Eco-Remodelers

I’ve been shopping for a lot of eco-friendly products to check availability and pricing. I’ve noticed that it’s not very easy to find a green alternative to regular products. When I ask salespeople about it, I’ve been getting a lot of the same reactions…  that look (or even the comment) that says, “Oh, you’re one of those hippie liberals.” As noted, it happened when I was carpet shopping and it happened again at Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, and a few others this past week.

The thing I’m not sure how it ever happened, but wanting to protect your family and wanting to save money became a political issue.

When we lived in our house back in Los Angeles, it was a sixty year old home that had been built very well. Plaster on the walls, a good sturdy foundation, and great wood floors. Sure it had drafty single-pane windows and very little insulation, but it was made by people who cared.

In the past twenty or thirty years, homes were made on the cheap. Cheap counters, cheap cabinets, construction grade products throughout. And whatever was the code at the time, the houses usually just met those minimum requirements (which are never enough.) People stopped caring and started worrying about their quarterly profits.

Now that I want to conserve (energy, money, time) that makes me a liberal. A conservative liberal? Hmm. I wish we could get people away from the belief that only a hippy wants a greener home. That only a hippy wants to save money on electricity. Or prevent toxic gases from poisoning their children from cabinets, paint, adhesives, etc. that are all through homes today.

Perhaps there’s another word we can use in place of “green”? Like smart. I want to remodel my home to make it a smart home. Or safe. Or thrifty. But I think we’re stuck with green and we’re going to have a lot of ignorant, close-minded people who will refuse to help themselves and their families because it doesn’t seem to align with their political beliefs…

It’s a real shame.

Well, we’re almost ready to start work on our new smart/green/thrifty/safe home. We close today. Soon, I’ll be able to post on how to do a lot of these green projects in your own home.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Green building. Sustainability. Water conservation. Solar energy.

Those words have been floating around for many years now. And they’re starting to make it into everyday conversations. People have decided to help protect the planet, help protect their families and homes, and to save money.

I’ve decided to do my part as well. My plan is to buy a home, here in Columbus Ohio, and turn it into a “green” home. This blog, EcoRemodelers, will cover the journey to make the house a safe home for family and to reduce my carbon footprint on our environment.

My goal is create a How-To guide as I learn how to do all these green renovations myself. I want to cover all aspects of the home - energy efficiency, indoor air quality, recycling, alternative power sources, and green home products to name a few. And I want to try out a few remodeling projects that are expensive as well as many that are absolutely free.

Whether you’re a professional renovation contractor or you’ve never picked up a hammer in your life, my hope is that you’ll get something out of my trials and (many) errors. Maybe you’ll try a few things in your own home. Maybe together we can make a difference and help our planet and our wallets at the same time!

Stick around. Come back often. Laugh at me. Laugh with me. Watch as I slide on these green-colored glasses and do my little part in my little corner of our big blue planet.

Email me at tim (at) ladaddy (dot) com if you have questions, comments, ideas or whatever.

Photo courtesy the Sierra Club