Ways To Connect With Nature When You Live in the City

It’s common knowledge that getting back to nature is good for your health. Indeed, humans need a connection with nature, and we need its healing touch frequently to maintain our physical and emotional health.

That’s a bit of a problem for folks who live in the city, where there are far fewer trees and less grass and green space to enjoy. The fact is, millions of Americans live in cities and highly urbanized areas, far from open fields, refreshing forests, and majestic mountains. If that’s you and you’re looking for ways to connect with nature when you live in the city, you’re in luck! We’ve got the best of them below for your perusal. If the majesty of nature in your city setting is what you’re searching for, read on!

Join Your City’s Community Garden

Many cities and urban areas have community gardens that are, in a word, outstanding. Filled with lovely plants and flowers, they’re great places to get back to nature by digging in the dirt and watching something beautiful grow!

Go Crazy With the Indoor Plants

If you can’t be out in nature, bring nature inside! Potted and hanging plants make living spaces even more livable and add beauty and life to your city apartment or condo. Choose colorful or decorated pots to add a splash of color and class. A few of the easiest plants to keep in the city include:

• Cactus plants (Cacti)

• Succulents like jade and aloe vera

• Philodendrons

• Spider plants

Hang Beautiful Nature Art in Your Apartment

If you can’t go to the mountains, the next best thing is to see them in all their glory on your wall. That goes for other nature scenes too, like the beach, forest, and more. Even though they’re only photos, the feeling of inner bliss nature art brings can add some joy to an otherwise dreary day in the city. Never underestimate the power of hanging pictures of the natural world in your home; the vistas they offer can bring much-needed visual diversity to your home.

Get Acquainted With Your Local Park

One of the best ways to connect with nature when you live in the city is by visiting a local park. Most bigger towns have phenomenal parks, including Central Park in New York City. That said, even a smaller park can transport you to a place that, while city-bound, brings you closer to nature.

Visit Your City’s Farmers Market

Most cities have spectacular farmers markets offering plentiful piles of fresh produce and food creations. The aromas, colors, and tastes can be a splendid, nature-filled respite from the cold steel of the average city.

5 Things to Know Before Working with a Building Consultant

Whether you want to build your home or any other structure, it helps to work with experienced consultants. Their job is to make sure everything works as planned. However, not everyone understands the duty of consultants in a building project, so let’s talk about it. Here are the five things to know before working with a building consultant.

Understand the Different Kinds of Consultants

There are different kinds of consultants to work with depending on your project. There are land planners, civil engineers, and architects. Each of these has experience in different areas related to building projects. If you need a structural engineer but work only with a land planner, you'll be wasting time and money.

See if You Need a Building Consultant

The first thing to determine is if you even need a building consultant. Start by checking with regulatory agencies at the local and state levels to determine what permits are required. Next, check with your local planning office to determine if you need a zoning or land use permit. If these are available without a consultant, you do not need one.

Seek Out Your Consultant's References

Once you decide to hire a consultant, ask them for the names and contact information of people who have hired these experts in the past. Give these people a call to find out what they liked and didn't like about the consultant. This will help you comprehend what to expect.

Ask the Right Questions

Before you sign a contract, ask your consultant all the right questions. The most important one is probably, "Can you give me a written cost estimate?" A detailed estimate will allow you to compare it to others and determine if the price is fair. Also, ask about their services and how they plan to meet deadlines.

Trust Your Gut

Last but not least, trust your gut. If you are uncomfortable with how a potential consultant handles your project, seek out another one. You can expend many resources without the right help, so make sure you feel okay with your choice before striking a deal with them.

Closing Thoughts

Before working with a building consultant, it's important to know what they do and the different services available. Also, check with regulatory agencies to see if you need a consultant for your project. Finally, seek out references from past clients and trust your gut when choosing a consultant.

DIY & Apartments: How Does It Work?

Doing a spot of DIY in an apartment brings new challenges to the table, in comparison to completing DIY tasks in a house. For example, in high-rise apartment blocks, it can be difficult to bring materials up to the higher levels. As well as this, any DIY work is likely to cause more disruption to apartment neighbours, due to the close proximity between units.

Today, we're looking at the ins and outs of doing DIY in an apartment, covering everything you need to know before you take on any major tasks.

What can/can't you do?

First of all, it's vital to know what you can and can't do when it comes to your apartment.

If you rent your apartment:

Before you complete any DIY work in your rented apartment, it's vital to check with your landlord that you can do the task(s) that you want. Many landlords don't allow much in their rented apartments to be changed, however some will let you have more free reign, especially if they like the changes you would like to make.

Major cosmetic changes are usually not carried out by renters in apartments, as it's likely that this apartment will be lived in by other residents in the future, and therefore would be a waste of money in the long-run. If anything major (such as flooring, doors) does need changing, then it's up to your landlord to make and pay for these changes instead of you.

If you own your apartment/are a leaseholder

If you own the lease of your apartment, things are a little more different.

For example, you're free to make any cosmetic changes within your apartment, however, any repairs such as rotten window panes or faulty fire doors in communal areas, are up to the block management company/owners to pay for and fix.

To put it simply, the communal areas and general standard of your apartment block should be proactively maintained by your block management company, but you can make any cosmetic changes within your apartment as and when you please.

For full control of the management of your building and therefore apartment, there is the option to buy your freehold. There are many reasons for you to buy your freehold, but being able to do what you want, whenever you want in terms of DIY is one of the biggest benefits.

How to do renter-friendly DIY:

Renter-friendly DIY is DIY that you can do that doesn't remove any of your landlord's features, and that can be easily taken away without causing any damage.

