Measuring your carbon footprint has become the de facto measurement of your impact on the environment but a new website is looking to change that by allowing users to track consumption in watts. Answer a series of lifestyle questions and after just a few minutes you will have your annual usage and be able to compare it to the U.S. average.

It’s really quite simple and if you sign up, you can track your use over time, compare yourself with others, and learn how to reduce your impact.

WattzOn website

Buried in the financial bailout package for Wall Street is a little nugget that isn’t getting as much press in light of the bigger financial mess. The bill signed by President Bush extends the solar tax credit for an additional eight years and most importantly, removes the $2,000 cap that had been part of the previous program.

With the average residential solar installation running $25,000-$30,000, this means a homeowner can now expect a credit closer to $9,000. Solar installations have been on a tear over the past several years but still represent just .06% of the nation’s energy needs.

Story from MarketWatch

You are already managing your money in Quickbooks, social life on Facebook, and fantasy sports on Yahoo, so what’s one more stop in the rush to manage your life? At least with this one it should pay off with reduced energy bills.

Greenbox is a new service that allows homeowners to monitor home energy use and hopefully make lifestyle changes based on the feedback delivered by the system. As everyone fights to save a few bucks here and there, this is a great tool for minding your finances and the planet.

Greenbox website

Readers of this blog know that I’m a big Michelle Kauffman fan and she has nailed it again with her Smart Home at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Michelle is a leader in the modern pre-fab industry and specializes in homes that combine modern aesthetics with green sensibilities.

The 2,500 square-foot Smart Home features every gadget in the book, including a PC-based automation system to manage the temperature, lighting, and window coverings to ensure maximum efficiency.

Get all of the details from MarketWatch

Granite has been going strong for the past decade as a counter material and has now become so common that it’s nearly standard in many communities. As with all home finishes, that means it’s surely near the end of its run as a material of choice and thus I can’t understand why people still install it. Sure it’s decent now, but what about in five or ten years? It will have gone the way of travertine and shiny brass fixtures.

Anyway, if remodeling your home with material that is no longer “cool” isn’t reason enough to look elsewhere, how about the new reports of granite containing cancer causing radon? Most granite is probably perfectly safe, but new versions from exotic locales are showing up with exceedingly high levels of the nasty stuff. One woman found her counters to contain 25 times the amount of radon considered safe by the EPA.

Story from the New York Times

If you are located in Portland, Oregon and looking for a place to live or work, Green Renter is a great resource. The niche site displays rental properties in an easy-to-navigate site and includes a map feature so you know exactly where the property is located.

Each listing includes all of the standard details about a property, as well as the “green” credentials that will appeal to users of the site.

Green Renter website

If you’ve always wanted to design your own home but can’t stomach the fees of a quality architect, FreeGreen can be a great resource. I say “can” because it’s not quite there yet. The site design and concept are excellent, but the depth of content is still light so the odds of finding your ideal plan are pretty slim.

However, it certainly deserves a spot in your bookmarks and checking back once in awhile is likely to pay off as new plans are added.

FreeGreen

Upon moving to the desert a few years ago I was concerned about the amount of water needed to maintain the lawn in our new backyard. Water usage is always a hot topic here and keeping a lush lawn through the summer seemed to be a bit wasteful. Not to mention, pushing the (electric) mower around the backyard (front yard is rocks) in 110 degree heat isn’t exactly a party.

At the suggestion of a local, I decided to investigate fake grass, something that I never would have thought of had she not just installed it at her house. This entailed a trip to the Synlawn showroom in Scottsdale and a bit of online research. In addition to my concerns about cost, I was also worried about it being tacky. However, they have lots of very nice pictures on their website and I figured that the Wynn in Las Vegas uses Synlawn so how bad could it be?

Well, according to various sources in a Wall Street Journal article, there are several issues that prospective buyers need to consider. Faux grass is made using recycled tires (good) but those tires also contain a list of potentially dangerous chemicals that you should be interacting with on a regular basis, lead is used during the production process and has led to several sports field being closed, and it can be up to 60 degrees hotter than natural grass. So my backyard could be up to 180 degrees during the summer? No thanks.

Story from the Wall Street Journal via MarketWatch

I’m a little leery of buying property in foreign countries, but for you adventurous types, home sites in the El Dorado Ranch development in Mexico appear to be a pretty sweet deal. Situated in Baja, El Dorado Ranch is a 35,000 acre community with half of that acreage dedicated to green space. Speaking of green, you won’t need much, as lots can be had for as little as $12,800.

Homeowners can choose from a select number of “solar lots”, green building materials, and the community golf course is irrigated sea water so as not to waste local drinking water.

El Dorado Ranch website

After searching all over the world for two years, LoooLo has come up with a combination of low-impact textiles for their line of blankets, cushions, and scarves. The line is made from Climatex yarns and felts, organic cotton, and Kapok. It’s so clean, you can even throw the blankets and cushions in the composter when you are done, though I’m not sure why throwing a $500 blanket or $200 pillow away sounds like such a good idea.

LoooLo website