As green building becomes more popular following the increased warnings about global climate change we need to be more vigilant than ever about "grennwashing". While I would be among the first to say that bamboo flooring is a great choice I recoil at the fact that some manufacturerers use toxic
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02/05/2007
I know, it seems unlikely, but consider this. Current data shows more than 20.3 million asthma sufferers in the United States. More than 5,000 people die annually from asthma. Part of my concern is as an EcoBroker Part of it is as an asthma sufferer. My insurance company could save thousands of d
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02/04/2007
Okay, I love coffee. Specifically espresso. Preferablly first thing in the morning. I can and will make my own. Much better if someone else does it. You have to understand that until a year ago, I lived on an Indian reservation in Northern New Mexico and the closest Starbucks was a hundred miles
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01/31/2007
My last post talked about the current legal issue going on in my little burg. The Council decided to ban the parking of "Big Rigs" on residential property. Of course, they do have to have some public comment on this, and boy, did they. The truckers came out in force. Many of them talked about the
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01/28/2007
I was reading the local paper in which there is a section on the Editorial Page entitled Rants and Raves. Someone had taken it upon themselves to rant about a neighbors boat and how he was glad that the snow had "accomplished what the city failed to do" by making the big boat invisible for a few
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01/23/2007
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Probably both are equally appropriate. Driving to meet a client this morning I heard on the radio that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had bought and are moving into a mansion in the French Quarter. Oddly enough, when they descibed the home, I remembered seeing
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01/17/2007
Most of us are aware that "green" building is going mainstream. Most of us realize that it behooves us to mention features like passive solar heating, active solar systems, themal windows insulation upgrades or energy rated appliances and systems in our listing and advertising materials. Unfortu
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01/16/2007
One of the things that makes the thought of living in a smaller space so frightening for many people is the thought of not having anywhere to put their stuff. The first step, of course, is to let go of some of the stuff--especially the boxes you haven't looked in for over 2 years. The second ste
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01/12/2007
I was leafing through a past issue of Innovative Homes Magazine the other day, looking for an article I had promised to give to a client. In the process, I came across a reminder that the pracical application of prefab building has not only been with us for awhile, but has enjoyed a great popula
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01/08/2007
In a previous post I said that I would talk about the Women's Bean Project as a model of how to look at a different approach to helping the homeless and hungry. I have always been partial to giving fishing lessons instead of handing out fish dinners.Sixteen years ago a social worker in a Domestic
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01/05/2007
