Green Awareness

Thinking Green 

 Eloise Gift http://www.eloisegift.com/

We are approaching St. Patrick's Day when many think green-of shamrock, leprechauns, and dressing green. Up to a few years ago when I taught high school, we wore something green on St. Patrick's Day or ran the risk of getting pinched. No one wanted to be pinched, so for several days leading up to the day it is safe that several in and outside of the school community were thinking green- wondering what green item of clothing they could find to wear on St. Patrick's Day.

I no longer teach; at least, not in the classroom confined by four walls, and have no fear of being pinched by anyone if I don't wear green. But I will still think green and celebrate in some measure the Irish holiday that so many non-Irish have adopted just for the fun of it. And I might even wear green.

But another way of thinking green has nothing to do with shamrock, leprechauns and St. Patrick. It is the thinking green that relates to sustaining earth's resources through responsible and efficient use of energy, and through efforts to keep our air and water clean, the construction of green buildings-homes and workplaces, (http://eloise-mynewmeico.blogspot.com/2007/03/green-revolution-has-arrived-in.html) and the preservation of safe communities and quality of life, http://activerain.com/blogsview/48945/What-constitutes-Quality-of

In my classroom expanded beyond four walls into the community, I do teach, and continue to learn and grow just as before  As a REALTOR® helping people buy, sell, and invest in real estate, I now address a different audience on different topics.

The rhythm of the year also changed. I used to get a rush of adrenaline in September in anticipation of the start of the school year. Now the rush is in March because it is the month of the celebration of the beginning of spring and what I see as the start of the real estate season. With the return of warm weather, leaves on the trees, and color in the gardens, new and returning clients and customers are out looking in earnest again, and I prepare for them in the same way I prepared for new and returning students at the start of the school year.

In anticipation, instead of preparing rosters and lesson plans, I am studying the market, analyzing inventory, networking with industry professionals, and cataloguing the needs of my buyers, sellers, and investors. A growing need is for living in homes and communities that support quality of life.  The term green building has become part of real estate vocabulary. 

I expect the interest in quality-of-life resources to remain strong and to be of as much importance to clients as comparative market analyses, interest rates, and time on market. So part of my preparation for my real estate year iincludes becoming a resource for clients who are thinking green, http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/.

I will identify homes, investment properties, and communities that describe themselves as having green components, for example, in Rio Rancho, Sandoval County, New Mexico; Mariposa http://www.mariposa-nm.com/ and in Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico; Mesa del Sol http://mesadelsolnm.com/index.aspx. Thinking green in relation to our well being will not be of interest  just for a day but for a lifetime. I expect to be doing the same next year and the year after.