Living Green in Seattle

I just wanted to make sure that everyone who is anyone knows about Seattle's Green Festival this weekend.  It is being held at the Washington State Convention Center on Saturday from 10-8 and on Sunday from 11-6pm.  Come and check out some the the Northwest's best "Green" services and products.  Meet with the companies face to face to get all of your questions answered.  There are usually lots of samples and goodies too.  There will be an abundance of speakers (more than 4 different ones to choose from each hour). 

Pricing is as follows:

$15 Festival Pass (per person)
Entry to all activities for one day or the entire weekend

You will also receive...

• 1 year FREE Co-op America membership (new members only). To redeem the FREE membership, visit the Co-op America booth at the festival.
• 10% off at a Global Exchange Store or the Global Exchange Booth at Green Festival
• Free subscriptions to The Nation (2 months) and Plenty (1 year)

$10 Discounted Festival Pass (available only at the door/per person)
Entry to all activities for one day or the entire weekend. Available for seniors, students (12 years of age or older), union members with ID and Green Festival Bike Valet participants to Green Festival.

You will also receive...

• 1 year FREE Co-op America membership (new members only). To redeem the FREE membership, visit the Co-op America booth at the festival.
• 10% off at a Global Exchange Store or Global Exchange Booth at the Green Festival
• Free subscriptions to The Nation (2 months) and Plenty (1 year)

Co-op America and Global Exchange Members, Green Festival Volunteers and Children under 12 are FREE.

Also, bring your household e-waste to the festival!  This includes laptops, cell phones, PDAs, CDs, and household batteries.  3R Technologies will be accepting these smaller items onsite at the event.  Do not bring large electronics.  If you need to dispose of large electronics, please see their website for more information: http://www.3rtechnology.com/.  I know I have a whole bag of things I have been waiting to properly dispose of...now is my chance.

Take in more than 350 exhibits:

• Shop for everything from natural home and health products to solar panels and Fair Trade gifts and crafts.
• Hang out with your kids as they play and learn in Organic Valley's Green Kids' Zone.
• Enjoy organic dining and sample local beers & wines. \
• Explore developments in green education, social investing and independent media.
• Learn about City resources for energy conservation, green power, climate action and more at the City of Seattle Pavilion.

See more than 125 dynamic speakers on 5 stages:

• Find inspiration from stories of collective and personal successes.
• Discover green techniques and strategies during great how-to workshops.
• Network with sustainable neighborhood groups.
• Enjoy a diverse program of live local music and performance.

To save money on the entrance fee:

Better World Books and Green Festival are partnering to offer $5 off Green Festival admission to attendees who bring in 3 or more books. Your donated books will be sold on BetterWorld.com to help fund girls' scholarships in developing countries in Asia through Room to Read. http://www.roomtoread.org/

I will be there the entire weekend, so I will have lots to blog about next week.  Talk to you all soon. 

BE THERE or BE SQUARE!!

Technology Snapshot & Benefits:
You can save a lot of money by installing or improving insulation. Insulation retards the flow of heat and is one of the most cost-effective investments that you can make. The effectiveness of insulation is measured by its tested resistance to heat flow and is known by its R value. The greater the R value, the greater the effectiveness. One of the easiest and most effective places to install insulation is in the attic, since heat rises from the heated rooms below. Insulation comes in many different forms including the familiar fiberglass, Styrofoam, vermiculite, pouring wool, cellulose materials such as shredded newspaper, and numerous foamed-in-place types. Particularly within the fiberglass and rigid foamed board types, there are a variety of choices of heat-reflective coatings. Properly installed insulation always improves comfort and reduces heating and cooling costs.

Estimated Cost Savings:
Heating buildings is one of the largest expenditures of energy in the nation and one of the greatest opportunities for saving. The average U.S. household spent more than $2,350 in 1999 for energy: $1,200 for home energy and $1,150 for motor gasoline to run vehicles.  Of the $1,200 spent in the home, nearly half is spent for heating and cooling  and in aggregate, amounted to more than $50 billion in 1999.

For new construction, the maximum recommended amounts of insulation yield huge savings compared to no insulation. For existing buildings, upgrading to the recommended amount of insulation will save money. The amount of savings vary widely depending upon your starting point namely, how much insulation you already have. See Energy Star's Cost-Effective Insulation Values for Existing Homes for recommended insulating values for walls, floors, ceilings, and basements.

