Tips for More Sustainable Living

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Small Steps Let You Live More Sustainably

 
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 (http://www.houselogic.com/articles/start-a-community-garden-get-the-community-involved/). 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 flyers 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.

Article written by Amanda Abrams, 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.

66 Lakefront Listings over $2,000,000

Ok I admit it I am a home Voyeur. I love to search our crazy properties online and look at the photos and descriptions, it is fun. I really have desire to ever own a home that requires over $10,000 a month to maintain, but man, I love to look at them!

Here are 66 homes located here in Southwestern Michigan for sale over $2,000,000.

 

When it is grey outside for weeks on end, looking at Lake homes reminds me of summer. There are some amazing homes for sale on the Lake Michigan coast and Gull lake right now. Not like when I was a kid, a lake house was a cabin that was only habitable in the summer. I am so happy they have evolved.

There have been eight lake front properties sell in the last 12 months for more than $2,000,000.  The highest priced home sold for $4,900,000 cash or $644 a sq ft with a listing price of $5,250,000. This is a property that definately proves…location, location, location, with over 2 acres, low bluff and what looks like private Lake Michigan beach for days, not bad.

This 7600 square foot home with outstanding views has five bedrooms, six full baths, two half baths, over two acres of property, 150 feet of frontage, and an original asking price of $7,950,000.

There are currently six properties listed for over $5,000,000 including a $9,900,000 on the Lake in New Buffalo and a $14,500,000 hunting retreat with 1,000 acres in an undisclosed location. Did I mention the entire 1,000 acres is fenced in to protect the elk heard?

I love real estate! Have fun surfing.

Year to Year Homes Sales Graphs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot Property

A large Martha Vineyard cottage set on a Cul de Sac among towering oaks and maples…this is 2651 Cutty Sark Drive. Welcome to a traditional, spacious, and windowed conservatory in the woods of quiet West Port neighborhood. The magic of natural light is captured in this warm and welcoming house on a hill with complete privacy provided by surrounding woods. Just minutes from downtown Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University, and K College this home qualifies for Kalamazoo Promise funds to attend any state college in Michigan ( Go to www.kalamazoopromise.com for details). Over 3, 500 finished sqft of living space, including 1, 000 sqft of Italian porcelain tile flooring plus 1, 200 sqft of unfinished storage space in the lower level basement area. Built by Richard and Todd Modderman, the home has 58 windows (26 with transoms), premium carpeting and cabinetry, professionally painted interior, extensive professional landscaping, and underground utilities.

Art Hop on 12/7

5 -7 pm

Various downtown locations

Art Hop is a free event on the first Friday of every month. It features new art exhibits in a fun, casual atmosphere. Galleries and businesses host the shows, and you can hop around from one exhibit to the other. Meet the artists and make new friends at the Art Hop. Download a map and schedule at kalamazooarts.com or pick up one at the Epic Center.

269-342-5059

http://www.KalamazooArts.com

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!

Mark Ingram

This is a fantastic story. Young man from Flint goes to Alabama to play for a man who left the players fathers alma-mater. Going to the SEC (which is sooo different than the big ten), going to college in a foreign country (if you are born and raised in Flint, like me, Alabama mize well be a foreign country), fighting for playing time last year as a freshman, and now being named the favorite to win college footballs biggest individual award and having a great shot at it’s biggest team award.

I actually get goosebumps when I am on the road watching ‘bama play and they say Mark Ingram from Flint MI!!! Makes the rust in blood tingle with hometown pride.

Push Post To Kalimazoo

This post was created on changingstreetrealty.com and placed in the category financial-sitewide-cats. This demonstrates a post being pushed from a specific category from the parent blog to the child blog.

Posts can be pushed or pulled with this method.

Posts can be pushed to and from any category.

Posts can be pushed to any or all sites setup.

Test one from flint.changingstreets.com Pushing Down.

This is posting down to one blog, raleigh, in the category financial-sitewide-cats. This category is created site wide so people should be able to push and pull from this category.

Flint Markets up 2/3% in December

Yay!

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