Green Garden!

A few tips on using fewer pesticides and chemicals in your garden.

• Hang some nesting boxes, put out some bird seeds and allow the birds to nest in an area near your garden. Didn't you know that birds can eat pests like snails and slugs. No chemicals required.
• Leave some mulch lying near your garden in a pile. Soon the ground beetles will nest underneath it. Ground beetles will then eat many of your other gardening pests.
• Allow some of your vegetables to go to flowers. The flower will attract the bumble bees, allowing for the pollination process to begin.
• Want to try composting but don't think you have room for a big compost container? Try a small wormer instead. You add peelings to the wormer just as you would a composter. The worms will appear and break down your peelings into small amounts of garden compost. You can then use this compost as top dressings for your container plants.
• Catch rain water in a rain container. You will need a container with a lid. If you can find one that also has a faucet, it will be easier for you to remove the water. Open the lid when it is raining to catch the water. Close when it isn't raining, so you do not cause a contamination of mosquitoes and to keep other things out of the water. You can then use the water for watering your plants and seedlings.

Spring Home Maintenance

Ah...spring in almost upon us. We cannot forget about a few simple spring projects for our homes. These spring home maintenance tips are essential for problems not to build up. Home maintenance can save you big money on unnecessary repairs. With these home projects you can improve the longevity of your home.

• Check for loose or leaky gutters. Improper drainage can lead to water in the basement or crawl space. Make sure downspouts drain away from the foundation and are clear and free of debris.
• Low areas in the yard or next to the foundation should be filled with compacted soil. Spring rains can cause yard flooding, which can lead to foundation flooding and damage. Also, when water pools in these low areas in summer, it creates a breeding ground for insects.
• Use a screwdriver to probe the wood trim around windows, doors, railings and decks. Make repairs now before the spring rains do more damage to the exposed wood.
• From the ground, examine roof shingles to see if any were lost or damaged during winter. If your home has an older roof covering, you may want to start a budget for replacement. The summer sun can really damage roof shingles. Shingles that are cracked, buckled or loose or are missing granules need to be replaced. Flashing around plumbing vents, skylights and chimneys need to be checked and repaired by a qualified roofer.
• Examine the exterior of the chimney for signs of damage. Have the flue cleaned and inspected by a certified chimney sweep.
• Inspect concrete slabs for signs of cracks or movement. All exterior slabs except pool decks should drain away from the home's foundation. Fill cracks with a concrete crack filler or silicone caulk. When weather permits, power-wash and then seal the concrete.
• Remove firewood stored near the home. Firewood should be stored at least 18 inches off the ground at least 2 feet from the structure.
• Check outside hose faucets for freeze damage. Turn the water on and place your thumb or finger over the opening. If you can stop the flow of water, it is likely the pipe inside the home is damaged and will need to be replaced. While you're at it, check the garden hose for dry rot.
• Have a qualified heating and cooling contractor clean and service the outside unit of the air conditioning system. Clean coils operate more efficiently, and an annual service call will keep the system working at peak performance levels. Change interior filters on a regular basis.

Rainwater Collection

During dry months, 40 percent of the average household's water consumption goes to outdoor watering. Rather than needlessly draining that water out of the faucet, gather rainfall in a rain barrel connected to the gutter system—and use it to keep the lawn and garden green. Just an inch of rainfall on a 1,000-square-foot roof will accumulate over 600 gallons of fresh water. When picking out a barrel, here are a couple things to look for:

• Choose a model topped with a mesh screen that will keep debris out of the barrel and a lid that prevents mosquitoes from using the water as a breeding ground when it's not raining.
• Look for a barrel equipped with a side spigot where a hose can be attached and watering cans can be easily filled
• Also, most rain barrels can hold up to sixty gallons of water, so make sure it's parked on a strong and steady surface.

Your Carbon Footprint

First of all, what is a carbon footprint? A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc. The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint:
1. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.
2. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf.

The average American's yearly carbon footprint is just about 20 tons, according to the United Nations; the global average is just a shade under 4 tons each year. This is not something we can be proud of for being first -- America is way, way out in front here, and that's a huge problem. Want to reduce your carbon footprint? The best place to start is with the heating and cooling systems, which account for 44 percent of the average home's energy use. Cut the energy used to cool and heat your home by 10 percent and you will have reduced your overall household energy use by 4.4 percent. (For the sake of comparison, a corresponding improvement in lighting efficiency will cut your energy use by 1.1 percent.)

What is your carbon footprint? Find out here: http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

Making Home Affordable

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has extended the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program by 12 months. HARP’s new end date is June 30, 2011.

