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

Today, Tony Pratte, our regular co-host from The Sound Room, joins us once again on the show. In the Everyday Green Home Podcast, we talk about green homes, green living, and green communities. And we discuss how to make all of it work for you in your life, and why it all matters. We offer solutions, and we love to talk about the kind of choices that all of us can make, to make our homes, and ultimately the whole world, a better place. The Living Standard The Living Standard, which was recently released by the US Green Building Council, is all about people. It’s about a dialogue about green living and sustainability, and it is here to help people understand.  In today’s episode, we discuss how the Living Standard helps people to help themselves, each other, and the environment. And we talk about what we can do, as individuals, to make a difference. The Living Standard is a toolkit  The Living Standard is a toolkit that has been designed to help us have a better conversation about what we can do to live a gree

For the whole of July, we’re on a trend. So everything that we will be talking about on the podcast this month will be based on the theme of independence through personal choices.  Today, we’re talking about buying local, and we’re very excited to have Chelsey Simpson joining us as our guest on the show. Chelsey will be talking to us about the stores she co-owns, about what goes into sourcing the very best local produce, and about her motivation for doing what she does. Urban Agrarian Chelsey is a local business owner in the Oklahoma City area. She is the co-owner of Urban Agrarian, a fabulous, non-traditional grocery store that stocks primarily locally sourced items and products.  Locally sourced products For most of the Urban Agrarian’s twelve-year history, just about a hundred percent of everything sold in its stores has been sourced locally, in Oklahoma. Due to the pandemic, however, Chelsey and her partner have more recently expanded its line to include some nationally sourced products. The Urban Agraria

Today, we’re very happy to be having a conversation with Suzanne Shelton, from the Shelton Group.  The Shelton Group is the country’s leading marketing communications firm, exclusively focused in the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) space, and it exists to help companies gain a market advantage, as a result of what they are doing to create a world that is both sustainable, and socially just.  The Shelton Group achieves its aim through creating on-going insights gatherings to discuss the thinking and the expectations of the market, and the way people’s thoughts and expectations translate into the brands they prefer, and the products that they buy. Once have these insights have obtained, they are applied in the form of marketing communication strategies and communication platforms, which the company then amplifies out, over time, on behalf of their clients. Suzanne founded the company twenty-nine years ago, and they have been focused on the ESG space for the last fifteen years.  The bias of the Shelt

Today, we’re happy to have Christy Howell, from CRH Design + Build, joining us. Christy was on the show previously, about a year-and-a-half ago, when her business was going through a transition phase.   She is currently building a pilot home using the incredible ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) technology blocks, which she describes as being like large Lego blocks for adults. Building a home with this innovative new green technology has many benefits. In today’s episode, Christy will talk to us about the myriad advantages of building a house in this way. What CRH Design + Build does Christy has a bachelor’s degree in fine art, so CRH Design + Build does a large number of interior design projects.  Since 2004, she has been doing a significant amount of interior design assistance with new construction projects, remodels, staging, and other kinds of work that falls under a similar umbrella. Although most of the work she is doing is residential, there are also some commercial projects that she does.  Between 2018 an

We’re happy to have our regular guest, Tina Gleisner, from Home Tips for Women, joining us on the show today!  Tina is an expert in home maintenance, and how to get things done around the house, whether it’s DIY or calling in professional help.  In today’s episode of the Everyday Green Home Podcast, we will be talking about budgeting and planning for the bigger expenses for the maintenance, improvements, and replacements that are needed in the home.   Home maintenance with sustainability for green homes Our homes are living and breathing things. And, even if we use only materials that will help us to live sustainably, our homes will still need some tender loving care to last for as long as possible.  Replacing the expensive things in the home From time to time, we have to replace something in our home, like the roof, an air conditioner, or an entire HVAC system, that involves a major expense. The smaller things, like the air filters, are easily manageable but replacing a whole air conditioning system will cos

