Sheron Cardin's Input...: March 2008

Home Stager ARE green and here are some reasons why...and other tips

First: 3 ways we eliminate waste and protect our environment:

• Reduce it first - A key part of waste reduction is "conservation". #1 use real glass, not Styrofoam or paper cups. 2nd; buy products that don't have a lot of layers of packaging. 3rd; before you buy something, ask yourself, "Do I really need this?" That's right; we say "If you don't need it, don't buy it!"
• Reuse is second - Home stagers are good at this: convert what you have for a new use like covering old books and using them on shelves instead of buying new accessories. Also reusing old furniture in new ways and cutting fresh flowers and branches from the outdoors instead of buying fresh. Another think you can do is use your own cloth sacks when you shop at the supermarket and outlets instead of accepting the paper or plastic bags. Paint coffee cans and store small objects on shelves.
• Recycle is third - Since recycling occurs when old products need to be transformed, recycling is the least favored thing you can do to protect your environment because it uses more energy and resources than either waste reduction or reuse. The home stager uses the same art, accessories, lighting, and furniture, over and over and over again.
  

Another important tip is to "precycle" by selecting locally recyclable products and packages when you shop.

(I am still on the fence about using "real plates" vs. paper plates. I would like to know what is more important to do; save water and soap to clean the "real plate" or to recycle the paper plate? Anyone have that breakdown?)

Here are some web sites that allow you to calculate your ecological footprint and at the end, most will show you how many planets it would take for everyone on Earth to live your lifestyle.

Adventures with Bobbie Bigfoot 

Best Foot Forward: Bring Sustainablility Down to Earth

Ecological Footprint Quiz

Global Footprint Network

The Green Office: Carbon Offsetting

Do you save dates, information, tips, words of wisdom, ideas, etc., from every walk of life not knowing where it will all fit in?

Me too.

Here is what I want to do...I want to put them in this post in a haberdasher order so I can finish clearing off my desk. Deep down I know I cannot toss them yet until they are recorded...maybe not so much for my own use...but possibly for SOMEONE else's use? 

Thank you for humoring me! This might even be a good post to pin your notes to while clearing your desk. You can use sign generator to use these nifty gadgets like these note pads, buttons and signs.

March

• 27-29: International Window Coverings EXPO; Georgia World Congress Center; Atlanta, GA 651/293-1544 www.windowcoveringexpo.com.
• 28-31: Miami Spring Home Design and Remodeling Show; Miami Beach Convention Center; Miami, FL; www.homeshows.net
• 28-April 1: Color Marketing Group International Spring Conference; Montreal, QB, Canada; www.colormarketing.org

April

• 7-13 High Point Market; Runs: High Point, NC; www.highpointmarket.org.
  
• 8-10 Material World: Miami Beach Convention Center; Miami Beach, FL; www.material-world.com
• 11-13 K/BIS: Kitchen & Bath Industry Show & Conference; McCormick Place; Chicago, IL; www.kbis.com
• 19-20 Love Your Home Show; Sandown Park; Esher, England; www.loveyourhomeshow.com

May

• 8-11 Luxury World Exhibition; London, England; www.luxury-world.co.uk
• 15-17 AIA 2008 National Convention and Design Exposition; Boston Convention and Exihibition Center; www.aiaconvention.com
• 20-22 Green West Expo & Conference; Los Angeles Convention Center; Los Angeles, CA 222.greenwestexpo.com
  

Good Advice:

An excerpt from and article written by Paul and Sarah Edwards: lifestyles for the millennium - "Practical ways to get people to your Web site include discussion boards, streaming news, survey and polls, contests and sweepstakes, classified ads, social networkings sites and RSS feeds".

They also advise that business owners take an active role in managing the marketing efforts on their Web site, interacting and following up personally with visitors.

In the new book, The Compassionate Samurai: Being Extraordinary in an Ordinary World, international consultant, speaker and author Brian Klemmer states, "You can be rich and spiritual, wealthy and giving, a warrior in the marketplace, yet a strong-willed, compassionate friend to many." Here are a few of his tips on how a business owner or CEO "can improve the bottom line while contributing to humanity."