Originally known as Making Home Affordable, HARP aims to help Arizona homeowners refinance their mortgage who may otherwise be ineligible because of falling home values.

There are 4 basic HARP criteria every borrower must meet:

1. The existing home loan must be guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
2. Your home must be a 1- to 4-unit property
3. You must have a perfect mortgage payment history going back 12 months. No 30-day lates allowed.
4. Your first mortgage balance must be 125% or less of your home’s market value

If you’re not sure whether Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac back your mortgage, you can look it up. Fannie’s website is http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup; Freddie’s is http://freddiemac.com/mymortgage. If you don’t locate your loan on either website, your mortgage is backed by a third-party and is not HARP-eligible.

For homeowners that meet HARP’s criteria, there are some underwriting details of which to be aware.

First, if your original mortgage does not require mortgage insurance, your HARP mortgage will not require it, either — regardless of your new loan-to-value.

Second, all HARP refinances require income verification. It doesn’t matter if your original mortgage was a stated income or no income verification loan. You should expect to produce 1040s and W-2s for your HARP refinance and asset statements, too.

And, lastly, second (and third) mortgages may not be “rolled in” to a new first mortgage loan balance. Junior lien holders must agree to remain in a junior lien position, regardless of combined loan-to-value.

There is a thorough HARP FAQ section on the government’s website, but it’s for general questions only. For specific Home Affordable Refinance Program information, first make sure you’re program-eligible, then pick up the phone to call your loan officer.

HARP is complex enough that you’ll want to talk with a human before taking a proper next step.

Tips for a Quick Home Sale in a Tough Market

Here's a few tips to selling your house in a tough market.

1. You have to seriously undercut the competition.
Selling a home in a down market almost inevitably means settling for a disappointing price. But to unload your home fast, you're going to have to dip 10% to 15% below what comparable homes in your neighborhood recently sold for. You still may not be able to compete with foreclosures and short sales, but at least you stand a chance of getting buyers to notice your listing. To prevent yourself from becoming overly attached to your asking price, try to determine the lowest possible offer you'd accept before your listing hits the market. That will help remove your emotions from the negotiating process later on.

2. Outside fixes have the biggest impact.
Since your house won't be cheaper than the distressed property down the block, it has to look far better. But you may not have the time or money to redo the kitchen, so focus on cosmetic improvements that will bring the most buyers to your door. Spending a grand can go a long way toward improving your home's exterior. Get the outside of your house power-washed, paint the door, replace the knocker, and hire a gardener to give your yard some TLC.

3. First-timers are your friend.
The most efficient way to market your home is to target the most likely buyers. First-timers bought over half the homes purchased so far this year, thanks to a new federal tax credit and the flexibility to buy without the burden of selling another property (super-low mortgage rates don't hurt either). The average age of the first-time buyer: 30. To boost your chances of reaching the Gen-Y crowd, get yourself a snazzy online presence (see No. 4) and spread the word about your next open house through social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

4. Online tricks will make your home pop.
Buyers are faced with thousands of listings. Help them find yours by peppering your description with amenity keywords like "deck," "pool," and "granite counters". Then make sure they like what they see by using a wide-angle lens to make your rooms look bigger in pictures. And set your home at the lowest end of its price range; a $299,000 home will seem expensive to a buyer in the $250,000 to $300,000 range, but a $301,000 home is a deal to someone looking between $300,000 and $350,000.

5. Your secret weapon is a speedy deal.
It can take months for banks to approve a deal for a short sale or a foreclosed property. Make sure your agent lets potential buyers know that you can close the deal within a few weeks. Another advantage you hold over distressed sellers: the ability to be creative in negotiations. If a potential buyer is wavering, offer to pay part or all of the closing costs or cover a year's worth of association fees. At the very least, consider throwing in some new appliances or a paint job. After all, in this market no one is going to want a home that doesn't seem like a bargain.

Top 10 Inexpensive Repairs Before Selling

When you put a home up for sale these days, you're facing stiff competition. In most parts of the country, buyers are faced with huge numbers of homes for sale. Before asking strangers to trade hundreds of thousands of their hard-earned dollars for your little palace, make all the little repairs you've always meant to do but never had the time for.

