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The Art of Antiquing

July 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With popular TV programs like Antiques Roadshow, American Pickers, and even Pawn Stars, there is a renewed interest in all things vintage. Whether you’re searching through your own clutter for hidden treasures or spending afternoons out and about on your quest, you’re definitely part of a growing movement. If you’d like to take part in this fun pastime or turn antiquing into a full-blown hobby, here are a few tips to get you started.

Pick the Best Place to Find Your Treasures
To find the best items, it’s important to know the right places to shop. If you’re incredibly wealthy, this is easy–simply hit a high-end auction, a fancy estate sale, or the hot antique shop in your area. For the rest of us, here are a few places where you might find a high quality antique that’s being sold at a bargain rate:

  • Yard and Garage Sales
  • Flea Markets
  • Church Fundraisers
  • Swap Meets
  • Thrift Stores
  • Antique Fairs
  • Antiques on eBay

Determine the Best Time to Make Your Purchase
To get the best deal or the largest selection, timing is everything. Here are a few tips based on venue or shopping strategy:

For yard sales, flea markets, and other sales that are only held on certain days, get there early for the widest selection and stay late for the best bargains.

If you’re shopping at a dealer, try to time your trip for slow periods to make the most of your haggling skills. This could be near the end of the month, at tax time, at the beginning of the school year, or at any other time when other shoppers are low on funds.

When you have your heart set on a specific item but can’t afford the high price, keep your eye on it. If it sits there long enough, most merchants are willing to cut a deal to move their inventory.

Be Prepared to Buy
When shopping for antiques, you need more than a good eye and a wad of cash. To be prepared to bring home whatever you might find on your antiquing adventures, keep these items handy:

Packing supplies including padding material, boxes, and tape
For larger items, ropes, bungee cords, or tarps will be needed to secure your load and protect it from the elements.

If you’re covering a large sale on foot, bring along a wagon or cart to make it easy to carry everything back to the car.

Antiquing can be hard, dirty work. Bring along snacks, drinks, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, and rain ponchos.

Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be wheeling and dealing with the best of them. When will you venture into the exciting world of antiquing?

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How to be an Eco-Conscious Driver

June 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Earth BurningThese days, everyone has to take a deeper look inside themselves and their lives to find ways to conserve the earth and it’s natural resources. Long gone are the days when you could pretend the problem didn’t concern you. It concerns everyone in the world. While there are ways to make conservation work at home and in your workplace, one of the biggest reliefs to the environment comes from eco-conscious driving. While it hasn’t always been easy or affordable, those times are changing. Here is a breakdown on how you can be the eco-conscious driver you know you need to be.

Understand the Cost Saving Measures

If you are looking for a selfish reason to be an eco-friendly driver, look no further than your wallet.  These days, the cost savings of getting a car that relies on less gas can save you money. Not only will buying a gas efficient car reduce the amount of gas that you buy, but it will reduce the amount of money you pay when you do go to the pump. It’s simple: the more gas you consume, the more money companies spend to refine more gas for consumption. Less gas, therefore, equals a better price for you.

Remember Your Health

Believe this: being an eco-friendly driver means that you get to have a better mental health. Again, on the surface it might not seem like this is true, but it will help. The less money you spend, the better financial security you have and the more money you save. More money leads to less stress. That’s why even going out and purchasing a fuel efficient car makes most sense. The government is giving out rebates to those that are putting the environment first. That’s a big plus.

Go Fuel Efficient

Not fuel efficient

You know that you should buy a fuel efficient car, but now you need to actually buy one. For starters it will lower your car insurance. Insurance companies often give discounts to those buy fuel efficient cars because they are seen as safe and more sensible. If you have good credit, then you’ll have a brand new car with a low interest rate. You’ll have a great warranty that should alleviate the need to have to pay any of the costs of unexpected breakdowns. You’ll also be able to save a ton of money at the pump and as was mentioned earlier: that’s a very good thing.

Think Globally

It’s hard to see the sacrifices you are making and how they are directly benefiting the world around you. There are no color grids or fun graphics to see how you are saving the natural resources or helping to close the hole in the ozone but it’s there. Just knowing that your financial gain and stress free riding is also bettering the world around you has got to make you feel very good. The way of the future is fuel efficiency. Get a car that’s ahead of its time.

Filed Under: Best Green Practices, Eco Friendly Benefits, Environmental Awareness

Little Steps to Work Toward a Cleaner Environment

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In case of emergency, dump your bottled water ...

Image by quinn.anya via Flickr

One of the best investments that you can make in your future is learning how to become more environmentally aware – there all kinds of ways that you can help clean up your air and city! Here are a few tips that will help you work toward making your city a cleaner place to live.

