Relocate Triangle - An Insider's Guide About Moving To The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area

Green Tip of the Week - 10/30/09

Looking for a new car?

If you buy a used vehicle instead of a new one, you will help save energy as well as over 2,150 pounds of steel. 9% of the energy used by a car over its lifetime is consumed in the manufacturing process. If 100 potential new car buyers chose to purchase a used car instead, the amount of steel saved annually could reconstruct the golden gate bridge – twice a year.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen

Art of the Carolinas

If you’ve needed things like gesso, palette knives, and acrylics and you live in the Triangle, chances are you have been to Jerry’s Artaroma off Wake Forest Road. A haven for Raleigh’s painters, Jerry’s Artaroma has an extensive collection of supplies for any need. For those who were thrown off at the word “gesso” and have never picked up a paint brush, don’t be discouraged; Jerry’s has something special planned to give you a leg up before you take the plunge into the paint.

For the ninth year running, Jerry’s has sponsored the Art of The Carolinas trade show and workshops. It is an amazing opportunity for artists of all ages and skill levels to congregate and learn from each other. They offer more than 120 workshops in every medium imaginable, and art professionals from all over the country fly in to teach them. If you want to make your watercolors look like they glow, Art of The Carolinas has you covered. What about painting realistic animals in pastel, or using printed images with acrylics? Check and check. Whatever your interests might be, and whether you are a budding artist or a pro, there is something here for everyone.

The event is taking place at the Hilton in North Raleigh from Friday, Nov. 13 through Sunday, Nov. 15, and a special rate is available for out-of-towners. For those just interested in a little shopping, the trade show resides in the Grand Ballroom. Vendors from your favorite brands set up booths with an over flow of art supplies. You can fire away questions, watch demonstrations, and speak directly with manufacturers all the while hunting for bargain prices.

A rising tradition among AOC goers is to create artist trading cards to swap. The “trading cards” are just miniature paintings on tiny canvases or even paper. So if you want to have any grounds to barter for your favorites, make sure to take some time and create a handful of your own.

Registration for the Art of the Carolinas is $15, which allows you to pick and choose which workshops you would like to take and how many, although the workshops themselves are an added fee. The average price of a workshop is $95 (which usually includes all supplies), but can run upwards of $185. There is also a section devoted to answers to frequently asked questions about registration and times.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your smocks and paint brushes, we cannot wait to see you there!

Green Tip of the Week - 10/23/09

Outdoor Furniture

Look for outdoor patio furniture made from recycled materials instead of from wood or metal. One bench made from recycled materials can prevent the equivalent of 2,000 plastic bottles entering landfills.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen http://tinyurl.com/n54tlp

The Best Scares in the Triangle

As Halloween approaches, children and adults alike brainstorm about costumes, stockpile plenty of candy to avoid having eggs thrown at their house, and carve a jack-o-lantern or two.

But if this Halloween you’re in the mood for more of a scare, try going to Clayton’s Fear Farm. The Triangle’s only Haunted Scream Park offers eight attractions, some family friendly, and some much more spooky. There’s a whole “story” behind the Farm on their Web site that tells the basis of their haunts, with characters like Seymour Phear and Sheriff Al Khillya.

For the full creepy effect, the Fear Farm nighttime haunted houses and attractions include a slaughter house, a haunted hayride, and a walk in the cemetery. Another interesting spook is “Seymour’s House of Dreams”. North Carolina’s only 3-D haunted house is kid-friendly during the day, but when the sun goes down, the house is filled with night terrors instead of innocent dreams. Fear Farms challenges visitors with “Are you brave enough to walk through the dreams of a madman?”

The haunted attractions are not recommended for children under 12, but the Farm provided great alternatives for the whole family. There’s a pumpkin patch to rummage around for your perfect pick, and a corn maze to get turned around in. The maze is the largest known in North Carolina with over 10 acres of twists and turns to get lost. Allow plenty of time to make it through though, because the average peregrination takes about and hour and a half to two hours.

So if being scared silly with friends or taking the family for a gambol through the corn maze sounds like a good time, Fear Farm is easily accessible from Raleigh; just take U.S. 70 towards Clayton, and follow the link for the rest of the directions. Ticket prices and more details about the attractions can be found here.

So this year ditch the trick-or-treating, and take a tour … If you dare!

Green Tip of the Week 10-16-09

Cotton Swabs

Choose double-tipped cotton swabs (aka Q-tips) that are connected with spindles made from tightly rolled paper over those made from plastic. Paper board spindles are potentially biodegradable & use renewable resources; where as plastic spindles are made from petroleum and will not biodegrade. Across 10 % of the US households, the petroleum energy saved per year would be equivalent to over 150,000 gallons of gasoline.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen http://tinyurl.com/n54tlp

Orange You Glad You Chose an Organic Supermarket?

