GREENCulture blog We put the “green” in greenyness!

With every beautiful bedroom, complete with curtains and an accent wall and a big amazing rug, there’s an even more beautiful bed that sets everything off. The frame, the posts, the headboards, all of it makes a bed what it is.

Bedding sets can immediately accentuate the colors, scheme, and the décor of a bed to make the bedroom a place of luxury and class. Ecohousewares.com shares your vision for the perfect room, and shares your passion for the ideal bedding set.

Made from only the finest materials, and made to be of the utmost in environmental friendliness, the bedding sets from ecohousewares.com are the best combination of style, comfort, quality, and responsibility to be found anywhere.

As a leading retailer in Green home-products, ecohousewares.com has the best products made from 100% Italian wood fiber, 100% Egyptian cotton, and 100% organic cotton, all of which can make you rest easy that you’re helping the environment, rest easy.

With contemporary styles like the Legna Classic, or more romantic sensual styles like the Legna Lucca Stripe Colletion, there is sure to be something to your liking. The accent stripes on the Lucca give the collection a very provocative, yet classy, look that will not go unnoticed.

For more extravagant looks the luxuriously styled Seville Collection, the Hydrangea, or the Jasmine, all add an attention-grabbing dimension to a room. The Hydrangea and the Jasmine, made from Egyptian cotton, are available in a variety of colors and are designed with earthy accents and floral arrangements so the aesthetics of the room are brought out by the beauty of the collections.

For those that want a more modern look then ecohousewares.com offers the Classic Sateen Organic Collection. A natural and luxurious necessity to have in the bedroom, the set is made from 100% organic cotton, and was meticulously finished inside and out for long-term durability. The Sateen is perfect for adding a contemporary edge to your classically styled bedroom.

With 11 sets to choose from, and numerous color combinations, ecohousewares.com offers the best of the eco-friendly bedding world. All sets are made from the highest quality materials and give a look elegance, beauty, and sophistication.

Enter coupon code “grcltr5″ (without quotes) to receive an extra 5% off all purchases within the GREENCulture family.

It has been estimated that the average American household disposes of more than two hundred pounds of kitchen scrap waste yearly. This is waste that is going into our landfills when it could be enriching our gardens. Composting is a lot easier to achieve than most people realize. If you have an organized system, it will take no more time to compost than it does to trash your scraps.

There are many variations of compost bins available for purchase on the market ranging from simple to extravagant and expensive. You may choose this route, or you may like to build your own. This is a relatively simple task; you must just ensure that your bin or box is covered to keep animals away yet still allows for drainage and aeration. Many install a screen on the bottom of the bin to help with this problem.

Almost all forms of kitchen waste can be easily composted. This will make an inexpensive and yet rich fertilizer for your lawn or garden. There are two categories of commonly used composting items: green nitrogen rich substances and brown carbon rich ones:

Green materials that you can compost are: Herbivore animal manure, coffee grounds and filters, fruit trimmings, peeling remnants and cores, vegetable peelings, leaves and remnants, grains, grass clippings, green leaves, hair and fur, shredded newspaper, tea bags, and houseplants.

Brown Materials to be used for composting are: cardboard rolls that are shredded, clean paper that is shredded, dry leaves, straw, newspaper that is shredded, nut shells, pine needles, sawdust, wood ships, wool rags, vegetable stalks, crushed eggshells, and fireplace ash that is not from coal.

Here are items that you should take care not to add to your compost pile: Anything containing chemicals or that has been chemically treated, bird droppings, bones, cat or dog feces, human waste, ashes from coal, colored paper, dairy products, diseased plants, grease in any form, and treated wood or wood products. These substances can be toxic to both plants and humans

You generally want to try to keep a ratio of brown to green material at 25:1. Carbon materials break down very slowly and will keep your compost pile from completely decomposing and being ready to use. On the other hand, if too many nitrogen substances exist, this can create a bad odor that will also attract animals to your bin.

Remember to use coupon code “grcltr5″ to receive an extra 5% off all orders on any GC Family site.

Glass coffee tables have a distinct advantage over other types of tables like wood coffee tables or coffee tables made of marble or granite. The glass coffee tables would easily suit any kind of décor or interior design themes, whether they are traditional or modern. The glass coffee tables would easily blend with any kind of theme and you only have to select a coffee table with the right color to match the theme. Glass coffee tables with colorful swirls are also available to add more liveliness to the room. As centerpieces of living room furniture, the glass coffee tables would add a new dimension to the room, which could not be easily achieved by other types of tables.