These 10 basic repairs will help prepare your house for a buyer's white-glove inspection:

1. Repair sagging screen doors and other entry red flags.
The entrance to your home is the key to first impressions. Make sure everything at the entrance is in working order. If the screen door is sagging, you'll probably have to install a new one, as aging aluminum parts often become too bent or broken to repair. Patrol the perimeter of your home, inspecting it with the critical eye of a stranger. Clear dead plants from flower beds, clip dead blossoms and stems, rake and haul the yard waste far away. A fresh coat of paint on the front door goes miles toward establishing a great first impression. Drive around for some inspiration and to see what colors prevail in your community. In some towns, a bright red door, or a deep plum, looks great. In others, it'll seem over the top. Forest green, navy blue and black can be great door colors. The front door need not match the exterior colors of your house and trim, only look good alongside them.

2. Spiff up the roof.
Missing shingles and hanging gutters broadcast a loud, scary signal to potential buyers. Get a roofer to replace any missing or broken shingles or roofing tiles. Moss growing on the roof signals neglect, so it's important to get it cleaned off. Ask a roofing expert to remove moss or to recommend someone who can. When hiring someone to work on your roof, it's crucial to check their recommendations. Amateurs can damage your roof with the careless use of a high-pressure power washer.

3. Clear and caulk gutters.
On a dry day, climb up on a ladder and clear all the debris out of the gutters so water can flow freely. While you're up there, recaulk the gutter end caps, aging caulk allows leaks to drain water down your home's siding. Get started by drying the clean gutter; the drier the aluminum, the better caulk will bond to its surface.

4. Patch nail holes and repaint.
Moving inside the house, you'll want to patch up nail holes in the walls. Ask at a hardware store for lightweight putty. Apply it with a putty knife and fill in each hole, scraping the excess off the wall. Following directions on the package, wait for it to dry. Then sand the putty until it's smooth and flush with the wall. Paint the repaired spots with primer. Call a handyman for anything bigger than a nail hole, as it's not easy to blend bigger repairs into the wall.

5. Check the smell of your house.
When strangers enter a home, the first thing they notice is the smell. Don't even try hiding behind scented candles, potpourri and plug-in room fragrances. Buyers, ever suspicious to problems, catch a whiff of those and conclude that you're hiding something. In the kitchen and bathrooms, deep clean with bleach, then regrout tiles and recaulk cracks between sinks, tubs, toilets, counters and floors to seal out the moisture that encourages the growth of smelly mold, mildew and bacteria.

6. Replace damaged vinyl flooring.
Inspect the vinyl flooring in your bathrooms. If it has discolored spots or is loose, moisture may be damaging the floor. You'll probably want a professional to lay the actual flooring, which could cost $400 or more. But you can save as much as half of the cost by preparing the floor yourself. Remove the baseboards by pulling them away from the walls with a small pry bar. Next, pull up the flooring using a larger pry bar -- it will be glued and nailed or stapled. Also remove the next layer, called the underlayment, made of particleboard or layered plywood. While your new floor is being installed, you can sand and repaint the baseboards so the whole job will look terrific when it's finished.

7. Reseal the toilet.
Not all flooring installers will remove and reinstall the toilet, something that must be done to replace the floor. Pulling the toilet yourself can save you money. With plumbers' fees running about $85 an hour (with a minimum hour and a half charge for a house call), you could save yourself $200 or more (for two trips) by pulling the toilet yourself. Even if you aren't replacing flooring, the seals may need replacing. How to tell? If the toilet rocks when someone sits down, or if the floor at the base is moist or discolored, the seal could be broken. Corroded nuts that hold the toilet to the floor are another sign that the toilet needs to be reinstalled. Before you begin, shut off the water supply at the faucet behind the toilet. Flush the toilet, holding down the handle to drain as much water as possible. Use a wrench to unscrew the bolts holding the toilet to the floor. Don't move the toilet alone. Get a friend to help, because toilets are heavy and cumbersome, and the tanks are easily cracked. Prepare a bed of old cushions or towels in the bathtub and set the toilet there gently so any drips drain into the tub. At a hardware store, find two wax toilet seals (also called gaskets, about $3 apiece). One seal is conformed to fit into the sewer pipe; the second is a plain wax circle that you'll stack directly on top of the first. (Also at the store, purchase two new bolts -- about $1.50 each.) Back home, remove the old gaskets. Fit the new shaped gasket into the mouth of the sewer pipe first; put the second seal directly over it so the toilet fits into the space with no gaps. Lower the toilet over the seals. Screw in the new bolts, tighten them, reconnect the water supply and caulk the base of the toilet.

