Green Austin Texas

My Front Yard Organic Grocery Store

Betty Saenz — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:56:53 +0000

Sweet Red Peaches

I just love my front yard organic grocery store. I enjoy picking my own fruits of my own labor knowing they were produced without being sprayed by some harmful chemical and my fruit is not waxed or picked green to gas ripen after shipping in some cold gas chamber. Geez! What has happened to our food supply?! One has to only watch “Super Size Me” and “Food Inc” to understand our dilemma in the United States. That is why I am so happy to grow some of my own. Gardening in Central Texas is not hard. I am no rocket scientist and I manage easily enough. It’s easy to grow some of your own food.

Nature's Bounty

I started my 2010 year with the sweetest, tastiest most melt in your mouth apricots!!! Picking fruit is easy! Next it was the reddest, juiciest, sweetest large red-skinned freestone peaches and also blackberries. For 4th of July we had homemade peach ice cream out of our old White Mountain ice cream freezer. Then on to sweet little figs! Getting a second fig crop now. Yum! I always share some fruit with the birds who visit my National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat yard. Currently it is a great apple harvest. Delightful juicy sweet and slightly tart green apples. The tree was bowing down it is so laden with fruit!! Fresh apple pies baked from scratch this weekend!! Next will be pomegranites. And I always have plenty of herbs – two kinds of oregano, mint, parsley, rosemary, thyme, lemon grass, dill, basil and more…

Luscious Peaches

Next year I bet my nectarine and plums will come into full bloom and subsequent production!! I have some papaya and citrus trees too. And guess what?? I am raising catfish and crappie in my backyard pond. All this organic produce and food on a 60′ cty lot in Leander, Texas, Williamson County. Yippee!!!

Contact the organic gardening REALTOR Betty Saenz to buy or sell a home, farm or ranch. I’ll help you get your own organic garden growing on your own piece of Real Estate!!

Austin Texas Hybrid Cars

Betty Saenz — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:56:56 +0000

1st generation Honda Insight

You see a lot of hybrid cars around the Austin, Texas and Leander, Texas area. I myself drive a recycled Toyota Prius. Occasionally you see an old Honda Insight which rendered significantly better gas mileage than the new Insights. The Union of Concerned Scientists or UCS has a Hybrid Scorecard in which the Toyota Prius is a top performer at a 9.8 Environmental Score. This score is based on the measure of improvement in smog forming emissions as well as improvement in global warming pollution. I am proud that my Prius is a Near Zero Emissions vehicle.

: Toyota Prius

My current vehicle, this Prius, pictured to right, is my third Toyota automobile. I have loved and had confidence in them all. The first was a recycled Toyota Camry with the TRD package. The second, my 2003 Camry SE, saved my life when it was totaled August 19, 2009 in an accident by an Austin, TX morning rush hour crazed driver. I hated to see my car go. My Toyota Camry had taken me so many miles with no trouble at all. Among those places were to Denver, Colorado for the Green Real Estate Convention, camping in the beautiful Colorado and New Mexico countryside on the way back. It was so emotional to say good-bye in the wrecker yard when I got my belongings out and surrendered it : (. I was able to replace my Toyota Camry with a recycled Prius. My Prius has great safety ratings, side curtain air bags as well as front air bags. The seat feels good on my now injured back- it gives great support, so much so that I feel I could drive it all day. I get about 47-48 miles per gallon and did not give up a lot of space from going to a Prius from my Camry. If we need a bigger car for my 6′ son and 6′ husband to go on a long road trip with lots of luggage we’ll just rent one with all the money I save everyday PLUS saving the Earth. When I look at the BP oil spill, all the poor animals covered in oil, not only does it hurt my heart and turn my stomach but I am so thankful I drive my Prius. When I look at 9/11 and our dependence on foreign oil and terrorism- I love my Prius. When I have money in my wallet- I am so glad I drive my Prius! I don’t want to support big oil’s deep and dirty pockets. We’re America- we need to be FREE from that! My Toyota Prius is a step and a statement beyond that.

