Sexy Home Renovations - Insulation!

I have been dreaming about renovating our bathrooms ever since we moved in 2 years ago. The house was built in 1982 and well the bathrooms look it.
But the thing is... they work. And yes I would like to update the style, but is that enough of a justification to take perfectly good things like tubs, shelves, counters and hooks and update them?

I have a Pintrest page and have even selected my recycled tile for the shower and floors. But I have a feeling any $ I have saved for this renovation will be going into something more practical and less beautiful.

Yesterday I had a free energy home inspection through Clean Energy Works. And well - our home is pretty efficient, but could be a lot better.  The big wins - Insulation in both our attic and in our flooring. Codes have changed since our house was built and a lot of heat is escaping through our inefficient roof and floors.

This process is one that I preach all the time in my work, so I should walk the talk in my personal life right?
So my bathrooms will wait, I'll buy a plant and call that my design update and focus on making my home more efficient. So next time company comes over, the crawl space and attic will be included in the house tour - I am going to want to showcase my new investment!

My sustainable home - kinda

It has been a dream of mine to have a home that was completely self sufficient. In that what we needed to run the house would come from the land itself.
Oh I was going to buy 10 acres of land - build a beyond eco house and become an advocate in my self affirming little home.
BUT - well lots of things happened. From not being able to get a building loan, to needing a home to live in, to a realistic evaluation of my time to "build" such home. SO... I know own a traditional home in the middle of town.

But the dream is not dead - there is so much opportunity in anyone's home to reduce your environmental impact - so the dream has been adjusted.
It has been a interesting journey to understand our impact as a family, what we have been able to change, what remains to be a challenge and what is in the pipeline.

WATER

Fortunately we live in a state that not only rains a lot, but one can capture your own water from your roof for use. The first thing we did was turn off the sprinklers.  They aren't needed 9 months out of the year. This alone along with our practices of full dishwasher, laundry, short showers and letting it mellow. means out water use is very low. In fact we don't come close to the minimum water charge on our bill thus paying only fees each month.

The next great project was putting in 3 - 50 gallon rain barrels off the south east side of the house. We were shocked to learn how fast they fill up - one rain storm and they were full. We use this water for watering trees and plants around the house.

ENERGY
This topic is in the pipeline list. Future projects include adding solar tubes to the bathrooms which have no windows and solar hot water... But that will be another year or so.

WASTE
This has been the most interesting topic for me. We have a great practice of reusing and recycling as much waste a possible. Such that we throwout maybe a 1/2 a garbage bag a week. And you know what is in it? Soft plastics... What I need to do is set up another bin for these and take them into Portland next time I go to recycle them since they can't be recycled here.

And we compost - we bought 2 composters so that one could be doing its composting thing while we use the other. Well with the yard work, the chicken shavings, grass and our kitchen compost - we have filled them both up.
We are lucky because Andy's parents live on a farm about 14 miles away and we end up taking all of our yard waste up there. But if we didn't we wouldn't have space for it.

FUN
We also got chickens for eggs and their manure for our garden.  We ripped up the front
lawn and put in raised beds and plants a fig and a plum tree.

All of these project have an impact for sure and we will keep going on other projects, but it is surprising, even to me, how reliant I am on the city for water, energy and hauling away my waste. It makes me think about how far away we are as a society from sustainability. BUT I like how it makes me think - what do I use, how can I use less, and how can my behaviors change to reduce my impact.
A work in progress and a journey worth taking.