It’s a Little Easier Being Green
Good To Be Green rolls out New Directory:
Seattle based, Good To Be Green, Inc has released their latest tool for environmentally minded consumers looking for green building products in both the commercial and residential markets. This new feature, called Profiled Listings for Products, includes in-depth information on products, downloadable product documentation and automatically finds local retailers or contractor/installers in the user’s vicinity.
The searchable directory is at http://www.goodtobegreen.com. I played around with it for a little while last night. It’s a pretty nice idea that hopefully will grow more useful over time. In the Find Residential Products section I did find lots of results that were worth looking into. I found the Find Professional Services tool far less useful.
I started by looking for Green landscapers in Pennsylvania and found zero results. I checked NJ since thats right across the river and again came up with none. I widened my search to the entire mid-Atlantic region and finally got a hit for Donna Walcavage Landscape Architecture & Urban Design in Brooklyn, NY – a bit outside of my area.
I guess that shouldn’t be surprising for a new service that originated in the Pacific Northwest. A search for Green landscapers in the Pacific region turned up three hits.
What makes this directory a bit different from other most other online directories is that in order for a company to be listed, they must have a brick and mortar presence where people can purchase their products.
Chidozie Bright, President and CEO of Good To Be Green had this to say:
"This is win-win across the board for consumers, manufacturers, retailers, and contractors. Not only can people figure out what they can use as a building alternative, they can also read documentation and then follow through with buying it themselves at their local store or calling a local installer to do it for them. This takes the common directory to a whole new level by completing the retail circle, a far cry from the ‘here’s a list now you figure it out’ mentality."
Hopefully making information like this availiable to a wider audience will help people make a more informed and more environmentally safe and energy efficient decisions when it comes to home building and remodeling.
Hi Chidozie! Yes what you say about the costs is correct. And JD’s comment also reflects the reality for the average Joe. What I was really thinking of in my comment above was on a smaller scale. For example, the CFLs did not really start to take off until the price started to approximate the price of incandescent bulbs. I bought 6 CFLs yesterday for 99 cents each and they seem to be every bit as good as the more expensive ones I previously purchased. This is the sort of thing that will get more people using them.
The cost issue holds true for other things, for example, organic food. Although some good arguments, (and some bad), can be made for the reasons organic food is sometimes double the price of conventional, many people will resist buying organic on a regular basis until the cost is more competitive.
For now, the more voices there are out in the wilderness extolling the benefits of green organic, ethical, community-based and local choices, the better for all of us!
-Will
Thanks for the comment Chidozie.
The info about tax incentives is great – in theory. Like many tax incentives in the US, making use of the green options can be very difficult for individuals. Businesses with a legal and tax staff can manage the paperwork easily.
Your section on Pennsylvania is nice though. I’ll have to look into the residential options available.
A feature you might want to consider would be a mailing list where people can be notified when new contractors or vendors are added in their region. I know I would sign up.
I’m glad I stumbbled upon your blog and that you found Good To Be Green (http://www.goodtobegreen.com) to be useful. It is true that our professionals/services side of things is a little light; but there is a reason for that.
The main reason is that, unlike most directories including “green” ones, we have a criteria not only the products that we list but for the pros as well. So instead of just listing every pro that aspires to be green or that contact us just get more business because they are listed on a green site. We require that they be accredited (have at least 1 LEED AP on their permanent staff) or be qualified (have completed at least 2 locally or nationally certified green projects) to be listed. In some special cases, if we can verify a long history of expertise, we will list a company without the main criteria..
This process has slowed the growth of the directory a bit but it is good for you, the consumer, because you know that the people listed on our site do have the skills that are required to help you build and design in an environmentally sound way.
As far as the costs that JD and Will discussed, it is true that in many cases “going green” can be more expensive, initially. Our site has a pretty comprehensive listing of financial incentives for every state. So in addition to the eventual costs benefits some people (those that are eligible) can also benefit for a number of tax breaks, rebates and other loan programs either through their PUD, local government or the Federal government.
Please continue to use us as a resource for your needs and check back periodically as we continue to add pros, products and retailers to our site.
Very true. Terry Pratchett goes off on a tangent about that in one of his books. Explaining how the wealthy help themselves stay wealthy by shopping for quality.
In his example, a character pays 50 dollars for a pair of boots that will last him for 5 years while his less wealthy subordinates spend 10 every 6 months on boots.
It’s very systemic in our culture right now. My partner Brian’s parents make much of their own wood furniture and that stuff is well made, beautiful, and will last for generations. In our house, excluding a few antiques we have acquires and items made by his parents, I can’t imagine being all that happy with any of our furniture in 10 years, let alone in 50.
Hi JD – The Good to be Green site is a good idea. I tried a few searches and it gave me results from many different areas of the country, so it is not just the North West like I had originally thought. You are correct about the costs of greener products. Understandably, this is the first criteria for most consumers. Even when long term costs can be shown to be lower, it can still be a hard sell when the upfront costs are so high. It’s the old easier to spend $10.00 every month than it is to spend $100.00 once a year thinking, even though the once a year cost saves you $20.00.
-Will
Yes, it is a good idea, but I think for most people, the products will still be out of their price range.
When it costs twice as much to buy a green hot water heater – even if it will pay back the higher purchase cost in energy savings over time, many people will still go with the standard unit because thats what they can afford at that time.
Until governments, through the use of taxation, make it more expensive to install and use inefficient equipment than it is to install cleaner and greener alternatives, nothing will change on scales that matter.
This is a good idea goodtobegreen came up with. If implemented and patronized in a wider scale…oh what a lovely earth to behold…^^