All those years ago, Kermit may have had a point. But times have changed and these days it couldn't be easier to be green - especially in the most eco-friendly of the big cities, Chicago! Celebrate this Earth Day by taking a minute to think about your home and whether or not it might leave a big, gaping environmental footprint after you're gone. If you're looking for a new home, buying green is easy! According to the National Association of Home Builders new homes consume less than two-thirds the energy of older homes, per square foot. And if you have no plans to leave the home you've been in for years - fear not, Earth-lovers! Here are some easy tips to help you re-green your home!

Looking for a home that's as eco-chic as you are? Then maybe it's time to head out to Aurora and check out the latest from Bigelow Homes. HomeTown Aurora, an established community in the western Chicago suburb, is making it easier than ever to reduce your family's carbon footprint without sacrificing style. One of the latest additions to HomeTown is the Reserves, a neighborhood within a neighborhood, dedicated to green living.

In the world of home-ownership, curb appeal is king. And even if you're not selling, let's face it - you'd love your lawn to be the envy of the neighborhood, wouldn't you? Here's a few tips on how to keep your lawn looking luscious while you stay green - sans the harsh chemicals you may have used in the past.

"Green" is the buzz word. Actually, I'd say it's been used ad nauseum the last couple of years. So, even though you're probably as sick of hearing it as I am saying it - it's still worth paying attention to! And Chicago is. So, if you're looking for a new home and being green is important to you, you can find everything you need right here in the city with the big shoulders and chartreuse ideals (trying it on for size...it doesn't quite have the same ring as "green" though, does it?) Either way, HGTV has named Chicago one of the best places to live if you're into saving the earth!

We're all looking for ways to lower our bills and still, somehow, continue to enjoy the lifestyles to which we've become accustomed. So, if you're building or renovating a home right now, there's good news for you. Adding energy-efficient products and parts to your house is a great way to not only save on your monthly power and water bills - but also to add some built-in appeal to your home when you put it on the market in the future. Some ideas?

As the weather cools off, many people's thoughts are preoccupied with how to manage home heating costs this winter. So, here's this week's energy-saving tip:
Clean your windows!
Did you know that cleaner windows can lower your home heating costs?

Did you know that even if you have newer, energy efficient appliances, you can still do more to make sure that they're saving you money on your electric bill?
Major appliances need to be properly maintained to keep up their highest level of efficiency. For example, you know that grill at the bottom of your refrigerator? It's not just for show, that's where the coils are which release the warm air that's been removed from the inside of the fridge. When it gets clogged with dust and lint, the refrigerator has to work harder to cool the food inside - which translates to more money on your electric bill. So, use a vacuum to clean it once a month and keep those bills down.

As things are cooling off outside, the inside of your home is probably ready for a little heat-up, courtesy of your furnace. You may not be mentally ready yet for the official start of the cold season, but it won't be too long before we'll all be cranking the heat while huddled underneath the afghan grandma crocheted, all the while complaining that it's still too cold. (Or is that just me?)
Either way, now's time to take a look at your furnace and your duct work to make sure that when you turn the that thermostat up, you only pay for the heat you're using.

Okay, so it looks like we might get some warmer temperatures over the next few days but admit it - this week has probably reminded you that what's coming might not be pretty. I'm talking about Chicago's frigid winter temps, gusty winds and general "I-don't-want-to-get-out-of-my-warm-bed" misery. We've got enough problems in the winter without worrying about what we're going to spend on heating the house, right? One way to lower your home heating cost in the coming months is to use your ceiling fans! Sound crazy? Well, guess what - they're made for winter too!

If you're still off your game after a week of it getting dark before 5 o'clock, then join the club. It will take some time to get used to the change, but you can make the transition easier on your home's energy bills by putting timers on the lights you use most. Timers are easy to use, only cost a few bucks and add convenience to your life - and money to your bank account!

It would appear that more and more people these days are recognizing the importance of upgrading their home's appliances and features to be more energy efficient and sustainable. The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Living Green Consumer Survey found that of 2,300 consumers, about half have paid more money for an energy efficient product in the past 12 months and one in three homeowners claim they would be willing to spend $5,000 or more on green improvements to increase a home’s appeal to potential buyers.

As the weather turns more and more winter-like, keeping track of where you might be losing heat in your home is important if you plan to cut down on those energy bills. Cracks and poor sealing around windows is a very common place to lose heat.

