- Visit the Builders St. Louis Home and Garden Show this weekend for green home design inspiration
Ten years ago, you were green if you recycled your plastics and insulated your attic. Five years ago, we were told to change to CFL light bulbs and buy a hybrid car.
Now, in the spring of 2010, America’s building, landscaping and interior decorating industries have created even deeper shades of green. So, how many shades of green are there? A trip to the Builders St. Louis Home and Garden Show February 25-25, 2010, will provide you with an answer.
Green Construction
Today’s homes can be built or remodeled in several shades of green. Contempri Homes can show you how soy-based foam insulation can make your home more energy-efficient. They’ll also tell you how their building process is better for the environment in general and your neighborhood in particular.
Matt Belcher, of Belcher Homes gives advice and information on building green at the Green Products Pavilion at the Home Show. Matt is one of many green remodeling and green building manufacturers in the Pavilion. It’s a great place to vet all your green home design plans.
GeoComfort heating systems is one of the Pavilion’s sponsors. They will be showing homeowners how geothermal heating will allow you to keep your home comfortable year round while saving up to 60% on heating and cooling costs. (I count that as two shades of green: green heating and green stuff in your pocket.)
Growing Green
Many of us assume that our gardens are already green – or will be in a few months. However, because gardening requires more than plants, green gardening requires more than chlorophyll.
Landesign lived up to the Belgrade Landscaper’s Challenge this year by creating a relaxing outdoor space. This space is made even more impressive through the use of “green” pavers. They cut down on runoff by allowing water to filter through them.
Joe Lamp’l is a nationally-known television personality and a passionately “green” gardener. Joe will offer several seminars daily at the Green Thumb Theater where he will share his expertise concerning garden gadgets, growing vegetables, and avoiding common mistakes in gardening and landscaping.
Green Home Design
What do carpets, counters, and home furnishings have in common? They all come in several shades of sustainable design. You might be shocked at the products and processes which are available to today’s designers to help them design beautiful, comfortable, green homes.
Classic Carpet & Flooring can show you how to recycle your old carpet and pad, saving both resources and space in the landfill. They can also show you the latest trends in new carpets with recycled content and completely recycled carpet padding.
Don Lewis from Hallmark Stone will be at the Cambria Kitchen & Bath stage, presenting seminars about fashionable, durable, environmentally friendly countertops. The information you get from Don and the other experts can be a helpful reference for some of the most popular green kitchen and bath materials on the market today.
If you would like to see extreme recycling in action, be sure to stop by the Harvest Lumber booth and see how to recycle a barn. Amish craftsmen in Kentucky take the wood harvested from these beautiful old buildings and give it new life as flooring, beams, and furniture.
Recycled Building Materials
Finally, before heading home to start re-greening your surroundings, stop by the Habitat ReStore Warehouse Sale. Here you will find new and used home improvement materials for deeply discounted prices. All of the net profits from the ReStore are used to support Habitat for Humanity projects in the Saint Louis area. How many shades of green can you count in that transaction?
Some folks are greener than others, and that’s just a fact of life. If you aspire to a higher level of green living, though, come down to the Builders St. Louis Home and Garden Show this weekend, and find shades of green you didn’t know existed.
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