Green property management? The answer is yes! As the world turns to more and more sustainable ways of living and functioning now is a perfect time to just on the Green train. There are more resources than you may think the next time that you are looking for a place to live and want to commit to living green in every way. Follow this simple list of important clues as to how you can maximize your renting experience in the Eco world.

Property Management/Landlord Green Credentials

There are a number of landlords and property management companies that have gone the extra mile and gotten a certification into the green world. The National Apartment Association Education Institute offers a Credential for Green Property Management. The program was designed to educate and implement more sustainable practices within the renting world.

GreenRenter.com

Although many people will turn to the fortune and fate of Craigslist (and this is a fabulous site if you don’t have such specific expectations) on GreenRenter.com you can find a home or apartment that is truly green and that you can feel good about. It offers both residential and commercial rental listings in the US and Canada. Although the cities offered in the US only add up to 8, they are large enough to get a giant ball rolling that may forever change the way our nation rents property.

Generally, people think of burning wood as the villain of the renewable energy family. Although it is a renewable resource, it causes environmentalists to shake their heads. Mostly they worry that burning wood means cutting down precious trees for fuel and smoke pollution. Not to mention that wood stoves are not as technologically sexy as glittering solar panels and whirling wind turbines.

As much as some hate the burning of wood as an energy source, wood is a conditionally renewable fuel, period. And as all environmentalists and alternative energy aficionados know, there aren’t too many renewable options available–especially ones that aide in large amounts for the cold weather months. For some, relying on wood burning fuel as a source for heat is a must for survival.

There are many of us that would rather use wood burning heaters rather than electrical or gas heaters. For those select few, do your part for sustainability by purchasing wood that comes from a sustainable source. Firewood should be cut, split and stacked in an open area in early spring to be ready to burn in the fall. Very hard woods like oak may take longer to dry–especially in damp maritime climates. When it comes to burning other elements besides wood–steer clear. Burning waste paper and trash produces elevated emissions of toxic gasses.  Burn clean, dry, uncoated, untreated wood and just enough newspaper to light the fires.

Another tip for burning wood users:  the not so beautiful wood piles that include wood from less desirable species tend to be more sustainable than perfect piles of maple or oak with regular pieces in the classic wedge shape. This is because straight lengths of these high value, slow growing species should be used for furniture, not wood heating. Ugly wood piles are created from a milieu of woods.
The bottom line on the argument of whether or not to burn wood is the cold hard facts. Wood is considered to be a renewable fuel and almost carbon dioxide neutral with the help of trees absorbing CO2. When trees mature and fall in the forest and decompose there, the same amount of CO2 is emitted as would be released if they were burned. When we heat our houses by burning wood, we are flowing along with the natural carbon cycle in which CO2 flows from the atmosphere to the forest and back.

When your moving and going through your old ‘junk’ you want to look for ways to reduce, reuse or recycle. Carrying over that green mentality while getting rid of things that don’t work, or things you don’t want to hold on to during your move, trashing your vacuum is the last thing you’ll want to do. To help you, we came up with a few green alternatives of ways to rid yourself from your vacuum cleaner, which may be good for you, good for someone else, or good for the environment.

1. Sell it. If your vacuum cleaner still works and is in decent shape, put an ad on Craigslist. Even if it needs a little repair, you may find someone who is interested in buying it from you or you may even find a vacuum sale and repair shop that would love to take it off your hands.
2. Donate it. This is probably the best and most common option people go with when moving. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with the move itself and don’t have a lot of time to devote to figuring out what to do with it, drop it off at Goodwill or Arc. Also, remember that there is usually a tax benefit for donated items, so make sure to check the tax code for details.
3. Kick it to the Curb. If your vacuum cleaner still works and is in good shape, you can try leaving it curbside with a sign indicating that it is free and that it does indeed work.  The best time to do this is on the weekend and is mostly successful only in urban areas. If it doesn’t get picked up within a few days, make sure to find another way to dispose of it so its presence doesn’t irritate your neighbors.
4. Recycle it! In most areas you can find a local recycle station who will gladly accept your vacuum. Most likely, if you call your waste removal service they will be able to help you out. They may even provide free pick up for your recyclable items and appliances and will gladly take your vacuum cleaner off your hands.

Eating healthy is so important, so finding local, organic and sustainable food is so important when moving to a new city especially. Not only does it keep you connected to your community, but it also allows you to support your local farmers, making sure that your dollars are going back into your local area—not into faraway places. To top it off local and organic food proves to provide a healthier and more responsible life for your body and soul.

Once you get off the moving truck and unpack all of your belongings, you are going to realize quickly that it is time to cook. Check out the website LocalHarvest.org this website provides  a milieu of choices as to what kind of food/shops/farms/markets you are looking for in your community. It also lets you search by state, city or zip code to best get the results you are looking for.

