Recycle for Charity

Saturday, October 17, 2009

9 am to 3 pm

Denver Coliseum

Clean out your garage and basement and help save the planet and help ARC at the same time.  Items that will be accepted include tools, scrap metal, cell phones and obsolete car parts.  No computers will be accepted. 

For a more complete list of objects that will be accepted, please visit:

Clean up Colorado for Charity

www.debpallai.com

Green housekeeping

Are you interested in using less toxic materials for your everyday household chores?  Many commercial cleaners pollute the air and water and irritate the eyes and skin.  Greening your cleaning practices will not only help the environment, but may also cost you less money.

• BAKING SODA:  use to clean countertops and the inside of the refrigerator.  An open box of baking soda (or some sitting in a bowl) in the frig will help eliminate odors.
• WHITE VINEGAR:  use to deodorize the toilet bowl and for washing windows.
• CASTILE SOAP:  an interesting product.  Castile soap is traditionally soap made with olive oil, but you can also find castile soap made from other vegetable oils.  It is available in liquid and cake form.  Use it to wash your skin, hair, pets and laundry.  Dilute it and put it in a spray bottle for general cleaning.
• CREAM OF TARTAR:  most of us have used this in baking to help stiffen egg whites, but, it also has cleaning properties.  Use a thick paste of cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide to remove bathtub stains. 
• HYDROGEN PEROXIDE:  anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-mold and anti-mildew.  Use to clean mirrors, shower stalls and toilets.  Leaving the peroxide on the surface for a while will improve its effectiveness.

For more information and other green cleaning tips go to:

www.greenerchoices.org and www.thegreenguide.com

Affordable Area Activities

Denver’s 2009 Earth Day Fair

Wednesday, April 22, 10 am to 2 pm

Civic Center Park

Come learn how to save energy and the planet.

This year, many vendors at the fair will be accepting your unwanted items for recycling.  For a list of what is being accepted for recycling, and more information on the fair go to:  Denver’s 2009 Earth Day Fair.

Free!  Kid friendly!

Over the Moon Ovations – A Mask Making Journey

Saturday, April 25, 3 pm to 5 pm

Boulder Public Library, Meadows Branch

4800 Baseline Road, Boulder

Explore your inner self by creating a mask.  This process can be messy.  Dress accordingly.

Over the Moon Ovations – A Mask Making Journey

Free!

Dead or Alive? Health Care Reform

Saturday, April 25, 1:30 – 4 pm

CU Boulder Muenzinger Auditorium

1801 Colorado Ave.

Free forum.  Speakers followed by question and answer period.

Dead or Alive?  Health Care Reform

Denver Green Festival

Saturday, May 2, 10am to 7 pm

Sunday, May 3, 11am to 6 pm

Colorado Convention Center

Mark your calendars!  Produced by the non-profit organizations Green America and Global Exchange, Denver Green Festival promises to overwhelm you with ideas and products to help the environment.

The event includes speakers, music and vendors.  There’ll be tips on building green and greening your current home and garden. 

Speakers include Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman and Mike Farrell.

Tickets are $15 per person and include a two month subscription to The Nation and a one year subscription to Ode.

Tickets are $10 per persons for the following folks:

• Persons over 62 years old
• Students with ID
• Folks who bike to the event and have a ticket from the bike valet
• Anyone who buses to the event and presents a bus ticket or pass
• Union members

Free to kids under 18.

You can help make this a really green festival by bringing your own reusable water bottle and eating utensils.

For more information and a schedule go to Denver Green Festival.

Potted? Recycle Them!

Recycle plant containers at Local Garden Shops–or at The Botanic Gardens or South High School

 

• April 25, 9 am to 3 pm at South High School
• June 27, 9 am to 3 pm at Denver Botanic Gardens
• Participating garden centers through the planting season

Details available here

Low-Cost Ways to Green Your Home

Save money and help the planet by:

 

• Using CFL or LED lightbulbs (LED bulbs are expensive, but coming down in price; CFLs have mercury in them–be careful about disposal)
• Installing low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators
• Starting a compost pile to recycle organic waste
• Planting trees to help keep your home cool in the summer
• Insulating your water heater
• Installing a programmable themostat
• Weatherstripping and caulking doors and windows
• Replacing your furnace filter on a regular basis
• Planting native plants to reduce water usage
• Installing power strips on your applicances and other electrical equipment to reduce your phantom load
• Painting with low or no-VOC paint

Greening My Business

I’ve been taking small steps to practice real estate in a more sustainable way.

I drive a hybrid car.

When I print MLS descriptions for my clients, I reuse paper.  I’ll use the back of brochures and flyers I’ve received at the office and the back of left-over brochures from my listings. 

I used to leave 8-10 packets of disclosures on each property I listed.  Now I upload those documents to DocBox on our MLS system.  Selling agents can access them there, or call me to email them the disclosures.  This reduces my paper use and eliminates my driving to listed properties to replenish the disclosure packets.

These are modest and easy ways to care for our planet.  I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort and to share their strategies and techniques for reducing our impact on the environment.

debpallai@comcast.net

Green Your Street

Do you live on a tree-naked street?  Did you lose a tree to Dutch elm disease or storms?

Now may be the time to add a tree to your public right-of-way.

The City and County of Denver, Denver Digs Trees and several other community organizations will be making 10 varieties of trees available to most Denver residents for $25.  In some neighborhoods, where trees are scarce, they’ll be provided free. 

Trees add to the ambiance of a neighborhood.  They increase the oxygen in the air.  They help with storm drainage and increase property values.

Deadline for applying for a tree is March 16, 2009.

Denver LeafDrop Program

Autumn is here and the leaves are falling.  Many of you will use them in your garden mulch, but if you have too many, Denver will take them.

Sunday drop-offs on November 2, 9 & 16, 10 am – 4 pm:

                                               Sloan’s Lake Park, 17th & Sheridan

                                               John F. Kennedy High School, Newland St. & Brown Pl.

                                               Cranmer Park, 3rd & Clermont

                                               South HIgh School, Louisiana & Franklin

                                               Smiley Middle School, 26th & Holly

Weekday drop-offs, Monday-Friday, 7 am – 2:30 pm through December 5:

         Havana Nursery, 10450 Smith Road

         Denver Solid Waste Transfer Station, 7301 E Jewell

Need more info?  Go to:  www.denver.gov.org/denverrecycles.

Denver’s Pilot Organic Collection Program

Denver is testing a new recycling program, beginning this month.  3000 homes will be provided with a green 65-gallon composting container and a kitchen pail to help collect organic materials.

Food stuffs, yard trimmings (grass, tree limbs, leaves) and food-soiled paper (paper plates, coffee filters, tea bags, milk cartons) are to be collected.  All plastics are prohibited.

Denver is still looking for volunteers to participate in this test program. 

For more information and to find out if your home is eligible to be included in this study, please go to:

http://www.denvergov.com/recoth/CompostPilotProgram/tabid/431111/Default.aspx