Green Gab Podcast – Green Homes, Green Living And Green Companies

Today, we’re gabbing with Tony Pratte, the director of builder relations at the Sound Room. We’re talking about how a connected home is a great way to control your energy use, be environmentally aware, and increase safety for homeowners. These devices also make great gift options for others or yourself. What Is a Connected Home? A connected home includes all of the different devices used in a home, all of which are connected via a hub or Wi-Fi. That may include a security system, door locks, thermostat, lighting, shades, and irrigation, just to name a few things. All of these components communicate with each other through their connection to a central control system, a processor. A connected home differs slightly from a smart home. A smart home is technology enabled through a variety of apps. This is the first step, and a connected home is the next step. With a connected home, there’s one app that controls all of the home’s devices. Plus, they can all be voice enabled through systems such as Amazon Echo, Go

Today, we’re gabbing with Elizabeth Allen, a safe beauty advocate and toxin-free educator. She is passionate about educating women about safer alternatives for healthier personal care products. The products we choose to use not only affect us. They affect the people around us, our community, and the world. During the holiday season, many of us give and get lotions and potions, so this is a perfect time to look instead to healthier personal care products. Why Healthier Personal Care Products Matter It’s important to remember that our skin is our biggest organ, and what we put on it is absorbed. Studies show that 60% up to 100% of what we put on our skin goes right into the bloodstream, with no filters. What you use in your daily routines matters to your overall health. Europe has banned more than 1,300 harmful chemicals from everyday products. The United States Food and Drug Administration, on the other hand, has only banned 11. That means we need to be very diligent in what we purchase and use in and on our

Today, we are gabbing with Kathy Curran, who works with us, and we are talking about the joy of greener gift giving during this season of giving. Kathy was inspired by her adult daughter, who is focused on being green at home since starting her own family. At the holidays last year, her daughter asked for “no stuff,” but you have to open presents at the holidays, right? So Kathy started considering how to change the way they do the holidays and created an opportunity for greener gift giving. Greener Gift Giving = Rethinking When considering how to reduce your impact when it comes to gifts, it really comes down to shifting your thinking. Many people are past the idea that stuff matters; instead, they want experiences. Some ideas of experiences include: Annual membership to the national parks or area museums. Season tickets to the local theatre. Gift certificate to AirBnB. Keep Local If stuff is important to the people on your list, you can keep it local. When you shop locally, more money is kept local. On av

Today, we are gabbing with Tyson Taussig with Lighting Inc. about LED lighting. LED stands for light-emitting diodes, and these LEDs were originally used for computers, cars, and other electronic components. It’s only been recently that LEDs have become commonly used for home and office lighting. And the benefits of switching to LED lighting are worth taking a look. The Benefits of LED Lighting Tyson explored a number of benefits of transitioning your home or business from incandescent to LEDs. Here are the highlights: 1. LEDs Are Available in a Wide Selection Just a decade ago, you’d be hard pressed to find the kind of LED bulb you needed. Plus, they were expensive. Today, LEDs are available in even specialty bulbs, and they are priced as low as $5 per bulb. 2. They’re Energy Efficient Because LEDs are so much smaller in comparison with other light sources, they put off much less heat. Since they are more energy efficient, LED bulbs don’t need to be changed as frequently. They can last 5–10 years, meaning no

Do you know what you’re bringing into your home and how those chemicals are affecting your health, cognitive ability, and endocrine system? Most of us don’t even think about it. But many of the products you use at home are doing your family a disservice. Recently, there’s been a movement toward plant-based science and the medicinal nature of our foods and herbs, and it all ties into essential oils. Since the beginning of time, we’ve lived off the land. And essential oils are of the land. Whether we ingest them, use them topically, or diffuse them, we’re not putting anything foreign into our bodies. The body welcomes essential oils, which do an incredible job of boosting the immune system and helping to fight off free radicals. Truly, they are an incredible wellness tool. What makes essential oils better than just using the native herb or plant? As Rhonda points out, herb must be dead and dried to be of use. Alternatively, essential oils are extracted from the plants in a steam distillation, while the plant is