Over the last couple of months, due to the global pandemic, the entire structure is being re-analyzed, and people are starting to make changes based on what they’re finding. Today, Tony Pratte, our regular co-host, joins us to talk about what we can do, incrementally, to green up our homes. This is an exciting topic because now that we are all spending more time at home, we’re beginning to notice the things in and around our homes that we would like to change, repair, or upgrade.  Incremental green The concept of incremental green is that as you’re caring for, maintaining, and upgrading your home, you’re thinking about the next step you need to take to uplevel whatever you’re doing and make your home greener. In doing that, you will be providing an enhanced experience for everyone living in the home, by making it healthier, safer, or more comfortable.  So, for example, if it’s time to paint your house, instead of going straight for the paint you’d usually buy, first check to see that it’s a no-VOC (Volatile O

We have Dave Miller, from Delta Electronics, joining us today to talk about bathroom ventilation and bath fans.  Ventilation is very important, yet it’s something that’s often overlooked.  About Delta Delta Electronics came out of Taiwan and they have been going for almost fifty years. They are a very diverse firm, with a core philosophy of energy efficiency, good stewardship of the environment, and a green approach.  Diversity within Delta Electronics What Dave enjoys about Delta is their diversity. And he loves what they’re able to bring to the party, intellectually, through Delta’s many different divisions.  Delta is the world’s largest brushless DC motor manufacturer. They are the largest manufacturer of power supplies on the planet, and they do EV charging stations for hybrid vehicles and plug-in cars. They also get into projectors as well as several other diverse and complementary categories, including bath fans.  Dave explains that at Delta, they are truly communal in the way that they approach solutio

We’re very excited to have Sharon Rowe, the creator, and founder of ECOBAGS™, and the author of The Magic of Tiny Business: You Don’t Have to Go Big to Make a Great Living, back on the show with us today!   For a long time, environmental movements have been telling everyone to work together. That has become more important at this time than ever before. Now is the time that we need to stand up to the things that aren’t true, that are harmful, and that do not benefit people. Sharon feels that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there needs to be more focus on infrastructure and job creation, and people need to move away from selfish behavior, towards selflessness. Cooking at home In Sharon’s family, they’re home-cooks. They have been practicing cooking for years, and they all love to do it! They are aware, however, that some people don’t have the income to buy any food right now, and that’s quite frightening. Food distribution There’s a lot of focus on new models for food distribution now, on a much smaller scale tha

JW Peters, the President of Solar Power of Oklahoma, joins us today to talk about solar power for homes. JW wants his company to have a strong voice within the community and within the state, to make sure that he is doing everything he can to promote solar. JW and Marla both serve on the Board for the Oklahoma Renewable Energy Council.  Currently, the US gets a lot of energy from burning fossil fuels. There is a finite amount of fossil fuel on earth so it will run out at some point. Solar, however, is a sustainable industry. How JW got into solar JW got into solar by accident.  His business partner, Kevin, was approached by an out-of-state company that was selling solar in Oklahoma. They were looking for someone to do their installations, so Kevin reached out to JW and asked if he was willing to team up with him to do that.  JW agreed, so they both took classes to learn about solar. They very quickly realized, however, that their jobs were not going to last much longer. By the time they figured that out, howe

Tony Pratte, our once-a-month guest co-host from The Sound Room, joins us today to talk about no-touch smart homes.  Tony has an extensive background in smart homes and automation. With the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s very helpful to have automated, no-touch systems in place in your home.  A wireless world Currently, we are going further and further along the route of wireless internet inside the house. A couple of years ago, Tony saw some interesting statistics that showed that 65% of people under a certain age will never plug into a hard-line internet connection. Tony explains that no matter what you do in the smart home world, everything starts with making sure that you have good wireless internet coverage in the house. For the do-it-yourselfer, the products that you will need are available online.  What you will need With everybody at home right now, there could be four or five people, with each of them using multiple devices, all needing to be on the internet at the same time. So you need to ensure that t

