"It's Not Easy Being Green" But Here's 8 Quick Tips!!

"It's Not Easy Being Green" But Here's 8 Quick Tips!!

Last Christmas everyone on my list got cloth shopping/grocery bags. I wrote a silly little rhyming poem to go with about going green.

It was a really enjoyable project, actually. I made them out of material I’d saved since my children were small and lived endlessly in “jam pants” and lounging pajamas. It was always fun to pick out materials that matched their personalities, or events in their lives at the time, and I took the idea forward to 2010 with my GREEN bags.

My son in Alaska got Green Bay Packers Bags and Moose; My gardener friend got flowers and teacups; Another received varieties of sunflowers; Another son got …Green Bay Packers Bags and Holstein Cow Patterns (he lives in Wisconsin) …anyway, you get the idea.

The best is – the bags are eye-catching and “spread the word” about being GREEN just by being visible. I can't tell you how many conversations were started over inquiries about the bags.

It helps tie in with the latest catch phrase – Reduce, Re-use, Recycle – because we need to change, and we need to inspire others to do the same.

REALTORS and real estate agents have the opportunity for further education, and NAR has added Green Features to MLS listings. As consumers, ask your agent about GREEN features. You can search for homes that have solar panels, solar water heaters, multi- paned windows, ceiling fans, sun screens, energy star appliances, and so forth. Cari Genarelli wrote a great post on picking your green "battles" here. If we all remember, a little dab’ll do ya – for starters – we can’t help but rub off on others.

Here’s eight quick tips on how you can get started:

1. Reduce: use less (Try using both sides of your copy paper in your printer, wrap gifts in newspaper, use email instead of paper, eat your leftovers)
2. Reuse: Use your shoe boxes to organize your bathroom niceties or organize your sock drawer, use socks as dust rags, 2 lb coffee containers as sink-side compost until you empty them in your outdoor compost.
3. Recycle: Many communities have curb-side pickup now which makes it easy. Be sure you know WHAT can be recycled, and remember it has to be clean. (No pizza boxes oozing with tomato sauce and cheese) Buy a filtered water dispenser rather than plastic throwaway bottles, use your plastic shopping bags several times, or for pet litter, or vanity trash can liners. Cathy Dick has a great post on here that shares how to dispose of hazardous, or poisonous materials and where to look for recycling drop off areas to avoid contaminating the earth.
4. Use power thriftily: Un-plug chargers, light switches off, use low-power settings
5. Protect our Water resources: Repair dripping faucets, catch drips in containers to use for watering plants, water garden plants early in the morning
6. Shop Naturally: Look for labels like Energy Star or Green Seal, look for keywords such as organically grown, farmer’s markets, recycled materials, produced locally, water efficient
7. Show off: Blog about community businesses that promote sustainability and green practices, shop with your new Bags!
8. Walk: Get healthy, save gas, map what areas are “walkable” in your community. Michael Caruso has a great blog here! Support your local community!

If you'd like more information on recycling in Tucson, AZ, please check out my blog posting here on places you can take your STUFF!

Reprinted from my Active Rain Blog 6/2010

Happy Clients in Tucson, AZ

Happy Clients in Tucson, AZ

This was my clients Saturday morning when I handed over the keys to their new home. Well, not really THEIR home to move-into, but one to remodel and share with family.

They've been looking for over a year. Their criteria was tough: Under 40K, in a certain neighborhood, over 1000 sq. feet, and fix-able.

Phew! So believe me when I tell you it's "been a year". They tease that they were about ready to adopt me. :)

Looking for a fixer upper in Tucson, AZ? Like making old into new? Here's a link to current properties available in the metropolitan area of Tucson, AZ under 60K, minimum 2 bedroom and 2 bath homes.

Oh, and that photo above? That was actually a room in their house. :)

Contact me if you'd like more information on great projects with homes for sale Tucson, AZ.

The SnowBirds are Back in Tucson!!!

The SnowBirds are Back in Tucson!

I've been noticing the past couple of weeks that the roads are really getting crowded again. The temperatures are dropping and the cars are piling up. It just takes longer to get places. When I'm making an appointment to see homes for sale in Tucson - I need to be on time!

