With summer upon us, many are feeling the heat of pandemic life. Working from home, social distancing and other health precautions have meant canceled plans for millions of families and individuals. Even for those without trips planned, staying at home might get old. Luckily, you have options for getting away. Local travel with family or housemates can be a valuable breath of fresh air and change of scenery while still taking care of everybody’s health. Here are a few safe travel tips for the summer:
Most people are already familiar with the idea of avoiding peak travel times for the sake of convenience, but now you can do the same thing to stay safe. If possible, plan your getaway during the week or toward the end of a weekend. Avoid travel on large holidays when others are traditionally out and about. Look at the calendar and plan for times when you have less chance of encountering large groups of people. As a bonus, you might also avoid the traffic.
If you have the means, driving in your own car is the safest way to travel during a pandemic. Your personal vehicle is basically a social-distance structure that will keep you safely apart from others, even in gridlock traffic. Public transportation has always had its health risks, but now more so than ever it’s a good idea to avoid using it entirely if possible. Choose destinations you can drive, walk or bike to rather than take a bus or train.
Even with other people around, your health risks are far lower in the great outdoors. Find somewhere remote for a camping trip or plan a day at the beach. Hiking trails, parks and other outdoor locations with the potential for close-quarters interaction should be avoided on busy days. If you encounter others in your journey, keep up your social distancing and mask-wearing practices just in case. The fresh air and change of scenery will be worth the caution.
Rather than stay in a hotel, consider a private vacation rental. While many hotels have enacted strict sanitation and health precautions, you still are in a place with more people. A private apartment or house rental has not housed as many guests and might be even cleaner. This also gives you more opportunities to travel with pets if you have them. Inquire about cleaning and safety details before booking a stay so you know the measures the owner is taking to keep you healthy.
No matter where you go, it’s crucial to do your research beforehand. This goes not only for the travel plans but for the current state of your local area—city and state mandates, closures and other rules. A great place to start is with your local government travel agency. Get all the facts about what kind of travel is and isn’t allowed, as well as any areas of higher risk you might want to avoid. Following these tips will help you plan a vacation that is safe and healthy for everyone involved.
Photo by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay
Forty years ago every house had some paneling. Some more than others. Paneling can bring the look of natural wood and the great outdoors into a home. But unless your home is a cabin in the woods, chances are that's not what you're going for. Just like many home trends, paneling has fallen out of favor. And you're ready to replace it.
Removing it is the easy part. What to do next is where many get stuck. We're here to help with how to prepare your wall in the four most common wall condition scenarios.
If you were lucky, when you removed the wood paneling, you found that you have drywall back there. And they nailed the paneling to it rather than gluing it, so you could quickly get it off.
If the drywall is in good shape, you're ready to:
And you're ready to paint.
*Note* If you find dark paint like black, hunter green or cranberry, you'll need a special primer to prime over it.
If the panels were glued, you have a little more to do here. The paper face of the drywall may have come off, sometimes in chunks.
You might be able to salvage it. But you'll probably be much happier if you just skin it. That means you'll hang a very thin (1/4") drywall over the existing drywall.
If you find nasty wallpaper or hard-to-peel paint back there, your best bet is to skin the wall just like we did for glued panels. Follow the instructions above.
In rare instances, you may have started pulling paneling and there's no drywall back there. In this case, you have a larger drywall project and may want to defer to professionals.
For more home projects you can DIY to improve the look and feel of your home, follow our blog.
Every room inside your home provides you with an opportunity to adopt a fresh, green lifestyle. When you focus on each individual room within your home, you can quickly create a sustainable space to live and grow.
These tips can help you improve every room in your house until you have a created an eco-friendly home:
The bathroom is the perfect place to begin your new, eco-friendly adventure. As one of the most frequently used rooms in your house, it also can be the biggest drain on your resources. These tips can help you improve the sustainability of your bathroom:
The kitchen is another room in the home that has a lot of potential when it comes to sustainability. Here are a few ways that you can make your kitchen into the most eco-friendly spot in your house:
The bedroom is not usually the first place that people look to when they want to create an eco-friendly home, but there are a lot of ways to transform your bedroom into a green space. Here are a few ideas to consider:
Your living room should be a relaxing space where you can be yourself. In order to feel good about reading, writing or watching TV in your living room, you should make it an environmentally-friendly area. Here are a few ways to get started:
It's important to remember that you do not have to transform your home into an eco-friendly haven in a matter of days or weeks. By breaking down your sustainability goals into bite-sized chunks, you will be able to better manage the small steps that will help you accomplish your long-term targets.
