Consider this:

• Home use of natural gas and heating oil accounts for 6% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

• Plugging air leaks in a typical home can save up to 10% on heating bills, fuel consumption and emissions during the heating season, according to the Department of Energy.

• Plugging air leaks is one of the cheapest and easiest home fixes that can result in real energy savings. (Draft snake, anyone?) Federal tax credits for insulation, efficient windows and doors and other improvements make even the expensive fixes far more affordable.

That's why the Daily Green and Carbonrally teamed up to challenge our audiences to an easy, but surprisingly meaningful challenge: Dodge a draft – or, as Carbonrally cleverly put it, bust a gust. The Daily Green's readers suggested a number of winterization tips – including curling up with a cat in bed with you at night: Smart! – and we settled on this one because it's actionable, tangible, fun ... and it actually matters. Carbonrally, which challenges its audience to simple steps that produce measurable benefits for the climate, crunched the numbers. To participate, just click through to Carbonrally using the badge below.

Heating homes in the winter amounts to a sizable chunk of the country's carbon footprint, and a surprisingly big chunk of that energy is wasted as it drifts around old ill-fitting windows, under doors, and through cracked caulking and the like. An individual can save as much as 175 pounds of carbon – and as much as 10% on heating bills – every winter by sealing air leaks. The great news here: Stopping drafts is about the easiest and cheapest DIY home project you can find, requiring little more than caulk, a draft snake and some persistence.

The Carbon Connection

Most homes and businesses are heated with fossil fuel furnaces. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. homes and businesses rely on natural gas for heating while most of the rest rely on oil. Emissions from residential and commercial fossil fuel use have been growing since 1990 along with the growth of the population and the construction of new – often bigger and more energy-intensive buildings. Spikes in energy use, not surprisingly, follow weather patterns: The colder the winter, the more fuel burned to keep warm. In all, residential energy use accounts to about 6% of fossil fuel usage (not counting fossil fuels burned at power plants to generate electricity for homes, including the fraction of homes with electrical heating systems).

How to Weatherize Your Home

First, feel for drafts: If you can feel cold air, sleuth out the air leak and plug or caulk it. Take a close look both at any openings in the walls or ceilings – mail chutes, utility connections, dryer vents, outdoor, etc. – and at places where two different building materials meet – such as at door and window frames, at corners, around chimneys and along the foundation.

Then, depressurize your home in preparation for an incense test. On a cool, windy day turn off your furnace, shut all windows and doors and switch on all exhaust fans (such as those in the bathroom or over the stove). Then, light a stick of incense (be careful to avoid drapes and other flammables!) and walk along the inside of your home, hugging the exterior walls: Wherever smoke is sucked out or blown into the room, there's a draft.

The nature of the draft will dictate the necessary fix. The Department of Energy estimates that inadequate insulation in the floors, walls or ceilings amounts to nearly one-third of air leakage, while ducts, fireplaces and plumbing add up to nearly 45%. Leakage from doors and windows amount to 10% each. The solution, for leaky doors windows and many exterior plumbing fixtures, is often as simple as caulking or weather stripping.

While caulking and weather stripping will tackle many air leaks, tax incentives will pay for 30% of the cost, up to $1,500, for many more expensive fixes like insulation, new doors or new windows. And low-income families should check with state agencies, all which offer weatherization assistance. See The Daily Green's guide to winterization, for more tips and information about government incentives.

Rules of the Weatherization Challenge

This Challenge asks that you sleuth-out and seal air leaks in your living space. By killing the drafts, you'll reduce CO₂ emissions by 35 lbs. per month. If you accept this challenge you will accrue 35 lbs. of CO₂ reduction each month for the five-month heating season. This challenge can be repeated once per year.

Read more: Weatherization Tips - How to Stop Drafts with Weatherstripping, Caulk and Draft Snakes - The Daily Green 

(NaturalNews) One of the biggest complaints among ordinary families trying to eat healthy is that clean, organic food is simply too expensive, and thus out of reach for the average budget. But eating right does not have to break the bank, especially when you know what to look for and how to shop for it. Here are some helpful tips for maximizing your food budget while still being able to afford the best foods for your family:

1) Buy local. Though not always certified organic by the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA), many of the foods sold at your local farmers market are likely grown using organic methods. In fact, many local farmers and backyard gardeners employ growing methods that exceed certified organic standards, and yet are able to sell their goods for less as a result of not having to pay for official USDA organic certification.