Summer seems like it’s starting to become a distant memory, but you’re still missing those vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes and succulent peaches. Well when you live in the Triangle, that’s not a problem. As the “green” movement has picked up speed, the trend to be environmentally sound has seeped into the grocery market as well. The Triangle offers an abundance of venues to buy organic or locally grown foods, organic supermarkets being the most common and easily accessible of these by far.

Raleigh and Chapel Hill boast two different locations of the most renowned organic chains, Whole Foods, with another on the way. North Raleigh foodies can rejoice in 2010, because instead of having to drive to the Wade Avenue location, they can hop on over to Northern Six Forks at its intersection with Strickland to the brand new Whole Foods. The current Raleigh location frequently offers in-house classes for a small fee, and includes topics ranging from the cheeses of Spain to edible landscape design.

Another chain worth mentioning is Earth Fare, a company which got its start in Asheville as the city's first and only natural foods store in 1975. Located in the Brierdale Shopping Center off the new Interstate 540, Earth Fare not only carries locally grown fruits and veggies, but often has farmers set up produce stands outside their store like a streamlined version of a farmer’s market.

If you’re looking to support a more grass-roots local store rather than a chain though, the Triangle has just what you need. Harmony Farms off Creedmore prides themselves on having the only 100 percent organic produce store in Raleigh, as well as a huge selection of wheat and gluten-free products. Weaver Street Market serving Chapel Hill and Carrboro is another homegrown (no pun intended) grocer. Weaver Street Market strives to bring the community together, and sponsors over 250 free events a year which provides a great outlet to enjoy good food and visit with neighbors.

So the next time you get a craving for something exotic or organic, the Triangle’s got you covered. Whether it’s fresh herbs, chemical and pesticide free fruit, or simply your average chicken without growth hormones, head on over to an organic grocery to find everything you need and more.

Green Tip of the Week - 10/9/09

Scissors

Try to use recycled stainless steel scissors. If they have plastic handles, make sure it’s at least 30% post consumer plastic. Each year, steel recycling saves energy equivalent of electrically powering about 18 million homes for one year.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen http://tinyurl.com/n54tlp

The North Carolina State Fair: A Spectacular Soiree

The 2009 N.C. State Fair is a much anticipated fall festival that many Triangle inhabitants love to attend. The State Fair is held at the N.C. State fairgrounds off Blue Ridge Boulevard in Raleigh from Oct. 15-25. The layout of the fair is simple for the most part; however, in the midst of throngs of people of all ages, shapes and sizes, one can easily become disoriented. To avoid this problem, we would suggest picking a distinctive building or structure to use as a point of direction.

The Fair is separated into Kiddieland Fun Park and Midway Rides and Games. Kiddieland is aptly named for the rides are geared for the younger aged crowds. Midway appeals to the older crowds ranging from older teenagers to adults. Neither park has a minimum or maximum age limit, so if you have a daredevil child, Midway may be for you, and if you do not like the severity of Midway, Kiddland might be your pick.

Other forms of entertainment you can find at the State Fair are The Folk Festival tent, The Grandstand shows, Heritage Circle, Waterfall Stage shows, Dorton Arena shows, and Fireworks. The shows at the Dorton Arena are much grander and feature more popular artists than the Grandstand shows or Waterfall Stage shows, but they also cost you money. The Dorton Arena shows are as follows:

• Thursday, Oct. 15: Jason Michael Carroll - $5
• Friday, Oct. 16: Third Day - $15
• Saturday, Oct. 17: Kellie Pickler - $10
• Sunday, Oct. 18: Nat and Alex Wolff - $10
• Monday, Oct. 19: Jamey Johnson - $5
• Tuesday, Oct. 20: The Temptations featuring Dennis Edwards - $10
• Wednesday, Oct. 21: Julianne Hough - $5
• Thursday, Oct. 22: Anoop Desai, $5
• Friday, Oct. 23: Jeremy Camp/Tenth Avenue North - $10
• Saturday, Oct. 24: Blake Shelton - $10
• Sunday, Oct. 25: Eric Church - $5

The State Fair is also filled with competitions, food, the famous—or infamous—fried foods, and exhibits. Important dates to remember are Senior Citizen’s Day, where fairgoers 65 and over get in free on Tuesday, Oct. 20 and Military Day on Wednesday, Oct. 21, where members or spouses with valid military ID will be admitted free along with four guests.

The fair’s Web site has more information on hours of operation, show details, ticket sales, exhibits, vendors and much more. For fun, it is hard to beat. Have a great time there!

Green Tip of the Week - 10/2/09

Trash Bags

Purchase trash bags made of 100 % post consumer recycled content. Producing trash bags from recycled plastic requires less energy than manufacturing those same bags from virgin plastic. If just 1 in 10 households began purchasing trash bags made from 100% recycled materials, the annual energy savings could meet the heating needs of 4,000 households in North Dakota for an entire year.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen http://tinyurl.com/n54tlp