Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly

Homeowners across the country are continually striving toward a more eco-friendly lifestyle. While homeowners may not know where to start, there are small steps that can be taken that can add up to make a big difference. The experts at OurGreenerLife.com offer the following tips to help you lessen your eco footprint.

1. Use less water
Saving water is all about small steps. Here are a few simple ways that will help you conserve water while saving money.
-Shut off the water while you brush your teeth
-Take showers that are a minute or two shorter
-Only run full loads of laundry and dishes
-Buy from sustainable producers. These are farmers, ranchers and other producers that use techniques that pollute less and use less water. You can do some research online or ask at your local organic market to find these products.

2. Use less energy
If you don’t have the money to buy a hybrid car or convert your house to solar power, you can make a big difference with the following small changes.
-Buy energy efficient appliances. They may be more expensive, but make up for the increased cost in lower energy bills.
-Unplug chargers when you’re not using them. Cell phone and other chargers use up power even if there’s nothing attached to them.
-Put devices with remotes, like TVs, VCRs and stereos on a power strip and turn the power strip off when you’re not using the devices. These gadgets use a lot of power to run the remote receiver even when the device is off.
-Walk or ride your bicycle for short trips
.-Buy local products. It takes energy to transport food and other products across the country. Buying local not only supports your local economy, it helps them use less energy.
-When it comes to saving energy and water, it’s a great idea to get the kids involved—you can even make it a game. Have them track how much water and electricity everyone is using and compete to see who uses the least.

3. Reuse
Most of us know the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, but when we work on conserving, we often leave reuse out of the picture. While you can often find tips on how to reuse common products from other people, what you need most is creativity. With a little thought, there are many items around your home that can be reused—toilet paper holders can be used to sow seeds for the vegetable patch, old yogurt containers can be cut into strips to make plant labels and old food jars can be refilled with homemade foods or can make great impromptu vases.

4. Use environmentally friendly products
When you go to the grocery store, you probably see more and more ‘natural’ or ‘eco friendly’ products every time. There are generally two big problems with these products: Just because they’re more natural than regular products, doesn’t mean they’re entirely natural and they’re often expensive.If you want inexpensive, natural, safe products, why not just make them yourself? Vinegar is a great way to clean and disinfect glass and other surfaces. Need to remove stubborn stains? Just add some baking soda to your vinegar cleaner. Some quick searching online will lead you to hundreds of other natural safe home-made cleaning products.

Source: rismedia

For Consumers: Prepare for the Hidden Costs of Homeownership

While record low interest rates and recent tax credits for first-time homebuyers have enticed many families to turn their dream of homeownership into a reality, the hidden costs of homeownership can sometimes catch families off guard. Preparing for the hidden costs of homeownership, especially for first-time homebuyers, is a wise financial move. Knowledge is the key when investing in a home. It's more than a place to live; it's a financial asset, a place to raise a family, and an investment in the community.

Below are tips for buying, maintaining, and protecting your largest asset.Home insurance - Homeowner's insurance often costs quite a bit more than renter's insurance, because it covers the home, in addition to your personal property. Depending upon where you live, you may also need to purchase supplemental insurance for hurricanes, floors, tornados, earthquakes, and other natural disasters that are not covered under your standard policy.

Maintenance and repairs - Owning a home means that you are responsible for the upkeep. These costs can add up quickly, especially in an older home with older systems and appliances. Expect to spend some money on routine maintenance every year. Keeping an emergency fund for unanticipated repairs is also a smart idea. Keeping up with routine maintenance will help your home maintain its value.

Utilities - Prepare to spend some additional money on utilities, including water, garbage collection, heat, and electricity. With more space, it's likely that even the bills you paid when you rented will be higher in your new home.
Homeowners' association fees - Find out if you will have to pay homeowners' association fees. Many communities have a homeowners' association, commonly called an HOA. An HOA is typically tasked with maintaining common areas and enforcing deed restrictions. Membership in a community HOA is often mandatory and members are charged a monthly or annual fee.

Home furnishings - You'll probably need, or at least want, to purchase furniture and decor items for your new home. Most people, when purchasing a new home, decide to paint, upgrade the decor, purchase new furniture, and buy new linens.When purchasing a new home, factor in these items to your total budget to make sure that you are completely financially prepared for homeownership.By doing this, you'll rest assured knowing that you are purchasing a home that you can comfortably afford.

