Northern Virginia Green Real EstateA blog by Nate Shaw, Northern Virginia's Green Real Estate Agent. Information on how to fight global warming, live a more green lifestyle, green homes and remodeling, recycling, and the local Washington DC area, and national, real estate market and economy.Go Loco and Share a Ride- August 29, 2008 I recently blogged about taking Amtrak on trip I made a few weeks ago. While I enjoyed the train ride and would highly recommend it to anyone, most Americans still prefer to drive their car on trips. Let's face it, most of us love our cars and, up until a few years ago, it was the cheapest form of transportation. We are used to, and comfortable with, driving our cars. But, as we all know,http://www.novagreenagent.com/blog/2008/08/go-loco-and-share-ride.html Now We're Cooking... with Solar- August 26, 2008 I love to grill out as much as the next person, but I don't like the fact that grills are pretty bad for the environment. Tristam West, a researcher at the Department of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory, did a study on how much carbon dioxide grills emit. He compared a charcoal grill, gas grill and electric grill that produced 35,000 BTU per hour (an industry standard). The charcoal grillhttp://www.novagreenagent.com/blog/2008/08/now-were-cooking-with-solar.html Give Me the Energy... Bar Wrappers- August 22, 2008 Last week I signed up for TerraCycle's Energy Bar Brigade. I am now collecting energy bar and granola bar wrappers to send back to TerraCycle. They take the wrappers and create cool, new products out of them. They also give me $.02 per wrapper, which I am donating to Environmental Defense to further help in the fight against climate change. So, if you or someone you know eats a lot of energyhttp://www.novagreenagent.com/blog/2008/08/give-me-energy-bar-wrappers.html Don't Drive, Take the Train- August 19, 2008 About twice a summer, my wife takes our daughter down to see her grandparents in North Carolina. She usually leaves about a week before I do, which means that she drives her car and I follow a week later in my car. Besides from the obvious extra costs associated with gas and wear and tear on both cars, our two car system also means that my wife has to drive to and back with our daughterhttp://www.novagreenagent.com/blog/2008/08/dont-drive-take-train.html The Story of Stuff- August 14, 2008 I came across a video called "The Story of Stuff" on EcoTube this week. I think it is a must-watch for all of those interested in fighting global warming or those simply interested to know how all of the "stuff" in our daily lives comes to be and what kind of impact its creation and disposal has on the planet. You can view the video by going to the Story of Stuff web site. I think it is so wellhttp://www.novagreenagent.com/blog/2008/08/story-of-stuff.html Clearing the Air on Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs- August 8, 2008 Over the past few months, I have had several people ask me about what to do if they break a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). When I talk with them about it, I get varying stories from "they said I should just open a window and clean it up with a broom," to "they said I should open all of the windows in my house, leave for 24 hours and call poison control." It is obvious that there ishttp://www.novagreenagent.com/blog/2008/08/clearing-air-on-compact-fluorescent.html 8 Cheap and Easy Ways to Go Green- August 3, 2008 A lot of people have the idea that going green is going to cost them money. It is not all that hard to see why many people hold that thought. It will definitely cost you more money if you start buying all organic products, buy a Hybrid car, or re-model your house with recycled or green certified products. However, there are plenty of ways to go green that are free or at least really cheap. Whathttp://www.novagreenagent.com/blog/2008/08/8-cheap-and-easy-ways-to-go-green.html |