The Green, Green Grass of Home...let's work to keep it that way!

April is upon us, which conjures up images of Spring, flowers, grass, and the colour green.  It also reminds us that Earth Day is right around the corner (Wednesday, April 22) and that we should likely get back on track with our efforts to save the planet we call home.  Lately it seems as though you can't open a magazine, turn on the television, or visit a website without catching a message encouraging you to "Go Green".  There are compelling reasons as to why this influx of messaging has occurred:

• Each year, we throw away enough wood and paper to heat 50 million homes for 20 years.
• 84% of a typical household's waste, including scraps of food, yard waste, cardboard, paper, cans, bottles, and plastics, can be recycled.
• If we recycled just one-tenth of our newspapers, we could save approximately 25 million trees a year.
• Americans throw away about 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year.  Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back nearly 20 times.

Now, call me a hippie tree-hugger, but this makes me feel a tad ill about how many things go into my garbage can on a daily basis.  It has also prompted me to reconsider the green intiatives I am undertaking to not only reduce my impact on the environment, but how I can start to help clean up what was done in the past.  Mainly, it comes down to education about how going green doesn't have to be a radical change that is done all at once.  There are a number of things that we can all do to reduce waste:

• Decrease the number of times we print emails or online journals.
• Recycle newspapers, magazines, books, and anything we do print.
• Recycle bottles and cans.
• Opt to use recyclable shopping bags, rather than always accepting the plastic ones from stores.

So, in the spirit of all that is green and good, join me and our Point2 Agent Education Team as we explore ways to not only start going green yourself, but also share this information with your real estate customers, include it on your website, and provide ways to help sellers and buyers adjust their properties to include more green options within the home to increase interest and drive the sales process.

- Tanya Spilchak, Education Coordinator