We are very excited to have Tony Pratte, our regularly-scheduled guest host, joining us again for today’s podcast. In this episode, Tony will be talking to us about landscaping for energy efficiency. Tony likes to keep his mind active, so he is currently one class away from finishing up a project management program at St. Louis University.  And his business is still moving, even with the current situation with economies shutting down because of new construction in St. Louis being construed as an essential business.  Protecting yourself, and others coming into your home To protect yourself, and anyone else who might need to come into your home during this unprecedented time, like a plumber or an electrician, you need to follow some strict hygiene procedures.  In Tony’s company, and with most other service providers, if an employee is sick, they have to stay home. Also, if someone at an employee’s household is sick, and that employee shows up at a construction site, the employee will not be allowed to enter the

It’s time to get growing! Jackie Marie Beyer, of the Green Organic Garden Podcast, joins us once again for today’s show. Jackie has been podcasting for a little over five years now and she runs a one-woman-show. At the time of this recording, she had single-handedly produced 311 episodes of her podcast, while also working full-time as a teacher.  Jackie had what she describes as a “brown thumb” when she started her podcast. She’s managed to turn that around over the last five years, however, and now she feels confident that she can grow a fair amount of food.  Today, Jackie will share some simple steps that you can take to create a supply of fresh, healthy, organic garden herbs and vegetables. She will explain which vegetables are easy to grow, and she will suggest some of the things you might want to put in your yard or landscape if you’re new to gardening. Jackie’s book Jackie and her husband, Mike, wrote a book called The Organic Oasis Guidebook, which explains how spending much of your time living outdoor

Today, Tony Pratte, our regular monthly co-host from The Soundroom, joins us on the podcast.  Because the world has been turned upside down right now, and things are a little crazy for everyone, we’re going to be doing things a bit differently. For today’s podcast, Marla and Tony will be reversing roles, so Tony will be driving the show, and Marla will be the co-host.  Things are changing– some things a lot and others not so much Tony’s regular daily routine, from 7 am to about 5 pm, has not changed all that much. He is in residential construction,  a service which is deemed essential. So he is still going to job sites daily, even though the way that he shows up on site is a little different for now. For example, he is only dealing with one trade at a time, at the moment, although the foremen for the different trades all have to be present on-site, to co-ordinate everything that needs to be done.  And Tony is now doing virtual electrical inspections, rather than physical ones. So, for the time being, the elec

There's so much happening in the world right now, as we find ourselves in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic. This led Marla to reach out to today's guest, Jackie Marie Beyer, of the Green Organic Garden Podcast, because there is always something we can do, and Jackie has some really helpful information to share with all of us today.  Jackie is Marla's resident expert about all things gardening. She lives in Northwest Montana, and she works as an elementary school teacher. Today she will be talking to us about some things that we can do for Mother Nature, and to help people learn.  Starting with the Green Organic Garden Podcast Jackie started her podcast back in 2015, intending for her husband, who is their head gardener at home, to teach people how to garden. Apart from growing a few geraniums, Jackie used to know almost nothing about gardening at the time.  Now, she has reached her 311th interview on the Green Organic Garden Podcast. In the five years that the podcast has been running, Jackie ha

Tina Gleisner, our regular guest from Home Tips For Women, joins us again today to talk about home maintenance. For the last seventeen years, Tina has been working in a variety of different ways within the arena of home maintenance, so she has become a treasure trove of knowledge.  Women are taking responsibility for maintaining their homes In years gone by, many women used to think that home maintenance was a man's responsibility. Fortunately, it's no longer like that today. Tina knows a lot about homes, how to maintain them, and how to take care of them. And she also knows how to relate all of this to women because she's aware of what they are capable of doing, and she understands the way that women get things done around the home.  Understanding how to maintain your home doesn't mean you have to do all the work yourself When Tina started her handyman business, she found that there were lots of women who were too afraid to pick up the phone and call a contractor, even though they were having a serious probl