The modern glass coffee tables are made out of tempered glass and are quite sturdy. Hence, they would be quite a safe and long-lasting piece of furniture in your living room. Still, if you wish to have variety, then most of the coffee tables manufacturers offer them in two varieties. The first one is coffee tables made completely out of glass. The other type would combine the glass construction with another material, such as wood or metal. A coffee table made completely would generally provide a modern feel, even though it could also blend well with traditional interior design themes.

However, even the so-called all glass coffee tables might sometimes contain hardware like metal in the legs to provide strength and support to the glass coffee tables. Still, the use of such materials would be kept to the minimum, so that the focus would be extensively on glass. These types of tables are highly popular nowadays. The other type of glass coffee tables that combines a metal like wrought iron could be contemporary centerpieces of attraction, if selected with care. Glass coffee tables with wooden legs would fit much better with interior designs that are either based on Victorian, Mission, and other traditional themes.

When purchasing from any site of the GREENCulture family, use coupon code “grcltr5″ (no quotes) to receive an additional 5% off! For some sites, that could run your saving to 55%! Stay GREEN everyone.

For you to get the most of your ceiling lights in an energy efficient way, the first thing to consider is connecting them to dimmer switches. Dimmer switches are sure ways to save electricity and energy for your light fixtures.

The lighting itself serves three purposes. One of those happens to be ambiance. Ambient lighting includes pendants, rise and fall lamps, and recessed cans. They are used as general light. Generally, they are placed at the center of the room to provide lighting to the entire room.

These ambient lights can also include chandeliers. The most important thing you can do is combine various sources of lighting in every room. Furthermore, for those who like to read in bed, a ceiling light may or may not do. For that, you’d probably need some assistance from table lamps.

Halogen lamps and spotlights are also important sources of light. They provide natural looking light and help you perform certain tasks. Task lighting is another type. This should be well-placed for the task in mind.

Finally, accent lights are important in every room of the house as well. For example, they could be placed under shelves to place the focus on something of visual interest. They could also create beautiful pools of light. As for wall artwork, simply accent lights can really play it up.

The Circa Mini Pendant is one of the newest pendant lighting fixtures available on Eco-Lights.com. With a heritage bronze and parisienne gold finish and bronze organza shade, the Circa Mini is an elegant light fixture that will lend a dignified and luxurious decor to any room. The pendant’s height is between 17 and 59 inches.

The Circa collection of light fixtures also include a square and rectangular chandelier and wall bracket. Eco-Lights.com is home to one of the largest light fixture collections on the web. Whether you’re looking for a light in an antique traditional style or a sleek modern design to match your room’s decor, you will be sure to find the perfect light fixture at Eco-Lights.

Antigua Square Panel Platform Bed

The Antigua Square Panel Platform Bed has a modern, smooth design and careful detailing. The bed is made of the finest hardwood with a deep, attractive Espresso finish. This finish is achieved by hand, making it spectacularly rich and authentic. The classic panel frame has a contemporary twist added to it with the unique square headboard consisting of a row of open squares. The stable, square legs give the bed a stylish perimeter. The footboard is barely there, which is once again a change from the classic look.

The wooden headboards and footboards are connected to the side rails with metal to metal fittings, so there is no need to worry as the bed is held up by strong and stable construction. This method of connection can be easily be disassembled and reassembled if the bed needs to be moved, causing minimal wear and tear on the connecting parts of the bed. The process is fairly simple and is not as frightening as taking apart and putting together other pieces of furniture.

The platform bed includes fourteen slats made of hardwood and placed in a roll, giving the bed a sturdy foundation. The King size bed has a center support and leg support as well. The fittings are subtly hidden, in order to ensure that they do not distract from the ambience and beauty suggested by the style of the bed. It is available in Full, King, Queen and California sizes, and comes with matching casegoods to compliment not just the bed, but the entire room.

The bed itself is made of Indonesian mahogany, produced by a sustained yield program, which was 100% kiln dried. Eco-Furniture.com offers the very best in quality beds and environmental friendliness. Eco savvy and economically savvy should go hand-in-hand, and Eco-Furniture.com strives to make that possible.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to update your home with both a modern style and a classic look? When thinking about the furniture selection for you next home update, the Coralyn Living Room Collection has the perfect blend of modern lines with a classic design.

Inspired by the art-deco period, the Coralyn offers appealing design and craftsmanship in every detail. The warm sable finish pairs itself with fresh, clean lines that will continue to bring style into your home for many years to come.

Made from select hardwoods and walnut and zenrabo veneers, the Coralyn pieces are made from sustainedly harvested woods, to ensure quality in the hands of the consumers without an expense to the environment.

The Coralyn offers many different options to match any decoration scheme. Six different tables, two consoles, and a floor mirror, make the Coralyn the perfect ensemble collection.

