How many of you remember watching Channel 1 in high school? For those of you that are my age and went to high school in the 1990’s, you may remember a young anchor named Lisa Ling. She is mostly known for her appearances on the Oprah show and her sister, Euna Lee, who was captured in north Korea. You know , the situation where former President Bill Clinton needed to intervene to get their government to release her. Lisa Ling can now be seen on the OWN network in a documentary series called Our America with Lisa Ling. She and her husband, Dr. Paul Song, an oncologist, felt equally invested in making a green move.  It was important to them both to build the most environmentally friendly house that they could afford. After realizing the effects of knocking down an old structure and building a new one would have on our earth, they immediately made a plan to redeem themselves. They were wary of the carbon footprint that their home would have on our planet. Things that they worked hard to keep the “green piece” were: reusing and recycling most of the materials from the existing house they demolished, keeping walls to a minimum with the new construction, avoiding common chemicals when building a home, collecting and using rain water, getting energy from solar panels, using foam insulation instead of a/c and heating units, and those are just to name a few.

You can check out a video clip about her experiences while making this home :

Happy Moving,

Tara Thompson

Live Green

Check out this video for more details:

Happy Moving,

Tara Thompson

Learn the basics of Long Distance Moving

 Moving always requires organization and preparation. Whether you’re moving on your own or with the help of professional removalists, moving from your old place to a new one will require time, money and energy. In this article, we want to give you the pros and cons of moving by yourself or hiring a company. If you’re wondering whether getting movers is a good idea for you, keep reading.

Moving on your own

 A lot of people think that they can manage their move on their own. It’s only a few boxes and furniture, after all. But is it really a good idea for you?

Pros 

The main advantage of moving on your own is financial. Moving companies are expensive. If you already own a car or a truck, moving on your might be a good option. Renting a moving truck is also cheaper than hiring a moving company. It’s also secure: you have full control over your belongings and you always know where they are. You’ve packed everything yourself, and you will unpack everything yourself as well.

 Cons

Moving on your own can be taxing on your physical energy, especially if you live alone or with another person. You’ll probably need to enlist the help of friends and neighbours to help you lift the heavy stuff. You also might be moving far away, and the idea of driving for hours, or even days, at the front of a rental truck isn’t especially appealing. You may hurt yourself carrying furniture and boxes, or be unable to pack everything before moving day. With the high cost of gas, renting a truck and filling it up might be equivalent, or even more expensive, than a good moving company, especially if you’re moving far away.

Hiring a moving company 

There are a lot of moving companies out there, all ready to help you out. But is it always worth the price?

Pros

A good moving company hires professionals who take care of your belongings and make sure that they make it safely to your new home. For long-distance moving, they might actually be cheaper than renting a truck, if a little slower. If you pay for packing and unpacking as well, you will not have to exert yourself doing those tasks, but most companies charge extra for this service. You pay only one thing, and you don’t have to worry about gas or buying pizza for your friends who helped you.

 Cons

Movers are expensive, especially for short distance. It’s also easy to get scammed with a low quote, and then find out that the movers are day hires who have no idea what they’re doing. If you’re doing business with a local, little-known company, you run the risk of having your belongings stolen or broken — it has happened more than once. Hiring a good mover requires research and an investment in time that you may not have.

As you can see, there are pros and cons for each strategy. If you’re doing a short distance move, say if you stay in the same neighbourhood or town, it’s cheaper to get friends to help you move. However, for long-distance moving, hiring a moving company can be more advantageous. Weigh your options and choose wisely.

Happy Moving!

Tara Thompson

Get your Moving Checklist

If you have any good war stories about moving a piano, regardless of whether it was an Upright, Baby Grand or Grand,  we would really love to hear from you!  (There are tons of horror stories you can find on the internet, merely by googling “piano moving.”) Maybe your personal  flashbacks will  prevent someone from making a similar mistake in the future. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself during an important move.

