Surprise Me Green!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Local Builder G.P. Kon is Holding a Month Long GREEN Open House ~ Mooresville, NC (Lake Norman)

G.P. Kon’s Certified Green Open House

What an event this will be!

G.P. Kon Custom Builders, Creator of Fine Luxury Homes in the Lake Norman area, is a third generation family owned company. They have been awarded a certified green professional builder by the National Home Builders Association. Master Accredited Builder graduates complete an intensive series of seventy-two hours of coursework. This designation is recognized statewide and identifies top professionals in the building industry. Like the real estate industry Master Accredited Builders have to complete an additional eight hours, of coursework, each year to keep their designation.

Open House at The Farms
134 Grasshopper Circle
Mooresville, NC

Sunday, February 1, 8, 15, & 33
Saturday, February 7, 14, 21, & 28
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM all days

Builder will be on site to answer questions about what’s involved to become GREEN; the whys, cost, and advantages!

Directions is: I77 North, exit 33, left onto Williamson Road, left onto Brawley School Road, right onto McKendree Road, right onto Grasshopper Circle.

For more information please contact G.P. Builde rs.

Teresa in Denver

About the author:

Teresa Harris is a Lake Norman Residential Real Estate Broker who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in Lake Norman and surrounding counties. Please visit http://www.teresamharris.com/ for your relocation and/or your local needs. The information in this post is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed.

Teresa Harris - Holbrooks Real Estate, Inc. - 704-458-1807 - Teresa@TeresaMHarris.com

Monday, September 15, 2008

Center City Green Market ~ Charlotte, NC

Center City Green Market

You don’t want to miss the last two Saturday’s of the Center City Green Market on 7^th Street in Uptown Charlotte. All that is left is August 30^th and September 6^th for the 2008 season that started, this year, on May 10^th~ from 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM.

The Center City Green Market was started nine years ago, as an effort to draw people back into the Center City on the weekends, and expose people to the museums and restaurants in Uptown Charlotte. It is estimated that over 1,000 shop the market each Saturday.

The market offers a selection of fresh local produce from Creekside Farms, Unity Farms, and Greeneman Farms; fresh fish from the Carolina coast and beyond from Michael LaVecchia’s Seafoods, fresh-cut flowers from Jefferson Herr, plus an array of local artists who offer handmade crafts like jewelry, stained glass, and more. Interactive events, demonstrations, and entertainment are also taking place as you shop.

On some Saturday’s the market also offers FREE special theme activities for children of all ages. This year there has been an emphasis on food-related themes.

Center City Green Market

Charlotte Center City Partners

704-332-9591

Image courtesy of Center City Green Market

About the author:

Teresa Harris - Holbrooks Real Estate, Inc. - 704-458-1807 - Teresa@TeresaMHarris.com

Kudo's To Lowes' . . . Going GREENER

Kudo’s To Lowes’ . . . Going GREENER

Okay, I’m excited! Most will think I have totally flipped to be excited about this, but I am. This weekend I was in Lowes Home Improvement and saw that they are trying to go GREENER. They now offer reusable shopping bags and they are quality ones at that.

Lowes originally was started in North Wilkesboro, NC but has since moved to Mooresville, NC. It is really nice to see companies seeing the importance of trying to get away from the use of plastic shopping bags.

Seeing turtles dying from mistakenly eating plastic bags is all it took for me. Since then 95% of the time we take our own reusable shopping bags when we shop. The other 5% we mistakenly forget them and either purchase more bags or carry the items out to the car.

About the author:

Teresa Harris - Holbrooks Real Estate, Inc. - 704-458-1807 - Teresa@TeresaMHarris.com

Green Your Litter

Did you know that an estimated 2 million tons of clay cat litter ends up in Landfills each year throughout the United States? According to TREEHUGGER.COM the clay used in cat litter is strip-mined and is a nonrenewable resource. They also claim that some clumping clay cat litters also contain crystalline silica, which is a known carcinogen. I don't know about you but I personally wouldn't want to add anything more in my home that is known as a carcinogen. I have new granite counter tops that I have to worry about now! But it really makes you wonder with all the cancers and other things our pets are getting these days. Surely, we wouldn't want to be using something that exposes them to an increased risk of having to suffer unnecessary illnesses and diseases.
I had no idea that some kitty litter has gone Eco-Friendly. Now there is biodegradable litter made from renewable plant resources such as pine, wheat, recycled newspaper, and corn. Biodegradable litter is flushable and has deodorizing properties, too. Here are a few on the market now, what their main ingredient is, and the places that carry them.

