MIY: MAKE IT YOURSELF HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

Save Money and the Planet!


Part 1 - Baking Soda - Household Cleaner, Stain Remover, Deodorizer



There was a time when families made their own cleaning products for pennies a gallon or 

less. Some figures show the average family spends $1200 a year on household cleaners! 

Who says you can’t afford a vacation or dinners out! Just MIY!

You’ll also eliminate many toxic chemicals in your home and help the environment.  

These homemade cleaners are much safer around children and pets.

First: Label Your Products 

ALWAYS label your bottles with all the ingredients they contain and make sure

the label states NOT TO BE CONSUMED BY ANYONE, but used for (state the purpose 

of the product).

Shake a bit of baking soda on a damp sponge, and you can clean and deodorize all 

the surfaces in your kitchen and bathroom. Always rinse thoroughly.

Add 2-4 tablespoons of baking soda in a spray bottle filled with a quart of warm 

water for a more liquid cleaner and deodorizer to use on fixtures, stainless steel, 

chrome, fiberglass, ceramic, porcelain or enamel and other non-porous, surfaces.

Keep an open box in your refrigerator to eliminate odors and sprinkle it in the 

bottom of a garbage pail or bag to keep odors down.

Keep baking soda by the stove to put out grease fire emergencies.

Sprinkle some in your plasticware, and rinse with hot water to deodorize.  

Do not use baking soda on porous surfaces like wood.

These articles from Angel Brown, Keller Williams - Upper 

Marlboro, 240-34-ANGEL and Home Warranty of America, Inc., will 

help you improve your home, creating a healthier environment while 

saving energy and the planet. Stay tuned for more!

Stay Cool this Summer

This message brought to you by EcoBroker International.
Easy Tips to Stay Cool (and Save Energy) This Summer


Green the Block, http://www.greentheblock.net/, is offering some simple summer tips to stay cool and save energy. Find a few tips below and at this link.




1. Using operable windows, shutters, awnings, and vents as originally intended to control the interior environment.




2. Place your air conditioner in a central window, rather than a corner window, to allow for better air movement.




3. Fans can make rooms feel five to ten degrees cooler and use 80% less energy than air conditioners.




4. To get the hot air out at night: open the downstairs windows, and use window fans in upstairs windows to suck large volumes of hot air out of the top floor of the house. On really hot evenings, run bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans for an hour.



5. Unplug the AC to DC power converters when they're not needed. Some of them use electricity even when nothing's attached to them, and they produce heat when they consume power. Feel each plugged-in power converter. If it's cold, it is not using much electricity and isn't warming your house. If it's hot, unplug it if possible.

Spring Cleaning for Busy People

It’s hard to carve out a block of time to do any big projects, which is what spring cleaning is to most families.

But there are fun ways to set it up and accomplish a lot of these tasks while getting a refreshed feeling toward your home and the summer yet to come!

Here are some quick ideas:

• Put music on while you are spring cleaning.


• Make a list and do some small tasks first giving you a feeling of accomplishment.


• Treat yourself after you finish some tasks whether it’s a movie, a meal out, whatever constitutes a reward for you.


• Make a list with some easy tasks at the top and then a priority task or two next that you really want to finish this spring. Refrain from making too long a list which will seem never-ending. You can always add later.


• If you have older children, involve them too. Put on their music for some of the time as well and design little treats around their desires. Nothing has to be expensive, just fun.


• Get real. If you are cleaning out a closet and haven’t worn that size since high school or haven’t worn it for a year or more, donate it. You’ll get a good feeling when donating which will help with the motivation to do more cleaning.

There are fun ways to do any big project in the home!

These articles from Angel Brown, Keller Williams - Upper


Marlboro, 301-928-1007 and Home Warranty of America, Inc., will


help you improve your home, creating a healthier environment while


saving energy and the planet. Stay tuned for more!


These helpful, money-saving home improvement ideas are brought to you by


Angel Brown, Keller Williams - Upper Marlboro, 301-928-1007 and Home


Warranty of America, Inc.

Taking Steps to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint-Greening Your Home

Courtesy of http://www.whatsmycarbonfootprint.com/

Taking Steps to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint


Greening Your Home

Greening at home keeps more of the "green" at home: inefficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning units, windows leaking conditioned air, and appliances devour energy.


This is money out of your pocket, and it's bad for the environment: the electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home — almost 8500 Btu's annually for an average home, puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars.


Tips to help get you started:

Tuneup Your HVAC System

Clean air filters regularly and have your heating and cooling equipment tuned annually by a licensed contractor to save energy and increase comfort at home. When it's time to replace your old equipment, choose a high efficiency model, and make sure it is properly sized and installed.

