It seems that more and more homes are moving towards being "green" homes. Now if you don't know what it means to be a "green" home here is a brief description, A Green home should be energy efficient, healthy and use sustainable resources. Green homes take advantage of nature's processes in order to use less energy, consume less water and produce less waste. Insulation's, orientation towards light, air circulation, energy efficient appliances and lighting are all considered. Unlike the picture above a "Green Home" looks just like any other home. Going Green also doesn't mean installing a solar panel on your roof, you can turn your home into a green one by purchasing products that are recyclable, and bio-degradable. Here is a closer look of what some Canadian homes have done to make their homes Green.


(Source: Households and the Environment: Statistics Canada survey)

Lights
Percentage of households with at least one kind of energy-saving light: 84.
Percentage of homes with at least one compact fluorescent light bulb: 69, up from 56 in 2006.
Showers
Percentage of households with low-flow shower heads: 62, up from 54 in 2006.
Province where low-flow shower heads were most popular: Ontario (65% of households).
Province where low-flow shower heads were least popular: Saskatchewan (46% of households).
Low-flow shower heads can use up to 70% less water and cut about 15% from the water heating cost.
Toilets
Percentage of households with a low-volume toilet: 39, up from 34 in 2006.
Provinces where low-volume toilets were most popular: Ontario and Alberta (47% of households).
Province where low-volume toilets were least popular: Newfoundland and Labrador (28% of households).
A new low-flow toilet can use less than six litres of water, less than half the volume of an older toilet.
Water
Percentage of households where no one turns off the tap for brushing their teeth: 13.
Percentage of households that drink mainly tap water: 59.
Percentage of households that drink mainly bottled water: 30.
Thermostats
Percentage of households with thermostats where they were turned down when people were sleeping: 57.
Percentage of households with programmable thermostats: 42, up from 40 in 2006.
Households with programmable thermostats were more likely to turn down the temperature while people were sleeping.
Grocery bags
Percentage of households always using recycled or reusable grocery bags: 30.
Provinces with highest proportion of households always using recycled or reusable bags: Ontario (35%) and Quebec (33%).
Provinces with greater proportion of households rarely or never using recycled or reusable bags: New Brunswick (43%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (46%).
Furnaces
Percentage of households that changed their furnace filters at least every six months: 66.
Percentage of households that didn't know when the filter was last changed: 6.
Pesticides
Percentage of non-apartment households with a lawn or garden that used a chemical or organic pesticide: 33.
Provinces with the highest use of pesticides: Saskatchewan (48%), Manitoba (47%) and Alberta (47%).
Provinces with the lowest use of pesticides: Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia (21%).
Percentage of households using organic pesticides: 12.