you’ll feel a lot better while you’re using them, too. They’re safer to breathe, safer for your skin, and overall they’ll keep your home’s air cleaner.

Insulating Your House

Another way you can really cut down on your cooling and heating bills—and save a lot of energy in the process—is by improving your home’s insulation.

The first place you want to go is up to your attic. That’s number one. Because heat rises, you lose a lot of it through the roof. In the summer, your house is also being heated by the hot sun outside, so insulation will keep it cooler and reduce cooling costs.

I had good R-30 insulation put in the attic when I moved into this house in 1988. That made the home much more energy efficient right away.

Today, experts recommend that you insulate your attic to a level of R-38, which usually means installing 12 to 15 inches of insulation, depending on the type. In especially cold climates, they recommend going as high as R-49.

One way to know if you need more insulation in your attic is to climb up there. The insulation should extend above the level of the attic floor joists—those wooden crosspieces. If you can see the joists, you probably need to add more insulation.

Looking at your insulation will provide other important information, too. If it looks dirty, then you know you have air moving through it—a sure sign of a leak that needs to be sealed before you install new insulation.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSULATION

The type of insulation you choose makes a big difference. We know more now than we did back in 1988. When I had R-30 insulation put in the attic back then, much of it was fiberglass. Then we had an earthquake here in 1994, which led to cracks and fissures in the walls and floors, and fiberglass started to migrate down into the living spaces. My friends and family had colds and allergies a lot around here. There was sneezing and runny noses. It’s just not good for you to breathe that fiberglass, in part because it contains formaldehyde. It can even trigger asthma attacks.

We ultimately decided to take out the fiberglass. We had to hire people in these moon suits to do the removal. In its place we installed recycled cotton—this thick, bulky stuff that’s made from old denim and from the scraps left over when companies manufacture new jeans. Once we’d installed this new insulation, it was not only more energy efficient in here, it was also quieter! And it’s totally nontoxic.

Fiberglass insulation is still very common. So are rigid foam board and spray foam, both of which are essentially forms of plastic. But now you know there’s a more energy-efficient and a more earth-friendly option. You can even install this recycled cotton insulation yourself, and you don’t have to wear any special protective gear. It’s that safe. While the insulation itself costs about twice as much as fiberglass, being able to install it yourself eliminates labor costs. . . .

INSULATING THE WALLS

Once you’ve insulated your attic, it’s time to go to the next level: adding insulation to the walls of your home.

I discovered there was no insulation inside the walls of this house. Sure, they put in insulation when it was built in 1936—but they used crumpled-up newspaper! Sixty years later, there were just a few shreds left. You could read the date on a few pieces, but it was pretty far gone.

I decided to have good cellulose insulation blown into the walls to make them more energy efficient. Cellulose insulation is another popular choice for attics, too. (You also can use recycled-denim insulation inside your walls, but it must be installed when the walls are open. Denim can’t be blown in after the fact like cellulose.)

Ironically, the cellulose insulation used today is made from newspaper, too, but we’ve come a long way since 1936. Today’s insulation is made from recycled wood fiber, primarily newsprint. This insulation is also manufactured in a way that requires far less energy than the manufacturing processes for other kinds of insulation.

Adding cellulose insulation to your walls does require the drilling of holes, so you’ll have to at least touch up the exterior paint after the work gets done. Since I had a repaint scheduled for the outside of my house, I timed the installation of this new insulation to coordinate with the painter’s schedule. This way, I saved money