The main beach on Koh Tao is Sairee Beach. It is a long stretch of white sand that is west facing and so gets a wonderful sunset. It is the main commercial hub of the island and as a consequence has the best amenities and facilities but also the most parties. For those looking for peaceful nights falling asleep to the sound of the waves lapping on the shore Sairee Beach might not be ideal.

Ao Tanote or Tanote Bay, however, is. It is a medium sized beach on the east cost of Koh Tao and it is accessed by a road that is only partially concreted. It is a bumpy journey over mountainous and jungle terrain to reach the beach.

For those who make it, they are presented with a beautiful white sand beach backed by the jungle. Here people can quietly enjoy their holiday far from the madding crowds of Sairee Beach. Ao Tanote is not a deserted beach but it is a relaxing beach. People go to Tanote beach to unwind and explore the marine life.

Just off the beach there are a number of corals and rocks around which snorkelers can spot fusiliers, rabbit fish, triple tail wrasse and number of other colorful fish. There are also two dive shops on Ao Tanote. The bay is a shallow dive and coral trout and 6 banded angel fish can be easily spotted.

There are plenty of accommodation options spread out along Ao Tanote – something for every budget. There are also restaurants, bars and shops. Everything you need is at Tanote beach except for the noise.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet. Although it is classified as a grass it more closely resembles a wood because it is hard, strong and has a natural grain. Bamboo only takes 5 to 7 years to reach maturity and can be grown organically. Moreover, there are species of bamboo native to all continents except for Europe and Antarctica. This is the main consumer advantage of bamboo – it can be grown quickly enough to keep up with consumer demand. Sustainability means that the future is assured for a resource.

Bamboo is a flexible material that can be pressed together to make a timber like material that can be used to make such things as strand woven bamboo flooring, cutting boards, bowls, placemats and even furniture. Many items in the home that were traditionally made of hardwood can be replaced by bamboo items that are equally as attractive and equally as practical.

There are also a number of properties to bamboo that makes it of particular use to the consumer. Bamboo is antimicrobial, anti fungal and antibacterial. It is also hypoallergenic. Thus, it is perfect for people who suffer from allergies or who need safe and sterile surroundings.

Bamboo charcoal is useful as a water filter. It can also be used as an air-freshener and a dehumidifier. The charcoal from bamboo is also useful as an aid to good health because it emits far infrared rays that promote cell growth.

When bamboo charcoal is made into soap it cleans better than regular soap and is a proven treatment for acne and eczema.

Finally, bamboo vinegar is a popular natural detox option. Bamboo vinegar foot detox patches do a great job of drawing out the toxins from the body to promote better health.

It is surely clear that bamboo is not just the darling of the environmentalists because it is a renewable resource: it is a material with several useful properties. Using bamboo is one of the few chances we have to make sure consumer society can continue well into the future.

The history of the green roof goes back hundreds of years to when the Vikings put turf on their roofs to improve insulation and make their homes warmer during the harsh Scandinavian winters. The idea became popular again in the 1960s in Germany. Since then green roofs have spread all over the world, particularly in urban centers where the benefits of a green roof are more evident in a milieu where available land is limited and expensive.

There are two types of green roof: intensive and extensive. An intensive green roof has deeper soil, irrigation systems and holds heavier vegetation and possibly a pond for grey water recycling. An extensive green roof has a shallower layer of soil and holds lighter vegetation. Intensive green roofs are usually found on bigger high rise buildings and extensive green roofs are suitable for home owners since the roof doesn’t need to be reinforced.

The advantages of green roofs are that they reduce heating costs in the winter because they add insulation to a building. In summer they reduce cooling costs because the vegetation on the roof provides natural cooling with the evaporation of morning dew and rain.

Furthermore, green roofs provide space in a city for the growing of food. This cuts down on the carbon costs of bringing food into a city and of course means free food for individual home owners.

Green roofs also increase biodiversity in a city and provide natural habitat for birds and insects. They also help to recycle carbon emissions and produce oxygen. The plant mass also helps to filter pollution in the air from cars and factories.

At present in Germany 10% of roofs are now green. It is no surprise because Germany leads the world in environmentally friendly innovation. If you have a flat roof you should consider making your own green roof.

The Lux Products TX9000TS is suitable for most HVAC systems including central air, hot water, gas, electric, single stage heat pumps and Millivolt systems. It is easy to install and has a large, mercury free touchscreen for programming. The programming is intuitive and easy to understand and the touchscreen is responsive.

This digital programmable thermostat gives the user 4 periods to set up for each day of the week. By matching the heating and cooling with the schedules of the occupants of a house savings of up 30% can be made on heating and cooling bills.

