Article by Mary Butler
Even though house improvement retail giant Residence Depot is feeling the effects of the down economy, and has decided to close its 34 Expo Style Centers, a new residence improvement retailer is taking root: Green Depot. Green Depot, which has no relation to Residence Depot, recently opened a 3,500-square foot retailer in downtown Manhattan. The eco-based hardware shop, which sells basics such as paint, as effectively as kitchen cabinets, flooring, and insulation, originated with the Brooklyn-based supplier of green developing supplies and way of life merchandise of the same name.
Green Depot is little potatoes in comparison to Home Depot. But its existence — and the existence of such green property improvement retailers cropping up across the country — sends a powerful message: green living is growing much more and far more mainstream everyday.
Green Living in an Eco-Conscious Society
Sure, it is trendy. And yes, folks who can afford to live in Manhattan can also afford to live an eco-conscious lifestyle. But as the expense of energy rises–this winter, heating costs have doubled in some parts of the country–living in a sustainable fashion has never made far more sense. Private finance guru David Bach and his co-author, environmental journalist Hillary Rosner, had been amongst the 1st to make this connection with their very best-seller, Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Easy Methods to Save the Earth and Get Rich Attempting (Broadway, 2008). Now there are numerous titles flooding the market, touting the very same notion that getting green helps preserve greenbacks your pocket.
Green Living and Property ImprovementOf course, there’s usually a caveat. And in the case of home improvement, it’s the fact that you may well have to invest a small far more up front when you get sustainable building supplies. But that pricier buy usually comes with the promise of paying you back in savings and good wellness down the road. If you have shopped for home appliances lately, you can attest to this. Whirlpool and Common Electric, amongst other people have lately introduced costly high-efficiency washers and dryers. But none is priced with no mention of the savings they can bring. Whirlpool’s ,200 best-loading Cabrio HE washer, for instance, is touted to save as a lot as in water and power costs more than its lifetime.
From eco-friendly developing materials to solar energy, Green Depot to high-efficiency washers, it appears a lot more than a small ironic that it took a recession to push green living further into the mainstream.
Mary Butler is a Boulder, Colorado-based writer and editor who spends much of her freetime remodeling an old house. She has written a number of articles on green residence remodeling.
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