On Local Harvest, there are a number of types of food stores that you can search for. To name a few,

• CSA: Community Supported Agriculture, this type of business has individuals buy into shares on the farm to invest in the growth of local and seasonal, usually organic vegetables that you pick up to enjoy bi weekly
• Farms: Local farmers that sell directly to consumers and that do not go through stores, or a third party. The less hands that touch your food the fresher and the safer.
• Local Restaurants: You may ask, what is the difference between a local and non local restaurant? Well its simple. Do they ship in food or do they buy from local farmers and support local agriculture? Are they a chain that is available all over the country or are they a local shop specific to your community? Local restaurants again bring your dollars back to the community and can many times buy from local and organic growers.
• Grocery/Food Co-op: This is a fun and important part of every sustainable food community. Becoming a part of a co-op means that you are now a part of the solution for sustainable eating and living, not to mention are filling your fridge with local organic food. As a member, you are part owner of the store and have a say as to how things are handled.

Don’t ever forget: food is important! Where it comes from, how you get it, how it is grown. Using local harvest.org will not only connect you with your new community, but lead you down a road of health and sustainability.

For years Styrofoam has been demonized as the world’s poison that we have not been able to kick the habit of using. Although it is still around, green options are being made instead of the toxic alternatives that have been manufactured for years. For instance, environmentally friendly packing peanuts are available that are made out of corn starch and wheat. This allows most of them to dissolve in water and in this case you can simply add these to your compost pile. Traditional packing peanuts are now color coded to indicate the origin of the material they contain. Polystyrene takes hundreds of years to decompose in nature, so recycling is vital. Keep on the look out for green-colored packing peanuts.

However, toxic Styrofoam is still very present in our country. Being that this is the case, make a difference! Use those peanuts for good either in your life and home or properly discard and donate them. There are so many options if you really dig deep into your imagination.

Reuse: Before you throw them away, either post them on Craigslist or find them a good home.

Recycle: Shipping services will often recycle your unneeded donation of peanuts, not to mention stores that ship on a regular basis. More and more recycling programs are accepting packing peanuts, but make sure you put them in a bag or box.

Refuse: If you detest packing peanuts as much as I do, ask mail-order companies if they use them before you agree to place an order, and encourage them to use the new biodegradable variety.

Make ice last longer: Put packaging peanuts in a plastic bag and place on the ice bin—this will allow the life of your ice to last longer and the contents will stay colder longer. Who would of thought?!

Potted plant drainage: Substituting packing peanuts (the non-biodegradable variety) for gravel in the base of potted plants not only provides good drainage, but it makes the containers much lighter and easier to move.

Floating key chain: What a great idea! Take your set of keys and thread them to a bunch of peanuts. This way being out in open water will prevent the keys to your life from sinking into the deep ocean.

What’s the one thing you have to have when you move? Some might say a moving truck, some might say patience, but the number one thing you have to have when you move is moving boxes. Moving can be extremely wasteful, especially since a lot of people will just throw away their cardboard boxes after using them once. You can always reuse them or recycle them, but often people feel like it is “easier” to just throw them out. To avoid being wasteful and even to help with some home space issues, we compiled a list of some great Do It Yourself projects to put those cardboard boxes to good use, and keep them out of the landfill.

Brought to you by wikiHow, this article helps you learn how to create a fantastic Cardboard Box Storage System. All you need is boxes, tape, scissors and a Sharpie for labeling.

For those who have a love for playing games, how about a Faux Wood Checkers Box? It’s light weight, saves money and is easy to make!

And the daddy of them all, how about 101 things to do with your used cardboard boxes? Well that list exists and it is good! You’ll find anything from hot wheels racetrack to a robot to a toolbox and most importantly, because you never know, a homeless shelter.

Hope these DIY projects were helpful and sparked your creative and crafty side. If you do decide to create anything from the lists we included, please send us your photos, we’d love to see your handy work!

Here at Exodus we are all about finding ways of treading lightly on the planet as a moving company. We use durable bins when moving customers, wooden shelves on wheels for office moves instead of boxes, and we offer recycled boxes giving them a second life and reducing our resources. When we came across an article explaining what designers Diogo Aguiar and Teresa Ott did with their used storage boxes, we had to feature it on our blog.

What do you get when you put 420 IKEA boxes, LED lights and a metal base together? How about a 15-foot-high bar that has funk, character and uniqueness. The appropriately named structure; Temporary Bar, was constructed for a competition organised by the architecture faculty at the Universidade do Porto in Portugal. Finished in just one week with the help of students, this bar stands tall and proud in Parque da Cidade, Porto, Portugal.

Next time you move, think about the endless possibilities you could do to reuse those boxes instead of throwing them in a land fill. Moving somewhere dry and need to get rid of your umbrella(s)? Bars are not only made out of recycled boxes, but can also make a bar too, like the Bucky Bar in Rotterdam. Talk about creativity and reusing! This project references the famed geodesic domes of the late American architect Buckminster Fuller and attracted 300 visitors before the police intervened at 2 am on February 19^th, 2010.

