Ceiling fans versus air conditioners
Instead of running an air conditioner at a cost of 16 cents per hour or 43 cents per hour for central air, use a ceiling fan. If you use an air conditioner, select an ENERGY STAR variety, which will save 20 to 40 percent in energy consumption as compared with conventional air conditioners.
Don’t mess with the Energy Star Label
The EPA and the Obama administration are cracking down on ENERGY STAR knockoffs and imitators that are claiming to be energy efficient without the amperage to back up their claims. The move, which includes stepped up testing of products that claim to be ENERGY STAR-rated, is designed to ensure consumer confidence in the ENERGY STAR.
In the last four months, the EPA has taken steps against 35 appliance manufacturers, including the removal of the ENERGY STAR label from LG refrigerator-freezers that used more electricity than allowed under the program’s guidelines.
Overall, the EPA states that the number of violations has been small. For instance, the EPA’s independent Inspector General conducted a “spot check” of the program in 2009, testing 60 ENERGY STAR products. 59 of the 60 products met or exceeded the ENERGY STAR requirements. One product, a specific model of printer, failed on one of three tests (not entering “sleep mode” fast enough).
See http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/daily.cfm/hp_news_id=235 for more information.
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County Properties, 24 years of Real Estate Brokerage experience, trust and a Member of the local Better Business Bureau! We offer free counseling in real estate regarding; home values and information on options of selling vs. Foreclosure.
Please feel free to contact me today for free counseling at (619) 301-0200 or Toll free (866) 825-8124. Email: Arnie@ County4.com
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arnie levine,
County Properties,
green energy,
san diego energy society,
san diego solar,
solar power
Green Tip of the Week:
Call The Junk King! They will haul away furniture, yard waste, abandoned automobile parts, and scrap metal. The expanding franchise is based in the Bay Area, however there is a North San Diego location, call 1-800-995-JUNK (5865) or email: bobh@junk-king.com
Junk King has a reputation for recycling 60 percent of the waste it removes from properties.
Find them at www.junk-king.com
Some other links you may be interested in:
http://www.ilacsd.org/green_live.php
http://www.yardfairy.com/environmentally-friendly-landscaping-tips.html
http://www.greenschools.net/article.php?id=212
County Properties, 24 years of brokerage experience, trust and a Member of the local Better Business Bureau! If you would like to view all homes, condos or bank owned foreclosures (REO). Short sales, listed for sale, please visit our website at www.CountyProperties.net.
Tagged as:
arnie levine,
county prperties,
going green in san diego,
green san diego,
green tips,
green tips for san diego,
recycling,
recycling in san diego
RadioShack’s online electronics trade-in program allows customers to exchange used, portable electronics for a RadioShack gift card. Accepted items include GPS devices, MP3 players, notebooks, and game consoles. Visit http://radioshack.cexchange.com/online/home/index.rails to learn the trade-in value and download the prepaid shipping labels. Gift cards arrive within 10 to 14 days.
County Properties, 23 years of brokerage experience, trust and a Member of the local Better Business Bureau! We offer free counseling in real estate regarding; home values and information on options of selling vs. Foreclosure.
If you have equity in your home, we will sell your home and get top dollar in this challenging market at www.countyproperties.net/. If you do not have enough equity, and you must sell your property as a short sale we have the expertise to do so also and close escrow in 45-60 days or less. Learn more about mortgage relief options and how to take advantage of our FREE REALTOR (R) CONSULTATION & ATTORNEY SEVICE. or go to www.ShortSaleRealtors4U.com
Please feel free to contact me today for free counseling at (619) 301-0200 or Toll free (866) 825-8124 visit our website, click http://www.shortsalerealtors4u.com/ or www.CountyProperties.net
By the way…if you know of someone who would appreciate the level of service in real estate we provide, please call me or have them go to www.CountyProperties.net and I’ll be happy to follow up and take great care of them.
If it’s time to change the break room floor, opt for linoleum instead of vinyl. Linoleum is made from all-natural resources, while vinyl is made from petroleum.
County Properties, 23 years of brokerage experience, trust and a Member of the local Better Business Bureau! We offer free counseling in real estate regarding; home values and information on options of selling vs. Foreclosure.
