Walt Kelly [the great cartoonist/journalist] coined the phrase, "we have met the enemy and it is us," years ago when lamenting through his cartoon the harm being done to the environment by litterers, chiefly -- us. Up until that point, the complainers of the environment being harmed were probably thought to be some outsider intent on destroying the universe through thrashing the earth out. Surprise it's us.
Clearly identify the value and Return on Investment (ROI) for the green improvements you've made. Make sure a five year old can understand why they should pay more for this home. For example, show that the house may have 200-300 dollars in energy savings when it comes to a typical outdated mammoth down the street. This could add up to 2,000 in savings per year. Make sure your Realtor has the skills to present this data and sell the value. Make a video explaining all the benefits of owning this home and offer resources like links or magazines for the buyers to get more education about the features that your homes has to offer.
Anyone who has read my report for a while knows that I am not one to spin the data. But I would like to take this month's report to look at the positive facts.
Within a weekend, you can build your first solar panel. As in all other DIY projects, you'll take some time to master it. Some projects even bear Sustainable Homes the risk of failure. But with DIY solar panels, you can almost always generate electricity with your very first panel. Using the tips and insider secrets in the instructional manual, you can most likely build a professional looking project too.
After identifying where to live, evaluate what you want from a house. How many rooms do you need? What are the features you want present in the house? It is also important that you consider the monthly cost of maintaining the property.
These types of boilers have been around for a very long time, but they have changed quite a bit. They are now very efficient, comfortable and do not require as much maintenance as their older counterparts. Wood burning furnaces now produce as much as 90% less emissions than a wood burning fire place. The pellets used in these boilers are made from waste material and wood, of course, is renewable. A nice feature of this type sustainable of boiler is that pellets are added as needed by the use of an auger and the only maintenance required is filling the hopper and removing ash.
The best place to start is with goal setting. If you can set goals to reduce your energy consumption of gas, electricity, and the gallons of fuel used for you car, you can save tons of energy and reduce your monthly bill. Each month we can continue to use less and less energy, while saving more money, and creating a more sustainable community.
When only a few individuals know of a new way it stays with those individuals... when it is passed along - even to only one more person - the energy field opens and is accessible to all. Be the POWER OF ONE!