  1. Recycle all of your cans and plastic containers. We go through so many items that can be reused every single day it’s amazing when you really look at it. For instance, all of those soda cans, boxes of cereal, and toilet paper rolls can be recycled to produce more products. Some places will even pay you money to recycle your used cans.
  2. Use the tap water instead of buying bottled water. A simple filtration system that hooks up to your tap can save you hundreds of dollars a year – and it will also perform the same thing that the city does to your bottled water! The only thing that you will have to get used to is the fact that you are drinking out a cup and not a plastic bottle. Filtering your own water at home will also save the environment from becoming covered in even more discarded plastic bottles that people neglect to recycle.
  3. Always throw things away in the trash can. You should never throw any of your trash on the ground – it looks horrible and it can actually kill some of your native animals as well. For instance, birds can easily become entrapped in all kinds of trash that appears harmless to a human.

The benefits of becoming a more environmentally conscious person extend further than yourself – your work today will also benefit your children and theirs for years to come.

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How to Save Energy During the Summer

February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The summer months can really put a strain on your wallet, especially if you are careless about where your energy is actually going. Fortunately, it isn’t very difficult to correct bad habits – all it takes is a little bit of knowledge and a lot of perseverance! Here are a few helpful tips that will point you in the right direction to saving as much on your summer energy bills.

  1. Don’t leave the AC on if you are not going to be in the house. There is no reason to cool an empty house – after all, your TV doesn’t sweat! Try to remember to shut off the air conditioning before you leave the house to go to the store. After all, it’s really easy to just turn it on when you get back.
  2. Do not leave doors and windows open. Many people confuse having a swamp cooler with having an actual air conditioning unit – the former is the one that you are supposed to leave windows cracked for. If you leave the doors or windows open with an AC unit you are only wasting cold air – trying to cool a large house with the front door open is about as futile as trying to cool down the sun.
  3. Use a fan if it is possible. If your house isn’t too hot you should always consider using a fan to circulate the air before you resort to switching on the air conditioning – it’s surprising how much energy this alone can save! However, this may not be a good route for you to take if there are and infants or elderly people in your house.

The hardest part about conserving energy during the summer is actually remembering to take the steps to do it – how many times have you accidentally left the house without even thinking about turning the AC off? You may find it helpful to write yourself little notes to place on the door so that you see them on a frequent basis.

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Don’t Teach Your Child to be a Litter Bug

February 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the worst habits that you can teach your child is to litter – it makes the roads look horrible and trash can often lead to fatalities in native wildlife populations. Fortunately, it’s really easy to learn how to properly dispose of trash and unused items. Here are a few tips that you may want to take into consideration so that your children don’t grow up to be litter bugs.

  1. Praise them for throwing things away. If you are starting young the easiest way to make sure your children develop good habits when it comes to disposing of trash is to encourage them with praise. For instance, you can ask them to throw away a wrapper or tissue for you and then reward them with smiles, words of praise, or by taking the time to play a favorite game with them.
  2. Always have a trash bag or can handy. This is especially important to remember when you are taking long trips in the car – a handy bag just for trash will eliminate almost all urges to litter because disposing of it properly is more convenient.
  3. Don’t let them see you throw anything out the window. Throwing trash out the window or on the ground is completely unnecessary, and it can even become a fatal hazard to other vehicles on the road. In fact, many states have laws that make this an offense punishable by a large fine and even jail time. The only way you can truly teach your children not to do this is to show them that you don’t believe in it either.

The easiest way to teach your children not to litter is to lead them by example – they will pick up on a lot more if they are constantly exposed to good trash habits in their everyday lives. Picking up your own trash leads to a much healthier, cleaner environment for everyone involved.

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Saving Energy While Commuting

January 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With millions of people commuting to work daily, fuel consumption is extremely high. If each person were to find an alternate, fuel-saving way to get to work for just one day out of the week, the planet would experience a tremendous decrease in energy usage. Here are a few helpful recommendations for saving energy while commuting:

Carpooling to the Office with Co-Workers

One of the easiest ways to reduce your fuel usage is to carpool with colleagues. Ask around at work to see if anyone is interested in the idea. This idea only makes sense if your colleagues live near you and have the same or similar work schedules. You can take turns driving.

Using Public Transportation

When you see large numbers of empty buses and trains in some cities, you have to wonder just how much energy could be saved if those vehicles ran only when full. Taking public transportation takes cars off the road, reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Depending on your particular situation, it can also save you a lot of money on fuel, toll and parking costs. Look into public transportation options in your city. Just think, you can sit back and listen to music, talk on the phone or read while someone else is dealing with rush-hour traffic.

