Making an Old Home Green
Few of us have the resources to build a more energy-efficient house from the ground up. So, I set out to make my home as environmentally sound as I could in every aspect.

30 Ways You Are Saving The Earth
Gaiam Life members share what they're doing to reduce their impact on the environment and making a difference by fighting climate change, reducing their waste and helping others join the cause.

How to Get Green Energy for Your Home and Save Money
Tips on how to shrink your footprint and support renewable energy development by buying green power, whether you’re ready to go solar or just dipping your toe in. From the new book Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach.

7 Ways to Go a Little Greener this Earth Day
Going green can be as easy as recycling, composting, unplugging your appliances and buying green power from your utilities company.

How Clean Is Clean Coal?
Through technological wizardry, the coal industry hopes to keep coal, the source of more than half of all U.S. electricity, a big part of our energy picture. But what is clean coal, and is it really clean?

It’s Easy to Get Greener: Q&A with Ed Begley, Jr.
Actor-activist Ed Begley, Jr., talks about his favorite ways for anyone to live greener, based on his real life that’s just oddball enough to be the topic of HGTV's “Living with Ed."

'Garbage Warrior' Turns Trash Into Green-Built Houses
Renegade architect Michael Reynolds transforms beer cans, tires and soda bottles into unique homes with tiny power bills. The subject of the Earth Cinema Circle film 'Garbage Warrior,' Reynolds talked with Gaiam about how green homes can help the fight against global warming.

Utopian Intentional Community Has Thrived for 30 Years
A tour of the intentional community Damanhur, a 'social experiment' whose local economy, utopian values, and environmental sustainability have worked for 30 years.

Van Jones: Green Jobs Are His Mission
Yale Law grad Van Jones and his nonprofit catalyzed the Green Jobs Act, providing $120 million a year to train workers for jobs in solar and renewable energy.

On the Clean Road Again: Willie Nelson on Biodiesel
Music artist, actor and biodiesel maverick Willie Nelson shares his recipe, instructions and justifications for making biodiesel in this excerpt from his book ‘On the Clean Road Again.’

Can Local Energy Save Us? Ideas from 'Deep Economy'
Bill McKibben makes the case for community-based power including solar and wind energy, noting why it's more efficient, better for the economy, and less vulnerable to attacks and blackouts. From 'Deep Economy.'

Going Green Pays: Tax Incentives for Eco Choices
How to collect on eight different federal tax credits, rebates and incentives for buying green — from better windows and insulation a hybrid car, solar electric system or solar powered water heater.

Climate Change: 25 Things You Can Do
An action-inspiring list from “An Inconvenient Truth” producer Laurie David. These 25 steps will help you reduce your carbon footprint and help mitigate climate change.

Retired Couple Goes Solar to Retire Big Utility Bills
As Richard and Jackie Holmes head into their golden years, they're getting a little help from golden energy. Their solar electric system has substantially lowered their "hideously high? utility bill -- but the couple says their decision to go solar was rooted in something deeper.

Al Gore Hits Home with 'An Inconvenient Truth' and Defends His Own Energy Usage
The sparks over the Gores' electric meter readings in Nashville are unsurprising: The title of the book and film comes from Gore's views on how the current administration is dealing with global warming. Regardless of the controversy, 'An Inconvenient Truth' is remarkable partly because Gore proves such an entertaining storyteller.

Solarizing Can Pay Off in More Ways than One
Converting your home's power source to solar reduces pollutants and greenhouse gases, as well as fossil fuel dependence. But did you know it can also reap paybacks in the form of cash rebates, tax incentives, energy savings and higher real estate values?

Going Solar in Sun-drenched SoCal
For southern California residents Kathy and Kevin Hayes, a new home was the catalyst to go solar.

Energy Conservation: A No Brainer
The cheapest, most cost-effective way to increase energy supplies under contemporary conditions is through simple acts of conservation. Gaiam Real Goods founder John Schaeffer offers perspective on why none of us can afford not to use less energy.