It reminded me of a blog a wrote a while back I thought I'd share again for the occasion. Road rage can be a dangerous thing, and combine that with all the different driving styles of the visitors and residents of Tucson, along with texting, cell phones, and agressive driving - well, it's a dangerous world out there!

Buckle up, leave early, and drive safe!

Things That Make You Go Hmmm - How's your Road Rage?

I clicked on Twitter tonight to leave a few posts and my eyes caught this blog link about things that make you mad. It was a very cute little story. I got to thinking about my own list of pet peeves, and more specifically, the role of anger when behind the wheel, and how that has affected my job.

REALTORS spend a great deal of time driving. When I was brand new agent, I proudly purchased two large, bright yellow door magnets for my car to proclaim to everyone that I was in real estate and ready to do business. I thought it would be a great way to visually remind all my neighbors and community members that I was a Professional.

There was just one little problem. I have this tendency to forget my turn signals or gesture/swear when someone cuts me off or pulls out right in front of me. I tend to play the passive-agressive role and slow way down when I get a tail-gater on my bumper and they can't get around me. And then there are the little old ladies barely peaking over their steering wheels that I race by on my way to some appointment or other.

In just a short time, I began to worry that having my name and phone number boldly imprinted for anyone to see might NOT be the best idea. All I'd need was some road rager calling me on their cell phone...

So have I mended my professional driving image and let the tailgater whiz by? Do I patiently wait through traffic jams and intersection snaffus with a calm facade presented to all? Does Great-Grandmama get the right of way now, no matter how slow she's going?

...I confess - it was easier to take the signs off. My car doors are bare now.

How about you? Do your driving skills divulge your inner flaws? Any embarrassing anecdotes to share?

- How's your Road Rage?

Snakes and Lizards and Alligators!!

Wow - who says snakes and lizards are bad! Once, again, I'm thankful to live in the beautiful SW Desert - reptiles and all. They aren't quite as scary as this one!

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The Terrible Shooting in Tucson, AZ

Tucson, AZ hit the national news on Saturday, January 8, 2010, and in the most horrific of ways. If you read the news, turned on the television, or just tweeted and networked on Facebook - you've no doubt heard of the victims of a senseless crime at a Congress-on-your-Corner gathering at a Safeway-anchored shopping mart in Northwest Tucson.

My husband and I were out clearing away the outside Christmas lights, straightening up the garage and feeling energized for the new year ahead. We were smiling and having a good time when the neighbor pulled up and shared the news.

* * *

My daughter asked me last night if I was going to write about it, and I immediately said, "No".

I told her I didn't even feel like blogging about Tucson right now -- I was speaking with shock and pain, deep in the tragedy of the moment.

It's hard to put into words the terrible violation you feel when innocent people, going about every-day common errands are hurt and killed. We spent the next several hours in front of the television set, waiting for REAL updates and confirmed reports of exactly what happened.

I can't help but think of the lasting repercussions of this heartbreak. Beyond the most obvious dealings of loss of life, health, and feeling of security comes so many questions.

I thought about it a great deal during a night of little sleep. I thought about the other horrific events that have hit areas of our United States and even the world these past years.

A couple of very dear Active-Rainers called and/or called last night out of concern for "Tucson". The posts I read on Facebook are compassionate, and caring, and beyond finger-pointing and shallow hatreds.

One of the things I love about Tucson is its sense of community. We're mostly a common people with a cheerful word, and a let-a-car-cut-in-during-a-traffic-jam sort of mentality.

Tucson will bond over this. Security changes will be made, answers will be sought and found, and hopefully justice will be served. Somehow the families of this terrible tragedy will continue on.

We are more than this tragedy. We are above generalizations regarding news stories and incidents that have recently colored the media's interpretation of our beautiful City. This act of violence does NOT define us.

My family's thoughts and prayers go out to the family and victims of this tragedy, and more, to the community and workers of this neighborhood of NW Tucson.

We ARE Tucson, and we can be more, and will be more.