Walking or Riding to Work

If you are really eager to save on fuel, and get some exercise in the process, you might consider walking or biking to work. This only works if you live close enough to work and if the weather permits. However, people who try this approach find themselves exhilarated by the daily exercise. If you live a few miles away from work and it feels like too long a distance to bike, you might try slowly building up your stamina by biking on the weekends.

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When Energy Conservation Becomes the Norm

January 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For more than a century, energy consumption has been the norm. Much of today’s older population grew up with freely available sources of energy without the pressure to constantly conserve. Talks of global warming have only come to the forefront in recent years. Previously, there was no need to prioritize energy conservation. Or, at least society did not realize the damage that was quietly occurring. Now that more information exists and scientists and the global climate are increasingly confirming the need to conserve and engage in green practices, making energy conservation the norm is the best plan of action.

Conserving Energy in Your Home

Saving energy in your home has multiple benefits. It lowers your utility bill, lowers greenhouse emissions and conserves valuable natural resources. Some suggestions for energy conservation in the home are obvious. Turn off the lights when leaving a room. Do not run your dishwasher when it is only partially full. Run full loads on your washing machine to save both energy and water.

Other suggestions involve more thought and action. Make sure that your home is well-insulated. If you are not using your entire house while sitting in the family room, close the doors and vents to the other rooms. You won’t have to heat your entire home that way.

Energy Conservation at Work

Some of these same recommendations apply in your work environment. If you work in an office, be sure to turn off lights when leaving. Unplug all electronic devices when you are not using them. When it comes to commuting to work, consider carpooling to save on gas. If public transportation is available, you might get in the habit of leaving the car at home and taking the bus or train.

Conserving energy in the home and at work is important and requires developing new habits. These habits can be established gradually. Just commit to one change and gradually develop other new energy-saving habits.

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The High Cost of Going Green

December 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There are TV commercials, government agencies and wonderful incentives that are put into place to encourage companies to make the switch to a greener business structure. While it might sound as if going green is as easy as just making a few changes and your company is “green”, it is not that easy. For a majority of the greener renovations and changes it can really end up costing a company a pretty penny to make the switch.

Here is a look at some of the costs that are associated with making a complete green makeover of a business.

Completely Changing Out Technology. A lot of the technology that is out there is more energy efficient then the previous models. For a company to have a complete green makeover they would need to change out these energy wasting appliances and technology forms and switch them to greener alternatives. This can be very costly especially if the appliances and items were recently purchased and are still in good working order.

Complete Renovations. If a company is making the switch to a more energy efficient means it could require that the whole building undergo complete renovations. Companies may have to completely rewire the offices and parts of the building, they may have to build on existing structures or take down certain parts of the building to make it more “Green” friendly. Renovations can be costly. They can range from a couple hundred dollars for a simple project to thousands of dollars for the more expensive projects.

While it might seem as if going green would be a simple process for businesses it can be a tough decision for them to make. Many companies have to budget out going green and are not able to make the switch right away. The high cost associated with going green is why experts recommend that business “Go green” in phases, so that the cost is spread out over time.

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Green Business Issue: Who Feels the Effects of High Gas Prices And What Can Be Done?

December 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

All you have to do is take a drive or walk by one of the nearest gas stations to realize that gas prices are skyrocketing through the roof. These high prices are causing many companies to consider greener alternatives to using traditional gas and oil. However, not every business has the luxury of being able to switch to a completely green fleet of cars or stop using oil and gas completely. Due to the high gas prices someone, somewhere has to feel the effects of these skyrocketing prices.

Here is a look at who feels the effects of high gas prices.

Customers. The customers will notice the effects of the gas prices immediately. Businesses have started charging higher delivery rates or even limiting their delivery area to an even smaller area. Even businesses that do not charge a delivery rate are considering charging for the cost of goods to be shipped to them.

Businesses. Businesses are also feeling the effects of higher gas prices. They are feeling the pressure from customers to either cut back costs or eat the delivery charges. This can drastically cut into a businesses overall revenue that they are producing. It also causes many businesses to have to make a lot of tough decisions such as what to charge and what not to charge.

With all these high prices of gas effecting so many people what can be done to reduce the effects of gas prices? Here are two solutions for the gas price situation.

Combine Deliveries. Companies can work together to combine their deliveries. This works almost like a carpooling for businesses. They can hit the same amounts of area but not have to incur the high cost of gas.

Change out Fleets. This is an expensive decision but the decision to change out the fleet of trucks or cars to a hybrid option will really save on gas prices. These cars and trucks use less gas and therefore will cost less to fuel.

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