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Let's Go Green!

I just finished reading the September issue of California Real Estate, California Association of Realtor's magazine, while on a camping trip in Carpinteria, CA. What a beautiful place but off the coast you can see the platforms where they drill for oil. This was the "Green Issue" and so the timing couldn't have been better. It covers many issues regarding the trend of "Green Real Estate". For those of you who do not know what this "Green Movement" is, it is a movement to raise awareness of the amount of pollution our demand for energy creates. It is a movement that would like to get more people using renewable energy or at least energy more efficiently.

This movement started to get much more attention as the price of gasoline skyrocketed. As people started to see the affects that this had, not only on gas but on prices at the supermarket also, they started to seek solutions. Many started to drive less or at least change their driving style so that they wouldn't consume so much gas. I've seen more people biking or taking public transportation to work. Some of us are recycling more during these tough times and getting back some spare change. Every little bit helps as you can see for the past few weeks the price of oil and gas has continued to slide downward. This is the power of the market. What we are seeing is the price trying to reach an equilibrium between demand and supply.

Here are a few things that I'm doing and I hope to start doing much more. Remember it doesn't have to cost you a lot and sometimes can actually save you money by going "Green". My lead foot is now as light as a feather. I plan my day and I use http://www.dashfly.com to plan my showings, this makes a lot more efficient use of my time and gas. When I am by myself in the car I try not to use the A/C as much. When we replace our lightbulbs we use Energy Star compact flourescent light bulbs (CFLs). I recycle my toner cartridges at the office supply store. Slowly I am implementing more use of MLS Transact, which is offered by my board for free and it allows for me to have digital storage. I am also setting my computer to stand-by when I go out and if the room is empty I make sure to turn off all the lights. My point is that we don't have to get as drastic as installing solar panels on our roof because that is expensive and it takes about 8 years to make your money back in savings.

I am not one to advocate government mandates, after all I was happy when they defeated legislation that was going to make an energy audit a point of sale requirement, but I do believe it is up to each of us individually to do our part to make this a greener earth for us, our children, our grandchildren, and generations to come. I am not going to preach in this blog but for those who are interested in learning more I'm going to post some links that were in the magazine. Remember to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Camping in Carpinteria