1. Honesty Tell employees what you are working on in yourself.
2. Contribution Set aside a percentage of the company's profits to give to humanitarian causes, ones the employees help pick.
   
3. Courage If your employees get a percentage of the profit as a bonus, tell them at the beginning of the year the minimum profit you are committed to or what embarrassing thing you will do if you don't achieve it, such as having to wear a chicken costume for a day.
   
4. Trust/honor Ask employees their viewpoint or opinion on something and take their advice.
5. Abundance/honor Use a portion of the profits for gifts.

Free events for small businesses, click on this link: www.score.org/open_Events

WINNING THE BID - The art of capturing new business by Peter Fretty:

• Research opportunities - Identifying exact requirements lets you proceed with confidence. Asking peers about their experiences can provide insight into the potential client's typical expectations and behaviors. The key is to go in prepared. Always ask the client for as much information as possible regarding unusual stipulations or any other aspect before making the bid/proposal/offer.
• Cover the costs - It is crucial to understand all of the costs - wages, supplies, incidentals, etc., before presenting any bid
  
• Write the document - Formal bids should be solid documents that call out all of the included products and services. Also remember that the best quotations are not offers to haggle. While some companies submit their highest numbers, hoping to negotiate further, presenting the best deal as the bid represents a high level of integrity.
• Deliver the bid - Make the presentation as memorable, tasteful and professional as possible. However, the bid presentation does not complete the process. While there is a difference between following up and pestering, staying in contact demonstrates attention to detail as well as willingness to meet expectations. The bid and the follow-through combined often craft the prospective client's first impression
  
• Embrace consistency - Successful bidding is best accomplished when one person with an established routine completes the bids each time. Having a bidder's checklist customized to a particular project can plan a key role in establishing consistency. Once a fine-tuned checklist is in place, it is much easier to additional team members to have a role in bidding.

Recycling tip:

Recycler TechTurn Inc. estimates that 600 million to 800 million personal computers are sitting unused in the United States. They contain substantial amounts of lead, among other toxic metals. Costco has a Trade-in & Recycle Program which allows members to recycle computer, LCD monitors, digital cameras, camcorders, game systems and MP3 players free - and in some cases receive a Costco Cash card for any estimated trade-in value.

Important statistics if your going to sell your home:

Invest in bigger improvements. The National Association of Realtors found in 2007 that 59 percent of home buyers remodeled or made improvements to their homes within three months of purchase. Forty-seven percent made improvements to the kitchen, another 45 percent remodeled or improved a bathroom and 43 percent remodeled a bedroom.

In other words, these are the key rooms when you're preparing to sell. Focus on fixing up those "make or break" rooms.

Check www.ofheo.gov which is the Web site of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, for quarterly reports on house price appreciation trends in 275 markets...many markets are doing just fine.

Did you know the breaking open of a sake' barrel is a tradition when opening a new business in Japan bringing harmony and good fortune? Now you do!

Things to ponder... It is recommenced to have 5 servings of fruit a day and less than 17% of the population does. Why are we sick? Let me see...hmmm. Oh, and another thing; the Amazon provides 20% of the earths oxygen! Wow!!!

Here are some of the things you can do with this free sign generator site: I am hoping that if I post about it and share with you, I will remember to use it :) This site has over 500 sign makers and they can really drive a point home as you can see...

The list goes on and on. Have fun and do share...just one more I just made...too fun!

Ps: This post had many links that the host company changed into just one...but they are still the best so don't let the lack of fun icons keep you from using the free sign generator.

Today is the day I weed out what I want to write about and what I will just toss. I have always had piles of torn pages from decorator and food magazines but now, because of my awareness gained through Active Rain and the Eco group, I have a GREEN pile and it is the tallest of them all.

At the top of this pile of greenness is an article from one of my AARP magazines and have been hanging onto it for a few weeks now. The photo depicts a tree standing on the side of the road with it's suitcase in one hand and the other with a thumb out. It speaks volumes to me of our grave global warming situation even though it makes me laugh every time I see it.

