Can Green Home Improvement Stores Offer Everything You Need?
From Margaret on September 21st, 2010 in Green Remodeling
Taking a virtual stroll through the green home store
Regular home improvement can induce a lot of stress, especially when trying to stay environmentally responsible as you shop. Luckily, green home improvement stores—both virtual and real-life—can guide you on your way. The only question is, can these stores provide for your every need?
In short, yes.
Store Visit #1: The Green Depot
With a social boom in green focus over the last decade, it’s no wonder that the retail market has caught on. For years, retailers such as Green Depot have focused on green supplies for DIY home improvement, from compostable dinner plates to organic bonded insulation. (They even opened a flagship store in 2009 in Manhattan, so locals can browse on foot and not just online.)
They have more than I thought possible. From cabinets…
Urban Prarie hardwood cabinetry
To countertops:
To the staples of a DIY toolbox:
And I was pleasantly surprised to see that prices for most items were comparable to the average home improvement store. This DIB Caulking Gun goes for $3.95.
Store Visit #2: Green Home
The Green Home environmental store also offers a vast array of appliances, bedding, housekeeping, and home improvement products, to name a few. With a weekly newsletter, and advice on going green in your home/business/event, this is an all-inclusive source with a local feel.
One of their remodeling products in particular caught my eye: easy-to-lay cork flooring.
Cork, famous for its natural warmth and therapeutic softness underfoot, apparently isn’t that expensive to come by. You can cover 21 square feet with interconnecting cork planks for about $75—no glue or installation required. Green Home offers different shades and textures as well.
They also specialize in non-toxic paints and finishes. A can of Flat-Enamel Safecoat paint goes for $14.00.
The Verdict?
You won’t find all items for dirt cheap, but they are reasonably priced and sustainably produced. These e-companies are filtering into local retail and architecture scenes, making green DIY projects as available to us as any traditional home improvement store.
Green Depot alone has now supplied materials for countless projects—from the first LEED-certified apartment complex in Brooklyn, to New York’s Bank of America Tower (the world’s most environmentally responsible high-rise), to organic nurseries.
As the song goes, baby, they’ve got what you need.
November 21st, 2010 at 3:34 am
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