Efficient Appliances

When you replace an appliance, look for products with an ENERGY STAR® label. ENERGY STAR-qualified products are available in more than 40 product categories, including lighting, home electronics, heating and cooling equipment and appliances. If your local utility supports appliance recycling, find out how you can participate.

Be Water Wise

Municipal water systems require a lot of energy to purify and distribute water. Don't let water run while shaving or brushing teeth. Repair leaky faucets and toilets promptly. These simple actions can help households save hundreds of gallons of water each month: saving water, especially hot water, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Be Smart with Power Management

Did you know that your battery charger uses energy while plugged into the wall even when you’re not using it to charge your phone, laptop, or PDA? Unplug your appliances when not in use. Adjust power management settings for your computer to conserve energy. Consider using a power strip that can be turned off when you're done using your computers, printers, wireless routers and other electronics. Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms.

Replace Low-Efficiency Lightbulbs

Replace incandescent bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). Check the package to match the bulb type with your fixture to get the best performance and life from the CFL.

Use Renewable Energy

Solar energy can be used to heat homes, buildings, water, and to make electricity. Today, more than 200,000 houses in the United States take advantage of the sun's energy. Find out about renewable energy incentives in your state: http://www.dsireusa.org/

More Smart Tips To Green Your Life:

Buy Seasonal Produce

Organic food tastes better and it’s kinder to the earth. Thirty percent of the fossil fuel used on farms goes into the making of fertilizers.


Get greener by buying items grown or produced within 100 miles and you’ll reduce the amount of diesel fuel needed to ship food. You can get fresher food and help small-scale agriculture by shopping at neighborhood farmers’ markets.

Think Before you drive…

Save energy by carpooling, taking public transportation, riding a bike, or walking. Another way to reduce your carbon emissions is to combine errands when you do drive.

Cars & Renewable Fuels

Before buying a new or used vehicle, check out the EPA green buying guide: http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/. Highly fuel efficient cars, hybrids, and vehicles that use cleaner alternative fuels help reduce greenhouse gases emissions. Reduce pollution from your current vehicle by getting regular tune-ups and making sure your tires are properly inflated to achieve your vehicle’s optimal gas mileage.

Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

Recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags, and newspapers. Support recycling by purchasing items that are reusable and/or recyclable. When you recycle, you send less trash to the landfill and you help save resources that would be used in manufacturing non-recycled products.

Spread The Word!

Talk with your family and friends about climate change. Let them know the ways you’re changing your lifestyle to help prevent more climate changes.

How the Stimulus Benefits “Green”

(And How You Can Position Yourself to Benefit as Well)By Ryan Moehring

You may think there is too much “pork” in the recently signed stimulus bill. Or perhaps too much spending or too many tax cuts. Its passage may offend your Keynesian or Monetarist economic views, and may, you believe, lead to the very demise of capitalism itself. (OK, that may be going too far.) You may not think we need a stimulus at all—that we should let the free market recover on its own. Whatever your political and economic viewpoint, if you believe our country's energy policy needs a fundamental change, and that energy efficiency and renewable energy can simultaneously stimulate the economy and help the planet, chances are you are excited about the green provisions of the bill.To say the stimulus is big is an understatement. It is huge, colossal, gargantuan even. It is the largest spending bill the world has ever seen, which is a frightening proposition to say the least. However, if you can get past the staggering debt created by the bill, you'll find unprecedented subsidies for the energy sector. Here is an abbreviated summary of some of the energy-related provisions that can impact your real estate business:$6.3 billion for energy efficiency in multifamily housing getting federal assistance, such as HUD-sponsored low-income housing$5 billion to weatherize more than 1 million homes owned by "modest-income" families.$4.5 billion to increase the energy efficiency of federal buildings$4 billion to repair and modernize public housing units$2 billion to increase the tax credit for hybrid cars to $7,500$1.4 billion for bonds to carry out state and local renewable energy and conservation projects$510 million to repair and modernize more than 4,000 Native American housing units$500 million to train workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy$300 million for consumer rebates for energy-efficient appliances$268 million to remove caps on a 30 percent residential credit for solar, wind, and geothermal$250 million to HUD to improve the efficiency of government-subsidized apartmentsThe New York Times released a detailed breakdown of the energy provisions here.Interesting Facts About the $5 Billion Dedicated to Weatherization AssistanceThis amount could weatherize 1 million homes and, directly and indirectly, create 375,000 jobs.Low-income families will save an average of $350 annually from weatherization.Every investment of $1 billion in clean energy programs creates nearly 5,000 more jobs than traditional infrastructure spending.As a real estate professional, you may be wondering how you can benefit from all of this spending. Here are a few suggestions:You can always contact your state energy office and obtain information about their weatherization program. Once you have this information, how can you apply it?Do you know someone on your lead list, or perhaps a past client, who could use some free insulation or some caulking around their windows? Why wouldn't you take the time to connect a potential client with free weatherization money for home improvements that will actually improve their comfort and quality of life? When the time comes to sell their home, who do you think they are going to call? Mr. Big Shot REALTOR® with the huge advertising budget? Or the considerate agent who thoughtfully took the time to help make their winter a little more comfortable?Maybe you've already helped a family move into a green home, or have helped them retrofit it. You already know that green topics are important to them, so why wouldn't you tell them about the $7,500 tax credit for purchasing a plug-in hybrid vehicle?Do they already have a hybrid? Tell them about the rebates for energy-efficient appliances.Even better, how about informing them about the removal of the 30 percent cap on residential solar systems? Combine this credit with local incentives currently offered by a number of states and your clients can start producing their own energy for around one-fourth of the sticker price. Now that's exciting!Whatever the scenario, you should know that your competition will be putting the stimulus to good use. How will your business benefit? Start planning today.*********************Discover more about the growing interest in all things "green" in this issue of the EcoBroker Green Outlook.Want to know more about green issues in real estate? If you would like to receive information from us more often, just send us an email with your name, company name, address, and phone number, and we will keep you up to date on timely green industry news and opportunities. Join EcoBroker today to gain the tools to stay on top and address the needs of this changing market. With EcoBroker® designation training, you can help clients save money, live comfortably, and reduce their carbon footprint!

