Updating with Green

When we moved into our 75 year old Craftsman home this summer, one of the first items on the list was to paint the kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately, that didn't happen as soon as I hoped. First of all came the rotten wood replacement after the new roof had been installed. Then my closet rods began to separate from the back of the wall and we had to have the closet rods reattached with stronger braces. Then we discovered the dryer was venting to the crawl space under the subfloor. Knowing that is a fire hazard, we had to reroute the dryer venting to the outside hot water heater closet. Which we discovered had a door with a hole rotted though it. Now that door (which was so old they don't make that size door any longer) opening had to be widened and the siding cut off and a new standard door replaced it.

Those are the "unexpected items" that popped up within in the first three months. Now I can concentrate on more of the cosmetic items on the list. First, painting the kitchen cabinets.

Being a Certified Green Building Professional with AHBA and Green Specialist with NAR, I was excited to begin doing something "green" that was not expensive after spending the thousands of dollars on the above mentioned surprises. I expected the low VOC paint to be about $25-$35 per gallon, but was pleasantly surprised to only pay $15.00 for the Olympic paint.

Low VOC (volatile organic compound) may help reduce the amount of chemicals emitted, resulting in a healthier home improvement. When we used regular paint in the past, we were adding toxins to the indoor air quality. This can lead to some damaging health problems, some which are asthma, headaches and respiratory infections. Paint, lacquers, paint strippers, adhesive removers, carpet, cleaning supplies, pestidies, wood preservatives, furniture, and cabinets as all have these polluants.


In today's marketplace, all of these items can now be purchased without these damaging compounds or with a very low degree of them. Well, we may not be in a global warming trend with this weeks past weather, but we have certainly polluted our homes and our bodies to some degree making things faster and less expensive and we and our families are suffering for it now with allergeries, mental disorders and lung disease.

When you do have the chance to make changes in your home, please think about the "healthy choices" that are available to you.

Green Drink

After Thanksgiving I thought I may need to "slim" down, so I'm back to drinking the "green" drink. For those of you who don't know me, this is a receipe I've given friends and family members to "get healthy" - you know the cleansing thing and all...

Here's the receipe, in case you'd like to try it yourself.

1 cup of "clean" water
1.5 heads of Romaine Organic Lettuce
a little fish oil
a little flax seed oil
a little lemon juice

Now add the "taste" that you like.... such as apples, strawberries, mango, celery, cilantro, pineapples, and blackberries.
I always add a couple to bananas to thicken it up.

I add each ingredient separately into my blender until its dissolved within the drink. If I don't drink the whole blender full in one day, (as when I am fasting on the drink for a set period of time) I save it in the fridge for late afternoon pick me up's.

I purchase the fruit frozen at Whole Foods and add about three different fruits with the celery and cilantro. But it's to your taste, so be creative.

I have found that this drink gives me a lot of energy for that late afternoon boost (probably from all the natural sugar) and it healthier than drinking coffee .

Try it and let me know what you think.

New Loan Discounts for Purchasing!

More good news to buyers who have an interest in buying a "greener" home! Not only will you be saving money on your monthly energy expense, you can now get a discount from the lender when purchasing that home.

The new Eco Friendly Loans through PHA and Fannie Mae are available now.

J. P. Morgan/Chase and Bank of America are now offering a discount to the Buyer (Chase up to $1000 towards closing cost) if they purchase a home with Energy Star rated appliances. Imagine if you are a first time home buyer or an existing home owner who has owned a home for over the past eight years. You could get a $8000 tax credit plus $1000 towards closing and interest rates are still hovering right a 5%, 4.875 to be exact.

Most of our local lender/brokers, use Chase and Bank of America, so they do have access to the loan discount. Well Fargo may also have, but I have not checked with them. If you know, please update me.

Hope this information is helpful to you.