Happy Moving,

Taa Thompson

Roller Garage Doors

Moving Boxes Made Green is a growing family-owned and run company. Their Chicago franchise was started last year by a stay at home mom with a desire to offer an eco friendly moving option to people in her area. This gave her the opportunity to do just that from home, and she has been doing well since. Six months ago , Beth teamed up with a couple that lives in Arizona. Sharing her vision of green moving and, coupled with their marketing background and experience, they have now become partners in their goal of offering their eco friendly moving services nationally and hopefully soon, internationally!

Their service is dedicated to making the customer’s move as simple as possible. There are several package options and customized requests are welcome. They deliver the reserved number of boxes to their present location. They pack the boxes and move them, or have them moved to their new location. After unpacking, they come to pick the boxes up. There is no tape, no assembly, no zip ties, and no waste! The boxes stack easily and have water proof snap on lids. Handles make them easy to carry. They are also in the process of being able to offer additional packing items, such as recycled paper, and they include a hand truck/dolly free with every order!

The amount of water and energy used to make cardboard is staggering. If people are dedicated to recycling the boxes after using them for moving, it helps. However, we are still using a lot of resources to even recycle them. By offering plastic bins and reusing them over and over again, Moving Boxes Made Green can dramatically cut down on waste and energy. Cardboard is necessary in some circumstances, but by providing a service that is an easy alternative, they can make a difference and an environmental impact. The cost of using their boxes is less than it would be to purchase cardboard. Once you figure in the cost of tape and all of the time involved in assembling and breakdown of the boxes as well as their disposal when your move is complete, their service can save you a lot of time and money.

Moving Magazine readers will be offered a special discount for utilizing the services of Moving Boxes made Green. You can call Beth at 206 355–9757 or e-mail Beth directly to redeem the discount.  If you live in Arizona, you can reach their Scottsdale location at 480 433-4086.  You just need to mention hearing about them on Moving Magazine and they will give 10% off your order or 1 additional week free!

Happy Moving!

Tara Thompson

The first eco-friendly moving tip is to reduce the overall amount of what is being moved by having yard and garage sales prior to the moving date to eliminate items you no longer want or need. Consider donating whatever is not sold to your favourite charitable organisation or vintage store rather than spending the time, money and energy to cart unwanted items to your new location.

When choosing a moving company, look for ones that use eco-friendly bio diesel fuels and subscribe to green moving practices such as using recyclable boxes and packing materials. Many companies are starting to employ greener practices such as vehicle type, emissions and using green materials and it doesn’t cost any more so there’s no excuse! If you’re looking for a London man and van, it’s worth getting one of these vehicles as they will be exempt from the emissions charge.

The next tip is to get your possessions organised in boxes that are made of green materials. Use boxes made of recycled materials or ask friends and family members to pass along used boxes and packing materials such as bubble wrap. Ask your local supermarket for free empty cardboard boxes, perfect to use for shipping or use social networking media to ask for free recyclable packing supplies from someone who may have recently moved into your area and now needs to get rid of their boxes. Newspaper also makes a great eco-friendly cushioning agent when packing for a move, so start saving your daily newspapers for about a month before the moving date. Old t-shirts, towels and blankets also make good packing materials to protect hard items from rubbing against one another during transport.

Double up on your packing to reduce the total amount of boxes being moved by storing smaller lightweight items inside larger items and containers. Purchase plastic bins made using recycled material to move your possessions so these bins can be reused at your new home.

And finally, once you are fully moved into your new home, check our these great tips for maintaining a lifestyle of green living !

Happy Moving!

Submit url to Free Business Web Directory Add site url to free business web directory !

Well, it’s about that time of year to start filing your taxes early, especially if you are due for a refund. This is a great video that will explain how to know if you can write off your moving company expenses, as well as other “odds and ends” costs, related to your move. You worked hard to move so you definitely deserve to have Uncle Sam throw you a bone:

Happy Moving,

Tara Thompson

Find the Best Moving Companies

Current National Rates

Mortgage Rates © ML

Monitor the temperature in your new home. Almost half a home’s energy consumption is due to heating and cooling.