Eco-Furniture.com also carries individual pieces from every set such as coffee tables, console tables, and other living room pieces. Eco-Furniture.com offers the very best in quality living room furniture and environmental friendliness. Eco savvy and economically savvy should go hand-in-hand, and Eco-Furniture.com strives to make that possible.

For at least the past 3500 years,  mankind has known how to build a sundial, which is a device that uses shadows cast by the sun to keep time.  Sundials are incredibly easy to make, require no power or maintenance, and can add an interesting, artistic feel to any outdoor environment.  I will go through the simple steps that it takes to make your very own sundial for your outdoor area.

Note: The type of sundial I am explaining how to make is called a Horizontal Sundial.

Materials needed:

• A flat, circular piece of wood or stone.
• A protractor
• A calculator
• A square piece of wood and a saw
• A map, atlas, or Google maps (to determine your latitude)

1. First, get a flat, circular piece of wood.  Mark the very center of the circle with an “x”.  The very center of the circle represents you, and the circle itself roughly represents the path the sun takes around you during every 24 hour period.
2. Divide this circle in half by marking a straight line going from one end of the circle, through the middle, to the other end.  This mark represents noon, or mid-day on one side of the “x” at the end of the circle, and midnight on the other side of the x at the other end of the circle.
3. Lay your circle flat on the ground.  Now get a compass.  If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, your mid-day line should be pointing due North and your midnight line should be pointing due South.  In the Southern Hemisphere, these directions are reversed.
4. Use a map or atlas to look up your latitude.  I will use my current latitude, which is 33 degrees, as an example.  The next step is the hard part, and it is only hard because it requires a little bit of math.  Don’t worry though, if you have a calculator I can explain to you exactly how to do it.  You could even use Google as a calculator if you want.
5. Now, we already know where 12:00 pm is, because it is the mid-day line.  We are now going to use math to figure out where the line for 1:00 pm and 11:00 are supposed to go.  It will be easy, I promise!The formula for finding out where the other hour marks are supposed to go is tan(A) = sin(latitude) * tan(hour angle), where A is the number of degrees from the mid-day line where you draw the next line.  I will explain this so it is clear as glass even to someone who doesn’t know any math at all.  Keep reading and I will tell you exactly how to enter this equation into Google calculator and all you have to do is plug in the right numbers. No math at all!  I promise!Now, what does “hour angle” mean?  Hour angle refers to the number of degrees the sun passes every hour.  Since there are 360 degrees in a circle and 24 hours in a day, there are approximately 15 degrees in every hour.  To get the hour angle, you just take the time that you want to draw the line for and see how many hours away from noon that time is, and multiply that number by 15.  For example, the hour angle for 1:00 pm is 15 degrees, because there is one hour between noon and 1:00 pm and the sun travels 15 degrees in the circle in one hour.  The hour angle for 3:00 pm is 45 degrees because there are three hours between 12 and 3 and, and 3*15=45.  The hour angle for 8:00 am is 60 degrees by the same logic.

   Ok, so let’s figure out where the line for 1:00 pm is supposed to go.  Just copy and paste (ctrl+c & ctrl+v) this expression into Google:

   180*tanh(sin(pi* 33 /180)*tan(pi* 15 /180))/pi

   Where you would replace 33 degrees with your latitude and 15 with the hour angle of the time you wanted to calculate.  I got 8.30263592, or approximately 8.3 degrees between the mid-day line and the line for 1:00 pm.  Take your protractor, measure out 8.3 degrees (or whatever your number is) from the noon line, and draw a line coming out of the center at that angle.  Do that again on the other side of the noon line also for 11:00 am.

   I will give one more example of this for clarity.  Say I wanted to do 4:00 pm.

   180*tanh(sin(pi* 33 /180)*tan(pi* 60 /180))/pi = 42.21 degrees.

   Therefore, 4:00 pm is 42.2 degrees from the noon line.  This would also be the same value for 8:00 am.

6. Repeat for your desired hours.  The angles should get bigger and bigger as you get farther away from noon.  The number of degrees given by the above equation always represent the number of degrees from the noon line.
7. Now that you have the base of your sundial done, you need to make the part that actually casts a shadow on it.  This part of the sundial is called the “gnomon.”  The gnomon is shaped like a triangle most of the time.  You will cut a corner end off of your square piece of wood to make the triangle.  Take that square piece of wood and your saw.  Now take your latitude. Mine is 33 degrees, so I will use that.  Notice how the corner of the square piece of wood forms a 90 degree angle; that is one corner of your triangle.  Create a triangle by drawing a line at 33 degrees from the base of the triangle and cut it out along the line.
8. Now you have to glue, nail, or fasten the gnomon on top of the sundial.  Position the triangle so that the 90 degree angle is up in the air, the 33 degree angle is in the center of the table where you drew the x in the first step, and the 66 degree should be closest to the mid-day point on the sundial.  You are now done!  Position your sundial so it is facing due north and enjoy!