If you have equity in your home, we will sell your home and get top dollar in this challenging market at www.countyproperties.net/. If you do not have enough equity, and you must sell your property as a short sale we have the expertise to do so also and close escrow in 45-60 days or less. Learn more about mortgage relief options and how to take advantage of our FREE REALTOR (R) CONSULTATION & ATTORNEY SEVICE. or go to www.ShortSaleRealtors4U.com
Please feel free to contact me today for free counseling at (619) 301-0200 or Toll free (866) 825-8124 visit our website, click http://www.shortsalerealtors4u.com/ or www.CountyProperties.net
Experts
have reached a consensus and recommend consumers avoid these varieties of
plastics–identified by a triangle and number on the bottom of most
containers–for the following reasons:
- #3
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) commonly contains di-2-ehtylhexyl phthalate
(DEHP), an endocrine disruptor and probable human carcinogen, as a
softener.
- #6
Polystyrene (PS) may leach styrene, a possible endocrine disruptor and
human carcinogen, into water and food.
- #7
Polycarbonate contains the hormone disruptor bisphenol-A, which can leach
out as bottles age, are heated, or exposed to acidic solutions.
Unfortunately, #7 is used in most baby bottles and five-gallon water jugs
and in many reusable sports bottles.
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What happens to all the latex paint dropped off at hazardous waste centers? It’s recycled and resold at local paint distributors, such as Dunn-Edwards and Kelly-Moore. Recycled paint sells for less, but the quality and viscosity is augmented by blending it with virgin materials. For more information and a complete list of distributors, visit
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/ConDemo/Paint/.
By the way…if you know of someone who would appreciate the level of service in real estate we provide, please call me or have them go to www.CountyProperties.net and I’ll be happy to follow up and take great care of them.
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Did you know:
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If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, we would provide enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, save more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.
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Some Earth Day freebies & discounts
- Gain free admission into all 392 U.S. national parks now through Sunday, April 25.
- Babies R Us will give you a free reusable tote bag if you bring a valid coupon(PDF) into its stores through April 22. Plus, you'll get a 25% discount off all the clothing and shoes you can fit into the bag.
- Origins is offering a trade-in program on Earth Day only. Bring one of your current skin-care product bottles — empty or full, from any brand — to an Origins counter and receive a free full-size cleanser. Choose from Checks and Balances Frothy face wash or Perfect World antioxidant cleanser with white tea.
- Get a chance to win a $20,000 green home makeover by registering on the Purex website by April 30.
- Enter a sweepstakes to win 1 of 10 smart for two vehicles by making a pledge to help protect the environment on Safeway's website through April 27.
- Sign up for the Drive Home Green sweepstakes on Target's website through the end of the month. The grand prize is a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid.
- Add a green pledge to the Sierra Club's Earth Day map for a chance to win a trip for two to Hawaii.
- Travelocity is offering up to 40% off prices at 40 green hotels across the globe.
- Travelzoo is giving discounts on U.S.-based, LEED-certified hotels.
- Walgreens will refill your printer cartridge for $1 instead of its usual $12 on April 22 only. It's also offering a 22 percent discount on its green products through April 30.
- Drugstore.com is offering up to 40% off products from its "green and natural" store through April 23.
- Numi Organic Teas is giving a 20% discount on April 22 — just enter Eday40 at checkout
Upcoming Events
· Earth Day Program – A Day of Science
Apr 22 2010 – 9:30am – San Diego, California
· Wildlife Preserve and River Cleanup Event
Apr 24 2010 – 12:00pm – San Diego, California
· Earth Through a Lens Exhibit of Finalists' work
Apr 22 2010 – 9:00pm – Palm Springs, California
· Green Screen – USGBC OC (EGB) and The Newport Beach Film Fest
Apr 28 2010 – 8:30pm – Newport Beach, California
By the way…if you know of someone who would appreciate the level of service in real estate we provide, please call me or have them go to www.CountyProperties.net and I’ll be happy to follow up and take great care of them.
Commercial car washes are more water efficient than garden hoses. A typical commercial car wash uses 100 gallons less water and, often, professional washes reuse and recycle the rinse water.
Homeowners are on pace to spend $128 billion this year in remodeling, up from $116 billion last year, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). However, the return on investment has been decreasing. The percentage of costs recouped at resale was approximately 64 percent last year compared with 67 percent in 2008. Based on that, experts advise against major remodeling for homeowners who plan to sell within a year as they are not likely to recoup the expenses of the remodel.