• Purchase a programmable thermostat that will make these temperature changes for you automatically. In cold weather turn down the thermostat, wear a sweater or extra clothing and 68°F (20°C) during colder weather saves 3%-5% more heating energy. In warm weather higher the thermostat to 78°F and wear less clothing.
• Clean your furnace’s air filter monthly during heavy usage. Get a new furnace that has the Energy Star label. Today’s furnaces are about 25% more efficient than they were 20 years ago.
• Insulate your doorways and windows. Drafts also get in through gaps in floorboards and skirting boards, which also allows heat to escape in winter. Stop this energy loss by filling these gaps with newspaper, beading or sealant. Make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated. Install double pane windows to keep more heat inside your home. And remember to close your curtains at night to stop heat from escaping through your windows.
• Insulate doors and windows. Use toxic free caulk drafts. Cover outlets with switch plate covers. You are losing heat and cool air when the walls of your home are exposed to drafts. The drafts flow through the inside walls via plumbing and electrical chases and leak through the interior outlets and switches. Even internal walls allow energy loss. All of your home’s outlets and switches allow drafts.
• Insulate your hot water tank with an insulated jacket cover – it only costs a small amount of money and, with all the heat it traps in, it pays for itself within months.
• To keep your home cool in warm weather, pull down your shades and curtains on your windows. Wait to use your dishwasher, oven, and dryer until evening.
• Use fans instead of air conditioners. This works in our home, especially when our second floor seems hotter than the lower floors. Moving air feels cooler, so a slow-moving fan can extend the comfort range to 82°F.

Use less water Install a low-flow toilet. They use only 1.6 gallons per flush, compared to 3.5 gallons per flush for pre-1994 models. If you have an older model, adjust your float valve to admit less water into the toilet’s tank.
• Place a brick inside your existing toilet tank to raise the water level quicker.
• Flush less. Flush only number 2’s. Urine can wait.
• Put an aerator on all household faucets and cut your annual water consumption by 50%.
• Change your behavior using a broom instead of the garden hose to clean your driveway can save 80 gallons of water and turning the water off when you brush your teeth will save 4.5 gallons each time.

Wash conscientiously
Use your washing machine and dishwasher only when you have a full load. Use biodegradable washing powder suitable for low temperature washes. Studies show that washing your clothes at 30°C (86°F) rather than 40°C (104°F) reduces electricity consumption on average by around 40%.

Here is a great blog piece about making homemade laundry detergent . You will learn how to utilize natural ingredients that will both save you money and be good for the environment. The author, Tiffany Washko, runs NatureMoms.com, which is a fantastic resource for green, natural living.

Hang it up to dry
On a nice sunny day, take your clothes out to dry. During cold weather, hang up towels, sweaters, and jeans on a drying rack inside.
Make sure your washing machine is spinning your clothes properly, reducing drying time. Drying through spinning is 20 times less energy intensive than with heat.

Get your house checked by a professional energy auditor
Ask your local electric or gas supplier to perform an energy audit of your house or apartment. Then put the recommendations into practice. If they don’t currently offer such a service, ask them to introduce it.

Changing your floors to bamboo.
Bamboo is considered an environmentally friendly flooring material due to its high yield and the relatively fast rate at which it replenishes itself. It takes just four to six years for bamboo to mature, compared to 50-100 years for typical hardwoods. Just be sure to look for sources that use formaldehyde-free glues.

Safer paint
Repaint your house with latex paint instead of oil-based paint. Latex paint releases significantly fewer harmful fumes while drying.

Go solar!
Turn your own home into a clean power station by fitting solar panels on the roof of your home. The electricity you generate from this alternative energy source could quickly cover the cost of installation. In some areas you may even be able to sell your excess back to the power company. Photovoltaic cells or small-scale wind power could also be an option.

