Insulation is a major component in your home. The decision to go green is an important one and, luckily, it is easier than ever to use green building products in your home. Your choice of insulation is determined by what area of the country you live in and what R-value you need. R-value is a rating based on how well the product insulates your home. The higher the R-value, the better it insulates. 

1. Cellulose: Cellulose insulation is a blown-in type of insulation. It can be used during the initial construction process or it can be added to attics and walls to top off existing insulation and to increase the overall R-value in your attic. It is made from shredded, recycled newspaper, which is naturally a good insulator. 

2. Denim: Levi Strauss may have brought the blue jean to America (there are actually reports of it existing well prior to Strauss's time in the Netherlands), but his biggest contribution to the green building trade is not the jeans everyone wears. Levi Strauss & Co. world headquarters took the fabric scraps and thread that remained in their factory after production and re-used it. Instead of throwing the waste out, they combined it with recycled jeans and made denim batt insulation out of it all. They also put their money where their mouth was and used this green insulation in their world headquarters. 

3. Wool: Another great natural insulator is wool. Humans have been sheering sheep and using the wool to stay warm for thousands of years. It didn't take long for them to realize that it worked in construction as well. Traditionally, the wool was squeezed into joints between log in log cabins and used as a chinking material. Today, however, it is spun into easy-to-install batt insulation. 

4. Soy: Many builders like to use spray foam insulation, which has formaldehyde, hydrofluorocarbons, and other dangerous chemicals. Instead of getting in a debate with your contractor, use one of several soy-based spray foam products on the market. Without the harmful out-gassing, this product performs well at sealing all those little cracks to prevent the cold air from entering your home. 

5. Hemp: Another natural product that is gaining traction in terms of popularity is hemp. Hemp is a fast growing, renewable crop that does not require a lot of water to grow, which is beneficial to our planet in times of drought.  

Deciding to use green insulation products for your home insulation is an easy choice when there are so many safe, eco-friendly products to choose from. 

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