Pesticides Are Out - Organic Gardening Is In!    Sources at CBC are reporting that the Ontario Liberals plan to introduce a province wide ban on pesticides if they are re-elected in October.  The proposed pesticide ban will be part of the party's platform leading up to the election on October 10, 2007.    The proposed ban will cover all municipalities, towns and cities in the province wit ...

SERVICE is key in any industry-Mario's is a great example!Our real estate team strives to provide exceptional service to our clients.  We are always looking for feedback on how we can improve in this regard and I am always looking for examples of excellent service in other fields to see if we can improve similarly.  I was at a conference on Luxury Real Estate recently.  Of course it containe ...

What It Really Means To Go GreenDo you know why LEED, REAP and BuiltGreen home construction standards are good for the environment?   In a recent post, Susan Boyce provided a nice summary. She explains that as the green revolution shifts into high gear an increasing number of vague acronyms and buzzwords are entering into the public consciousness. She then provides a quick guide to decoding t ...

Battling Green House Gas Emissions With Better BuildingsApparently the buildings we work and live in use approximately 35 to 40 per cent of the world's energy and are therefore responsible for emitting 35 to 40 per cent of the world's green house gasses!  According to a Vancouver Sun article, Vancouver development management company reSource Rethinking Building is aware of these statistics an ...

Good for the environment and a trip for me!A few months ago, Macdonald Realty Ltd. had a contest asking realtors to submit ideas to help Macdonald Realty be a better environmentally responsible company.  The winner received a trip to Hawaii-it was great!   My idea focused on addressing the issue of climate change, since realtors drive so much and contribute to the problem.  The idea won fir ...