Earn rewards for donating old furniture to ReStores

If you're planning to make a donation of furniture to a Habitat ReStore in the Charlotte area, take time first to learn about a new donor rewards program.
On the second Saturday of each month, ReStore furniture donors can earn credits, called Positive Impact Points, for making sure their items did not go to a landfill.
The PIP Rewards program is open to ReStore customers through the Edenton-based Sustainable Furnishings Council's new Sustainable Saturdays program.
The council has a goal of diverting 10 tons of furniture from landfills in 2014. Those nearly 10 million tons of furniture are dumped at landfills each year, the council reports, citing EPA data.
Formed in High Point in 2006, the council is an education and marketing organization that promotes “green” practices and products in the furniture industry.
Donors can use PIP rewards points for “positive impact” goods and services.
This might include products that are considered healthy or responsibly produced. The points also can be used to support projects aimed at protecting the environment, fighting poverty or doing good in other areas.
The rewards program is the first of many Sustainable Saturday programs the council expects to launch, says executive director Susan Inglis.
Sign up for PIP rewards at https://pipsrewards.com. Get updates on Twitter using the hashtag #SustainableSaturdays.

Karen’s blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; on Twitter @sullivan_kms

Lock up some funding for Habitat

Buying new locks and door hardware for your home can also support Habitat for Humanity’s international work.
Yale Locks & Hardware is donating 10 percent of sales from online orders to Habitat, which builds and renovates homes for qualifying families based on their income and other requirements.
Shoppers get a 10 percent discount on the New Haven, Conn.-based company’s products when they use the program code (HFH14) through Oct. 21.
The pictures on the program website (www.yale2you.com//Other/HFH.aspx) are a reminder that the ideal of a safe, secure home is a starkly different vision depending on which side of the door locks you find yourself standing.
For some, safe and secure means having your family and your belongings protected by an alarm system, perhaps one controlled from a smartphone or computer. At the other end of the spectrum are people who can hardly imagine ever owning a home that would be considered safe and secure, much less one equipped with automated locks that open and close without keys. Habitat has made ownership possible for more than 4 million people.
Yale has partnered with Habitat for 13 years and provided more than $14 million worth of interior and exterior door locks so far for Habitat in North America. This additional effort will reach further.
“This new campaign will help raise additional funding vital to Habitat’s mission to create safe, affordable housing in partnership with low-income families around the world,” Colleen Finn, an exec for Habitat for Humanity International, said in a statement.

Karen’s blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; on Twitter @sullivan_kms