2) Take advantage of generic organic. If the grocery store is more your style, be on the lookout for store brand organic products, which are popping up all across the country. Popular grocery chains like Trader Joe's, Costco, Publix, and many others now offer generic organic product lines that are significantly cheaper than the more expensive brands sold at higher-end grocery retailers.

3) Buy in bulk. You can also look for organic items sold in bulk, as purchasing in higher volumes will almost always translate into lower costs. Cereals, noodles, beans, sauces, oils, and various other packaged products will typically last quite a while on the shelf, which makes stocking up on such items, particularly when they are on sale, a great way to maximize your spending power.

4) Grow your own food. If you are not afraid of getting your hands dirty, you may also consider planting a few things of your own. Tomatoes, herbs, and squash, for instance, are relatively easy to cultivate at home. The average suburban backyard is capable of sustaining all of these in small plots, as well as a few fruit trees and other goodies, given the appropriate climate. Try planting just one or two crops and move forward from there - you might be surprised at how much food you can yield at home rather than buy from the store!

6) Become a coupon shopper. Some people still mistakenly believe that coupons are available only for cheap, processed foods on the conventional market. But many popular natural and organic brands also offer coupons, which can often be found in coupon books at the registers of health food stores. Many manufacturers also offer coupons on their company websites, so be sure to keep an eye out for these deals.

7) Join a cooperative. Building upon the idea of buying in bulk, many families trying to eat healthy will join a local cooperative. Also known as a co-op, these organized buying systems combine the purchasing power of multiple families to get the best deals on things like unprocessed dairy, local meats, fresh produce, and other healthy items. You can learn more about food cooperative and how to find one near you by visiting:
http://www.localharvest.org/food-coops/

Organic food more expensive because federal government uses your tax dollars to subsidize GMOs, junk food

And just in case you were wondering why organic food tends to cost more than conventional, consider the following:

"Why is [organic food] so expensive? Because right now, at the federal level, we've got an uneven playing field," explains Robyn O'Brien for Prevention.com. "Farmers that choose to grow food, genetically engineered to be saturated in chemicals, receive financial aid called 'subsidies.' They also get marketing support and crop insurance, while farmers growing things organically don't, making their products more costly to produce."


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040656_organic_food_junk_budgets.html#ixzz2VpxBYt3W

Presented by:  The Yonge Lawrence Village BIA
	Date: June 8, 2013
	Event Time(s):	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
	Rain or Shine!
	Website: www.yongelawrencevillage-bia.com Email: info@yongelawrencevillage-bia.com Phone: 416-657-4313
	Costs:	Free
	COME EARLY, SPEND THE DAY . . . . WE'VE GOT SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE Presented by; The Yonge Lawrence Village BIA and it’s member merchants Highlights include; -A Village-long sidewalk sale with many shopping bargains to be had.  -Quality live entertainment and activities for all ages.  -Four Kids Zone play areas with jumping castles. -Balloons, face painting, stilt walker, magicians. -Snowcones,cotton candy and popcorn (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST) AND YES, " ITS ALL FREE! "
	Location:
	Yonge Lawrence Village
	Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue
	Public Transit:
	Exit Lawrence Station on the North/South Yonge Street Line and walk north on Yonge Street
	TTC Trip Planner http://wx.toronto.ca/festevents.nsf/eea378997ab691ab852572f80049c569/07b02298c3f65c6f85257b6c005dc1ce?OpenDocument

Let's do a bit of physiology - Do you know the essential features of brain training?

Increasingly, scientific evidence tells us that we can dramatically increase the probability of staying mentally and physically fit throughout our lives.
Physical exercise, good nutrition, social connection with others, and mental stimulation all play important parts in insuring that our brains remain sharp and agile.

There are several physiological mechanisms to help keep your brain healthy: 

• 1. Stimulated and therefore active neurons get more oxygen and nutritive elements.
• 2. Neural stimulation multiplies the number of connections between synapses.
• 3. Keeping your neurons active is the key to generating new ones, as well as developing them and helping them survive.
• 4. Even in adult life, neurons can regenerate with stem cells.