Homeowners planning to remain in their homes for the long term may want to consider adding energy-efficient windows, roofing, and doors as these enhancements recover a large percentage of their outlay. For example, energy-efficient steel entry doors can return more than 100 percent of their average $1,172 cost by helping to reduce energy use.
www.CountyProperties.net
Can also save you money too. Every little bit is a step to help save the earth.
If you want to learn more about the tip then just click on the link (if available) to go to a page that will elaborate on the topic.
- Change to Fluorescent Bulbs – If every house in the United States changed all of the light bulbs in their house, that would be equivalent to taking one million cars off the streets.
- Don't Rinse – Skip rinsing your plates before putting them into the dishwasher. In average you will save 15 gallons of water per load. Plus, you will save time.
- Hang Outside to Dry – Get a cloths line or rack to dry your cloths. Your cloths will last longer and you will save money
- Turn off computers at night – don't just put them to sleep. You will save an average of 4 cents a day which ads up to $14.60 a year.
- Use Both Sides of Paper – if you have a printer with a double sided print option use it. You will save half of the amount of paper you would have normally used.Then when your done bring it to the recycle bin.
- Get rid of baths – Don't take baths, take showers. You will in average save about half the amount of water that you would if you were taking a bath.
- Don't get bottled water – Instead of bottled water get a reusable container to carry water. Also you can get a filter to make your home tap taste more like bottled water. It is definitely more cost efficient.
- Turn the water off when you brush – Your parents have said this before, now I say it. You will save 4 gallons of water doing this alone.
- Shorten your shower – Every minute you cut from your shower is roughly 5 gallons of water. The less time your shower takes, the lower your impact on the environment.
- Recycle Glass – If you do not recycle this, it will take a million years to decompose.
Don't Pre-Heat the Oven – unless needed, just turn the oven on after you put the dish in it. Also, to see if it's finished just look through the glass instead of opening it.
- Use Warm or Cold Setting on Washer – instead of the hot cycle use the warm or cold setting. This will save a lot of energy a year.
- Turn Down your Thermostat – Every degree lower in the winter or higher in the summer you put it is a 10% decrease on your energy bill.
- Turn off your lights – An easy one. Turn off your lights when you are not using them. The benefits are obvious.
- Get rid of junk mail – There are many services that can help you get rid of junk mail. That will lead to a lot less trees being cut down to take up room in your mailbox.
- Use Matches instead of lighters – Lighters are usually considered disposable so they will most likely end up in land fills. You can use the cardboard matches which are much more eco-friendly because they are made of recycled material.
- Don't get a paper phone book – Instead of getting a paper phone book. Use a online directory instead.
- Give things away – Take things that you are not going to wear or use and give it to a charity or someone who will use it.
- Go to a car wash – Going to a car wash is a lot more water efficient then washing your car at home.
- Stop paper bank statements – Why waste paper getting your bank statement mailed to you when you can just check it out online.
- Buy Rechargeable Batteries – Even though it will take a good investment to buy these you will find yourself gaining it back in no time.
- Pay your Bills Online – If every house in the US did this then we would save 18 million trees every year.
- Get a reusable bag – You can't recycle plastic bags, instead get yourself a reusable bag so that you won't have to worry about carrying your necessities.
- Do Errands in Bulk – Make a list of the things you have to do, and see if you can fit a couple of those things together in one ride.
- Inflate your Tires – If your tires are inflated at all times your car will run more miles on less gas.
- Wrap Presents Creatively – Without going out to get wrapping paper you can use newspaper, an old map, or anything else. It would look a whole lot more creative.
- Plant a Tree – It's good for the air, can keep you cool, and can increase your property value.
- Buy Local Produce – Consider how much energy it takes for produce from china or any other country to come here. If you have the option to buy local, do it.
- Walk or Ride Your Bike When you can – If you have to go somewhere close consider riding your bike or walking there instead of your car. It's better on the environment and healthier.
www.CountyProperties.net
Green Tip of the Week: You don’t need a stinkin’ compost container
Who needs a decorative pail on the counter to collect compost—and odors—when you can use a castoff container, such as a margarine container or a cardboard milk carton? Put the container in your freezer, add kitchen scraps until full, dispose scraps (and milk carton) on the compost pile, and repeat. No odors.
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