World's Best Cat Litter
Main Ingredient: non-food grade corn
Price: $8.29 for 7 lbs.
PetSmart

Swheat Scoop
Main Ingredient: non-food grade wheat
Price: $9.69 for 10 lbs.
Target

Feline Pine
Main Ingredient: pine
Price: $45.99 for 7 lbs.
PetCo

About the author:

Teresa Harris - Holbrooks Real Estate, Inc. - 704-458-1807 - Teresa@TeresaMHarris.com

Green Wear ~ ECO-Friendly Fashions!

In Search of GREEN WEAR?

There are three notable stores in Charlotte that carry eco-friendly fashions!

Coco Fleur
8145 Ardrey Kell Road
(704)321-2626

Coco Fleur offers more than eight exclusive eco lines, i.e.: Eco-Centric, Sworn Virgins, and Boy Meets Girl. They also carry enviro-savvy jewels from Love Heals. For each Love Heal items you purchase the company pledges to plant ten trees. Staffers have created their own line of bamboo T-shirts that are soft tissue. For the month of August, each time you bring your own reusable shopping bag Coco Fleur will discount one of your items by 10 percent!

Poole Shop
6800 Phillips Place Court
(704)553-8868

Poole Shop offers basic tanks, linen dresses, and tees from ORGANIC by John Patrick. You will find high waist trousers and Loomstate Jeans' traditional boot cut denim made with organic cotton and grown without pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. They also carry an ORGANIC curve-hugging pencil skirt that seems to be popular for its versatility to be able to transition from office to weekend with ease.

Black & Blue
720 Governor Morrison Street
(704)366-9339

Black & Blue offers Aristocrat jeans in a variety of cuts and washes. Each pair is designed by Bob Bak; fashion veteran formerly of Chanel and Diesel. All fabrics and dyes are chemical free, which makes these jeans 100 percent biodegradable! They also carry Windsor boot-cut jeans in th super-dark, Normandy wash. These have a lightweight texture and create a slim fit. Perfect for casual wear.

About the author:

Teresa Harris - Holbrooks Real Estate, Inc. - 704-458-1807 - Teresa@TeresaMHarris.com

What About Those Funky Beach Towels??

What About Those Funky Beach Towels?

Not the design, the smell . . .

Did you know that the perfect breeding ground for fungus can be your own washing machine? Experts say that while leaving the washer door open when not in use and decreasing the amount of detergent and fabric softeners, are good things to do, they won't get to the root of the problem ~ mold and mildew! So an appliance repairman developed an easy product, completely organic powder, called Smelly Washer.

They claim it works by disallowing cohesive properties between organic and synthetic compounds. Correcting this problem could help people who suffer from allergies and asthma. I'm not a scientist by any means, nor are any of my family members but my Mother always advised me to add white vinegar every so often to clean out my washer and it seemed to do okay with what I could see..... but then yet it's not quite possible to see everything, is it?

About the author:

Teresa Harris - Holbrooks Real Estate, Inc. - 704-458-1807 - Teresa@TeresaMHarris.com

SPIDERWEBS....

Spiderwebs

Every spring I clean my windows using the Windex Outdoor window cleaner that you attach to your yard hose. This spring I purchased two bottles of the stuff and I did use the one on the front side already (back in the spring). I am getting ready to do the backside but I was really wanting to find out if anyone knows of something else that works just as good or better and possibly something ECO Friendly??

About the author:

Teresa Harris - Holbrooks Real Estate, Inc. - 704-458-1807 - Teresa@TeresaMHarris.com

Surprise Me Green!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Local Builder G.P. Kon is Holding a Month Long GREEN Open House ~ Mooresville, NC (Lake Norman)