Archive for the ‘recycling’ Category
Free Cash & Reduced Costs for Home Improvements
Now is a great time to make home improvements, repairs or take care of past due maintenance. If you are selling your home, improvements will certainly make your home sell faster and for more money. If you’re not selling a home, rebates, lower material and labor costs, and cheap financing provide perfect timing for sprucing up your residence.
Through 2010, homeowners who install energy efficient windows, insulation, roofs, doors or heating and air systems can apply for a 30 percent (up to $1500) tax credit for each product they purchase.
Even better….homeowners can receive a 30 percent tax credit through 2016 (with no spending limits) when they purchase green, energy saving products such as solar systems, geothermal heating pumps, small wind systems, residential fuel cells or micro turbines. For complete details, visit the Energy Stars Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency website.
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Cash for Old Refrigerators and Appliances
The government stimulus package includes $300 million in rebates for your old appliances. If you need to upgrade, now is the time. Click HERE to read about what qualifies, with tips, pro’s and con’s.
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Very Clever Speed Control
Want to slow drivers down on your street? Take a look at this smart solution to safer streets.
These are actual pictures of a speed control program. Drivers slow down to straddle the holes.
Isn’t art great and a lot cheaper than stupid camera’s?? Another bonus: You can move them around.
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Good Ways to Declutter and Get Rid of Unused Items
Depersonalizing, organizing and decluttering are key to making sure that your home makes a good first impression on a prospective home buyer. But, what do you do with all your unwanted stuff? Don’t stack it in the garage or basement. The goal is to get rid of it, not move it. But, you can get rid of it and do a good thing, too.
Find out what organizations in your area pick up unused or unwanted items. These type of organizations often include Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Veterans Associations, Churches, Hospice Groups and other local non-profit organizations.
Donations to non-profits are tax deductible for the donor; most provide hassle-free pick up at your door; people need the items that you no longer use; recycling unused items is good for the environment. So donate that stuff you never use. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Another way to get rid of stuff you no longer need is on the internet at Freecycle. At Freecycle.org, you list items you no longer need and select someone from a list of takers to donate them to. Freecycle has local branches, so check out their site for a location near you.
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What is a Green Condo?
“Green” condo’s are becoming a hot commodity in the real estate market. The typically pricey units are located in large metro area’s and are designed to appeal to the young professional and members of the X and Y Generation.
Green condo’s, often called eco-friendly condo’s or lofts, include a wide variety of features and ammenities. Their designs usually include the use of alternative and recycled building materials, green roofs, solar energy, energy star appliances, water conservation and reclaimation.
Eco-friendly materials often used in green condo’s include bamboo flooring, No VOC paints, sustainable hardwoods, recycled glass, carpets made from recycled inner tubes, wallpaper made from recycled magazines, solar heating and cooling systems, on demand hot water heaters, water storage and recycling systems.
Green condo’s are usually located in area’s close to public transportation and within walking distance to shopping. In addition to being a good marketing ploy, green condo’s are now a luxury, hip niche in metro area real estate.
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Moving Box Exchange. Save Money and Recycle.
Need free boxes for your move or to store items while you sell your home? If so, forget digging through the supermarket dumpster. You can save yourself some money and trouble, while you recycle at the same time.
The U-Haul Website has a Free Box Exchange Service. The U-Haul Box Exchange is a messageboard that you can use to trade, sell or buy reusable boxes and moving supplies. With every reuse of a box, a new box is prevented from entering the cycle.
To get started, you will need to create a U-Haul Customer ID. To post a new message or to see posted messages in your region, simply click on that region listed below.
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Corn based Doggy Bags?
If you put your pooch’s waste in a plastic bag, it takes up to 100 years to decompose. So, when it comes time to pick up after your beloved doggy, choose a biodegradable bag instead of regular plastic. Otherwise, you are wrapping one of nature’s quickest degrading substances in something that takes decades to break down, according to expert Brian Howard.
The typical dog produces 274 pounds of waste each year, according to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. For sanitary reasons, most towns require owners to pick up after their pets, but what to do with it?
Use biodegradable bags that several companies offer. For example, BioBags-the corn based product -are certified to break down in a matter of days. They work very well in communities that have aerobic landfills that are churned up. Biodegradable products don’t work near as well in closed anaerobic landfills, but they certainly won’t hurt.
This is one easy thing that you can do in your own backyard. Adding curb appeal to your property doesn’t hurt either, whether you’re marketing your home to buyers or just going green.
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Remember the Draft Snakes?
During previous decades, “draft snakes” were regular accessories in many homes, particularly during the Great Depression and in other tight times, according to expert Brian Howard. But as current homeowners have gotten used to relatively cheap oil, these handy items have largely fallen out of favor. However reducing drafts in the home can cut down on energy use 5 to 30%, according to the U. S. Dept. of Energy.
Place a rolled bath tower or custom-made “draft snake” across the bottom of leaky doors and windows. This will improve the efficiency of heating and cooling, which are typically the biggest energy uses in the home, as well as make your rooms more comfortable.
The best thing about a “draft snake” is that it is an extremely cheap and easy way to green up your living space. You can buy premade ones, reuse an old towel or get crafty and make one out of scrap fabric, filled with sand or kitty litter for weight. Add humorous touches with googly eyes or felt tongues. Another idea: recycle old neckties into adorable “draft snakes.”
Here are 5 tips to tighten up your home’s envelope:
1. Seal your attic door
2. Install gaskets in outlets
3. Seal ductwork
4. Replace door gaskets
5. Repair window gaskets
Sealing against drafts will save you both energy and money.
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Is Your Garden Water-Wise?
If you garden consists of flowers, vegetables or a little of both, here are some tips to help you maintain a water-wise garden:
1. Water in the morning so roots have time to take up moisture before it evaporates during the heat of the day.
2. Install drip irrigation or soaker hoses to put water right at plants’ roots and prevent runoff.
3. Frequently check irrigation systems, sprinkler heads, etc. for leaks.
4. Water deeply but infrequently, causing roots to reach down into the soil for moisture and strengthen growth.
5. Use an organic mulch to keep roots moist and cool.
6. Reuse household water as much as possible (e.g.water from rinsing and cooking pasta and vegetables, cleaning aquariums and emptying coolers, vases, etc.)
7. Put up a rain gauge to help manage your water needs.
8. Clean decks, patios, sidewalks, etc, with a broom instead of a hose.
Remember, using rain barrels is a great way to water your garden and lawn and conserve water.
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Harvesting Rainwater with Rain Barrels
Collecting rainwater for use during dry months in rain barrels or other depositories is an ancient and traditonal practice. Historical records show that rainwater was collected in simple clay containers as far back as 2,000 years ago in Thailand and throughout other areas of the world after that. With the rising price of municipal water and drought restrictions now facing much of the United States during the summer months, more and more homeowners in our own modern society are turning to the harvesting of rainwater to save money and protect this precious natural resource.
If you aren’t ready to install a green roof yet, you can accomplish much the same thing by directing water from your roof into a rain barrel.
The main goal is to reduce the amount of storm water that runs off your property and into an overburdened sewer system. If you save that runoff and use it to water your plants, lawn or garden, you will be both conserving a valuable resource and saving money on your utility bill.
Most German houses have a rain gutter that leads to a collection water drum, which is used to hold rain runoff to water plants. Use of such devices is kinder to our ecosystem. This is a simple energy and water conservation technology that is easy to import.
If you are selling your home FSBO or listing on the MLS, this is a great tip to pass along to your home buyers.
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