BEING GREEN IS GETTING EASIER

By Leslie Pennycock

Kermit the Frog lamented, “It’s not easy being green,” but it’s getting easier all the time. Every day, there are more choices, products, and technologies that make “going green” more practical. Here are some helpers to make 2008 the greenest year yet.

Keep your eye on Wagner Hardware on 6111 Kirby (in Rice Village). This Houston icon has become the home of New Living, which bills itself as a green essentials store. New Living is taking space in front of the store, while the traditional Wagner hardware store will remain in business.

New Living stocks environmentally responsible products such as lighting, paint, flooring and cleaning supplies. New Living’s founder, Jeff Kaplan, said, “We promote a ground-up approach to green living by helping people make adjustments to the way they shop for basic home essentials, items they might not necessarily think about replacing with green alternatives.”

I dropped by yesterday to browse and found familiar brands like Ecover and Dr. Bronner’s, but also saw brands I hadn’t encountered before like Yolo Colorhouse and AFM Safecoat. Yolo Colorhouse offers green seal certified paints and AFM Safecoat has a line of paints, finishes, and carpet cleaners that are free of VOCs and other hazardous materials like formaldehyde and heavy metals.

Since my Christmas money was burning a hole in my pocket, I bought some weird and wacky items such as Maggie’s soap nuts. Used for laundry, soap nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree, which posses a natural cleaner called saponin. Since I’m trying to phase paper towels out of my life, I bought Twist sponge cloths, each of which claims to replace 17 rolls of paper towels. And, the package can be turned into a charming little bird feeder!

Momentum Bay Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on green building and green business, is conducting two “Eco Boot Camps” on Saturday, January 19 at St. Catherine’s Montessori School.

The morning session is for real estate professionals. This course is an intensive and customized overview of today’s most important “green” topics for commercial and residential real estate brokers, developers, contractors, homebuilders, lenders, and appraisers. Attendees will come away understanding sustainability and green building, particularly how to sell ‘Green’. This session is approved for continuing education by the Texas Real Estate Commission.

The afternoon session is about households, and is for anyone who wants to learn how to go green at home profitably and practically. The class will look at all the ways to go green at home, including: health, food, shelter, beauty and fashion, finances, travel, and gadgets and gifts.

Register online or by phone at (877) 326-8392.

The City of Houston is opening a new green building resource center this spring. Architect Steve Stelzer has been hired as its director. It will be housed at 3300 Main. Services will include optional plan review services for energy efficiency and green building opportunities. The center will also provide both hands-on and online information regarding green building materials and practices with a focus on the Houston climate and local providers. Stelzer will develop educational curriculum for a variety of groups to be presented at the center and in the community. The center will also serve as a clearinghouse for related events.

Stelzer was accredited as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Professional in 2001. He serves on the USGBC-Greater Houston Area Chapter Board of Directors, teaches informal classes on the “Low Carbon Diet” program, and serves on the Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction Board in West University place.

And, last, but not least, for lots of energy saving tips, see Houston Power to People.