Blog on Pickett Trail

Betty Saenz — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:14:18 +0000

Pickett Trail Steps

South San Gabriel as seen from the Pickett Trail

Georgetown Texas Pickett Trail

I led a MeetUp group hike yesterday in an area that feels very sacred to me. I love the area because it feels to me like a sanctuary, private, pristine and peaceful. Georgetown Texas’ Pickett Trail is a small trail both in width and length compared to many, with beautiful vistas from rock cliffs overlooking the South San Gabriel River. According to the Georgetown, Texas Parks and Recreation Department, it was named after a rodeo cowboy who was of American Indian and black heritage named Bill Pickett. Pickett was from Taylor, Texas, in Williamson County. Bill Pickett was born December 5, 1870 and passed away in 1932 from injuries sustained from a stallion in Oklahoma. Pickett Elementary School in Georgetown is named after him. Bill Pickett was the very first black cowboy ever to be inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame and was the inventor of bulldogging, also known as steer wrestling.

A Great Hike and Enjoyable Evening

Pickett Trail is an unmarked trail that many people may not know about. We met up at 6:00 pm at the Blue Hole parking lot. We started our hike walking beside Blue Hole and then went into the Pickett Trail. It was so fun. It’s a short trail compared to many and I have hiked it so many times in my life that I hardly have to look down at the path except for those steep stair steps. After our hike three of us swam at Blue Hole and visited. Among our trio was a lady who moved here two years ago from CA.

Georgetown and Central Texas Consequences of Growth

We have so many people moving here to Texas and the Austin, Texas as well as Georgetown, Texas area. I welcome all to our state as a Native Texan. I just worry about the population growth’s effect on the environment, both from people migrating here as well as our native Texas population’s growth. I saw trash on the trail at a few spots and this horrifies and saddens me. Normally it is so pristine and that is part of what I love.

Pickett Trail Signs

There is no sign making the trail, nor any signage along the trail. I would hate to have to put signs that read “No Littering $500. Fine”. What can one do? So I blog, hoping somehow, someway consciousness will be raised. Besides the no littering signs that I hope never need to be posted, I want a sign showing that the trail is named after Bill Pickett, to honor the memory of him. After all, it is named after him and he was a famous rodeo cowboy and Texan.

Pickett Trail Invasive Species

There are some areas of the Pickett Trail almost totally taken over by invasive plant species. Among the worst there is ligustrum but there is also a lot of nandina. Invasive species gradually take over the landscape and may choke out existing species. The existing native species belong in the natural ecosystem which provides food and habitat for native animal life. The City of Georgetown, and or volunteers need to clean the invasive species out of Pickett Trail and Blue Hole Park. Perhaps the Williamson County Chapter of the Native Plant Society, Texas Master Gardeners or Texas Master Naturalists will take interest in this area.

Resources:

Books

Land of Good Water: A Williamson County Texas History by Clara Stearns Scarbrough
Guts: Legendary Black Rodeo Cowboy Bill Pickett by Cecil Johnson

Williamson County Chapter of the Native Plant Society The Williamson County NPSOT is very active. I have been to some meetings and events. NPSOT does research and works in conservation of native plants and their habitats. The group meets on the second Thursday of every month at 7:00pm at the Georgetown, TX Public Library second floor meeting room.

Texas Master GardenersThere is a Williamson County Texas Master Gardener program that meets monthly at 6:30pm at the Williamson County Extension Service Office, 3151 SE Innerloop Road, Ste. A in Georgetown, Texas. The meetings are open to the public.

Texas Master Naturalists learn about natural resource conservation and provide leadership in management of natural resources and natural areas. Texas Master Naturalists volunteer teaching the public, removing invasive species and other activities.

Keep Austin Beautiful is a very active non-profit in the Austin, TX area. (512) 391-0621
Keep Texas Beautiful is the statewide organization
Keep America Beautiful is the nation wide non-profit program that ran the television ad campaign above.

Contact Betty Saenz REALTOR SRES, GRI, EcoBroker to see homes or other real estate in the Georgetown, TX area or anywhere in the Austin Metro Area. (512) 785-5050

Moving Towards Sustainability: Two Tiny Home Concepts

Betty Saenz — Sun, 23 May 2010 00:10:43 +0000

Pre-Built

Brad Kittel believes in living sustainably, in a way that protects the earth for future generations. He also believes we need to live in homes that do not offgas like the mainstream homes being built today. He offers his Tiny Texas Houses to downsize your carbon footprint for about $38,000. to just under $100,000. A Tiny Texas house buyer will need to pay for moving their Tiny Texas House to their lot. Tiny Texas Houses are built in Luling, Texas of 99% recycled materials as well as energy efficient features such as sprayed in isonyne foam.

