Real Green Trends

Archive for the 'Life is Greener' Category

New and Old – Eco Friendly Tips to Keep your Home Green Friendly

In my RealGreenTrends blog I strive to search and share tips to make this world a safest, cleanest and healthiest place to live.

I found this Video on Youtube and I wanted to share it with you. It  is about simple tips we can all implement at home.

Cyber Recycling and much more in Miami-Dade and Broward

What to do as one summer day leads to another.

• Miami area www.bestbuy.com; are always a good bet for dropping off computers.
• www.crserecycling.com/locations/miami.html and www.bwrecycling.com accept computers and other electronics across the greater metropolitan area.Locate a www.computertakeback.com;  to donate your used books.

Aventura Eco Friendly Tips for Condo / Home Living

Are you planning on doing some Spring Remodeling? These Tips will help you maintain the value of your condo. Especially if you are thinking of reselling in this Buyer’s Market.

Why Don’t you Try Bamboo Floors?

Highlights

Renewable flooring materials like Bamboo cost less than hardwood and look great. Bamboo grows significantly faster than hard wood so it is sustainable. Some bamboos grow to over 60 feet in just 6 months.

Vertically oriented ‘carbonized’ 5/8 bamboo tongue and groove with pre-urethane top coat performs very well and looks terrific. Note that when comparing prices against hard wood, American oak is often cured longer and has less potential to buckle than cheaper imports that cost less than $5 / sq. ft. Bamboo costs about $3.50 / sq. ft. so the immediate savings on a 300 sq.ft. room (20′ x 15′ ) is about $450.

Consider bamboo for guest rooms, dens, home offices, or play rooms. You have many styles to choose from, but the vertical oriented system may wear better over time than the horizontal. The ‘carbonized’ finish is darker than the blonde finish and it looks more like hardwood, and pre-finished boards with multiple coats of urethane will save on installation.

Also consider using bamboo instead of carpet. Installed carpet ranges from $1.25 to $2.50 per sq. ft. but you have to clean it and potentially replace it every 5 to 10 years depending on the wear.

The savings is immediate relative to wood, but the ROI Calculation is based on offsetting carpet at an average of $1.75 / sq. ft. for two 300 sq. ft. rooms with the need for a carpet replacement within 10 years.

The Bamboo ‘Grain’ is elegant and durable, a great option for your condo.

For more information on green friendly tips, stay tuned to my blog www.realgreentrends.com and when you are ready to sell or buy your residence in Aventura, Bal Harbour or Sunny Isles, just contact me.

Earth Day 2010

Green Auction to mark 40th anniversary of Earth Day

As I wanted to share with you some interesting news about Earth day I came acros a news from Reuters .

In New York, artists, conservationists, business leaders and film and music stars from around the globe are marking the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day with a Green Auction to benefit the environment.

As you know, I am a real estate broker representing sellers and buyers in South Florida. At EWM Realtors – the exclusive Miami-Dade and Broward affiliate of  Christie’s  Great Estates, I am proud to learn that today a  Green Auction was held at Christie’s,  together with a companion silent online sale and related events, known as “A Bid to Save the Earth” . Their goal? To raise millions for four nonprofit environmental groups.

Bidders were also able to bid for tennis lessons with John McEnroe, an afternoon in Central Park with Canice Bergen, dinner and the theater with actress Sigourney Weaver or a day on the set with Australian star Hugh Jackman.

Wasn’t that a great way to celebrate our Mother Earth? I am a proud Green Friendly broker offering many marketing options available through the Christie’s  network to my sellers. One of my true differential advantages.

Contact me for a private meeting to assist you marketing and selling your luxury home and/or condo in Aventura , Golden Beach , Sunny Isles  and Bal Harbour .

SPRINGING INTO ACTION – NATURAL CLEANING PRODUCTS FOR YOUR AVENTURA HOME

Do we really need to smell  amonia and or clorox in our Aventura or Miami homes to consider them clean?

The truth is, once you get it out of your head that you need your house to smell like a freshly sterilized hospital room, you’ll find your best cleaning supplies right in your own pantry. Baking soda and vinegar will often work to clean just about anything, including toilet bowls, soap scum and kitchen sinks.

Try some club soda and a clean rag to scrub it out. This also works wonders on garments, as I thankfully learned when I spilled red wine on my champagne-colored dress at my brother’s wedding. (No need to point out the irony, folks. I get it.)

What can I use for my everyday household cleaning?

Simply, mix 1 cup vinegar with 1 cup water in a spray bottle and you’re ready to go. For more serious disinfecting, try having one spray bottle of vinegar around and one spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide (make this one a dark bottle since light can change the properties of hydrogen peroxide). Different sources have proved that spraying these two nontoxic ingredients on your countertops can kill 10 times more bacteria than peroxide alone.

