I'm trying/hoping to do it all! We are in the process of rebuilding a small weekend home that was destroyed last year in Hurricane Irene. Before our house was demolished, I recycled/donated to charity everything I could, although appliances were not, because we were told that the insulation would have soaked up the flood waters with unknown toxins, bacteria, mold, etc brewing in them. So the energy star appliances will be ordered, we were already recycling and composting, we are even reusing a few doors and timber posts, and rebuilding in the same footprint of the house, so we can still use the same septic and well. We had already wanted to keep the house small, but now it is the exact same footprint because it would have been extremely expensive to have to replace the septic and well. Cost is the biggest challenge. Right now I am trying to find the least expensive eco-friendly flooring, (and that's what I checked off) which I think will end up being Marmoleum linoleum, but even that is more expensive than what was budgeted. It is definitely a challenge. It's exciting, and nerve wracking, and challenging, and we will be compromising along the way, but working to get the most eco-friendly home we can afford.

A strip of high quality artificial grass....no mowing, no watering, no weeds when laid on the properly prepared 6” layer of pounded sand. I have it in my small Los Angeles front yard....nice and green with no maintenance. They removed the real grass and roots (about 6” down), filled it with sand, watered and weight-rolled the sand to compact it, laid the “grass”, and nailed the edges into the sand with 8” nails (they rust and hold the “grass” in place), and added one last sprinkle of sand before raking it. Several neighbors were so impressed they did their own yards, too.

"We don't compost because the process puts the maximum amount of METHANE into the air." No, it doesn't......well, not if you do it properly. Landfills, where stuff gets buried and is prevented from contact with oxygen in the environment, is where a lot of methane is produced. But if you (or your municipality) composts properly, turning the decomposing material frequently to allow proper exposure to air and making sure it doesn't dry out, then only a very minimal amount of methane is produced or released. No biologic body will stay inert, so get that idea out of your head. Depriving that old banana peel of oxygen in the landfill allows it to decompose in an anerobic environment, thereby producing vastly more methane.

I am a farmer and my husband and I regularly uses all manner of chemicals on our paddocks as do most non organic farmers so that we can get the most out of the crops. I fully understand your concerns but it is unfortunately, the nature of the beast that people want hay and crops without weeds. My husband has done a chemical users course and has been trained in the correct use of the chemicals he both uses and doesn't use and I believe is very well informed. Have either of you done a course??...just read internet information? If you were a broadacre farmer, you might as well sell up as not use chemicals unfortunately!! I haven't told anyone that they must use glyphosate, my response came from questions asked.