Ahhh, the beauty of direct bill pay. You never have to see a utility bill; the money just magically disappears from your account and voila! Bill paid. It's a wonderful convenience (not to mention the paper it saves) but it also allows us to ignore what we're spending each month on our utilities. One cost that we commonly overlook is our water bill. Sure, we tend to spend more on gas and electric, but that's no reason to keep spending more than you need to. The amount you shell out on H2o every month can be reduced with just a few minutes worth of effort.

Here's another tip to save some energy and cash at home:

Adding a low-emittance coating to your windows will help keep the heat inside during the cold winter! Low-E film coatings are available at most hardware stores and you can even apply them yourself.

Why is it that while most of us find it totally acceptable to be fashionably late, the blustery winter season always finds it necessary to blow in early? Well, despite what the calendar says, winter is here. Like it or not. And this weekend's temps will prove it. So, while the wind is howling outside and you're tucked into your warm home, make sure that you're not losing heat to this cruel season. It doesn't take long to seal up your windows and doors - where you lose as much as 10% of your heating bill!

While many homes languish on the market for many months, some sell so quickly you'd think the market is flourishing. So, what is it that sets these homes apart? One thing that more and more buyers are looking for these days is an indication that the home is GREEN. Meaning, something that the seller has done to the home has made it more eco-friendly, energy efficient and will likely save the new owner money in the long run.

Already fretting about your monthly heating bills? If so, you might be in for a very loooong winter...but there is something you can do about it (and no, I don't mean throwing the bills away and pretending you never got them...that could get you into trouble.)

The number one way to save money on your heating bills is to keep the heat in your home - how, you ask? Insulation!

Green power can be produced in any number of ways; wind or solar power, hydro power and many more. The trick is finding out how to get it from your local provider. But with the Department of Energy's Green Power Network, it's now easier than ever.

Find green power in your area after the jump...

It's been a rough winter so far and it's only January. Not to be Debbie Downer, but I don't think I'm telling you anything you haven't already figured out for yourself - we have a long couple of months ahead of us! As each new sub-zero spell sets in, we're all looking for better ways to stay warm - without breaking the bank. One simple way to keep the heat in on those frigid nights is with blackout curtains.

More info after the jump...

How often do you change your pillow? It's probably not something you think about too much. But every year, millions of pillows are tossed into landfills, taking up lots of space and taking a lot of time to break down. Something to keep in mind the next time you replace your pillow and find yourself with one to toss. There's really no good way to throw an old pillow out, but there are plenty of ways to repurpose them.

Check out how after the jump...

Is your home always too cold and yet the a/c keeps kicking on despite the fact that you have the thermostat set at what should be a comfortable level? If so, you might want to take a look at where your builder placed your thermostat. A thermostat in direct sunlight all day or one near warm-running appliances may sense that the house is warmer than it actually is, thus causing your a/c (or in a reverse situation, your heat) to kick on when it doesn't need to.

In honor of Earth Day (April 22nd), HomesPlus is going green. We always try to bring you the hottest green design ideas and tips on greening your home, but this weekend we are 100% earth-loving, tree-hugging, all about eco-chic - GREEN! You'll see which new community has a commitment to the earth, what new-to-Chicago organization saves tear-downs from landfills, tour Chicago's greenest home and get some fantastic new eco-friendly design ideas.

Watch this weekend, Saturday @ 9am & 1pm and Sunday @ 9am!

With Earth Day around the corner, I've set out to find fantastic design ideas that qualify as "green." And as we all know, using something that already exists as opposed to buying new is super eco-friendly. One of my new favorite places to find home treasures is the Rebuilding Exchange in Chicago. Maybe it's the hunt that gets me. I don't know, but this place is a warehouse full of home items that are screaming for some creativity - and some are so unique you probably wouldn't find them in the store if you tried. And of course, they've all been salvaged from Chicagoland tear-downs, so you may as well be hugging a tree.

My pick today - circular windows...

If you're renovating or straight-out tearing down your home, then you might want to consider donation as an alternative to demolition. Yes, I know it's fun to see that wrecking ball smash through the walls, but consider this: the average home weighs about 80 tons and Chicago leads the country when it comes to tear-downs that end up in landfills. That's a lot of building materials buried beneath trash. But there is a local organization you can call to deconstruct your home, instead of demolishing it.