There are several things that you can do:

Hang things without marks:  

Knowing how to hang things on walls without leaving marks is very important if your landlord doesn't allow for you to hang things on the walls with nails.

Replace your door handles:  

Again, this is a very simple DIY task that can be reverted easily. This can be achieved using a screwdriver and spanner in no time. Just keep hold of the original door handles so you can change them back when required.

Change your furniture: 

You can simply replace the existing pieces of furniture with new ones. Swap couches/chairs/tables to give your home a whole new look. This is especially suitable for those that rent unfurnished apartments.

Cover furnishings: 

If your apartment comes furnished, then using upholstery to cover furnishings such as tables and chairs is a great way to make semi-permanent changes to the look of your apartment. For example, cover a dull table with a patterned tablecloth, or a dark sofa with a bright blanket.

Install removable backsplash and tile covers: 

If the floor of your bathroom or kitchen is not of your choice, or your backsplash is dull and lifeless, you can install removable covers that help make the décor more 'you'. This usually comes in the form of peel and stick tiling, and is available in many different styles.

Problems with doing DIY in an apartment:

Whether you own or rent your apartment, there are several things that make doing DIY in an apartment tricky.

Getting to high floor apartments: 

One of the most common problems with carrying out DIY in an apartment, is that high floor apartments are difficult to reach, especially with a lot of heavy equipment. If you can't safely do so, a crane might be required.

Minimal amount of space:

Apartments are more likely to be smaller than houses, which does make DIY activity a bit more tricky. To overcome this, working with smaller pieces of equipment might deem essential, and working smarter and not harder is key.

Noise:

Another issue is noise pollution. Making lots of noise might annoy the neighbors,  and your landlord is likely to kick you out if you annoy them repeatedly. Because apartment units are so close together, it's hard to ensure that neighbors won't be able to hear any DIY tasks that you're doing.

However, most neighbors will be understanding if you tell them that you are completing DIY work, especially if you stick to hours during the day.

To conclude, doing DIY in an apartment is significantly different to doing it in a house. From the minimal amount of space to struggles getting to high-floor apartments, it might seem harder at first, but will be worth it when your apartment looks and feels the way you'd like it to.

Common Causes of Power Outages – And What to Do

The average U.S. citizen experiences eight hours without electricity each year from power outages. During brownouts and blackouts, individuals may experience hardships that adversely affect their health and well-being. Most residents rely on electricity to power their medical devices, preserve their food, or pump water into their homes, among many other tasks.

An individual can minimize their loss of vital resources by preparing for outages. After identifying the causes of brownouts and blackouts, residents may identify the best protection resources and techniques for their specific regions.

Why Do Power Outages Happen?

Before identifying the top prevention and response techniques, individuals must explore the common causes of outages. The media discusses many brownouts and blackouts deriving from storms. For example, last year, winter storm Uri made national headlines because of its mass power disruption.

After the storm hit, residents of Texas lost electricity for days. The outage caused hundreds of deaths from freezing temperatures or compromised medical devices. Disaster response professionals tracked the blackout back to an operator error.

Texas’ electric grid operator was unable to manage the system and left millions of individuals without power. Many outages derive from natural causes and human error. Some lesser power outages occur when drivers hit telephone poles and bring down electric wires or transformers.

Other outages come from hurricane-force winds, earthquakes, and lightning. When lightning strikes a transformer, it causes a voltage spike and overloads the electric current. The transformer is an essential component of local energy systems because it moves electricity from power plants to customers.

Energy professionals assess the common causes of outages and develop prevention and response methods to reduce adverse effects. Developing microgrids, installing generators, and preserving vital resources can protect individuals during power outages.

Developing Microgrids

In Texas, winter storm Uri’s adverse outage effects impacted many individuals because of the grid’s size. Professionals can minimize the number of residents affected by outages by developing microgrids. The smaller systems may also use smart technology to reduce the number of human-caused outages.

The systems contain autonomous sensors that track and respond to real-time energy demands. Maintaining a “goldilocks zone” flow of electricity reduces overload on transformers and preserves energy supplies. The technology also assesses potential issues like overheating during storms to inform professionals and minimize outage triggers.

Individuals can also create solar microgrids to minimize the frequency of outages. The system develops electricity using an array of photovoltaic panels and distributes energy using conventional power lines. There are fewer working parts in a solar microgrid, so storms have less of an effect on the system.

Purchasing Generators

Residents and business owners can also minimize the effects of outages by purchasing generators. Before individuals make their purchases, they should calculate their average energy usage by receiving an audit. Then they can determine which appliances are essential and require connections to a generator.

After evaluating a building’s essential power needs, individuals may calculate their necessary generator sizes. Some building owners may need a large inverter, whereas other residents may require portable generators. Once individuals purchase the best generator for their energy needs, they may connect it to the circuit breaker and power their systems and appliances.

Protecting Your Home

Residents and building owners can protect their appliances and resources during outages to prevent adverse effects. Always remember to keep freezers and refrigerators closed to preserve temperature-regulated foods.

As our world becomes increasingly connected, it’s also important to protect household electronics. Power outages are often accompanied by power surges, which can be very damaging for electronics. Backing up devices before potential outages will help prevent the loss of data, and during brownouts and blackouts, individuals should unplug their appliances and devices to reduce surge-related damage risks.

Individuals should reach out to their local energy supplier about heating options in their area during outages. Do not try to heat your home using a gas stove when your power is off. When residents preserve their goods during storms, they can minimize their outage-related complications.

The Benefits of Taking Outage Preparedness Measures

Outage preparedness measures can protect individuals and households during unexpected brownouts and blackouts. You can protect your health and safety by installing a generator or accessing electricity through a microgrid. Residents may also minimize food and electronics waste by protecting their goods from rotting and surge damage.