My GREEN Life & Real Estate

Recently someone in my office asked me for advice on gifts.  I always try to be thoughtful in my gift-giving, and it's no surprise I try to give GREEN in most situations.  There are hundreds of environmentally-friendly gift ideas out there. Spring through Fall, the garden nursery or garden center is my favorite GREEN gift resource.  Here's my brief guide for various gifting situations: Real Estate Closings I've been known to give hydrangea bushes as a real estate closing gift to clients who told me they loved the blossoms, or would miss the beautiful hydrangea they'd planted at their old house. For houses with hooks on the front porch begging for plants, I've brought over beautiful hanging baskets. If it's off-season, I've provided a gift certificate to a local garden center so the new owners could purchase plants when planting season comes up.  In the Fall I've given bags of Spring bulbs to plant, along with bulb planters and garden gloves, or p

It is said that Realtors are some of the happiest people.  It's really hard work, but it's a great gig.  The part I didn't expect though, was how bittersweet it can be.  After working hand in hand with clients for sometimes months, they're like family to me.  We share the ups & downs, we laugh over kooky houses, we drink coffee, I fall into gopher holes (do homeowners REALLY not know there's a big hole in their lawn?) we write contracts over wine & pizza, we race to see new listings, we pick ourselves up when deals fall apart, we stop the car & jump out when we realize we're covered in ticks from walking through someone's overgrown yard, I bring the flowers and we stage the photo shoot... I just had one of those jam-packed weeks where I experienced the whole gamut of real estate ups and downs.  It was wonderful and exhausting all at once.  Two listings I'd loved having closed, and both sets of homeowners headed out of this area to start new

The stack of books on my nightstand keeps growing (to the point that I had to make 2 stacks - the bigger pile is on the lower shelf!)  It's an interesting mix though.  I love to read.  I wish I had more time to do so. The GREEN book I'm reading is The Upcycle (Beyond Sustainability - Designing for Abundance) by William McDonough & Michael Braungart. The book starts with this one statement, alone on a page:  "The goal of the upcycle is a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy, and just world with clean air, water, soil, and power - economically, equitably, ecologically, and elegantly enjoyed."  It is followed by a forward written by President Bill Clinton. Though I did not read it's predecessor, Cradle to Cradle , the book takes the ideas from Cradle to Cradle as a foundation and builds on them, based on the experience of putting the ideas from the first book to work.  The premise is a simple idea, really, that can be used by each of us all the way up to b