There are also a number of useful features on the Lux Products TX9000TS. These include swing control that lets the user set up a range around the set point temperature within which the heating/cooling is not activated. This is an important function to stop short cycling.

Also, this touchscreen thermostat has smart recovery that makes sure the desired temperature is reached at the commencement of a programmed period. This means you never wake up to a cold house in the morning.

The thermostat also has temporary override to make quick changes to room temperature and vacation mode that puts the HVAC on a timer so the user comes home from holiday to a comfortable house.

Finally, the Lux Products TX9000TS digital thermostat has a keyboard lockout that protects the settings. If you read reviews of the Lux Products TX9000TS you will notice that it is a reliable and accurate device that has improved the home comfort of countless satisfied customers.

Every one and a half acres of rainforest are lost every second. Obviously not all hardwood chopping boards once were trees in a rainforest but this fact is indicative of how endangered trees have become. We need to protect all trees and use them for our needs sparingly. It seems ludicrous to chop down trees to make kitchenware such as chopping boards.

It also seems bad husbandry to use depleting supplies of oil to make plastic chopping boards. A great alternative is bamboo because it is a renewable resource. Bamboo takes only 5 to 7 years to reach full height. It can be grown without pesticides or fertilizers. Moreover, bamboo doesn’t drain the soil: far from it, bamboo helps to stop top soil erosion.

One of the companies that make bamboo chopping board is Totally Bamboo. It is a company that only uses bamboo that is grown in an environmentally friendly way. It doesn’t use bamboo that is the food or habitat of the Giant panda. Totally Bamboo uses bamboo grown under the auspices of Fair Trade agreements.

To make bamboo chopping boards bamboo culms are flattened and glued together end grain style. Totally Bamboo chopping boards don’t use formaldehyde, stains or dyes. Patterns are created by using carbonized bamboo. This means the patterns are throughout the entire board and so the boards can be sanded without affecting the design.

Totally Bamboo chopping boards are completely safe for food preparation. They are as hard as ash chopping boards and don’t blunt knives. Their bamboo chopping boards if correctly maintained can last a life time. And finally, their chopping boards are competitively priced.

The Honeywell RTH221B is a programmable thermostat that has managed to get the Energy Star seal of approval. This is a guarantee that the thermostat will help you reduce heating and cooling bills and also reduce carbon emissions from power stations at the same time. Energy Star was set up by the US Environmental Protection Agency so a recommendation from Energy Star has government backing.

The reason why the Honeywell RTH221B is so cheap is because it is a basic thermostat. Unlike 7 day thermostats or 5-1-1 devices it has only 1 program to set up. This 1 program is for every day of the week. For people who are retired and keep regular hours this is no problem. The same is probably true for people who work from home. For those who have to leave the house to go to work this thermostat can also be effective, if a few minutes are spent occasionally changing the program.

The single program consists of 4 periods – wake, leave, return and sleep. If any of these periods are not needed it is easy to skip them. By matching these periods with your movements you greatly reduce your bills – in some cases by as much 30%.

The Honeywell RTH221B thermostat is in a vertical style which is unusual for modern programmable thermostats. This vertical shape fits the hole left by old mercury thermostats.

There is a digital display on the thermostat and it has a hold button that lets you suspend your settings and change the room temperature quickly. The new temperature is maintained until you press the hold button again or a new programmed period is reached.

Because of the price of the Honeywell RTH221B Basic Programmable Thermostat it is worth reading reviews because you might find this device is suitable for you. If it is you will save not only money on your purchase but also on future heating and cooling bills.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet. In just 1 day it can grow 60 cm or 24 inches. In just 5 to 7 years bamboo matures and is ready to harvest. For this reason bamboo is called a renewable resource. It can be cultivated quickly enough to keep up with demand. This is in contrast to hardwood trees that take over 100 years to mature.

Furthermore, bamboo requires less water than trees and produces more oxygen. Bamboo can be grown organically thanks to the ‘kun’ substance in bamboo that makes it naturally antimicrobial, antibacterial and anti fungal.

It is these three qualities of bamboo that are also present in bamboo shades. They make bamboo shades great for people with health issues as they naturally repel pests and pathogens.

Curtains and fabric window treatments are unhealthy because they provide suitable living conditions for dust mites. It is the excrement from dust mites that is one of the main triggers for allergic rhinitis. To clean curtains you have to take them down and send them to be dry-cleaned. The chemicals used in dry cleaning include VOCs that are bad for the health.

In contrast, bamboo shades just need wiping down with a damp cloth once a week. And if you do want to take down bamboo shades they are much less hassle than curtains.