I often think about our early blooming trees here in the San Joaquin Valley and how fragile fruit and vegetables are. The farmers fear frost every winter and early rainfall in the spring. The weather spells out success or failure every year for them.

This picture epitomizes the fear for the future of our farms and landscapes in general...

I know what you are thinking and I suppose vegetation has been moving around since the beginning of time, but what used to be a gradual migration has accelerated dramatically and never before were there businesses and families/towns/cultures so dependent upon what is produced on their land for survival.

The article points out the concerns of the ranchers wanting to know if there will be grass for grazing...how hard will it be to move those cows? How about nursery owners and botanists who make a living growing flowers for special occasions, what will they do when the land is too hot...use the empty cow pastures? How IS this all going to work out???

What I hadn't considered was how extreme weather conditions give adaptable plants an edge, and some of the most adaptable plants can be trouble. Hundreds of plants are on U.S watch lists because of invasive tendencies. Among them: 

1. Kudze - Visitors to the 1876 Centennial Exposition if Philadelphia found this Japanese cousin to the pea charming. It's now rampant in the South 
2. Purple loosestrife - Its blossoms may be hard to resist but loosestrife is reviled in most of the nation, where it invades wetland and crowds out native vegetation.
3. Pampas grass - Dramatic plumes make this a real prize in Connecticut, but in southern Californa it spreads vigorously and catches fire easily.
4. Spotted water hemlock - It looks like Queen Anne's lace, but this carrot relative spreads rapidly in waterways and exudes a toxic sap. In most of the Southwest it's considered a noxious weed.

          

 
Footnote: 28 states could lose an official flower or tree to climate change, according to the National Wildlife Federation. 

The biggest thing to hit the airwaves and cyberspace is Oprah and the book A New Earth. Nothing could be more exciting to me than to see a big change in the world...I know I am not alone.

So with the tardy bell ringing I run to WalMart to by the book by Eackhart Tolle, speed home to open and read it before the first free Internet class March 3rd.

           The world is not going to leave ME behind!

Much to my chagrin, it is a slow read for me and I toil to make the first 2 chapters marked read, then turn on my PC to take part in history. Ready to transform, pencil in hand and my workbook ready, I tune in to the class. I don't know anything about the author and he did not look like what I would want the new leader to look like, but there he was with Oprah...talking about how he is the instrument and is compelled to write down what he is channeling.

W H A T ?  This is not new, I channeled a couple of books in 1973 myself! I have been reading books for almost 4 decades that are channeled. Is there nothing new under the sun? According to Ecclesiastes there isn't, hasn't, and never will be anything new under the sun, darn it!

Then less than a hour into the program hoping for a glimmer of light to shine through...the lights go out! I am not kidding. A moment later, a commercial about menstrual cramps comes on and I look over at my girlfriend whom I have convinced she needs this, and threw up my hands. I tried and tried to hook back up to no avail. The good news is that if we missed the broadcast, we can watch it the next day. NOT!

Trying desperately to retain my original excitement for a shift in my consciousness, I look at my download options and not one of them was what I wanted. I thought to myself 'poor Oprah', her staff is letting her down with poor technical advice/help/direction. I don't want to download the program to my mp3 player, nor do I want to send it to my ipod, nor do I want a written transcript. What's left is an hour and a half download that went nowhere. Am I being shut out by the new earth and the new people?  

All week long I tried to see if anyone else was dealing with the same issues as I and sure enough, all my friends and family that was participating had experienced the black out too...and another path has not been opened up to them either to recover what was lost. There is a 3 page summary of the class that I printed out but it is no more enlightening than past metaphysical teachings (which of course are mind altering) but I am hanging in there Oprah, even if it is just because you say it is the shift I need.

Monday evening at 6 pm Pacific, class #2 will enter the homes of more than 500,000 homes and once again we will be open minded with pencil and paper, waiting for that aha moment, that shift in consciousness that tells us why we are here, or at least a better reason that the ones we have come up with so far...

The book is still a hard read for me but I am forging ahead to a better world. I am hoping to hear something that I have not heard before or read before. If I do, you will know it. If you do, I would love to about it.

