Make Your Home Greener, Bit-By-Bit

Greensburg, Kan. sports a brand new, state-of-the-art arts center as its residents continue their valiant fight to rebuild their town in the wake of the massive tornado that roared through on May 4, 2007, pretty much wiping Greensburg from the face of the earth.

They're painting the town green as they do -- following a vision of making Greensburg the greenest town in the nation.

The 547 Arts Center, Early Show weather anchor and features reporter Dave Price pointed out from Greensburg Friday, is not only the greenest building in town, but in all of Kansas.

Of course, the arts center's builders had the "advantage" of starting from scratch.

But, if you're not looking to build something completely green and are wondering how you can just make your home a bit greener, Steve Thomas, host of the new show "Renovation Nation" on Planet Green, offered a few tips to Price and Early Showviewers.

Turn The Water Off When You Brush Your Teeth

This one's by far the easiest. So many people across the country don't do this -- and simply doing so can save four gallons a minute, or 1,000 gallons of water a year for the average family! Imagine hoe much the whole country could save. There's no reason not to turn off the water when you brush your teeth,

Use Low Or No VOC Paints

Price and Thomas approached Shane Engelken and Alexis Fleener, who are both members of the Green Club at Greensburg High School. The club teaches all about green building and green technologies and are planning on seeing to it that their town gets rebuilt completely green. VOC-free paints don't have any chemicals that emit gas. According to an article on Planet Green's Web site, "Most commercial paints release organic compounds that evaporate readily into the air. These volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which include benzene, toluene, naphthalene, methyl chloroform, and formaldehyde, have been fingered for contributing to sick building syndrome, as well as assorted short- and long-term adverse health effects, such as respiratory distress, birth defects, and cancer." To see the complete article, click here

Use Green Insulations

Thomas pointed to cellulose insulation -- ground-up newspaper that's sprayed into areas of your home, particularly attics, and is completely harmless and recycled. Another one: lcynene - a foam insulation that's 99 percent air and expands when sprayed. Thomas had some fun -- spraying plenty of the stuff on Price!