Finally, bamboo shades let in a soft mellow light that is easy on the eye and relaxing. They provide privacy because you can see out through the blind but you cannot see in. They are the perfect way to get ventilation and privacy in a home in the summer. Bamboo shades are the healthy window option that shouldn’t be quickly dismissed if you are looking for suitable window treatments for your home.

One of the advantages of buying a Honeywell RTH7500D is that it is compatible with most HVAC systems. It can regulate central air, heating only, cooling only, hot water, electric furnaces, 750 Millivolt systems and up to 2 stages of heating and 2 stages of cooling. It can also manage single and multi stage heat pumps. Moreover, with the Honeywell RTH7500D you have the option to power the device from either batteries or the mains.

The Honeywell RTH7500D allows you set up 4 periods of heating for each day of the week. By matching these periods with your schedule you make your home a lot more energy efficient and make considerable savings on your bills.

For added home comfort the Honeywell RTH7500D also has smart response technology that learns how long it takes to pre-heat or pre-cool a room so at the start of a programmed period the room is the desired temperature.

Another great feature is auto change-over. This function detects the changing of the seasons and automatically switches between heating and cooling to make sure the set point temperature is always maintained.

If there is a change in time due to daylight saving the Honeywell RTH7500D will automatically make adjustments and if there is a power blackout the thermostat will retain your programmed settings.

Lastly, the thermostat is easy to install. If you do run into difficulties there is a Honeywell helpline that you can call and they will quickly solve the problem for you. Programming is via soft buttons on the front of the device. There is a large backlit display for you to check your settings.

Reviews of the Honeywell RTH7500D are overwhelmingly positive. This is a thermostat that does what it says it will do and won’t let you down.

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The Hunter 44550 Auto Save 7 Day Programmable Thermostat costs as little as $40 if you buy it online; and the Lux Products TX1500E Smart Temp Programmable Thermostat at the time of writing (February 2011) costs just under $40. To some people these prices might seem attractive, to others such prices set alarm bells ringing.

To assure consumers that both the Lux Product TX1500E Smart Temp and the Hunter 44550 are both reliable and accurate the devices come with the all important Energy Star approval rating. And for further piece of mind they also come with a 1 year warranty.

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The main difference between the two thermostats is that the Lux Products TX1500E is a 5-1-1 device and the Hunter 44550 Auto Save is a 7 day thermostat. This means that the Lux Products TX1500E has only 3 programs to set up: weekdays, Saturday and Sunday. The Hunter 44550 gives the user a program for each day of the week. Both, however, offer 4 different periods of heating/cooling per program slot. For people with regular weekday schedules the Lux TX1500E is powerful enough to match the indoor climate with the comings and goings of the inhabitants of a house. If you have a more varied weekday schedule the Hunter 44550 is better.

In terms of functions the two thermostats are similar. Both have temporary hold, vacation mode, swing control, filter change warning and battery change warning. They are also both easy to install and program.

The Hunter 44550 is superior in that it also has smart recovery that can pre-heat or pre-cool so the set point temperature is reached at the start of a programmed period. It also has auto change-over.

In favor of the Lux Products TX1500E it has a much better keyboard lockout system and also has a useful relative humidity monitor.

If you want to reduce your heating and cooling bills by as much as 30% a year but you don’t want to spend too much doing so then both these digital programmable thermostats are worthy of consideration: which one you choose will largely depend on whether you need 7 day programming or not.

The first thing to note about the Honeywell RTH7500D is that it is compatible with HVAC systems including 2 stage heating and cooling, single and multi stage heat pumps, central air, hot water and gas fireplaces. It is easy to install and can be powered from the mains rather than batteries. This is an important convenience because it stops you having to periodically change the batteries.

The Honeywell RTH7500D is a 7 day programmable thermostat which means that it gives you a program slot for each day of the week and for each day it gives you 4 periods to set up – morning, afternoon, evening and night. This is ideal because you can make sure the heating and cooling fits in with your schedule. It also means you can make the most of cheaper off-peak electricity.

The actual thermostat on the Honeywell RTH7500D is accurate to within 1 degree Fahrenheit. The thermostat is very responsive. It has auto-changeover. This is a function that changes automatically between heating and cooling to make sure the room temperature stays at exactly the temperature you want.

It also has smart response technology that tracks the changing of the seasons and learns how long it takes to pre-heat or pre-cool a room. This is great because you don’t have to set the thermostat to go off prior to you waking up or getting home from work. At the start of a programmed period the room temperature is always as you want it.

These are just some of the main features on the Honeywell RTH7500D 7 day programmable thermostat. It is guaranteed to make your home more comfortable and to save you money on HVAC bills.