There are real estate companies now that specialize in green living. For example, Green Home Residential is a Dallas-based real estate brokerage specializing in green, sustainable, and high performance residential real estate. They believe knowledge is power and consider it their social responsibility to share the benefits of adopting a green philosophy. Stephanie Ebbesen is the broker/ owner of Green Home Residential and is motivated to increase awareness through education about Environmental Conservation. All politics aside, a truly conservative approach, Stephanie facilitates her clients to lower consumption costs, increase the indoor air quality, and lessen the materials used in residential construction. Way to go!

And finally, there are also moving companies that specialize in green moving to help you relocate in a more eco friendly manner!

Happy Moving,

Tara Thompson

Our son used to have a Therapeutic Support Person, who would shadow him all throughout his day. This limited his independence, but kept him safe in the city public schools and programs. Now that we are in this suburban district, they did not assign him a TSS right away. First they evaluated him for a couple of weeks to see if he would require extra support. They found that he should be able to navigate the hallways and school routines independently in his new middle school. The truth of the matter is that after moving to a new school district, the new school setting is much safer and has the funding for all the right supports to be in place. Due to this huge difference, our son able has made tremendous gains. Moving to a better school district really paid off!

We reveled in the little things at first. “Johnny” learned his own locker combination, bought his own food in the cafeteria, and shut the van door all on his own. But then, bigger accomplishments came pouring in. Our child, began to learn beyond a second grade level in math. He had been on this level for almost three years in the old public school. Now he was learning multiplication, division, and even some simple algebra. He is even doing language arts. We never saw any signs of him learning verbs or adjectives. The biggest “ah ha” moment was when Johnny’s teacher began to grade his work and send home test results. He was earning REAL GRADES. She was evaluating his progress and even sent home a bar line paper that showed his progress in every area.

We finally had perspective that the grading system and classwork was mediocre in the city special needs class. We really didn’t question things, because Johnny was safe and happy. We can’t believe how much of a difference there is between the city and the suburbs. Is it fair? No. But life isn’t fair, and if you want the best for your child/children, you may need to set plans in action for moving to a better school, or area. Do your due diligence and talk to parents of schools that you are interested in. Call and visit these schools to see how they are in person.

In our case, we actually had thought that Johnny was doing well in the city schools. We didn’t really know the right questions to ask, or where to set the bar for our expectations because he was “safe” and his teachers were “nice.” It was only when we noticed what other kids were doing in other school districts, that we began to realize that moving to a better school district would help our son. Looking back, we wish we could have gotten out here sooner. But we are so grateful to be here now. This move was truly a blessing.

Here is some more insight into finding a good school district.   If it’s almost time for a university, get yourself organized for that move to college!

Happy Moving,

Tara Thompson

Find Moving Companies

Brad Pitt is the co-creator of a design competition to build affordable, low energy, environmentally friendly homes in New Orleans. Johnny Depp has begun to turn his own vacation home on a 35-acre island getaway into a self-sustaining habitat run on solar-hydrogen power. Many celebrities have embraced ideas like solar panels on their houses, composting, hybrids, using eco-friendly cleaning products, using compact florescent light bulbs, and re-purposing wood and other household items. Celebs have even been spotted using canvas bags when shopping at the local grocery store!

Alanis Morissette has solar panels on her home. She was given the 2003 Environmental Media Association Missions in Music Award because she campaigns against oil drilling in Alaska. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall share an energy-efficient Santa Barbara bungalow that includes a retractable roof, which stimulates airflow and negates the need for air conditioning . This gets accomplished by using a system known as daylighting, which reduces the need for electric lights. Solar heating is put back into the grid when the house isn’t in use. The couple also salvaged all the pre-renovation wood. Cate Blanchett will be adding solar panels to the Sydney Theatre Company and using a simple rainwater collection system to make it completely eco-friendly. Her home in Sydney is fully powered by solar energy. Kate also donates to Forest Guardians.

