We just want to applaud Sears Holding for launching its "Heroes at Home" Wish Registry, a program that gives support to military service members, veterans and family members. Sears customers can use the Heroes at Home website to make donations and buy gift cards for the more than 20,000 registered servicemen and women, military family members and veterans. Donations can also be made at Sears Hometown Stores retail locations across the country. Donation methods include converting Citi Reward points to donations, swapping old cell phones for free 60 minute calling cards that will go to a military family and turning in unused gift cards as a donation.
Visitors and donators can also view registered family profiles and post direct messages of support to military families.
With veterans and military service members facing a higher rate of unemployment than the civilian population, the Heroes at Home program is an easy way for the rest of the country to ease the burden of those returning from war and service and say "thank you" for the daily sacrifice they make on our country's behalf.
Sears Hometown Stores will also be launching a Food Drive on November 8th, so stay tuned.
The new R-Plus Insulation from Terminix is like the kid in high school who did everything well. As most plodded along pulling B's and girls' braids, this Renaissance Man hit home runs for the baseball team, played drums for the popular high school rock band and wrote brilliant plays in rhyming iambic pentameter. So does Terminix's new insulation relegate all others to the realm of mediocrity. What, your insulation only keeps out the cold? Boooooring.
Here's a bulleted list of what R-Plus has going for it:
- Saves the environment. R-Plus is made from 87% recycled materials, like old newspapers.
- Kills termites. The insulation is bonded in a patented process with boric acid, which controls pests like termites, cockroaches, ants and silverfish.
- Qualifies for Federal Tax Credit. You could save up to $1500 by purchasing R-Plus.
- Saves up to 20% in heating and cooling costs. R-Plus is Energy Star-rated. Ever heard of it?
It's quite a resume. Sadly, R-Plus could not be reached for comment. It was volunteering at the local soup kitchen before heading off to a Chemistry study group.
Would you consider R-Plus for your insulation needs? How about for Homecoming King?
Although we at BobVila.com are probably more likely to encourage homeowners to build and maintain their own chicken coop, I felt a sense of obligation to share with the world the potential pitfalls of such an endeavor.
This persuasive piece by a New York Times writer may give some folk second thoughts about raising chickens in their own backyard. It turns out there's a little more to it besides tossing some feed around every now and then and finding new ways to incorporate the dozens of daily fresh eggs into the family's meals.
No, there are diseases, predators, hens that won't lay, and the occasional case of gender identity -- just imagine when that grown hen you expected to start churning out eggs begins crowing at the break of dawn. Small wonder many municipalities have ordinances against roosters.
So read up and get the pros/cons list ready.
Who has some chicken-raising horror stories to share?
Home products are not usually at the center of conspiracy theories. I, however, cannot help but connect the dots on what is fast becoming the picture of a widespread plan to reduce our population by proliferating hazardous window blinds and shades into households across America.
This week, not one, not two, but three US Consumer Product Safety Commission product recalls saw hundreds of thousands of blinds and shades recalled due to high risk (and a few incidents) of strangulation and choking.
First was the recall for repair of the IKEA roller blinds. Over 500,000 units have been recalled due to a strangulation risk if a certain provided tension device was not properly installed and attached to the bead chain.
Then there were the faux suede roman shades by Whole Space, which are sold exclusively by Hanover Direct/Domestications. 90,000 of these units were called back, and this due to a 2-year-old boy from Delaware whose neck was entangled in the inner cords of the shades. Thankfully he escaped with only red marks.
Finally, another set of roman shades -- these by Louis Hornick & Co and sold exclusively at Bed Bath & Beyond -- were recalled, again due to strangulation concerns. 364,000 units have been taken back, with two reports of entangled children prompting this recall.
Thankfully there has been no loss of life due to any of these flawed products. It's definitely a victory in the consumers' -- and the US CPSC's -- war against these insidious trojan horses that lurk unsuspectingly around our homes' windows.
Did you have to send a set of shades or blinds back due to the recalls?
Eileen Fitzgerald, Chief Operating Officer of NeighborWorks America, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the roll-out of the Loan Modification Scam Alert campaign.
It's a sad reality that a great number of Americans facing foreclosure become victims of scam artists. As part of a nationwide "Loan Modification Scam Alert" campaign that involved a number of cities across the country, a new website called LoanScamAlert.org has been launched by NeighborWorks America® to help in the fight against these depraved predators. Distressed homeowners who feel they are being preyed upon by scam artists can make a report through the website or by calling 1-888-995-HOPE (4673).
In addition to giving tips on how to spot a scam, the site also features interviews with victims of loan modification scams. It's worth it for all homeowners -- not just those facing foreclosure -- to watch some of these videos. They are an education. As Sun Tzu said: Know thy enemy.
Has anyone out there been approached by a loan modification scam artist? If so, tell us about it.
Most window blinds are used to keep the sun -- and heat -- out of the home. These SolarChoice blinds do the exact opposite -- they increase the heat in the home. The "Heaters", as they are called, are winter window treatments that purportedly reduce heating costs up to 35%. How does it work? Each plastic vane has a hollow channel running its length. Cold air enters the channel at the bottom of the blind, warms up through passive solar heating, and exits out the top of the vane -- at temperatures as high as 140 degrees.
The website has a video to teach homeowners how to install the product, as well as measuring guides for ordering. Installation looks pretty straight-forward: Drill a few holes, fasten a few clips, hang the header and blinds, and presto! Thousands of BTU's of heat are exhaled into the room with zero emissions, zero operating cost and zero maintenance needs.
As if that wasn't enough to pique your interest, the Heaters qualify for Federal Solar Energy tax incentives.
The design isn't fancy -- a brushed aluminum-style finish faces the interior of the room -- and you'll probably want to be removing them during the warmer summer months, which is a slight bother. Oh, and the blinds aren't cheap -- one 6'x8' treatment sells for close to $1500. That certainly had me whipping the calculator out to determine how quickly the Heaters would pay for themselves, given a 35% savings in heating cost.
Here's one last consideration: there's really no point in having them installed on windows that don't see the sun, so your home decor may suffer from a slight imbalance, at least as window treatments are concerned. If you can get beyond that, I'd say the Heaters are worth taking a look at.
Would you consider the SolarChoice Heaters for your home this winter?
When dealing with a carbon footprint as large as the Big Apple's, replacing residential conventional heating oil with biofuel to reduce the city's emissions seems like bailing out the Titanic with a Dixie Cup.
Still, that's what Brooklyn-based Boro Fuel is doing, by introducing BioGreen™, an alternative heating fuel for residences. Available on the market November 1, BioGreen™ is a blend of traditional heating oil and 10% soybean oil. With only traces of sulfur, the green fuel's emissions are reduced; BioGreen™ also lubricates the home's heating system parts, which may reduce the number of service needs even as it adds to the heating system's lifespan. According to Boro Fuel's new website, BioGreenNY.com, the alternative fuel costs the same as traditional heating oil, and New Yorkers will actually earn a 10 cent tax credit for every gallon purchased through 2011. Even better: Your home's heating system doesn't need any alterations to run on the stuff.
It sounds like Brooklyn residents don't have a reason not to try it. Personally, I think every little bit helps. And last time I checked, Brooklyn had a population of about 2.5 million. That's a lot of Dixie Cups...
