From the January issue of 002 Magazine
In a world where green is marketing’s new goldmine, it’s important to keep an eye on the ball. Store shelves everywhere are awash with household products that claim to be environmentally friendly, but it takes a keen eye to separate the real deal from the fray.
“Make sure the products you are putting in your home are not ‘green washed’,” says Jeff Kaplan, owner of retail store New Living. “It’s important to ask questions when buying materials to find out how a product is actually made, what’s in it, what kind of labor standards are used and how it is transported. That is what we are trying to do with New Living.”
The store, located in historic Wagner’s Hardware, sells everything you might need for an earth friendly home. New Living’s Green concept is a first on Houston’s home improvement retail scene, usually dominated by big box stores. And the timing could not be more impeccable. “Houston is one of the leading cities today for building green commercial buildings. WE ARE JUST STARTING TO SEE A STRONG INTEREST IN GREEN HOMES AND GREEN HOME REMODELING,” say Kaplan, also a commercial real estate broker. About half of New Living’s business comes from working with architects, designers, builders and painters.
In the past, using earth-friendly products and materials often meant lower performance. But that is changing quickly. “The technology behind green products has gotten so good that there really are not any trade-offs today.”
Using green products makes increasing financial sense, too. Cleaning products often go toe-to-toe when it comes to price. While Tide’s Liquid Detergent sells for .44 cents per load, Ecover’s Ecological Laundry Wash costs about .47 cents per load. “The cost is coming down, and we’re talking about a difference of pennies on the dollar to do the right thing today.”
Making a home more “green” may be a matter of interpretation, but for New Living, it means focusing on creating a healthy, safe clean space. Every choice we make is important. “I think it makes sense to start with the easy, everyday things. Use non-toxic chemicals to clean your house. This is something you are putting in your home on a daily basis and it directly affects the air quality that you and your family breathe.”
While the response from Houstonians has been tremendous, Kaplan points out that what we put in our homes is only half the story. What we put out is just as important. When asked what we should all be doing more of, his answer was unwavering: “Recycling! Its ridiculous that it’s so hard to recycle here. Just imagine what an impact we could make is every multi-family building in town had a recycling program.”
Story by Nadia Michel