Gabbing with Angela Moore, the facilities and sustainability coordinator for the Missouri Historical Society. She works to create more sustainable programs and facilitate more sustainable initiatives for the Historical Society. As Angela pointed out, it’s important to preserve history and culture, and to do that you have to preserve the earth so it’s here for many generations to come. One of the Historical Society’s goals is to make history accessible to all. Pair that with their core value of being good stewards and advocates for sustainability, and it just makes sense to look to the past and the future. The Society’s focus permeates all of the areas under their umbrella, including the Missouri History Museum, Soldiers Memorial Military Museum, and Library & Research Center. In fact, the new Soldiers Memorial Military Museum is expecting a LEED certification, so the Society is really putting into practice their goals and values. Sustainability at Missouri Historical Society During her time with the Soc

“The whole idea of green can be done one choice at a time” which is basically what Marla’s book Living Green Effortlessly: Simple Choices for a Better Home, is about. Marla and Tony agree that it’s not just about radical “tree-hugger” kind of stuff but everyday simple choices. Tony wants folks to know that making simple changes can greatly affect the environment and the quality of life for decades to come. “Green,” or “going green” is a catch-all term that has come to mean being more mindful and conscientious about things you can do to make better homes, better buildings, better lives and a better future. For some “going green” can be overwhelming as they are not sure what to do or where to start. Marla encourages people to use more of a “green as you go” approach, an incremental green course of action rather than trying to paint your whole life green all at once. Tony sees it as a step by step lifestyle change, somewhat like a “paint by number” project where one decision builds on another with lots of shades

Theresa Garza joins us to gab about the HERO program, a way to help home and property owners make energy efficient home improvements and help finance them in a new way.  The HERO program is launching in Missouri in 2017 and utilizes PACE financing. PACE, or Property Assessed Clean Energy is a way to finance energy efficiency upgrades or renewable energy installations.  The HERO program helps homeowners and property owners get approved for PACE financing and connects them with qualified HERO contractors to perform the work.  The HERO Program can be used for heating and cooling systems, roofing, energy-efficient doors and windows, and solar.   Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of Th

Millennials are paying close attention to the stories behind the brands, companies, manufacturers and builders they patronize. Before purchasing, consumers today are more apt to research a company’s values and how those values affect the way they conduct business. Millennials tend to choose products, brands and businesses that are involved in the betterment of struggling communities, global social justice issues and the environmental impact of production. Marla recalls an article titled, “Millennial Women have Strong Purchasing Power. What Influences It?” that talks about the collective purchasing power of millennial women that is reaching a staggering 170 billion in size. The article states the brand story behind a product is extremely important as 41% of those surveyed claimed to know who founded the company and 47% claimed to know the story of origin behind their favorite brand. More importantly, 45% say a primary influencer for them is the brand’s sustainability practices. Today’s young purchasers know ho

The stuff our homes are made of has changed as the world has become a smaller place.  While houses used to be built from whatever was available, usually locally, materials now may come from anywhere and everywhere.  Using resources – materials and products – wisely is a key practice of green building and includes practices ranging from optimizing use of resources (such as wood for framing) to choosing durable materials that will stand the test of time and offer lower maintenance.  Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company leading the way to inspire you to learn about, fo

Wistar Wood, Chief Sales Officer for WegoWise, explains the meaning behind the name WegoWise, a web-based, company that tracks a property’s utility data, mainly water, electric, gas, and oil. Using an intuitive software platform, the company provides insight into a building’s energy and water efficiency, enabling building owners and property managers to achieve immediate and sustained savings. While the software is used for most any type of property, they mostly target multi-family buildings. The technology is very simple. For example, in a multi-family building, electric meters almost always track usage for individual units. Typically, the software service and/or meter is installed in the landlord or property manager’s unit as they are the ones responsible for paying the bill for their on-site unit as well as the common area’s heating and electricity. WegoWise chooses multi-family residences for many reasons. Mainly when it comes to collecting big data and comparing the performance of one property against an

Building or finding your dream home is a goal for many of us.  For me it is building a renovating the green home of my dreams.  So, it is important to understand not only how to pay for our dream home, yet also how to plan for it.  It is possible for you to have your dream home and make it a green home…with a little planning.  Dreams and goals for your home start with what you want your home to feel like. Home is more than a place, it is also a feeling.  It’s more than just a place to shelter us.  If you look at the money, time and effort we spend on homes, it is obvious they mean something to us. Owning up to the feelings we want in our home is the first step.  Listen in to get your own dream green home going. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony P