In general terms, when you double the R value of your insulation, the heat flow through the insulated surface will halve. Your bill, however, may not halve because of other, less well-insulated surfaces in the building. Typical savings for retrofit insulation are on the order of 20-30% of your heating bill. For a monthly heating bill of $200, this can amount to $40-$60 in savings.

Issues:
A plan will help you with insulating decisions. In general, you should bring the attic insulation up to currents standards because it is easy to do so. Wall insulation can be problematic, as many walls are little more than the width of a 2x4, which limits the depth of insulation that can be easily installed. Sometimes a second interior wall can be built which provides a deeper cavity for insulation as well as providing an easy opportunity to upgrade electrical wiring and new cable and telephone wiring. This is most economical when done as part of a larger room-remodeling effort.

Regional Issues:
The amount of insulation that you need varies upon your climate and exposure to prevailing winds. Northern locations benefit most from insulation during the heating season; southern locations benefit most during the cooling season.

Installation (Getting It Done):
Be sure to get bids from two or three (or more) contractors and explore different methods and types of insulation. Multiple bids will allow you to gain immediate perspective on the true costs and value of insulation in your area.

More Information on This Topic:

U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Program: Insulation Materials

Cost-Effective Insulation Values for Existing Homes

Buildings for the 21st Century: Wall Insulation

Buildings for the 21st Century: Ceilings and Attics

Buildings for the 21st Century: Basement Insulation

References:

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

U.S. Department of Energy

I love Seattle Real Estate!  Why?  Because Seattle has so much character!!!  I have been to many neighboring suburbs and have found rows and rows of subdivisions where each house is almost the exact replica of the one next door...or maybe the neighborhood is so dated it only hosts Tri-level homes.  And I admit, I live in ones of those dated neighborhoods, housing mostly ramblers. But slowly and surely, it will start to diversify itself... just as soon as people start the needed phases of remodeling and updating.

Seattle has already been there and done that though....many times.  Styles have come and gone.  Some have stuck it out for the long run and through much love, still show the charm and authenticity of the original home.    There is so much diversity and richness in this city, I just love it! My favorite homes are either old Craftsman or Ultra-Modern "Green" homes.  Here I can find them next door to one another.   You can have a small vintage Cape Cod on the corner, new townhomes next door, a large Craftsman next to that, a Modern loft home after that, and a commercial space on the other corner...ALL on ONE block! 

So I guess what I am saying is that I like DIVERSITY.  How boring would this world be if everyone had blonde hair and green eyes like me?  I certainly wouldn't stand out in a crowd.  Isn't that what we each ultimately want?  To be individuals?  And wouldn't we want the same for our homes?  Well, I certainly do but then again I am not everyone...

...there are those who like to be a little more inconspicuous....a bit of a mystery...I should say.  Perhaps those are the type of people who love to live in the rows of subdivisions I speak of.  There are people that love them...obviously, since they are being built at the speed of light.  Maybe the person that lives there is the type of person who doesn't lay it all out there on the first date.  They hold themselves back and reveal a little bit of themselves at a time.  Me, I always seemed to be the one who puked up all of my shortcomings on the first date just so I could get it off of my chest.  Or maybe they are the person who prefers to live like their neighbor, leaving out that competitive....I am better-than-you attitude.  Or maybe people truly love that sense of community since many of the subdivisions create wonderful amenities such as pools, playgrounds, sport courts, Fitness centers, beach or lake rights, golf, etc.  Also, some gated communities offer the extra amenity of security.

I realize the world isn't black or white, how boring that would be huh?  We all have our own likes and dislikes.  One thing I am starting to learn as I grow older is that individuality is what makes the world go round.  I used to try to force feed my beliefs to those around me, sometimes getting blue in the face when they "JUST DIDN'T GET IT!"...

But now I get it.  I don't want everyone to like everything I like, or believe everything I believe, or act like I act.

 I just wanna be me....and I appreciate that YOU ARE YOU. 

So Seattle lovers and Suburb lovers and Country lovers=Diversity.  Hooray for that. 

As I go back and read this post, I realize that I was really rambling but I am gonna post it anyway. So thanks for listening.