Conduct Your Own Energy Audit by Jane Hodges

Self-starters don’t necessarily need a pro to assess their home’s energy deficiencies. With a little elbow grease and one of several free do-it-yourself guides to home energy auditing, you can get a good sense of where your home is leaking hot and cool air, and how your choice of appliances and your energy use contributes to energy loss.


What you’ll save on fixes
By following up on problems, you can lower energy bills by 5% to 30% annually, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. With annual energy bills averaging $2,200, according to Energy Star, investing in fixes or energy-efficient replacement products could save you up to $660 within a year.

And self-audits can cost virtually nothing if you already own a flashlight, ladder, measuring stick, candles, eye protection, work clothes, dust mask, and a screwdriver—or roughly $150 if you’re starting from scratch. As for time commitment, expect to spend two to four hours to investigate home systems, refer to utility bills, and conduct research about local norms for products, such as insulation, say experts.

Types of DIY audits
Since there are a variety of ways to conduct a do-it-yourself audit, you’ll need to know your tolerance for the tasks involved.

Some require you play home inspector, climbing into attics and crawlspaces on fact-finding missions and delving into unfinished portions of your home to look at duct work. Questionnaire-based audits rely the assumption that you can answer such questions as how many gallons of water your toilet tank holds to the R-value (thickness) of insulation in your home.

If you don’t have time to familiarize yourself with your home’s systems or confidence about diagnosing problems, are disabled, are squeamish on ladders and in crawlspaces, or are already planning to invest in a major remodel, you may benefit from hiring a pro.

Even homeowners who complete a self-audit often hire a professional to double-check their diagnoses. A self-audit may reveal drafts but not their exact source, such as ducts or insulation, for instance. Because the costs to address a draft can range from minor to major, investing in a paid audit may be justifiable.

What should you check?
All the home systems and appliances that contribute to energy costs. Here’s the breakdown of a typical home’s energy usage that Energy Star references:

Heating (29%)
Cooling (17%)
Water heating (14%)
Appliances (13%)
Lighting (12%)
Computers and electronics (4%)
Other (11%)
Self-audits hone in on details pros may not
While the pros use special equipment to focus on hard-to-research aspects of a home’s building envelope and indoor air circulation, DIY audits can teach you—based on the questions they ask—to identify and address the numerous small ways in which your home wastes energy.

Since lighting, electronics, and appliances collectively account for nearly 30% of the average home’s energy costs, you can make an impact on your bills by replacing old appliances with energy-efficient replacements and simple fixes—plugging appliances into power strips versus wall outlets, making sure refrigerator doors are properly sealed and don’t leak air, and opting for a programmable thermostat.

How to spot common energy leaks
1. Check your home’s exterior envelope—the windows, doors, walls, and roof exposed to outdoor air. Hold a candle or stick of incense near windows, doors, electrical outlets, range hoods, plumbing and ceiling fixtures, attic hatches, and ceiling fans in bathrooms. When smoke blows, you’ve got a draft from a source that may need caulking, sealant, weather stripping, or insulation.