Erica Reiner with E. Leigh Designs, specializes in eco-friendly and non-toxic interior designs for every style and budget. Owner and creator of the Los Angeles based, interior design studio, Erica formed her business to help people create ideal residential, retail and commercial spaces. Because of her environmental expertise she made a targeted and purposeful effort to green her design business by researching and specializing in products, materials, furniture and accessories that are better for people’s health and the environment. Erica’s goal is to, “show that conscious consumerism is a beautiful thing.” Erica values the importance of being available and accessible to many kinds of people. She does this by providing on-line design packages which allows her to work with people in commercial, retail and residential projects all over the world. She feels her job as an on-line design professional is to set the client up for success by asking the right questions, doing the research, sourcing and procuring on-lin

Gabbing about financing for green home projects with Trisha McConkey of Associated Bank on the Green Gab. Trisha and Associated Bank’s experience and expertise with mortgages and loans help homeowners to finance their dream home, especially a green home.   All types of home projects may qualify for green consideration – new construction, renovations to a home just being purchased, as well as existing home renovations and refinance.  The way they think about new construction residential loans and renovation loans really helps further the whole idea of green homes and their value and benefits.   Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marl

Because water is a limited resource which we cannot live without, it’s vital we keep learning and remembering to use water wisely. As water is integrated into almost every part of our lives and is used in almost everything we manufacture, water affects us on every level. And because water is so affordable and readily available in this country we must be mindful to use what we need – not what we have One of the first things we can do to use water wisely is to turn it off when we don’t need it. Being mindful of turning off the water when brushing our teeth, shaving, lathering up in the shower and putting shampoo in our hair can literally save thousands of gallons of water. Other good practices include rinsing dishes in one basin of water rather than keeping the faucet running and then using the rinse water to water the houseplants. Running a full load in the dishwasher or waiting to wash a full load of clothes in the washing machine are other simple habits we can all adopt. It’s also important to be aware of

Ron and Cindy with Hoodle, share this online web portal to help homebuyers find their neighborhood for building a new home. With Hoodle, homebuyers can learn about neighborhoods with new home construction, as well as the builders building the homes. Hoodle helps new homebuyers learn about the homes in the neighborhoods, the amenities and the community. Hoodle helps people find their dream home. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company leading the way to inspire you to learn about, focus on and put into place Green Solutions when it comes to your life, home building and m

Erika Boeing, systems engineer, entrepreneur, CEO, and co-founder of Accelerate Wind shares her mission of having “as many wind turbines on as many commercial rooftops as possible that are economically viable through the development of several inventions currently in progress.” Current wind turbines tend to be noisy, unsightly and expensive. Rooftop wind also struggles to repay the initial start-up investment, as rooftop wind speeds are too low to extract substantial power. Erika states Accelerate Wind solves these issues by incorporating the turbines into the architectural design of a new building or a retrofit project by placing them at the edges of the roof where wind is naturally forced to speed up as it travels around the perimeters.  The result is a wind energy solution that operates noiselessly, is less expensive, and is more aesthetically pleasing than many of today’s solutions. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via R

What does green living really entail and how can it help save ourselves? Join the gab about green living and consumer education for homeowners and residents to learn how to live greener. Green living can start with our buying choices and our behaviors, and education helps us know where to start. Through a little know-how, homeowners and residents can learn how to “drive” their homes better and get better living from them. Green living can impact our health, comfort and more and works for all homes -existing, new and remodeled. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company lea

This year’s 5th Annual Metro East Home and Garden Show, led by Lisa Masters, was the biggest and best yet! Hosted by the Knight Stewards organization, a parent group of Metro-East Lutheran High School in Edwardsville, Illinois, the free two-day fundraising event hosted over seventy vendors displaying everything needed to update, renovate or improve the inside and outside of a home. Community services such as confidential on-site shredding, pet adoptions, fire safety demonstrations and fingerprinting for children by the Edwardsville Police Department were also available. Being true to their desire to promote sustainability, the show also provided free electronic recycling and educational speakers such as Farmer Joe who spoke on sustainable backyard gardening. Likewise, Marla’s message encouraged people to “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle,” and reminded folks that only if we can’t reuse or repair do we then recycle. Much applause and thanks to Lisa for her great contribution in spear-heading this amazing sustainabl

As recycling is the 3rd R in “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle,” the next step is what else can we recycle.  How can we turn “trash to treasure” or in keeping with the “R theme… Refuse to Resource?” Recycling is nothing new, Nature has been doing it all along. In William McDonough’s book Cradle to Cradle, in nature there is no such thing as waste.  Every output of one process is an input for another.  This is a good model for manufacturing, as well as our consumption of stuff. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company leading the way to inspire you to learn about, focus on and