Emer S

People around the world will be turning off their lights for Earth Hour on Saturday, but what about the rest of the year?

More than 700 retailers crammed into the Direct Energy Centre at the CNE grounds in Toronto for 10 days of hustling, shopping and inspiration at the National Home Show. It was exhausting but exhilarating at the same time. So many people, so much to see!

The casaGURU team was out in full force spreading the gospel of the GURU. It was amazing how many people were used to having their head down to avoid sales pitches. However, as soon as they heard the word “FREE” they seemed to relax and stopped to listen. The look of surprise when they understood the basic principles and how easy it is (did I mentioned they balked at “FREE”?) was exciting. We engaged approximately 600 pros and around 8,000 homeowners (so many, in fact, that we ran out of our nifty postcards not once, but twice). Phew! I’m exhausted.

Another fun feature we had at our booth this year was a video camera to record people’s questions for experts (or their renovation horror stories). A lot of people were quite environmentally conscious and asking about solar products and energy efficiency. Keep an eye for those as well as the answers at casaGURU.com soon.

Celebrating the official launch of the site, casaGURU teamed up with MSN/Sympatico for a fabulous contest. You can enter for your chance to win a $3,500 home decorating package, $9,000 energy efficiency upgrade prize package or a $10,000 luxury kitchen appliance prize package. The contest runs through ’til March 30, which is swiftly approaching, so be sure to sign up without delay.

I'm looking out the window right now and can barely see the building across the street through the steady flow of falling snow. It's not an uncommon sight considering it's winter in Canada. And yet somehow, everytime it snows even people who have lived here their whole lives seem to be surprised and not konw how to act. For those of you (which, admittedly, includes me), here's part of an article by Steve Maxwell for casaGURU with some handy hints for hibernating:

"My wife and I went for a walk yesterday morning, and about 20 minutes into the cold wind and blowing snow, she shuddered and offered the opinion that wintertime Canada is like the moon.

Her tone made the words a curse, which is just what you’d expect from someone raised in the tropics and walking through a blizzard. I wonder what she would have said if I’d told her that most of her dark brown hair was now turning white with frost everywhere it happened to peek out from under her toque.

But even as a hard-core, born-in-a-snowdrift Canadian, I have to admit she has a point. Just like the moon, you need to suit up in bulky, specialized clothing merely to stay alive outdoors between November and March. A Canadian house is like a spaceship, complete with mechanical systems to meet our needs for oxygen, warmth and shelter from the cruel blasts....'

You can find the rest of the article here.

"It's apparent that many people selling green or eco-friendly home building materials and products have no clue as to what constitutes GREEN, eco-friendly, organic, and sustainability. Here are definitions of some of the big buzzwords in the green movement, all to help you make better buying decisions when you face your next home building, remodeling, or design project.

ORGANIC: of or relating to foodstuff grown or raised without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides or hormones; e.g., organic eggs, organic vegetables, and organic chicken. The term is also used to describe something simple and healthful and close to nature, as in an organic lifestyle. You'll find organic fibers used in furniture and fabrics, like organic silk.

CRUELTY FREE: a product that doesn’t contain any part of an animal, eliminating material obtained from an animal by means of cruelty and/or anything made with child labor or in a sweatshop anywhere in the world.

Examples include veal or any other food obtained from animals raised or kept on factory farms, or any products made in a Third World sweatshop. Remember the Kathy Lee Gifford controversy about her clothing line made in Central America?

VEGAN: a product that is not derived from an animal and/or animal by-product. A vegan person is someone who eats and wears nothing derived from animals; this includes any dairy, meat, seafood, leather, silk, honey.

Examples of vegan products include faux leather and cotton fabrics for furnishings, and soy and palm wax candles. The Couchoid chairs on the right feature vegan upholstery, a "cow-friendly" leather look-alike fabric......"

She goes on to explain many more terms which I now feel more comfortable using in my environmentally-friendly index.

casaGURU is one such site, a virtual mecca for information on qualified real estate professionals, brokers, staging and more. Let casaGURU enlighten you on whom to turn to for guidance.