Daryl Hannah transformed a-stagecoach-stop home located in the Rocky Mountains, using almost entirely solar power. She has a bio-diesel generator to provide backup power. The hidden dwelling sits next to a solar powered-winterized barn made of reclaimed wood, and inside, Hannah and her guests sit on a moss-covered stone that doubles as a couch. Talk about hard-core, she is 100 percent organic! She even grows her own food. Daryl Hannah was arrested in June 2006 for staging a 23-day tree sit-in during a bid to preserve an urban community garden in Los Angeles. She traveled across America in 2005 in a bio-fuel car. (You go girl!)

Leonardo Dicaprio started the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 to promote environmental issues, drives a hybrid car, and is currently writing and producing a feature length documentary on global warming called “11th Hour”. Edward Norton: launched the BP Solar Neighbors Program in 2003 which matches each celebrity purchase of a solar energy home system with a solar installation in a low-income family home in Los Angeles. Edward Norton also works with EMA on its solar energy program. Both, Leonardo DiCaprio and Edward Norton are members of www.globalgreen.com Global Green’s board of directors. The two have been involved in everything from lobbying Govenor Schwarzenegger and the California state legislature on behalf of green-friendly, to low-income housing to participating in fund-raising events to arriving at the Academy Awards in energy-efficient vehicles.

Dave Matthews Band: offsets CO2 emissions produced by their multi-city tours by funding projects such as tree plantings and wind turbine construction. Richard Branson: Virgin Group chairman, a former global warming skeptic, who in Sept. 2006 pledged to spend all profits from his airline and rail businesses (estimated $3 billion over 10 years) on investments in biofuel research and projects to tackle emissions. Woody Harrelson focuses on bio-diesel and various ways of going green. Gwyneth Paltrow & Camerson Diaz are apart of Act Green: “unite to conserve energy and reduce our reliance on oil.” Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom, Maroon 5, Kt Tunstall: promoting 2007 Global Cool initiative to cut carbon emissions by encouraging people to turn off TVs, mobile-phone chargers and other energy-draining gadgets.

Even the White House is going green. (so let’s call it the Green House now)Yes, under the leadership of Barack Obama, the United States Government White House Administration is backing E-Dome structures, or eco friendly domes. This has been proposed as new green building projects on the island nation as immediate hurricane proof shelters for the homeless currently living in tent villages.

Hope these celebs inspire you to make your home as green as possible. And if you are in the process of moving into a new home, Learn how you can utilize ecofriendly packing crates at rentagreenbox.com . They are a fantastic California-based company that is helping out the environment. Get more eco friendly packing and green moving tips at FindmeMovers.com!
Happy Moving,

Tara Thompson

Artificial Grass Prices

I was not aware of the importance of hiring a moving company that is fully licensed and insured. It’s so easy to get enticed by a cheap moving company but the bottom line is that if they do not have the experience and expertise to move you efficiently, it will take them longer . (and thus, the final bill will exceed the quote anyway.)

I wish i knew about FindMeMovers when I was preparing to move. Instead of putting all your faith in the first moving quote you receive, FindMeMovers has a short form that allows you instantly compare multiple moving quotes. When professional movers are competing for your business, studies show that you save up to 50% on your final moving bill. Even better, they prescreen all of their movers so you will only be dealing with licensed and insured moving companies. In other words, you will only be talking to true professionals and do not have to worry about being scammed like myself and thousands of others . (complaints to the BBB have tripled in recent years due to government deregulation) So utilizing a free moving quotes form is the most ideal way to find the best moving companies with the lowest moving rates.  Here is their official youtube video:

This Moving Quotes form is free and there is no obligation to hire any of the movers who contact you. So there is nothing to lose. They cover local, long distance and even last minute moves! It’s the easiest way to save money! For your convenience I am including the form directly below. The process is so simple. Take a minute to fill out the fields. Then, immediately check your inbox of the email address that you included in the form, open up the confirmation message and click on the activation link. Then you can sit back , relax and let only relevant licensed and insured movers contact you who are able to service your type of move. Pick the movers who you like the best or the one with the lowest price! There’s no obligation. Their network of movers are all licensed and insured with their BBB records thoroughly checked. You’ll have total peace of mind!  Before starting the below process, you might want to check out this information about how to negotiate moving quotes.