Spirit of the Sun: The Making of John Schaeffer's Eco-Home
How solar energy and eco-living pioneers John Schaeffer and Nancy Hensley built the home they'd always dreamed of -- a home that honors the earth and the pioneering spirit of their company, Gaiam Real Goods.

4 Pointers on Making Your Dream Home a Green Home
"You don't have to live in a grass shack to live sustainably," says green- and natural-building expert Dan Chiras. "You can live well while living lightly." Read on Chiras' advice for siting your home, choosing green building materials, integrating passive solar, and sidestepping three common green building mistakes.

Want to Live Greener? The Solar Living Institute Is Your University
SLI has taught more than 1,000 workshops, imbuing 25,000 students with practical, hands-on knowledge of solar and other renewable energy technologies. But beyond its practicality as an education center, SLI is an inspiring example of the benefits and beauty of living green.

Paradise Found: Caribbean Resort Owners Harness Sun Power
Mike and Petagay Hartman took great care to have the least possible impact on the ecosystem of San Andros Island in the Bahamas. Their award-winning premier eco-travel destination is the Caribbean's only full-service, 100% solar-powered resort.

Solar Keeps Slawson Place Powered Up During Katrina
Bart Slawson shocked many fellow Alabamians when he became the first person in the state to power his home with energy from the sun in 2001. But when Hurricane Katrina showed up last summer, it was his turn to be surprised. Solar kept his home powered up during and in the wake of Katrina -- when thousands of other Alabama residents had no power.

Sustainable Home Alabama: Striving for solar power in the heart of Dixie
In 2001, Bart Slawson heard a lot of people say, "You can't do that." An environmental lawyer in Birmingham, Alabama (a phrase that seems like an oxymoron to most), he decided to equip his 2,500 sq. ft. house with a PV system. At the time, no other residence in Alabama produced power from the sun.

Sell Power Back to Your Electric Company
About net metering, the best deal on selling excess power from a home solar-electric or other renewable energy system.

Go Tankless: Hot Water on Demand
Never take another cold shower! Get hot water instantly when you turn on the faucet -- and save both money and precious water. You can even get a tax credit.

How Much Power Will You Need from Your Solar Electric System?
Pointers on estimating the output capacity you'll need from a photovoltaic system to run your household using solar power. Excerpted from the Gaiam Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook.

4 Ways to Triple the Life of Solar-Electric System Batteries
With regular cleanings, water top-off and equalizations, you can triple the life of the batteries that store power as part of your photovoltaic (PV) system. Here?s how.

Toasting Solar in Sonoma County
When you ask clinical psychologist Harvey Hoefer why he and his physician wife, Lisa Carr, decided to install a solar system, his answer is, essentially, why not? In this day and age, "Why doesanyone not go solar?" he asks. This family's solar electric system powers their Sonoma County, Calif., home and a pump that helps irrigate their 10 acres of organic cabernet grapes.

About Inverters: Route sun power to your AC outlets
Inverters turn the DC power created by collecing sun power in solar panels into AC power you can use in your home to power standard appliances, electronics, etc. Here's a quick summary of how inverters work.

'Full-Tilth' Family Goes Solar
"It's thrilling to see the electric meter spinning backwards and fun for the kids to see the sun's energy harnessed on our own property," says Park Guthrie. How he and his family went solar not only as a smart environmental and energy-saving decision, but also as a way to live in tune with their organic gardening nonprofit's core commitments.

What's it going to cost me to go solar?
Three easy steps to get a ballpark calculation.

Celebrated Environmental Activist Roy Young Goes Solar
Boulder, Colo., resident Roy Young and his wife Rosa Venezia recently added to their list of environmental good works by converting their home to run entirely on PV.

Inner-City Kids Get Down with Eco-Responsibility at SLI
Seeds of hope and change were planted as 50 inner-city kids from San Francisco's Bret Harte School took a cost-free field trip to learn about renewable energy and how they make a difference to the future of the planet and all the life it sustains.