Building and living in an eco-friendly house is good for the environment while having a home that is very unique. This is the way of future home building which is available today. Portland Green Home Contractors can help with designing and building a green home that will be both quaint and of high quality.
Energy Efficient:
An eco-friendly home uses a lot less energy due to the design and alternate energy sources. This saves money on utility bills which help offset the cost of building.
Water Recycling:
Alternate water sources such as collecting rainwater and recycling wastewater for gardening use will help cut down on water usage. Water is a limited resource and should be managed and conserved.
Air Quality:
A green home will take advantage of air flow to give you a continuous supply of fresh air. Fresh air can keep your home cooler with a constant supply of air movement.
Better Health:
Most homes of today are built using materials that have potential toxins in them. Portland Green Home Contractors work with you to select building materials that are health friendly.
Efficiency of Materials:
Designing a green home will be done in such a way that there will be very little scrap left. A lot of materials are long lasting recycled products that cut down on the use of raw materials.
Property Value:
By building an eco-friendly home, your property value should increase. The cost of maintaining your home should also go down.
Going Smaller:
Building more house than you really need doesn’t make sense. A smaller home is more comfortable, easier to keep clean, and has lower energy bills.
Sky Garden:
Designing your home where your roof is a garden will also bring in fresh food. This can be another way to help the environment.
A Capsule on Wheels:
Building a small house that can be transported to different areas keeps you on the move. It can be designed to be energy efficient and cozy.
Multiple Energy Sources:
Both solar and wind power can be installed to power the energy needs of your home. If you have a creek with moving water on your property, this could also be a source of energy. Going green now can help save the future for our children.
Home Building Materials to Avoid When Building a Green Home
Some call Portland, Oregon the greenest city in the United States, primarily due to its eco-friendly green homes. They achieve this status by attempting to ensure as many buildings as possible meet the green home standards. The four standards allowing a home to be rated a green home are Earth Advantage homes, Energy Star homes, Net-Zero Energy homes, and LEED homes. For home builders to meet these standards, it’s important to know that certain home building materials can produce chemicals that are damaging to the environment.
One building material that can be potentially harmful to the environment is asbestos, a carcinogen that can cause respiratory ailments and lead to lung cancer. It’s most often found in floor tiles, ceilings, and roofs because it insulates. Formaldehyde is another dangerous substance used in the manufacturing of buildings. It’s an adhesive and a composite in plywood. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies it as a carcinogen.
Chromated Copper Arsenic was widely used as a pesticide and preservative for lumber until the EPA phased it out in 2003. It can, however, still be found anywhere outside lumber is used, such as decks and picnic tables. CCA contains Chromium, copper, and arsenic. Overexposure to arsenic is known to cause a variety of cancers and to damage the nervous system.
Phthalates are industrial chemicals that are especially challenging to avoid when trying to build the greenest home possible. Used to make plastics more resilient, they can be found in everything from carpet backing to walls, ceilings, roofs, and insulation. Phthalates are feared to have a severely negative impact on the human hormone and reproductive system.
These are just a few of the home building in Portland materials that are most likely to harm the environment. Others include the perfluorinated compounds often found in carpet and the short-chained chlorinated paraffin present in some paints and caulks. Those wanting to build truly green homes should keep all of them in mind. Manufacturers have developed safer alternatives for those willing to do their research. As an example, to comply with the Clean Air Act Amendments, alternatives to formaldehyde are available. There are many formaldehyde-free products for paint and wood finishes. Even taking small steps in using as little of these harmful materials as possible can make a massive difference to the environment.
Why Personal Injury Law is Important in the State of Washington
The law of personal injury involves accidents and injuries suffered by victims as a result of a person or entity failing to use due care and caution for the safety of others. The overwhelming majority of such cases involve negligence. The most common types of personal injury cases involve motor vehicle accidents, slip-and-falls, trip-and-falls, medical malpractice, and construction accidents. What comes to issue in any of these cases is who is liable to pay damages. Also at issue is whether the person claiming personal injury shared fault for the accident. That is what’s known as the law of comparative negligence.
Maintaining Control
The law in the State of Washington requires a motorist to maintain control of his or her vehicle at all times. In order to reduce accidents, the Revised Code of Washington section 46.61.400 requires drivers to operate their vehicles at speeds that are reasonable and prudent given traffic and road conditions. When broadly interpreted, section 46.61.400 can apply to just about any motor vehicle accident that occurs in Washington.
Comparative Negligence
The law of comparative negligence is often used by defendants as a partial defense to a personal injury claim. That law is controlled by the Revised Code of Washington section 4.22.005-015. For example, a person might have been traveling 40 mph in a 30 mph zone when the defendant turned left in front of him or her. Had the claimant been traveling at the speed limit, the accident might not have happened. If a jury holds the claimant 30 percent at fault for the accident, his or her damages will be reduced by 30 percent.
Compensation Sends a Message
People who are injured or lose family members as a result of the carelessness and negligence of somebody else deserve to be compensated for their losses. When a victim is compensated, that sends a message to others to remind them about their responsibilities and behavior.
If you were injured or lost a family member through the fault of somebody else in Vancouver, Washington, or anywhere else in the State of Washington, you’ve become an involuntary victim in a sophisticated legal situation. You’ll need experienced and effective legal representation. Don’t let the opposing insurer try to take control of your case by obtaining a statement or authorization from you. Contact a Vancouver WA injury attorney right away for a free consultation and case review. We’ll advise you of all of your legal options.