6vq3mz8u97

Meridian Bay Bedroom Collection

If you are looking for bedroom furniture that takes you back in time to the riches of British colonialism, then the Meridian Bay Bedroom Collection is simply perfect for you. It has the look of furniture that has been collected by a much travelled discerning buyer. It has a relaxed and comfortable look about it that is simply not available in more modern designs.

One of the attractions of the Meridian Bay Collection is the Panel Bed. It has a louvered panel as well as posts and finials that are octagonal in shape, both at the headboard as well as the footboard. It features a rich Tamarind finish which goes a long way in adding elegance and warmth to any bedroom. The unique craftsmanship is easily evident in the making of this bed and every part of the seems seeped in it.

The centerpiece of this collection is the Meridian Bay Poster Bed. The bed has a woven headboard which is accented with metal finials which creates a look of great comfort and warmth. The most dramatic aspect of the bed is its four posts. They are elegantly designed and expertly carved and finished.  They create an enchanting spiral feel as they taper towards the top.

The rest of the Meridian Bay Collection includes a Shelf Nightstand with one black laminated pull-out shelf as well as one woven shelf; the Dresser and Triple Dresser, the Three-Drawer Nightstand and the Armoire. The Regal and Royal Mirrors are indeed perfect accents to this enchanting collection.

The Meridian Bay Bedroom Collection makes use of a large variety of materials like Mahonie solids, Mahonie veneers, American Maple, metal, antiqued stone, hammered copper as well as woven cane accents. They are sure to lend a masterful character to your bedroom.

Visit Eco-Furniture.com for more unique modern and traditional style bedroom collections and platform beds.

With all the crazy stuff going on in the world today it is easy for people to forget about the least populated place in the world: Antarctica. Antarctica has a huge effect on the world’s ecosystems, although it is desolate and far from most human populations. That’s because Antarctica has about 90% of the world’s ice, and about 70% of the world’s fresh water. Most people are aware that if Greenland’s ice shelf were to fall into the sea, that the global sea level would rise by about twenty feet. However, if the majority of the fresh water on Antarctica were to fall into the sea, the sea level could rise as much as 190 feet, according to some sources like Science Daily. With global temperatures on the rise, it is in everyone’s interest to watch the Antarctic ice sheets closely.

Composite satellite image of Antarctica.

Obviously the chances of all this ice falling into the sea at once are very low. However, even a small rise in sea level by a few feet could trigger a massive chain reaction of melting in the low-lying Antarctic regions as the sea water comes into contact with the freshwater ice. This is where the danger lies. Since the ice is very cold and dry in Antarctica and other polar regions, it remains in place by sticking to the rocks. Rising sea levels can cause water to come between the ice and the Antarctic rocks, causing the ice to become un-stuck and very slippery against the rocks. The ice eventually cracks and large chunks slide into the ocean due to gravity, where they eventually melt and raise the sea level little by little. Bit by bit, the sea keeps coming into contact with more and more ice, which gets unstuck, and the process perpetuates itself indefinitely.

Once of the reasons why this is so alarming is that Antarctic ice is not just ordinary ice. Antarctic ice is extremely dense because it has been packed down for thousands of years by metric tons of other ice. Antarctica’s ice sheet is about a mile thick on average, so the ice really gets packed down. This makes Antarctic ice much denser than normal ice due to gravity. When ice has been frozen for many thousands of years and put under a lot of pressure, gravity squeezes all of the air molecules out, causing the ice to crystallize. This makes the ice blue and transparent like water, and in this state the ice is known as ‘blue ice,’ which is also the form of ice that exists in glaciers. This ice is so dense that it is the form of ice responsible for puncturing the steel hull of the Titanic.

When this ice becomes unstuck and falls into the sea, it is practically irreplaceable because it has been formed over thousands of years and is much denser than normal ice. This issue is compounded by the fact that it is so cold in Antarctica that little to no precipitation usually falls. Technically Antarctica is considered a desert! It is literally too cold and dry to snow in most places in Antarctica. Therefore the replacement rate of this ice is nowhere near the rate that it is being destroyed. What this means is that once we start this process of the destruction of Antarctica’s ice sheet, it cannot be stopped. We all need to pay attention to Antarctica’s sensitive ecosystem and take every opportunity to protect it, or the global environment that we know now may change forever.