Morale of the story, whether you are moving or not, look around your house and before you throw anything out, see if you can reuse it for something else, or donate it to someone else that could put it to good use.

2010 is going to be a big year for the city of Fort Collins. This January, the City Council work session worked to implement new Green building standards. The Fort Collins Board of Realtors happens to be the driving force behind it all. The FCBR should be recognized for being among the first in the country and the only Realtor association in the State of Colorado, to have a sustainability committee. Yes, you read it right, a new sustainability committee.

Fort Collins as a community, seems to be consistently assessing the best ways to guarantee a sustainable future, and this happens to be one of the best ideas thus far. FCBR’s sustainability committee focuses on several ways  to enhance our community’s efforts to reduce energy usage and provide Green resources that will educate the public.

The committee already has quite a few projects underway, including formulating criteria for new FCBR awards. In doing so, the FCBR hopes to launch criteria for Green Office of the year and Green Realtor of the year awards.

They also hope to leverage a few partnerships to have access for improvements so they can provide the community with new Green tools that will be helpful while assisting buyers and sellers.

There’s no doubt that Fort Collins is a community that prides itself on thinking in a sustainable way. This just goes to show that people and companies in this town are taking these ideas seriously. Thanks Fort Collins Board of Realtors for not only talking the talk but also walking the walk.

Sound of interest to you? You can volunteer your time and ideas and be a part of this new, exciting committee! They are looking for volunteers to help! If you would like to learn more or volunteer today please contact James Mitchell at 970-221-0700 or via email at jwmitchell@thegroupinc.com or Clint Skutchan at 920-402-0852 or clint@fcbr.org

For more information visit their website!

To Connect Follow the FCBR on Twitter!

Become a Fan of FCBR on Facebook!

If you think about it, moving can produce a lot of trash and be very wasteful. When you move, you’re sometimes so stressed out by the entire process, that you just throw things out, cram random stuff into boxes, and just try to get it over with as quick as possible.

But if you stop and think about it, a lot of the things you are throwing out or misplacing are things that others may need, or might be damaging to the planet. Here are 5 tips to helping green up your move and have it be less wasteful:

1. Donate and Recycle! If there are items that you no longer use or need that you don’t want to take with you when you move, then think about selling it, donating it, or recycling it. Depending on the item, if it is in good condition, it might be something that would be perfect to donate to your local Goodwill or Habitat. One person’s trash is another’s treasure, right? If it is old magazines or books you have been saving, donate them to your local library. If it is an item that isn’t in good condition, see if you can recycle it. There are several recourses online such as Earth 911, that will tell you what you can and can’t recycle, and where to recycle it locally.
2. Dispose of items safely: Did you find old prescription medicine for that awful cold you had 2 winters ago? Is there a stash of batteries that lost their juices that you stumbled across as you were packing? Find an old bridesmaid dress that made you look like a 13 year old prom queen? In all of those cases, you’re probably getting rid of those items. Make sure you think about the safety of disposing them. You don’t want to just put the pills and batteries in the trash can. You need to dispose of them safely by taking the batteries to a recycling center, and for the pills, this is still a debated issue. Flushing them down the toilet has its negative effects on the planet. Throwing them in the trash can be hazardous to your kids, pets, and mother earth. The best option is to give them back to your doctor or pharmacy if they will accept them.  For that bridesmaid dress, either donate, or maybe a thrift store could use the fabric for a new project? It’s worth looking into!
3. Be an effective packer! If you take the time to pack your boxes, then you will most likely do a better job at it. If you are organized and pack boxes to where you can’t fit one little pencil in the box because you put so much in it, then you’ve used that box to its fullest potential! Being able to fit more into a box (as long as it doesn’t bust open) you are using fewer boxes, and producing less waste!
4. Speaking of boxes, if you can get boxes that have already been used from your grocery store, liquor store, retail store, etc.. then that is a better option. Reusing is a much better idea than buying brand new ones. Did you know that here at Exodus Moving and Storage, we give you 30 recycled boxes if you choose to move with us?! Pretty awesome, right? And better than boxes, use crates and bins. They’re more sturdy and can be used for several other things after your move!
5. Plan. If you take the time to organize and plan your move (and the key is giving yourself time) then you won’t be throwing junk out left and right, throwing things in boxes and taping them up, using more than you need, etc. Planning is so important if you are moving for your stress levels also, so make sure you do it!

The green scene is kicking into full gear and as we enter 2010 we vow to do our job to help our beautiful planet by going a little green ourselves. We used to be greener when we ran biodiesel and veggie oil in trucks, but that actually is not working out so well mechanically, so we’ve backed off of that. BUT – we do use plastic totes for office moves, we re-use boxes for just about every move and we use what are called “speed packs” over and over. These are large boxes on wheels that we can put lots of things into and wheel them rather than carry them. Of course this works best on office moves, however not so good on residential moves.
We pick up boxes and you better believe we use them time and time again! Hopefully, if we are all making moves that are more environmentally friendly we will see a positive effect on mother earth!