Source: RISMedia

Summer Remodeling Ideas

Other than vacations, summer is the time of the year most popular for home improvement. The long days and warm, sunny weather make a great time to work on repairs and renovations without much of the hassles and delays that rain and other elements bring. For this reason and more, a good number of homeowners undertake home improvement projects during the summer.

Eugene Makeev, a home improvement expert offers the following tips for homeowners who are looking to spruce their homes up this summer.

Patios and Decks
What better way to enjoy the warm days than by creating an outdoor living space for the family to enjoy. Decks and patios are among the most popular summer remodeling ideas. There are various factors to take into consideration when deciding whether a patio or deck is the most appropriate project to undertake. Such factors include soil condition and consistency, site terrain, use, capacity, privacy as well as the cost and maintenance you are willing to put up with.

Home Maintenance
Throughout the seasons, your home has taken good care of you and your family and now is the best time to give back. Go through your property to evaluate and create a checklist on areas that need mending or replacement. This list is a crucial preparation before calling a contractor or handyman for maintenance and repair services. Some common maintenance and repair include:

-Waterproof the basement
-Re-caulk and replace weatherstrip
-Clean and seal wooden decks
-Trim bushes and trees
-Re-align downspouts and gutters
-Repair roof
-Clean the pool
-Mend the fence
-Seal cracks along driveways, foundation, walkways, etc.
-Maintenance of HVAC systems

Energy Efficient Renovation
When it comes to summer remodeling, there's no better way to invest your hard-earned dollars than by making your home energy efficient. An energy efficient summer remodel is truly a worthwhile endeavor as it will result in years of savings on your energy bills. Some of the common items you can buy and integrate into your energy efficient renovation include:

-Insulation systems and materials
-Roofs that resist heat gain
-Biomass burning stoves
-Energy-efficient windows
-HVAC systems with the highest efficiency tier
-Solar panels
-Fuel cells
-Geothermal heat pumps
-Wind energy systems

Source: Paige Tepping

It's Time to Move!!

Within the next month, the kids will be out of school and for a lot of families, it might just be time to move. Moving brings an entire new set of stresses and tasks.

Check out these tips for moving, courtesy of Move.com. It might just help save a bit of time, stress and heartache.

4 weeks from move date: Get organized and start notifying the right people and companies that you'll be moving soon and give them a date to forward or terminate service. Start looking for licensed and professional moving companies, moving guides and relevant coupons.

Tip: If using a professional mover, get quotes from multiple moving companies to get the best deal that is right for you and your needs. Ask plenty of questions like whether or not they give binding quotes and what kind of insurance is included. Be sure to talk with them about the different options available with full-service moves such as packing and unpacking services and providing boxes and packing supplies.

Tip: Important documents such as your child's school records may need to be accessible during your transition. Make sure to put these items aside and make copies of any records for yourself, in case you forget what box they're packed in.

3 weeks from move date: Once you've selected a mover, begin by taking inventory of your belongings and their worth and decide what will be coming with you to your next home.

Tip: Start cleaning out closets, drawers and storage areas of your home and divide things into categories: "pack," "recycle" and "give to friend." You can always have a garage sale or donate old items to charity. This will make packing day a lot easier and you may reduce the total weight you'll be paying for to move.

Tip: If you're moving yourself or contracting for a self-service move, pack the items you know you won't need until 30 days after the move. It will feel great to get started early.

Tip: If possible, take pictures of rooms and areas inside the home or apartment you'll be moving into so you can start thinking about placement of furniture, artwork and other items. This will help save time, headaches...and money...on moving day.

2 weeks from move date: If you choose not to take advantage of full service mover packing services, or are planning to do it yourself and rent a truck, start packing things into boxes. Figure out the logistics of the move, travel plans and if other specialized plans need to be made.

Tip: If you are using a professional mover find out what items are on their "non-allowables" list and discard those items or find a way to transport them separately.

Tip: Instead of stacking plates, pack them vertically; they will travel safer this way.Tip: If you are moving long distance, remember travel arrangements for your pets. There are pet-exclusive airlines available such as Pet Airways but regular airlines have travel options for pets as well.

Tip: If you have young children, you may want to make childcare arrangements so you can be 100% focused on moving day and your little ones remain safe and busy with fun activities.

Tip: Schedule "move out" cleaning service, carpet cleaners and heavy appliance disposal if necessary for once you'll be out of the home you're vacating. Even if you're selling your current home, it's a nice welcome for the buyers to move into a clean and tidy home.