Pre-Fabricated

Another concept of a similar vein is Specht Harpman’s (Austin, Texas and New York) ZeroHouse™ . The ZeroHouse™ is a prefabricated home that can be easily shipped and quickly erected. ZeroHouse™ operates completely off-the-grid as a net-zero home. Per the architects’ web site, there is no need for any external utility or waste disposal connections. This is because the ZeroHouse uses rainwater collection and solar panels, triple paned windows and a composting waste system. These tiny modern looking homes run about $350,000. and offer 650 square feet with 250 square feet in outdoor covered deck areas.

Tiny or McMansion?

The concepts in Tiny Texas Houses and ZeroHouse™ is the exact opposite of the huge McMansions that have such a large footprint. One article I read on AlterNet.org entitled “Big Houses Are Not Green: America’s McMansion Problem” stated that in Austin, Texas 235 homes were built in a single year that were 5,000 square feet or more. 41 of the 235 homes had between 8,000 and 29,000 square feet. Compared to the rest of the world, the United States is the world champion in the huge sizes of homes.

U.S. Green Building Council Class Thursday in Austin

Betty Saenz — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:49:48 +0000

U.S. Green Building Council Class Thursday

The Central Texas Balcones Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council is having a Lunch N Learn Thursday April 8, 2010 from 12:00pm to 1:30pm at the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center at the University of Texas at Austin, 2405 Robert Dedman Drive, Austin, TX 78701 Admission is $5.00 for Central Texas Balcones Chapter members and $10.00 for non-members. 1.0 Professional Development Hour (PDH) can be earned at the event.

The Topic will be: Sustainable solutions for sites including soil stewardship, habitat protection and stormwater management.

The Central Texas Balcones Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council is dedicated to sustainable building and land development practices in Central Texas and is a 501©(3) not for profit organization.

Austin Texas Gets New Mode of Transportation

Betty Saenz — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:29:08 +0000

Tomorrow morning, March 22, 2010, is a historic occasion for the Austin, Texas Metro Area. At 5:25am, the new Capital Metrorail redline train leaves Leander, Texas’s TOD on its way to Austin, Texas. I will be at the Leander Station at 4:30am to help. I am excited about the event and the prospects for all of us who live in the area. We need solutions to Austin’s traffic problems and commuter rail will play a part be it big or small. I know CapMetro is relieved and I am too! I will be there assisting as a MetroRail Ambassador. Watch this video for tips on how to ride.

Now, you can consider buying a home or condo near a rail station and perhaps live carless! Search Austin Homes
And if you work in Downtown or Central Austin you can buy a less expensive home in the suburbs, such as Leander and ride the train in to work everyday! Search Leander Homes

5 Green Construction Methods That You Can Adopt

Betty Saenz — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:33:24 +0000

Green buildings are making headlines and it’s not for the shade of the paint that’s used on their walls“ they’re being talked about because they’re built using energy-efficient methods and sustainable materials, and because they promote eco-friendly lifestyles. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, green buildings emit 35 percent less carbon dioxide and use 35 percent less energy than conventional buildings. While you may not be able to achieve these exact statistics when you set out to build your home, there are ways in which you can adopt green measures to make your home more eco-friendly. A few easily followed green construction methods are:

Buy locally: You may not be able to pick and choose eco-friendly options for all your building materials, but you do have the option of buying those that are available locally or at locations near you. This helps save on transportation energy and costs. Also, the materials are available cheaper because they’re not imported or transported from other locations within the country. So you’re not only going green, you’re also saving costs as a bonus.

Use energy efficient devices: Buy appliances that are Energy Star rated and which save electricity and energy. They may cost a little more initially but your recurring expenses are much lower than usual. Invest in refrigerators, washers, driers, ovens and other appliances that consume less energy, CFC bulbs instead of fluorescent tubes, and fans instead of air conditioners. Set the thermostat to normal levels so that your home is not too hot or too cold. Use natural light when you can by building large windows that face east. Also invest in a solar panel for most of your energy needs if it is cost-efficient.

Use recycled/recyclable materials: If you’re going to use wood for your windows and other building needs, choose options that are salvaged or recycled. Similarly, other materials like plastic, glass, aluminium and steel are available in the recycled forms. When you use recycled materials, you’re also able to recycle them again when you improve or remodel your home a few years down the line.

