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

Lately, I’ve been talking about health and wellness and how much it impacts our living environment. That means how we design, build or remodel a house or building, how we live in it, and how we interact with it.  I’m Marla, the Green Home Coach! For the last few months, I have hosted one of my business partners on the podcast. It has been exciting to build a group of people who care about how people live in their homes!  Today, I am happy to have Christy Howell of CRH Design Build back on the show! Christy has been on The Everyday Green Home podcast several times before. I have enjoyed connecting with her and watching how she has progressed with transforming her business and how she shows up in Oklahoma and Oklahoma City as she learns more! Mainstream culture I moved back to Oklahoma City six years ago after living in St. Louis, where I got deeply involved with the sustainability culture. In St. Louis, the green culture eventually became part of the mainstream culture through work with the regional Chamber of

  Global challenges are abounding, and working in the world of sustainability, health, and wellness has brought many wicked problems to light.  We can describe some of the most challenging social issues we face today as wicked problems. With those problems, we have to re-frame our notion of success. Although they will never get entirely solved, success with wicked problems is about impacting or improving outcomes and mitigating risks.  I am Marla, the Green Home Coach! I am excited to be back in the studio today with my co-host, Tony Pratte, who is joining me to talk about the wicked problem of changing weather.  Stay tuned for more! Crazy weather There has been some crazy weather in St. Louis for the last couple of months! It has been raining a lot, and the driving downpours have caused many problems for land developers.  Lots of rain  Over the last decade or so, we have seen an increase in rainfall in the Oklahoma area. There has been unusual rainfall between March and November- and sometimes even December!

We’re hearing a lot about health and wellness right now!  Since the start of the pandemic, conversations about how we feel, sickness, wellness, and even cancer have blown up everywhere! We are starting to realize that our health and wellness, how we feel, our mental well-being, and what is going on inside our walls have converged, and they all matter!  I am Marla, the Green Home Coach. I’d like to introduce you to a dear friend of mine, Jillian Prichard Cooke, the Founder of Wellness Within Your Walls. Jillian is joining me today to tell her story and talk about her journey. Stay tuned for more! About Jillian  Jillian is a champion of wellness. She helps people connect wellness and health in their homes and buildings. She was recently appointed by the Global Wellness Institute as a Global Wellness Ambassador. A compelling reason Jillian had a very compelling reason for starting Wellness Within Your Walls: Sixteen years ago, she got involved with the very first Leed-certified home in the United States, in Atla

Wicked Problems: Trade-offs of electric vehicles with Tony Pratte  The topic of wicked problems has been inspiring some interesting conversations lately!  Driving electric vehicles rather than those powered by internal combustion engines is fascinating for Tony and me! Recently, Tony sent me an article explaining that what we need right now is an honest and comprehensive evaluation of the entire life cycle of clean energy- from raw materials through disposition. Up to now, we have only heard about the benefits of clean energy, so we need to understand the real cost of clean energy, including the negatives and the environmental impact.   In reality, there is a trade-off for everything we do, and if we fail to look at both sides, we have no way of knowing whether or not we are making the right decision.  I’m Marla, the Green Home Coach! Today, my co-host, Tony the Green Guy, is joining me to talk about various aspects of electric vehicles and the vehicles we know. We will also dive into the decision-making proc

What is wellness real estate? We hear a lot about wellness real estate lately. Sheila Alston knew nothing about it until she started thinking of ways to bring health and home together. After doing some research, she discovered that wellness real estate had already become a 134-billion dollar industry two years earlier! The very first wellness lifestyle community was built near Atlanta, Georgia. It has been a great success, and people love living there!  I’m Marla, the Green Home Coach! I am super excited to introduce you to my guest, Sheila Alston, the creator of WellnessRE Magazine! She is joining me today to talk about wellness real estate and how to make the connection between a healthy home and a healthy life. Stay tuned for more! Wellness real estate Forward-thinking developers are building wellness-based communities and creating neighborhoods that support a healthy lifestyle. Rather than just building a suburban area with a community pool, they have been thinking more about the design. Wellness neighbor

