make-fruit-fly-trap / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Insects & Rodents, how to show them the door... Below is a list of some of the more common rodents and insects that invade homes, and some ideas on how to rid yourself of the offending guests. We would certainly advocate for the most humane and non-toxic solutions first, but we have included other options if the hi...

Who hasn't played in a huge pile of fallen leaves, all raked up vigorously into neat piles on the lawn on a beautiful autumn day? While it's a great fall activity for kids and dogs to enjoy, and makes for a nice-looking lawn and flower beds before winter, raking leaves may not be the best plan for the garden and in gen...

With so many of us being forced to work from home, this has brought many changes to our economy, our priorities and our lifestyles. Not only is there a sudden interest in how to set up a home office, but other green lifestyle choices are popping up; like growing food at home, and safe transportation in terms of commuti...

Let's be inspired, every day According to a recent survey sponsored by Google of more than 3,000 Americans by using a type of AI called natural language processing, which is where they cluster and analyze thousands of opinions by theme to identify how people felt about environmental issues.  The keyword for how we feel...

The cost of lumber is at an all time high, and because of that fact, other wall assemblies are showing themselves to be more affordable in comparison. So it’s a great time to highlight a few alternatives.  Standard residential home construction in most colder climates now involves 2x6s and fiberglass insulation batts. ...

It's always a bit sad to watch an old and seemingly healthy tree come down. But if it must, it's great to do something useful with it. This 110 year old pine tree in Chelsea, Quebec that was looming over two homes started to show signs of rot. With a new building project slated to go right underneath it, it was time to...

I'm not the Mike Reynolds who invented the Earthship, I'm the Mike Reynolds who thinks Earthships in Canada and other cold climates are a bad idea. A coincidence of names; just putting that out there so The Garbage Warrior doesn't get hate mail that belongs to me.  Where did the Earthship come from? It first showed up ...

A technical guide to understanding the role weather barriers and rainscreens play in a wall, choosing the right products and installation tips for optimum performance. They're officially known as water-resistive barriers or WRBs, sometimes weather-resistive barriers, but in practical terms they are more commonly called...

Coronavirus or COVID-19 is changing how we live, obliging us to practice social distancing and promoting fervent hand-washing. Until the latest developments in biosensor testing devices for viruses allow rapid on-site and accurate verification of coronavirus infection, the cleaner we can keep the surfaces in our homes,...

Siding installation The walls of your home are an environmental separator. Their job is to keep the inside in and the outside out. Exterior cladding or siding is your first line of defense against weather elements, and its job is to allow interior control layers (ie. the building envelope) to do their jobs without bei...

Seriously, no pun intended - it's just hard not to describe the cardboard Wikkelhouse as anything other than an extreme case of thinking outside of the box. It's like there is some kind of one-upmanship going on in the tiny house movement that has builders forever taking design and material use to new levels. Don't mis...