Separating the clouds from the sky is just not doing it for me. I hope this post isn't too much of a downer but so far the book and the class is a disappointment to me. I hope to add a shift in consciousness to this post...my fingers are crossed. 

Back to the future? Well it is coming around again! This is something to REALLY look forward to. Driving your car on 49 cents a gallon again? Yes!

The reason I bring this up is because I Google Alert 'new inventions' and I ran across a very interesting blog with 100 new clean energy inventions that, unless you are interested in the same subject, would never find out about these inventions until they become available.

What really caught my eye is #7 on the list; a new ceramic battery that has enough energy to take your car 500 miles at about $.49 cents a gallon or $9.00. Looks like we have a lot to look forward to!

Here is the link to the list where I found this information and much much more... Xenophilia 

When I first began posting in Active Rain a little over a year ago, I had just spent a year learning how to optimize my web site so explicit keywords were clearly an important step in my mind. What I didn't know or realize was the long list it would create down the side of my blog.

Sometimes I get so focused I miss the obvious...my list of tag clouds goes on for a mile (as you can see below) and it just occurred to me that it is so long it goes way past most of my posts comments...way past.

Knowing this was not a good thing for me or anyone else,  I dug in and spent a good hour or so condensing tags on past posts yet I haven't made a dent. I hate learning the hard way!

This is what I am talking about:

And jungle language...they must have had a big laugh at that one. Think how much fun they are have imagining our reactions. We deserve it though after complaining about the repetitive fruits over and over and over...I know we have started many posts requesting our graphics to be deciphered, explained, made fun of, and just plain disbelief of such babble.

And what is a lovi-lovi? Is that an appropriate word for a business network?

Try this one on for size...say Cuba libre 5 times fast and then type this graphic: calubura...sounds like you have had too many :) How many types of Fairies could there be? And insects?

And all those berry-berries...have the AR gods got their hands on the Berry Bible? This could explain a lot if you ask me. I envision Matt sneaking into the public library looking for interesting word books, can't you?

I wanted to share with you what a whortleberry looks like.

Our graphics are just one of the many boredom busting perks here in the rain forest. Wait, is that the secret? Are these all rain forest plants, words, tribes?

Thank you for all the entertainment!

Growing up in LA meant that you did your shopping within a one mile radius from your house. We did our grocery shopping, clothes shopping, went to the dentist and doctor on the corner and belonged to the closest church We were loyal to our local businesses and they trusted our loyalty and often laziness.

Selma, Ca where I live now, is very much the same way. With a little more than 24,000 residents, I would say most of them grew up here, went to school with the local store owners, and a walk down the street is reminiscent of Mayberry or Little House on the Prairie with howdies and did you hear the so and so died. Everyone does their business within a one mile radius here too or they stick to whomever they have used till the end.

Now check this out these new guys from elsewhere; I have been watching this Tax store pull in the business every day since January. I pass by their new little store about 8 times a day and it is packed with couples. Selma already has a tax consultant that probably graduated high school with 70% of its residents so not to worry...their clients are friends...friends are loyal, right? NOT!!! I took a picture of the local tax guys store and I have taken some pictures of the 'new guy in town' and his marketing genius. See what you think happened:

This is the local tax consultant that has been in this location for years, confident that he has a loyal client base.

This picture was taken early in the morning before they open at ten. 

This is the new guy in town...right around the corner...most likely here until April 15th...this picture was also taken early in the morning before they open at nine.

Now here is the new tax store in action during their long open hours:

Notice the Statue of Liberty costume with an American flag? There is a person like that on all 4 corners at the main traffic intersection in town.

There isn't a person coming into Selma or going out of Selma who does not know about Liberty Tax Services.

Every chair is filled all day long.

Their marketing tells me they know what they offer is important to us and they are here for us, they love what they do and they are excited about what they do.

Who wouldn't want to do business with a person or company that is this lively! 

I think they are a genius and if I did not already retain a tax company, I would let them take care of me. Oh, here is a picture of the local guy when the business office is open:

And the lesson is...