green

Voted BEST & FAVORITE Again!

We take a great deal of pride in doing things the right way and it is great to be recognized! We were voted Genesee County Best “Green Company” again this year and Favorite Real Estate Company again this year!

The “Green” award is great, we have taken great strides to streamline our processes from purchasing to operations to outsourcing to more efficient providors, all in an effort to reduce our consumption. I have even traded my giant SUV for a small car and ride my bike more all in effort to drop my “pump spend” by 50% !

We have also introduced our “Green Text” home info system that allows consumers to get color photos and up to the date info via text on listings. This replaces paper flyers in a lot of cases saving paper, gas and stress all while providing consumers a better experience.

The Favorite Real Estate Company is also huge, it is great to see consumers appreciating our efforts to provide them great service! Please keep surfing and reading ChangingStreets.com homes for sale, web traffic is up 23% this year in a static market and we are pumped.

green

Small Steps to a More Sustainable Life

Tips for a Better>Cleaner>Greener Planet

Making little lifestyle changes will do a lot to enhance sustainability for the planet–and make every day Earth Day.

It’s a great feeling every Earth Day to bike to work and show your love of the planet. But sustainable practices-managing how you use resources to ensure that there will enough for future generations-doesn’t have to be limited to once a year. With a few adjustments, sustainable practices can easily become a part of daily life and save you money while you help improve the planet.

What is sustainability?

Sustainable living is an umbrella term that covers many different ideas and programs. It can be as simple as recycling and using less water or as complex as changing state and federal policies to promote wind and solar power and high-speed rail transportation. Local planning commissions can promote sustainability by allowing higher density housing that uses less land.

If you want to support some of these public sustainability programs, you can contact your government representative (http://www.congress.org) to express support. You could also support a nonprofit group like the Edible Schoolyard (http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/) program, which teaches kids how to grow and eat locally.

Opposition to sustainable practices

Not everyone is a fan of sustainable practices. Some people worry that conservation efforts produce more government regulation, increase living costs, and reduce corporate profits. Not sure where you stand on these major policies. Why not start small and see?

Eat locally. One of the biggest impacts a family has on the environment is what it eats. It takes around 10 calories of fossil fuel-in the form of fertilizers, processing, and transportation-to produce a single calorie of supermarket food, according to Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma (http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php). Cut down on your food’s energy impact by eating food grown near your home.

A 2001 study conducted by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture (http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/ppp/food_mil.pdf), Iowa State University, found that the cost of transporting food from the region or the local area was four and 17 times less, respectively, than buying from national distributors.

Finding local food isn’t difficult

Local Harvest (http://www.localharvest.org) will help you find farmers markets as well as farms in your region that offer subscription programs. Signing up for a subscription means you pay up front, so there’s a risk if the harvest fails. Costs vary depending on the size of the share and your part of the country. A good estimate from Local Harvest is that you’ll spend about $600 to cover produce for a family of four during a four or five month growing season.

Keep food even closer to home by growing your own, either in your backyard or in a shared community space. Expect to spend several hours a week seeding, weeding, and harvesting. Gardening is also a great way to teach kids about healthy eating.

The downside of eating locally is that food from a farmer’s market often costs more than the same from the supermarket. And in winter, you may eat a lot of cabbage and potatoes if you stick to local eating.

Buy gently used

Everyone likes something new once in a while-and fast-growing kids require it. Consumer spending is also a big contributor to a healthy economy. But producing and transporting new products from the factory to you also uses lots of resources. One way to get new stuff and still promote sustainability is to trade something you no longer want for what you need.

Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org) is a 7 million-strong global network of people who share their possessions-for free. Once you join online, you’ll receive regular email about used items that you can request and pick up. Eva Schmoock, a student nurse and mother of two in Carrboro, N.C., is an avid user. She’s found new homes for everything, including paint and kids’ bathing suits.

A low-tech option: Organize swap meets with neighbors to lessen your environmental footprint without opening your wallet. Get your kids to put fliers in mailboxes to promote the swap. Or try a consignment shop.

Reduce trash by composting

It isn’t just what you buy that has an impact on the world’s resources, it’s what you throw away. The average American is responsible for almost 5 pounds of garbage a day, 12.5% of which is food scraps, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw07-rpt.pdf). That trash clogs landfills and pollutes ground water.

Want to reduce waste? Consider composting. Just put those peels and pods (but no meat or dairy products) in a separate container instead of the garbage can. When the container is full, carry it to your compost pile.

A $10 plastic bucket with a lid will work; fancier models have charcoal filters that cut down on smells but cost two or three times as much. Let your kids scrape plates into the compost pail or empty the full container.

You’ll find a compost bin for every budget. You can fence off a small (out-of-sight) section of your yard with less than $50 worth of mesh wire and poles. Plastic bins and barrels are neater, but can cost several times more. The best part of composting: In six months, nature will convert your waste into terrific fertilizer to sustain your vegetable or flower garden.

By: Amanda Abrams
Published: August 28, 2009

Amanda Abrams is a Washington, D.C.-based writer who spent many years planning to be an organic farmer. Now she writes about how to make the world a better place for papers like The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

green

Green Theft

No, not Greenbacks, Solar Panels! Apperently there has been a rash of Solar Power Panel thefts in Napa Valley California. Napa is not only the United States premeir producer of Red Wines but is also one of the Greenest Counties in the country. Practising sustainable farming as well as using alternative energy to power operations. But according to Wine Spectator magazine someone has taken a liking to the solar farms:

Napa Valley police are on the look ut for environmentally friendly thieves. In late June, someone stole 40 solar panels from Harris Ranch Napa Valley. This was not the first theft of panels from a Napa Winery. Both Honig Vineyard and Winery and ZD Wines have been hit not once but twice in recent months.

The article goes on to mention the average panel is not only bolted into place but also ways 35 pounds, not an easy task, but then again who thought that an entire house could be stripped of copper in minutes!

No suspects have been apprehended in the Napa solar power caper. Go green America! And someone will find a way to steal your power!