Haiti Relief Efforts – Let’s Help

I strive  to be the best realtor I can be for my sellers and buyers. I constantly get the latest news go to trainings, teach and take workshops, and I always try to communicate from a positive standpoint and to write about upcoming events, goods news and green friendly activities taking place  in South Florida including Aventura and Sunny Isles.

Well folks, there’s times when I feel that the most important thing to do is to help others less fortunate who are suffering and struggling to safe their lifes and mourning the loss of their loved ones.

Please, kindly assist the Haitian people.

The Red Cross has set up a relief fund. Here’s how it works:

Send a $10 Donation by Texting ‘Haiti’ to 90999

You can make a donation by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or click on the Donate Now button.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! GREETING FROM SOUTH FLORIDA REAL ESTATE

GREEN TAX INCENTIVES FOR CONSUMERS – Including our Aventura residents

 There’s still time to take advantage of the many green tax incentives available to consumers.

There’s one month left in 2009  to take advantage of green tax incentives. From putting smarter windows in your house to installing a solar water heater, move quickly to get back a considerable percent of your investment.

Until December 31,  2009,  you have plenty of time to take advantage of the green tax incentives available to consumers. While some of these tax credits or deductions have been available for several years, many were created as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The following types of energy-efficient products may be eligible for a 30 percent tax credit, up to $1,500:

• Biomass stoves
• Advanced main air circulating fan
• Air source heat pump
• Central air conditioning
• Gas, propane, or oil hot water boiler
• Natural gas or propane furnace
• Oil furnace
• Home insulation
• Reflective roofing 
• Non-solar water heaters
• Energy-efficient windows, doors and skylights
• Storm windows and doors 

These products must be installed on an existing, primary residence. New construction projects as well as rental property upgrades will not qualify for the tax credit under this plan. Although 2009 is coming to a close, these tax credits are valid for projects completed through Dec. 31, 2010.

Read the rest of this entry »

City of Aventura – How Green Can your Condo Go? Green Iniciative for the Summer 2009

The City of Aventura announces a call for Builders and Developers who follow the Green Iniciative.

This Green iniciative is one more step that the City of Aventura in South Florida is taking towards helping the environment and turning our city into a green friendlier town.

The new resolution will include marketing of green buildings on site construction signs. Plaque on the building designating the project under the Program.

Through this ongoing effort the City of Aventura, once again, tackles this important issue that will ultimately benefit all of us.

To read more about this program to can log on to the City of Aventura website.

Are you looking to move to South Florida? Are you interested in selling your Aventura Home? If you are ready you should work with someone you know and trust. Let me help you and show you how you can sell your condo for the highest profit possible in the least amount of time.

Living in Aventura, Miami Beach, Sunny Isles: Eco friendly technologies

Do you know that now Aventura, Sunny Isles and residents of other South Florida neighborhoods can go green at home?

How? There’s a number of eco-friendly technologies that can be used at home and at work.

You can start by changing your lightbulbs

• Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) are the size of a standard incandescent lightbulb but last six to 10 times as song and use 25% or less of the power of an equivalent incandescent bulb.
• The dissipate far less of their energy use as heat and more as light.

What does that mean to South Florida residents? We can reduce our AC Bills!

You can also get the newest generation of lighting technology: LED

Light-emitting diode (LED) uses energy even more efficiently.

What else can owners of homes in Aventura, Golden Beach, Sunny Isles and Miami Beach can do to save energy?

SOLAR PANELS – Very useful for South Florida Homes

We live in the Sunshine State, don’t we?

Solar power generation has been around for decades but recent advances in materials and systems management have made it far more efficient and cost- effective.

Do you have a swimming pool in your Aventura or Golden Beach Home?

Well, now photovoltaic and newer thin-film technologies gather solar energy and are sued to heat swimming pools, power home water heaters and even generate all the electricity a home needs.

There’s a range of options from the most expensive ones upwards $15,000 to those solar 0powered battery chargers to power up your cameras, cellphones, iPode or laptop.

So what are my dear Aventura, Sunny Isles, Golden Beach neighbors waiting for? Just talk to your contractor, access green friendly websites like Ecobroker and BluePlanetGreenLiving and start using our natural resources for a better and green living.

For more information on Aventura, Sunny Isles, Golden Beach, Miami Beach and other local South Florida cities, simple contact me and we will work together on your real estate needs.

Are you ready to sell you home? Adriana is ready to help. Adriana Faerman |EcoBroker | www.realgreentrends.com | 305-773-0253