1 week from move date: Set aside valuable items and keep those with you. Clean before moving and leave your house or apartment as clean as it was when you moved in.

Tip: Make sure the details for paying the moving company are taken care of. Some will require money orders or cashier's checks upon delivery; know their policy in advance to avoid stress on moving day.

Tip: Start eating all the frozen foods you have, or give them to a neighbor or friend. This way you won't have to throw them away on moving day, or worry about packing an ice chest.

Tip: Also think about necessities for managing moving day like confining your pets and anticipating the amount of time you will need.

Tip: Place necessities such as toiletries, toilet paper, rags, "must-have" cooking supplies and organize them in boxes marked "open first" so it's easy to find the initial items you'll want handy on those first few days of being in your next home. Don't forget the flashlight!

Tip: If possible, take one last tour of the new location and identify water and gas shut off locations, as well as the electrical breaker box just in case something happens in the first few days so you're prepared. Might be smart to drop off a fresh box of light bulbs too!

Moving day and beyond: Take one last walk through and make sure nothing has been forgotten or overlooked. Also, make sure all doors and windows are locked and switches turned off, then you are on your way to your new house or apartment.

Tip: Go back to the photos you took when you began to pack up. Now you can show the movers or those helping you unpack exactly where everything goes with photos.

Tip: Unpack one room at a time according to basic needs starting with the kitchen and at least one bathroom...and don't forget to make a bed as early in the day as possible if you'll be sleeping in your home that evening! Remember, you don't have to unpack everything in one day, or even in one week.

Tip: After you've settled in a bit, introduce yourself to some neighbors, ask for advice on the best places to eat, grocery shop, etc. This way you will feel like part of the community and can get some great local tips.


Source: Move.com

New NASCAR Hall of Fame Opens in Charlotte

NASCAR's $200 million Hall of Fame, which opens today, pays homage to the champions of stock-car racing's past and provides a peek under the hood at the technology that's driving its present and future.

The scale of the 150,000-square-feet complex, which gobbles up five acres of prime commercial real estate, is testament to NASCAR's emergence as a major league sport. It also represents a dramatic turnabout among the powerbrokers of Charlotte, who strived for decades to market the city as the embodiment of the upscale New South and play down, if not deny outright, its association with stock-car racing, a sport long derided as the mindless pursuit of ne'er-do-wells.
Suddenly Charlotte isn't just claiming its NASCAR roots; it's celebrating them, moonshine included.

While NASCAR's corporate office is in Daytona Beach, Fla., 90 percent of its race teams are headquartered in the Charlotte area. That translates to a $5.9 billion economic impact and more than 27,000 jobs for North Carolinians, according to a 2006 study co-authored by Connaughton. And that's significant in a state that has lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the last decades, with textiles, tobacco and furniture particularly hard hit.

While there are a handful of motor sports halls of fame at tracks around the country, the futuristic complex in "uptown" Charlotte is the first sanctioned by NASCAR. Employing the business model of its founding France family, NASCAR got the showplace built with no investment of its own by orchestrating a bidding war among cities for the privilege of constructing it. With support from its well-heeled banking community, Charlotte beat out chief rival Atlanta, whose bid was backed by Coca-Cola, in 2006.

A portion of construction costs is to be covered by the sale of commemorative bricks, though sales are lagging, according to the Charlotte Observer. The campaign to defray the city's debt begins in earnest when the ticket window opens Tuesday ($19.95 for adults; $12.95, children 5-12). Visitors will be steered to a 275-person, surround-sound theater for a 12-minute movie summarizing stock-car racing history. It opens with grainy, black-and-white footage of jalopies tumbling end over end on Daytona's old beach course. Color-drenched sequences revisit the great rivalries. And there's a nod to NASCAR's safety advances that omits the fact that anyone ever died in the sport -- or that it took the death of the sport's biggest star, Dale Earnhardt, to prompt the long overdue safety measures.

The anchor of the exhibit is "Glory Road," a ramp that mimics racetracks' high-banked turns, upon which 18 historic racecars are parked in race-day alignment, each impossibly shiny and game. There's the Fabulous Hudson Hornet that won three championships in the 1950s; Richard Petty's No. 43 Pontiac; and Earnhardt's menacing black No. 3 Chevrolet. Upstairs are interactive displays, artifacts galore and a racing simulator that gives Jeff Gordon-wannabes a chance to "race" Darlington Raceway, the circuit's trickiest oval, with no two corners the same.

Source: Washington Post