Our guest for today is Jessica Jacobs Thompson, and today's podcast is about the product that Jessica and her sister, Jana, produce and sell, called First Saturday Lime.  About First Saturday Lime First Saturday Lime is a healthy alternative to pesticides. It is a once-a-month application, just like most other pest controls. It took years of research and testing to develop this product, which is 100% non-toxic and non-flammable, and it contains no health hazards at all. Jessica and Jana suggest that it should be applied on the first Saturday of each month and on that day, they go onto social media platforms and do all kinds of fun promotions.  How it all started Jessica and her sisters grew up on a farm. Their mother was a professor and their father had a lime company, for farmers in the state of Oklahoma. After graduating, Jessica spent some time in the medical field. One day, soon after Jana had taken over their father's lime company, she and Jessica spoke about finding the formula for a safe alternative to

We have Gay Harris as our guest for today's podcast. Gay and her husband, Mickey, are the founders and owners of a company called Superior Air Quality, and they are the suppliers of Green Screen HVAC Filters.   How it all started Mickey and Gay have been working together for years. A while back, when they were both working for a company that was doing some insulation work in Austin to create better airflow in attics, the original owner of Green Screen came and spoke to them about adding the Green Screen as one of the products on their tool belt. They decided to accept the offer, and from then on, the Green Screen business just grew and grew. Gay and Mickey became the sales managers for the business, and they ended up working for the company for nine years. Then, about three-and-a-half-years ago, the original owners asked Gay and Mickey to take over their business because they wanted to retire. Gay and Mickey have been committed to the Green Screen for more than twelve years now. What the Green Screen is, and

We are very happy to have Lindsey McCoy, of Plaine Products, with us today. Lindsey's story is not like that of most entrepreneurs. Her background is in non-profit management.   Plastic everywhere Lindsey met and married her husband in the Bahamas, and when she moved there, she did environmental education work. She kept bumping into single-use plastics everywhere in the Bahamas because they don't have the same sort of infrastructure there as there is in the United States, which makes the trash 'disappear', so you see a lot of litter lying around all over, and also in the water. Lindsey started doing things to minimize plastic in her life. The one place she couldn't find a solution for was the shower. And all the little plastic bottles that go in there were making her crazy.  Moving back to the States and launching Plaine Products Lindsey and her husband moved back to the United States. Lindsey then contacted her sister and asked her to help her do something about the hundreds of millions of plastic shampoo bo

Tina Gleisner is back with us today for her second interview in our series on home maintenance. In her first interview, Tina spoke to us about home maintenance in general. In today's podcast, she shares more of her deep knowledge about home maintenance, and she continues to empower women, in particular, to take good care of their homes. The most important point The most important point to remember about taking care of your home is that you are the chief home organizer. This means that you don't have to do everything yourself. Your number one priority is to see that all the important things get done.  Critical jobs Certain very critical jobs need to be done in a home, that we just don't have the tools or the experience to do. So we shouldn't even attempt to do these things. Spring maintenance The focus of today's podcast is on spring maintenance because spring is a great time to do several things on the outside of your home. Many of these things will require the assistance of an expert.  Organizing your checkl

Shabby Chick and Everyday Green Home are partners Everyday Green Home and Shabby Chick Cleaners have partnered up, and today, we have Shabby Chick, Amber Malcom, with us to spend a few minutes talking about some of the seventeen Shabby Chick products that are featured on Everyday Green Home. These cleaning products have all been designed to make cleaning your home green and simple.   About Amber Amber Malcom is a natural lifestyle products enthusiast and entrepreneur. When she and her husband moved to a farmhouse, in 2014, to raise their three kids, they had a very hard time cleaning the house up properly on a tight budget.    Looking for a natural alternative After a fruitless struggle with trying to find commercial cleaning products that worked effectively without being hazardous to their health, Amber started looking for natural alternatives. She spent countless hours researching, trying out different combinations of ingredients, and product testing. Finally, her hard work paid off.   A whole range of prod