2. Check insulation R-value or thickness. Where insulation is exposed (in an attic, unfinished basement, or around ducts, water heaters, and appliances), use a ruler to measure, recommends the DOE. Compare your results against those suggested for your region via an insulation calculator.

Although examining in-wall insulation is difficult, you can remove electrical outlet covers, turn off electricity, and probe inside the wall, the DOE notes in its DIY audit guide. However, only a professional’s thermographic scan can reveal if insulation coverage is consistent within a wall. Insulation can settle or may not be uniformly installed.

3. Look for stains on insulation. These often indicate air leaks from a hole behind the insulation, such as a duct hole or crack in an exterior wall.

4. Inspect exposed ducts. They may not work efficiently if they’re dirty, have small holes, or if they pass through unfinished portions of the home and aren’t insulated. Look for obvious holes and whether intersections of duct pipe are joined correctly. Since ducts are typically made out of thin metal that easily conducts heat, uninsulated or poorly insulated ducts in unconditioned spaces can lose 10% to 30% of the energy used to heat and cool your home, says DOE.

When should a professional make repairs?
The DOE recommends calling a contractor before insulating ducts in basements or crawlspaces, as doing so will make these spaces cooler and could impact other home systems, such as water pipes. Plus, these ducts might release noxious air. DOE also recommends you hire professionals to clean ducts periodically. If you’ve noticed that some rooms get disproportionately hot or cold, bring that to a pro’s attention. It could be duct related.

In addition, some DIY audits—like the City of Seattle’s free online audit guide, suggest hiring a pro if you suspect asbestos materials have been used in insulation or around pipes, ducts, or heating equipment. Airborne or crumbling asbestos particles are a health hazard. And a pro might be the right choice when dealing with insulation around or near electrical or examining electrical systems with bare wires.

A self-audit, like a paid audit, serves as a jumping-off point to help you set priorities for making your home more efficient. Whether or not you choose to make repairs yourself, one thing’s for sure: You’ll come away knowing more about your home’s strengths and weaknesses than you did before.

Jane Hodges has written about real estate for more than half of her 16-year journalism career, for publications including MSNBC.com, Seattle Magazine, The Seattle Times, and The Wall Street Journal. In 2007 she won a Bivins Fellowship from the National Association of Real Estate Editors to pursue a book on women and real estate. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, CBS’s BNET, and Fortune. She lives in Seattle in a 1966 raised rancher with an excellent retro granite fireplace. Latest home project: remodeling a basement bathroom.

TAX BREAKS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

FROM UNITED AIR TEMP

"The 30% tax credit, (and the 400% efficiency!) is driving everyone to Geothermal, are you missing out? United Air Temp is currently offering a free consultation to determine if Geothermal is right for your home. Simply call 800-890-4328 and one of our geothermal experts will come to your home with all the answers you need."


"With tax breaks, geothermal system promises deep cuts in heating, cooling costs." says Christopher J. Gearon with the Washington Post.-Click link for article: Geo-Thermal.

Virginia State Rebates:
VIRGINIA TAX REBATES! ACT NOW! Rebates will be distributed on a first-come, first served basis. Virginia now has rebates, the rebate program is providing up to $15 million in rebates for energy efficiency measures and equipment. There are several steps to apply for a rebate. Please see the VA State web site for all the details-Click link for VA Website- VA Tax Breaks

- Programmable thermostats. Amount of rebate is not to exceed $55. - Heating and cooling equipment: central air conditioners; air source heat pumps; natural gas or propane furnaces; oil furnaces; gas, propane, or oil hot water boiler; gas, oil, or propane tankless water heater; high efficiency gas storage (tank) water heater; electric heat pump water heater; geothermal heat pumps; The amount of the rebate for these items is 20% of the total cost of equipment and labor, not to exceed $2,000 for residential systems.


United Air Temp would like to give you $25.00! And they'll give $25.00 to any friend or relative you refer! In fact, they are so sure that your friends and relatives will benefit from our services that they will give you and anyone you send us a $25.00 value certificate! It is their way of saying thanks for your business and for every new customer you send them!

Call their toll free number for details.1-800-890-4328 extension 8300. "Yes, for every new United Air Temp customer you send us who purchases any UAT product or service, we give you a $25.00 value certificate good toward any UAT purchase! Our new customer will receive a $25.00 certificate too! Everybody wins!"

"This promotion is for customers you refer who have not used United Air Temp previously - and ONLY for geographical areas that we serve - not redeemable for cash."