In other words, complex mental activity can help protect the brain by building cognitive and brain reserves. These reserves represent the increase in neurons and synaptic connections (as opposed to what was believed so far, new neurons can be generated at any age). Furthermore, this reserve also represents an active process of neural plasticity allowing to optimize a person's performances either by calling upon other brain regions or by adopting new cognitive strategies.

Thus strengthened, we increase our neural network's capacity to face the effects of aging or neurodegenerative diseases.

Over the last 25 years, scientists and physicians affiliated with medical schools and universities all over the world have followed and tested large groups of people to try to understand why some people stay sharp and with-it and other people don't, over the span of their lives. As a result, we now have a significant body of scientific research in an area called "cognitive reserve".

Stimulate your brain to preserve your cognitive skills

The phrase "Use it or lose it" applies to muscles in our bodies as well as to neural pathways and connections in our brains. This proves to be true at any age. Scientists all over the world agree that the evidence is now overwhelming: mentally stimulating lives "boost brain power". However, retirement often also goes along with less brain stimulation. In order to avoid memory disorders and age related brain decline, cognitive functions should be stimulated as a whole. Indeed, maintaining a high quality of life requires a sharp brain.

Several studies support the hypothesis of cognitive reserve and reinforce the importance of good physical health in keeping the brain fit. There are several results citing challenging, interactive games as one effective method to keep the brain challenged and agile.

One such study is the very famous Nun's Study described in Aging with Grace, in which Dr. David Snowdon, a neurologist, and his colleagues followed 700 nuns over more than 20 years. Two extremely important findings have come out of this study:

• 1. There is a link between vascular episodes, such as stroke and heart attack, and Alzheimer's and dementia;
• 2. Stimulating intellectual activity can provide protection from many types of cognitive decline.

Several ongoing studies have come to similar conclusions. E.g. a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, led by Dr. Joe Verghese, a neurologist, has followed almost 500 people for more than 20 years, observing what they actually do in their lives and what the relationship is between these choices and brain health. The research found that people who participated in mentally stimulating activities, such as interactive games and dancing, four times a week had a 65 to 75% better probability of remaining sharp than those who did not participate in these activities.

http://www.happy-neuron.com/brain-and-training/why-train-your-brain

 

Type: Semi-Detached
Style: 2 Storey
Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3
Heating: Forced Air, Gas
Exterior: Brick More gallery pictures at www.asifkhan.ca

Canadian building permits unexpectedly rose in April led by multiple-unit housing in Vancouver, a market that officials have said shows signs of overbuilding fuelled by record consumer debt.

The value of municipal permits rose 10.5% to $6.96 billion, following a revised 6% rise in March, Statistics Canada said Wednesday in Ottawa. The gain was the fourth in a row, the longest streak of increases in a decade. Economists forecast a 3% decline in April, according to the median of 11 responses to a Bloomberg survey.

Emanuella Enenajor, an economist at CIBC World Markets, noted that Statistics Canada revised the initial March numbers downward Wednesday, but said the second quarter appears to be shaping up to be stronger than the first quarter.

“Note that this series tends to be choppy, although today’s data release suggests that despite softening condo-building activity, construction there could be set for one last hurrah,” Enenajor said in a research note.

“Overall, today’s number suggests that despite a slowing trend in homebuilding, condominium construction still has some steam left. That could support Q2 residential activity somewhat, after the sector’s drag to Q1 GDP.”

Surging home construction has helped drive household debts to a record 165% of disposable income, a ratio the central bank says should stabilize as housing investment wanes. Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Timothy Lane said June 4 in Seoul there are signs of a “constructive evolution” in household finances after “imbalances” built up.

Residential permits rose 21% to $4.35 billion in April, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. Permits for housing projects such as apartments and condominiums jumped 51.9% to $2.15 billion, and single-family permits rose 1.1% to $2.21 billion.

Vancouver made one of the largest contributions to the national increase among 34 cities, Statistics Canada said, with permits rising 50.7% to $645 million led by multi-family dwellings. Calgary permits also rose 40.6% to $773 million on commercial buildings.

Condo Overbuilding

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tightened mortgage rules for a fourth time last year on concern that there has been an overbuilding of condos in cities such as Toronto and Vancouver.

Permits for non-residential construction fell 3.6% to $2.60 billion in April from March, as declines for industrial and institutional projects exceeded a gain in the commercial group.