Make your home eco-friendly: Fresh water is fast becoming a scarce commodity, so when you build a home, install a facility to harvest and filter rainwater. Also, set up a system where your shower water is automatically recycled and diverted to your lawn sprinkler and to water your plants.

Maintain what you’ve built: And finally, once you begin to live in your home, adopt eco-friendly measures like recycling your trash, using your garbage disposal correctly, closing faucets tightly and repairing leaky ones immediately, switching off electrical and electronic appliances when not in use instead of leaving them in the standby modes, and keeping your home neat and tidy.

This guest post is contributed by Nicole Adams, she writes on the topic of construction management degree She welcomes your comments at her email id: nicole.adams83@gmail.com

Greenbuilding Tour at Southwestern University Georgetown, Texas

Betty Saenz — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:41:33 +0000

Friday, March 12th, 2010 from 4:30 to 6:30pm there will be a tour of GREEN buildings at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. The Double LEED® Building Tour Higher Education Institution Facilities is being held by the Central Texas Balcones Chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC-CTB). The Admissions Center building is LEED-NC Gold Certified and the Center for Lifelong Learning is LEED-NC Silver Registered. Parking is available on campus.

Greening Austin Homes 1house at a time

Betty Saenz — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:26:18 +0000

How do you help those in need and help the environment at the same time? 1house at a time is a great organization that helps Austin, Texas homeowners in need avoid foreclosure on their homes by lowering their utility and food bills. High utility bills often represent a family’s second highest expense. Homes chosen for projects receive energy efficiency upgrades and other projects to save money and help our Earth. This month’s project happens March 13TH from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Projects include removing the old refrigerator, washer and dryer and replacing then with energy efficient units. A rain gutter system with gutter guards will be installed as well as a rainwater collection cistern. A garden will be installed to help provide healthy food at low cost.

Texas Metal Cisterns and Green Zone Home are helping in this month’s event.

Texas Metal Cisterns in business since 2000 can be reached at (512) 565-0875

Green Zone Home, 8868 Research Boulevard
Austin, TX 78758 (512) 467-0005 Green Zone Home provides home energy consultations.

1 house at a time is a project of A Nurtured World

Won’t you consider helping a family in need by volunteering 4 hours of your time? If you are not able to personally help at the site could you help with a donation?

Learn more about retrofitting your home, rainwater collection and GREEN Austin Homes

Urban Beekeeping in Austin Texas

Betty Saenz — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:31:07 +0000

I have a love of bees because of what they do for us. Besides providing pollenization that our food supply needs, they also provide honey for sweetening which I also ingest for the purpose of warding off local allergens. My late husband was an accomplished beekeeper. I enjoyed learning beekeeping by working the bees with him. This was in the early 1980′s. He had the traditional white wooden bee boxes with frames inside to hold the honeycombs. We used a hive smoker to help us “work” the bees. We would smoke them by blowing smoke from this smoker onto the bees. This served to make them “drunk” and then we were able to “work” them. We took the frames out, cut the caps off the wax which held the honey in and put the frames full of beeswax filled with honey in a large, steel tank on a support system inside the tank made for the frames called an extractor. We put the tank lid on and then turned the hand crank. This movement of the frames around the inside of the tank slung the honey out by centrifigal force. Yes, I might get stung once or twice while doing this, so don’t try working bees if you are allergic to bee stings. I did not have “real” beeking clothes myself so I would wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants and put rubber bands around my sleeve cuffs and pants legs at the bottom. This was done to try and prevent the smoke drunk bees from crawling onto my skin under my clothes. Sometime they would get past the barrier I tried to create and eventually sting me. They crawl all over you but don’t sting when you are working them because of their drunkenness. It’s interesting what the smoke does to them.

Now, honey bees are in trouble. They need your help more than ever. Without honeybees pollinating US agricultural crops our food supply will be in trouble. “Colony collapse disorder” has decimated entire populations of honeybees. Thankfully some people are concerned enough to educate the public and help the bees. There is a new movie called Nicotine Bees about how huge agribusiness is coating their seeds with chemicals called neonicotinoids that end up in pollen and on leaves that may be a factor in “colony collapse disorder”.

In the Austin area there is a new Austin – Urban – Beekeeping MeetUp Group to help the bees. Our first meeting is soon. I’d love for you to join us! Go to MeetUp.com and join up!