Reducing our solid waste is one of the key goals of the Southwest Green Building Center and really the initial passion behind opening the store.  The amount of trash we all generate, mostly in the name of convenience, is staggering.  Reducing that waste stream benefits everybody both financially and environmentally! It’s really back to the basics - Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.

Next time you ‘take the trash out’, take a good look inside.  What materials take up the most space? Is anything reusable or repairable? Can you reduce the amount of disposable products you use? Can you substitute products that aren’t available in packaging made of reusable or recyclable materials? If you are throwing away leftover products, can you give them to someone else or compost it?   Helpful shopping guidelines:

• Do you really need it?
• Buy durable products instead of those that are disposable or cheaply made – watch “The Story of Stuff” for great info.
• Repair/restore used items before replacing them.
• Buy items you can re-use.
• Buy items you can recycle locally through curbside collection or recycling centers.
• Avoid excess packaging and buy products in bulk when sensible.  Think lunchbox items!!

Southwest Green Building Center Everyday Solutions & August 2012 Specials

• Save $50.00 on either a Bio Orb or GardenWise Backyard Composter.  Now just $79.00.
• Make your next mattress an organic Savvy Rest  - they last 2-3 times longer than a conventional mattress.
• Save $1 per box on all sizes of BioBags.
• Avoid Carpet – huge item to landfill every 10 years – yowza!
• Save $5 on a Max-Air Kitchen Composter – to gather your composting for transport to the larger pile.
• Bring your rechargable batteries here for appropriate recycling.
• Composting Thermometers – only $20.00 in August.
• Complimentary “Dispose-A-Paint” packets for safe disposal of paint – while they last.

 

 

Finally – the online store is up and running. 

Working behind the scenes for several months, entering most all our products including pricing, photos and information –  whew! – glad that part is complete.

Now folks living anywhere can purchase and enjoy green building and living items.  Of course, the actual store location continues to operate 6 days a week for those that can stop in.  Our 2000 square foot store and showroom let you see, touch and even smell products first hand.   We stock quite a bit of goods so you can walk out the door with what you need and with no freight charges.

Besides hoping to increase sales a bit and offer our products to the folks that can’t get to the store, the online store format allows everyone to see and compare our pricing.  I’ve always known we offered fair and very competitive pricing, and now anyone can see that at anytime.  We encourage you to compare us with the larger stores, I believe you will find we are priced right and offer the added knowledge and customer service you are looking for!