8. Stop faucet drips.
A dripping faucet calls attention to itself, and it's not hard to fix. Shut off the water supply to the faucets by turning the valves under the sink to the right. Then, test the faucet to make sure you've shut the water off completely. While you're looking under the sink, check for moisture on the wall around the valves and on the floor of the sink cabinet. Also check the supply lines leading to the dishwasher and disposal. If those areas are wet, get a plumber. If you've got a newer, rotating, single-arm faucet (through which both hot and cold water run), note the brand and purchase a faucet rebuild kit (roughly $50) at the hardware store. Inside the faucet arm is a metal ball on a stem that lets the handle swivel while allowing water to flow in any direction. The kit contains the six to 12 parts most likely to fail, including that metal ball, O rings, springs and gaskets. The idea is to replace them all rather than trying to diagnose the exact source of the problem. Dismantle the faucet, laying the parts out in order on a paper towel. Snap a photo or draw a sketch to help you with reassembly. Replace the old parts, put the faucet back together and turn the water back on. For older faucets with independent hot and cold water faucets, shut off the water under the sink as before then dismantle each of the sink's faucets separately. Remove the washers (rings made of rubber, plastic or brass), put them in a plastic sandwich bag and bring them to the hardware store to find replacements. Reassemble the faucets and turn the water back on.

9. Renew dinged baseboards.
Beat-up baseboards detract greatly from the appearance of your home, and they're easy to spiff up. First, clean them to remove scrapes and smudges left by clawing pets and toddlers on wheels. A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge works great on painted surfaces. Fill in dents with spackle, sand the baseboards smooth and repaint them. If you've lost the name of the original paint color, chip off a coin-sized bit, slip it into an envelope and bring it to the paint store where you can have the color computer matched. Use primer before painting. Don't just retouch small areas; paint the entire piece of baseboard, from one end to the other. Choose a washable eggshell finish. White is a great choice for making baseboards and trim look crisp and clean.

10. Repair cabinet scratches.
You can quickly improve the look of unpainted woodwork and worn cabinets with an application of products that even out the surface color. Scratches on woodwork and cabinets can be covered with Old English Scratch Cover or a Tibet Almond Stick (you can find these at hardware and home-improvement stores). The almond stick goes on clear but covers scratches. The almond stick works best with shallow surface scratches on dark finishes. It doesn't work in every case, he says, and even a good result may fade with time and need to be reapplied periodically. Old English makes separate formulations for light or dark wood. These are oily stains, so use them carefully. Try out any products first in a corner where results will not be noticed. Do not use the dark stain on light wood. Finally, polish wood cabinets to a glow with lemon oil.

Electronics Recycling

Many computer, monitors, other electronics include toxic materials that should not sit in landfills, and you'd be surprised how many retailers and other companies will take your old gadgets for recycling.

Electronics Recycling FAQ:

1. HOW DO I PROTECT MY IDENTITY?
There are many tools available for erasing the data from your computer and cell phone. Symantec's Wipe Info in Norton Utilities and System Works will help on Windows PCs and Macs. Webroot Software Inc.'s Window Washer is another option for Windows, and Jiiva Inc.'s SuperScrubber is an alternative for Macs. For cell phones visit Recellular's website.

2. IS E-WASTE CONSIDERED HAZARDOUS?
If properly disposed of, e-waste is not hazardous. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, e-waste is an issue of resource conservation. In short, electronics contain many re-usable and valuable raw materials. However, if improperly disposed of or illegally dumped, electronics can pose a serious risk to the environment.

3. IS IT TRUE THAT E-WASTE IS EXPORTED BY "RECYCLERS" TO ASIA WHERE IT IS BROKEN DOWN IN HORRIFIC, PRIMITIVE OPERATIONS?
It is the responsibility of recyclers and exporters to ensure that the ultimate end use is certified, safe and environmentally friendly. The electronics industry is working to establish education programs with federal, state and local governments in order to teach small communities about the harm of unsafe recycling or repair operations and also provide laborers with safe working environments. The Basel Action Network (BAN) has developed the BAN Pledge of True Stewardship to recognize recyclers that meet certain standards and best management practices in the area of e-waste export. Check to see if your recycler has taken the BAN Pledge.

4. HOW CAN I DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT A RECYCLER IS "RESPONSIBLE?"
It is the ultimate responsibility of consumers (including small companies, counties, cities, manufacturers and purchasers) to perform due diligence to ensure that recyclers are operating in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. There are several recognized recycler certifications within the United States including by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling (ICER) and the International Association of Electronics Recyclers. Also, a number of responsible recyclers self-certify and promote their willingness to find a market-driven, safe way to recycle that responds to the needs of consumers, manufacturers and retailers alike.

It is important for consumers to demand that recyclers clearly explain the process by which they recycle in order to minimize impacts to the environment or to the community. The myGreenElectronics.org site can help you find local electronics recyclers.