The value of permits was 5.4% higher in April than the same month a year earlier, with multiple-unit housing 40.4% higher on the year.

Demand for homes has been supported by some of the lowest mortgage rates in decades, with the Bank of Canada reporting the average for a five-year fixed rate loan was 5.14% last week. The central bank has kept its overnight interest rate at 1% since September 2010 to encourage borrowing and spending, and has said business investment and exports will help lead the economic expansion.
With file from Canadian Press

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/06/05/surprise-spike-in-building-permits-signals-condo-building-set-for-one-last-hurrah/?__lsa=2a8e-a67b

What's Worth The Money:

 

1. Revamp exterior components — including the front door, windows, roof and siding — or replace an old brick facade on the front of your home.
2. Upgrade the electrical system to a minimum of 100 amps if you’re in an older home.
3. Add moulding to ceilings and floors in living- and dining-room areas.

What You Can Do Yourself:

 

1. Do low-skills jobs yourself. For instance, clean up the site after contractors leave each night.
2. Purchase building materials (e.g. tiles, paint, plumbing parts) yourself, rather than pay someone to pick them up.
3. Pay by the project, not the hour. Some professionals will stretch a job out just to pump you for money.

 

What To Watch Out For:

 

1. Overcharging for faucets and other kitchen hardware purchased at a discount and then marking them up — by up to 200 per cent — is a common contractor scam. 
2. Contractors may recommend replacing air-conditioning systems, heating units and water tanks when all that’s needed is a new filter or for a line to be unclogged. 
3. Be aware that contractors may do the minimal prep work before painting a house. Make sure upper areas have been properly scraped, sanded, patched and primed.

http://www.readersdigest.ca/home-garden/money/how-save-money-home-renovations?id=2

We already know the Mediterranean diet does amazing things for the heart. Now, research confirms that a menu full of fish, fruits, veggies, nuts, and olive oil and low on processed foods, red meat, and dairy also keeps the brain firing full-tilt – as long as you really stick to it.

In a new study of 17,500 people – the largest trial ever to evaluate how food impacts brainpower – the more closely participants followed the Mediterranean diet, the better their memory and thinking abilities. Those who adhered to this style of eating had a 19 percent less chance of developing cognitive problems than those who maybe ate the occasional apple or salmon fillet, but mostly chowed on less-healthy grub.

"The Mediterranean diet offers many nutrients that are crucial to brain health," says Dr. Dennis Goodman, director of integrative medicine at New York Medical Associates, which was not involved in this study. "Most important are the high-quality, healthy fats found in nuts, seeds, olive oil, fatty fish such as wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef, and pastured poultry and eggs. This diet has the correct ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which is vital for optimal brain function. It's also full of antioxidants, which reduce inflammation and thereby improve brain function."

Remarkably, these results were consistent across all study participants, regardless of age, race, demographics, and other health issues – except for one caveat: People with diabetes didn't glean the same brain benefits from the Mediterranean diet. The researchers aren't exactly sure why, but they have a few theories. For one, according to lead study author Dr. Georgios Tsivgoulis, issues that usually go along with diabetes, such as hypertension and other vascular complications, may block the diet's potential brain benefits. "These factors have been documented as the strongest predictors of dementia among diabetics, and they may have overshadowed the association of adherence to the diet and cognitive impairment in our study," Tsivgoulis says.

Besides all the brain and heart perks, the Mediterranean diet is packed with foods that actually taste great, fill you up, and don't deprive you of certain nutrients. That's a far cry from past "healthy" diets – Atkins, anyone? – that were too limiting and therefore tough to stick to. But since many components of the Mediterranean meal plan are higher in calories and even fat (although it's good fat), Goodman says to make sure you're not exceeding your recommended daily caloric intake, which is about 2,500 calories per day depending on your height and weight.

Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/nutrition/food-for-the-brain-20130525#ixzz2UoDNjrHW 
Follow us: @mensjournal on Twitter | MensJournal on Facebook

Preparing your house for sale is never an easy task, because when you become so used to classing a property as a home, you're unable to view it as an asset. In reality, your house is likely to be the most valuable possession you own. A commodity you want to sell to the highest bidder, if you will. Bearing this in mind, it's imperative that you do everything in your power to ensure that its worth is maximised.