Upcycle!

Upcycling is taking an old object and turning it into something new and use-ful — like cutting a t-shirt into strips of fabric — and then making a wreath or blanket out of the fabric.  The upcycled item is normally better than the original… thus, the UP in upcycle.

Host a Chalk Painting Party where residents bring old pieces of furniture and paint them “new” with chalk paint. Wood pallets are really great materials for upcycling.  Google “Wood pallet projects” to get literally 2 million ideas.

Western National Installs Ring.com in Apartments

Would this service be of interest to you? Here is the information from Ring.com’s website:

The Ring Video Doorbell lets you answer the door from anywhere using your smartphone. It features an HD camera with night vision, providing a clear view from your front door, day and night.

The Ring Doorbell installs easily in minutes, with no professional help or additional tools required. A built-in rechargeable battery lets you install the doorbell anywhere, or connect it to existing doorbell wiring. Motion-triggered alerts sent via the free Ring™ app (iOS® and Android™) notify you of arriving guests and deliveries.

Cloud Recording ensures you’ll never miss any activity at your home. With Ring, you’re always home.
ring.com/how-it-works

Stories vs. Testimonials? Go To This Site & Let Us Know What you think is more effective.

On Ring.com’s website they have folks submit “stories” rather than testimonials. It is a very effective way they sell their product.

Camden Takes A Stand Against Packages

Camden Property Trust stopped accepting parcels at all of its 169 properties nationwide last summer. Executives said their communities had received almost a million packages in 2014, and the rate was increasing by 50% a year. Camden executives estimated that processing each package (logging it in, finding the resident, delivering it or waiting for resident to pick it up) cost about 10 minutes of lost productivity, which equals about $3.3 million a year!  What’s your thought, especially after you just survived the Holiday Package Crush?

Are You In A Fiberhood?

Google Fiber is a high-speed fiber-optic network that is up to 1,000 megabits per second. Internet speeds on fiber optic cables are up to 100 times greater than the national average.  Folks are using it for TV, Internet and cloud storage. We just read in the Wall Street Journal that some smaller apartment owners are installing this in their communities. Where you can get it: Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Austin, Kansas City, Nashville, Charlotte, Provo, San Antonio and Raleigh-Durham. If this sounds of interest for your community, go to https://fiber.google.com/about/.