Earth Day 2009 is April 22 - 10 Things You Can Do to Help Your Environment

Check out your neighborhood and see what is going on to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, 2009.  Here are 10 super easy things you can do to help your environment.  Share this list with your clients and fellow realtors, there are lots of things here we can all do to help.

1. Decrease the margins on your standard print setup on your compuer.  If you decrease your margins by just 1/2 inch you will use 5% less paper.
2. Exchange all your incandescent light bulbs for compact Fluorescent bulbs.  The price of these has really come down over the last few years.  They use 60% less energy and last longer.  We changed as many bulbs as possible in our house a 2 years ago and only two bulbs have had to be replaced.  Our electric bill also dropped by $50 the first month.  Home Depot now has a package of four on sale (latest flyer in Maryland) for $5.98 which isn't that much more than regular incandescent bulbs.  They come in different wattages and for those lamps with three settings too. 
3. Change out your old thermostat for a programmable thermostat.  During the day you can set your temperature higher (in summer) or lower (in winter) during the day when no one is home and similarly at night after people have gone to bed and will be under the blankets.  We added this last year and further reduced our energy bill every month.  These too have come way down in price, an affordable thermostat is now about $50 and you will recoup this the first month.  Our local gas and electric supplier (BGE) has a special offer now with special pricing. This program is called the Peak Rewards program.  It is a component of the BGE Smart Energy Savers Program, which allows customers to conserve energy, save money, and help the environment.
4. Stop buying bottled water.  Buy a water bottle (or get one for free as a promotional) and fill it up with water yourself.  If you are like me you are probably drinking 3 or 4 bottles of water a day.  If you buy one, you're keeping 4 bottles a day out of the landfil.  My office has a water cooler, DeerPark picks up the old bottle, recycles it and redelivers it to another office. 
5. Replace your shower head with a low flow shower head with a turn off button.  So, while you are lathering up the shampoo in the morning you have the water turned off.  Turn it back on when you are all soaped up and save some water.
6. Check your car tires and make sure they are properly inflated.  You could save up to 3% of your gas mileage by doing that.
7. Change your washer to warm or cold setting.  Clothes will get clean in warm or cold just as well as they will in hot water and you are saving energy.
8. Run your dishwasher on the energy saving setting every time and be sure you run it only when it's full.
9. Most people have their hot water heater set on 140 degrees.  It will be just as efficient if you turn it down to 120 degrees.
10. In the winter turn your thermostat down just two degrees and in the summer turn it up just two degrees and save on the energy you use to heat and cool your house.  Last summer our air conditioner stopped working.  We still haven't gotten it fixed.  We installed ceiling fans and window fans in our house and really cut down on our energy costs. 

These are just ten really easy things that anyone can use to save on your energy costs, save our planet and save towards buying a home!! 

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home give me a call today and we'll talk about the market conditions and what your home could possibly be worth in today's market place if you are thinking of selling.  If you are considering buying a home, there is no better time than now to buy.  The tax savings and wealth building alone is worth the plunge into todays market.

During 2009 Advance Realty Anne Arundel Inc is waving administrative fees active duty military, retired military and the families of fallen military, as well as policemen, firemen and emt's.  This is a $350 savings.  If you are thinking about buying or selling a home give Advance Realty Anne Arundel a call and receive full service real estate assistance from an experienced agent.  Our office is open 7 days a week and we can be reached at 410-761-1550.

June Piper-Brandon, Broker - Advance Realty Anne Arundel Inc.