How can I be Green if I Rent?

By now you have heard and seen all the tips for greening up a home you own. However, if you rent you can still green up your home and not make your landlord mad. It's as simple as changing out all the light bulbs to Compact Fluorescent, but take it a step further and get the full spectrum lighting to have daylight spectrum light inside your home. Full-spectrum output duplicates the rich, pure light of the sun. You’ll see colors more accurately, reduce eyestrain and increase your visual acuity, and they even emit small amounts of healthy UV light to help your skin produce crucial vitamin D indoors. Once you go full spectrum, you will never go back! Get them at realgoods.com or drugstore.com http://www.realgoods.com/product/home-outdoor/living+space/energy+efficiency/indoor+sunshine+cfl+bulbs.do

OK, we already know about light bulbs and bringing our own grocery bags, and reusing our stainless steel water bottles. What can you tell me that's new?
Stop your junk mail! Here's the link of the Direct Mailing Association's place to stop your junk mail (unless you roll it up tightly and use it for fire starter in your fireplace.) https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action;jsessionid=54DDAD3A4390CB1F2F7CF5EF2E230DF5.tomcat1

Green is not just about reuse, reduce, recycle. Really? "I thought it was," you say. It's also about the sustainability of the planet and the care for the inhabitants in it. So try not to shop for items that may have been made in sweatshops. How in the world do you know where stuff comes from? The National Labor Committee's website can help http://www.nlcnet.org/index.php also, a quick Internet search can find products not produced in sweatshops, like www.rawganic.com.

Replace your bathmats (when they wear out) with organic. rawganique offers textiles that are not produced in sweatshops.http://www.rawganique.com/BAhc1.htm

And from Planet Green, some awesome advice for renters:
Talk to your Landlord - One of the biggest obstacles to living green in a rental property is the feeling of powerlessness to make changes. It's important to remember that as a tenant you are a customer and you deserve decent service. A good landlady or landlord should work with you to make your home as pleasant as possible. So talk to them if the property is drafty, the toilet keeps running, or heating systems are inefficient – after all, investing in improvements will help them to retain tenants, attract new ones, and it will increase the value of their property. The owner might be particularly amenable to funding improvements if you do the math to show them the return on their investment, and offer your labor free of charge, creating a win-win situation for all concerned.

Search for your rental on the Internet - OC Green Realty can set you up on a client gateway, which sends available rentals directly to your inbox as they become available. Save so much driving as you point and click and make notes on the houses you are interested in that we will see on our copy, and save phone calls, time, and resources by getting all the info you need to know about on a property without leaving your chair. Send me an e-mail with what you are looking for and say "I would like to be on the client gateway" No salesman will call, no obligation. ha ha, really.

Happy Renting!

Green Building and Real Estate is Booming in So Cal!

I went to the HUD Symposium on Green Building last week at Chapman University, and came back with my brain and bag loaded with great information. We got to see an abbreviated version of "An Inconvenient Truth" presented by the Climate Project. http://www.climateproject.org/ and I was so encouraged to see the government was presenting this! I think the ostrich's head is finally out of the sand! Anyway, I made some great connections with mortgage lenders with tons of experience with EEMs (Energy Efficient Mortgages -see my post from: April 27, 2009) and Energy Auditors, Certified Build it Green Companies, and so much more.

Also found out about some great programs where foreclosures are purchased by non-profits, remodeled green, then offered at a great discount to low income families. The families are helped with their down payment and also with part of the purchase price through HUD grants and these programs. More info on this can be found at: www.enterprisecommunity.org/about/media/news_releases/.../RNLA_pr_2009.pdf

The organizers of the symposium promised to post all the power point presentations on the web soon, so I will post the link when I get it for everyone. In the meantime, I have loads of information on my website: http://www.socalgreenrealty.com/ or http://www.ocgreenrealty.com/

TELE-BLOG AND WRITTEN BLOG

You may not be aware that I post a green tele-blog on my voice mail each week with green tips. Check it out at: 949-306-3854. I've decided to start doing a different green tip each week here on this written blog also.

Green tip of the week:

The HUD Symposium's presentation of the Climate Project reminded me that:

If you have not seen "An Inconvenient Truth"by Al Gore (who by the way won an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize for this work!) see it now! More information and resources can be found on http://www.theclimateproject.org/, http://www.wecansolveit.org/, http://www.realclimate.org/

Discover why the issue of Global Warming is so very important and be encouraged, as we are taking a lot of steps as a country and world to deal with it. I believe human ingenuity can and will come up with solutions to every problem.

Feng Shui and the Art of Life featuring Neuro Architectural Design

I'm sure by now all So Cal residents know what Feng Shui is all about, but what about combining Feng Shui with Neuro Architectural Design?

I can hear you already, neuro archi....what?

Well my colleague, Janet Woods, who is a Feng Shui Master, and her firm, the Art of Life Institute, specializes in the combination of the two and how it relates to your surroundings, be it home or office. I am intrigued... so I am attending her FREE workshop next weds on this topic.

First, here is a very simple description of the two, directly from her website: (http://www.janetwoods.com/)

• WHAT IS FENG SHUI ?
Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement. By creating positive energy flow through a home or place of business, you will bring good fortune and harmony.
The science works by blending the laws of nature and human dynamics together for the greatest good. Feng Shui contains the philosophy of eastern culture and quantum physics; it is not a religion, yet spiritual, and uses natural law as a basis.

• WHAT IS NEURO ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN?

This is a combination of neurosceince, pyschology and interior design. The goal of Neuro Architecture is to create spaces that motivate individuals during their human experience.

The workshop will be held at the Awakenings Center, 25260 La Paz Road in Laguna Hills at 7:30 on every third Wednesday of the month.

Learn how your brain affects your living space, how your space creates your life and what to do about it, take the neuro DNA test and learn much more about your home and ancient wisdom combined with modern science to create an environment that supports your greatest good!

This month's topic, June 17th, is:

"Home Therapy"

How to create a Home that supports you intentionally, physically, and emotionally.

The July 15th seminar is entitled "Recovery at Home"

There is a $20 fee for materials, but my blog readers get that fee at 1/2 price of only $10! Simply e-mail me at ocgreenrealtor@yahoo.com and I will get your discount.

It is a proven fact that feng shui can be used for better staging of a home for sale, so if you are considering putting your home on the market, consider a feng shui consultation. Janet Woods is part of OC Green Realty's Team of Affiliates who offer added value to our Real Estate services.

Now.... go move 21 things in your home to clear the ch'i! and then register for the seminar. I'll be there!

Darlene

Drink Wine and be GREEN!

The Back to Natives Organization, which is a wonderful group of volunteers and staff who is working hard to preserve native habitat is having it's first wine tasting fundraiser June 25th. Dinner and Jazz on a Thursday night, and a great cause! Read more about it at: http://backtonatives.org/

This leads me to remind you that ripping up your lawn and replacing it with native california plants is the best way to not only save precious water and reduce your water bill, but it also gives your family the opportunity to experience nature as it was intended in So Cal. And it will give you great curb appeal as you let the new potential buyers see your low water bill and colorful landscaping. See my blog about Tree of Life nursery for more info on that.