Will social security disappear in the future?
If you are an adult for whom the golden years are beginning to appear on the horizon, you may be wondering what will become of social security in the future. You would certainly not be alone in your concerns. The majority of people born after 1970 have spent their lives hearing that Social Security will go extinct before they get a chance to reap the benefits. While it is true that SS has its challenges, its future may not be as dire as popular culture depicts.
How Did it Start?
The Social Security Act became US law in 1935, the brainchild of President Franklin Roosevelt. Its development was influenced by the Great Depression, which so disproportionately impacted the disabled and elderly that Roosevelt and his cabinet felt the need to create a stabilizing economic system that would protect the country’s most vulnerable citizens. Thus, the tax-funded social security system was born.
How Does it Work?
Social Security is funded by taxpayers, who contribute (involuntarily) a portion of the first $128,000 dollars of their earnings into the Social Security trust. When retirees reach a certain age, they become eligible to apply for benefits. The amount distributed is calculated using the average income from your most profitable thirty-five years and your life expectancy. Because your monthly payments are distributed according to estimated longevity, the longer you delay applying, the more you can collect monthly Social Security benefits. When SS was initiated, there were far more working taxpayers than there were SS beneficiaries, so the fund continued to grow for many decades. However, beginning in the 1980s, that trend began to reverse, as the life expectancy of Americans began to climb and birth rates simultaneously dropped, leaving fewer workers to supply the funds needed for a growing retired population.
Could it Disappear?
Though changes will need to be made, Social Security is not expected to disappear. Current projections predict that the trust will run dry in 2037 if the SS administration does nothing to prevent it. That does not necessarily mean that SS will disappear, it means that new methods for funding the system will need to be developed. Sustainability of the SS system has been a long-term project for the administration, and it is confident that alterations to the current taxation model will generate the revenue necessary to continue SS beyond the 2037 wall. Future retirees should prepare for one likely possibility, however; a shortfall of expected funds could force the SSA to reduce benefits or advance the age of application. So, while SS is probably going to be around for our retirement, it may only provide fifty to seventy percent of what we were expecting, and the age of retirement with full benefits could be bumped as high as seventy years. Successful retirement planning should take these risks into account, and you would be wise not to stake your future on SS benefits alone.
10 Pros of Green Home Construction
Building and living in an eco-friendly house is good for the environment while having a home that is very unique. This is the way of future home building which is available today. Portland Green Home Contractors can help with designing and building a green home that will be both quaint and of high quality.
Energy Efficient:
An eco-friendly home uses a lot less energy due to the design and alternate energy sources. This saves money on utility bills which help offset the cost of building.
Water Recycling:
Alternate water sources such as collecting rainwater and recycling wastewater for gardening use will help cut down on water usage. Water is a limited resource and should be managed and conserved.
Air Quality:
A green home will take advantage of air flow to give you a continuous supply of fresh air. Fresh air can keep your home cooler with a constant supply of air movement.
Better Health:
Most homes of today are built using materials that have potential toxins in them. Portland Green Home Contractors work with you to select building materials that are health friendly.
Efficiency of Materials:
Designing a green home will be done in such a way that there will be very little scrap left. A lot of materials are long lasting recycled products that cut down on the use of raw materials.
Property Value:
By building an eco-friendly home, your property value should increase. The cost of maintaining your home should also go down.
Going Smaller:
Building more house than you really need doesn’t make sense. A smaller home is more comfortable, easier to keep clean, and has lower energy bills.
Sky Garden:
Designing your home where your roof is a garden will also bring in fresh food. This can be another way to help the environment.
A Capsule on Wheels:
Building a small house that can be transported to different areas keeps you on the move. It can be designed to be energy efficient and cozy.
Multiple Energy Sources:
Both solar and wind power can be installed to power the energy needs of your home. If you have a creek with moving water on your property, this could also be a source of energy. Going green now can help save the future for our children.
Netflix Addiction and Drug Addiction: More alike than you thought?
I believe that internet addiction can be just as detrimental to mental health as drug addiction. With the advent of Netflix, it’s nearly impossible to even come close to running out of full-length content to binge. By the time you finish one series, there are a number of new releases waiting to soak up your free time. Netflix is another escape from reality, just like many forms of drug abuse. According to The Hindu, a 26-year-old Indian man has recently looked to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bengaluru for help with his streaming struggles. The man, unemployed, would spend over 7 hours a day binge-watching shows on the popular streaming platform Netflix. He would use it oftentimes in an effort to ignore the internal turmoil he faced as those close to him continued urging him to find work. Even though this problem of Netflix in excess has existed for years now, it has only now began being recognized as a legitimate mental health concern.
Many of the problems that come from drug use/abuse center around how drugs can activate our brain’s reward system. Often, users will continue taking a drug even when it impairs their ability to tend to important responsibilities or participate in regular activities. Netflix is similar, if we imagine it as the drug in this metaphor, we have an unlimited supply. Do you know anyone who would rather binge Stranger Things than go to a social gathering with friends?
The DSM-V, or the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is the most well-recognized text on every facet of known mental-illness, including addiction. Almost 20 years of careful research separates it from the last edition, 1994’s DSM-IV. The DSM-V lists 11 criteria for use in diagnosis of substance abuse disorders, and many behaviors of Netflix-binge-watchers can be observed as closely related to those of substance-abusers.