If you just checked out the show and you're inspired to spend the rest of your weekend doing some shopping for your home, take a look at these places to find the items that you saw on HomesPlus -

Technology changes pretty much every five minutes and we all want to hop on the latest, coolest tech-trend, which means a lot of household electronics end up in landfills with the rest of our discarded trash. But when you're spring cleaning this weekend, there's a better way to get rid of your out-of-date computers, monitors and PDAs. Recycle them!

Normally in our Green Scene blog, we would hand out some tips on saving energy at home; but you all know about CFLs and you're probably no stranger to the energy-saving benefits of light timers and ceiling fans, so we're expanding a bit this week.

In honor of the cool summer we've been having (which makes for some pleasant outdoor relaxing), we're heading to the roof to find out if the "green roofs" that keep popping up in new construction are environmentally green...or just colored that way.

So, the big question is: can green roofs really help the environment?

Answer: Yes - in a number of ways.

First of all, green roofs collect rain water while regular roofs are designed to let rain water run off the building. The green roofs use living plants and grasses on top of a building to absorb, collect and reuse rainwater while preventing runoff. Plus, it's pretty.

Which brings me to reason #2 green roofs are beneficial to the environment. All of those lovely, colorful plants up there are actually functional. They help curb the urban heat island effect. Large metropolitans like Chicago can be significantly warmer than the surrounding, less populated areas. Adding green space to your roof helps to alleviate this in a couple of ways: it absorbs the sun's heat, meaning your home actually stays cooler and it filters pollutants like carbon dioxide out of the air.

We've all heard of Habitat for Humanity, and I'm sure most believe it to be a great organization. But I'd be willing to bet that most haven't ever actually worked on someone else's home. In fact, probably very few of us have actually swung a hammer on site, helping to build someone else's dream house. If you love the idea of Habitat, but aren't into the manual labor part, it's time you discovered the ReStore.

There are several Chicagoland locations, but the one in Elgin is the largest with 40,000 square feet of inventory - all donated from homeowners or businesses' overstock. You can find new and old home items - from marble fireplace mantles to the tape measures you'll need to be sure your new stuff will fit - as well as some odd pieces like hotel lock-and-key mini-bars (donated from a hotel under construction) or a sailboat (that one has already been snatched up).

The idea behind the ReStore is that all of the profits go to actually building Habitat homes in the Northern Fox Valley area. But the ReStore's director, Jeremy Keen, says it's also a way to give back to the rest of the community by offering low-cost options for people to fix up their homes. The store has also kept about 2,000 tons of home materials from ending up in a landfill. And what's greener than giving used items new life?

Check out the ReStore this weekend on HomesPlus!
Saturday @ 9am & 1pm and Sunday @ 9am

This morning on the Today Show, Jean Chatzky tested out a power monitoring device which actually talked to her power meter to measure in real time how much power she was using - and exactly how much money it was costing per hour. The top culprits? The washer and dryer cost more to run per hour than the other appliances she had running, but what she found was that when she went through the house and turned off the lights and unplugged the appliances she wasn't using (even the chargers that were plugged in but not actually charging something), she cut her hourly charges from $1.33 down to $ .32...that's major savings over the course of the month and year.

By picking up one of these handy little devices you can get a really good estimate of how much money you waste at home by leaving lights on, or leaving appliances that you don't always use plugged in. As we kick off this holiday season, what a great gadget to add to your list so that by this time next year, you've got hundreds of extra dollars to spend on your holiday shopping for 2010!

Check out the video, below.

Plants are a beautiful thing - not only do they look good and add a little bit of life to a room (if they are, ahem, alive), but there are certain plants that are stellar at cleaning the air we breathe. According to Christie Matheson, author of Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style, "Not only are plants kinda pretty, but they help eliminate toxins...from your interior."

Here are a few that will give you style points and cleaner air:

Gerber Daisies – they reduce formaldehyde levels
Chrysanthemums – they reduce benzene and trichloroethylene levels
Orchids – they reduce xylene and toluene levels
English Ivy – reduces benzene levels
Bamboo – reduces formaldehyde levels

Sounds like there are a lot of people out there looking for a place to find great deals on home items - we know because all day we've been fielding calls and emails asking for more information about the home store we featured on the show this past weekend - The Rebuilding Exchange. So, here's the information and remember - bring your measurments and your truck to haul away your new goods!

The Rebuilding Exchange
3335 W 47th Street
Chicago, IL 60632
773.847.3761