We face so many challenges in our world today! That is why we need to connect the dots between our homes, and the health of our communities.  Many of us don’t make the connection between our health, our homes, and the health of the world at large. Yet sometimes, without us even knowing it, the products in our homes make us sick. Or they impact our safety and comfort.  It all starts with us. Even though it might feel overwhelming, we need to understand that each one of us holds the world in our hands, and it is OUR challenge to take care of it.  I’m Marla, the Green Home Coach, and my co-host and partner in podcasting, Tony Pratte, aka The Green Guy, from The Sound Room, is with me! We are kicking off a new series today called Wicked Problems! Stay tuned for more! What is a wicked problem? Wicked problems are social or cultural problems that are difficult or almost impossible to solve. They are deeply complex problems that are broad in scope and large in scale. Most people have a hard time wrapping their heads

You know what they say, “ Reduce, reuse and recycle.” Well, there are now four Rs. The first is REFUSE, which gives us the power to stop things from happening by simply refusing them. If we follow the 4 Rs to a T, then our world will be better for all those who come after us. Even though I’m sure you can think of plenty of examples of how society bearded itself over time with excessive production rates (I'm looking at YOU plastic bag!) and disposable containers, all hope is not lost! There is always a little room to improve our mindsets to be more cognizant of the 4 Rs, including minimizing what we purchase. Tony’s bio Tony is the Director of Builder/Contractor Relations at The Sound Room in St. Louis, Missouri, where he is responsible for building relationships between home builders and The Sound Room System designers to help create the ultimate home experience. Tony has been working in the construction industry for more than eighteen years. During that time, he has been building relationships, and he has be

What if you could run your business in such a way that it was actually good for society? A Force For Good! That's what Gail Garey, founder of Impact 360 Strategies says she wants to do. Her love of the outdoors and corporate background set up this work with B Corporations- those companies who are pledging themselves as forces against social isolation through innovation or environmentalism or some other positive cause -and not just making money off people’s needs.   Gail's mission is to guide and empower business professionals around the world with her expertise in environmentally friendly, socially responsible sustainable practices. She provides tips for individuals looking at greening their company while also sharing information about how we can all make an impact on this important issue ourselves!   Gail’s bio Gail is the founder of Impact 360 Strategies. Her mission is to guide and empower business professionals to accelerate environmentally friendly and socially responsible sustainable business practices

Today’s show topic is very exciting to me. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for improving eco-friendly living spaces.  Everything varies according to your needs, style, and budget!. Today, Tony Pratte joins us and discusses how we can “green up” our homes! He reminds us of exciting opportunities we all have to reuse or reconstruct previously discarded materials and incorporate them into useful things for our homes; while feeling good about keeping discarded items out of the landfills! Incremental green This is incremental green! As you care for, maintain and upgrade your home one step at a time - like painting or replacing do-hickeys with Volatile Organic Compound free paints & products--you’ll be providing an enhanced experience for everyone living in the house by making it healthier, safer (and more comfortable). Marla’s point-of-view There are many parts to a home, and lots of things inside every house, so breaking everything down into five different categories is a helpful way to avoid feelin

What does it mean to buy green? There are no standard definitions for the words used to describe green products, so we sometimes tend to confuse products that sound green or claim to be green with those that truly are sustainable and environmentally friendly.  Some companies intentionally use words like natural or eco-friendly as a marketing ploy to imply that their products are better for you and the environment than they may actually be. That is known as greenwashing. Unfortunately, many companies that greenwash their products spend a lot more time and money on marketing than on becoming more sustainable and ecologically friendly.  I am Marla, the Green Home Coach. Today, I am pulling a podcast out of the archives in which Tony Pratte, my regular co-host, and I dive into the concept of greenwashing. In our conversation, we explain what you can do get above and beyond greenwashing, take action, and do better. We focus on green labels for the home and explain how they can work for you. Green labels for the ho

Can business be a force for good?  There is a huge transition taking place within our culture and society right now. We are seeing some fascinating changes, many of which are being integrated from the younger generations up to the older generations. Whether we realize it or not, most of us vote with our pocketbooks. Today's younger generations only support the companies that uphold the values they want to encourage. My generation tends to buy from companies we believe in. Those companies share our values and do things that we feel are important. We also like to get involved and make things happen.  I am Marla, the Green Home Coach. I am pulling an episode out of the archives today with Suzanne Shelton of the Shelton Group. In our conversation, Suzanne and I dive into the notion of companies being a force for good.  Suzanne is an optimistic and inspiring individual with a wealth of relevant information! She founded The Shelton Group, which has done a lot of research and focuses on sustainability, social justic

We all care about the health of our family and friends and want them to live in a safe and healthy environment. A few years ago, The US Green Building Council created a movement, campaign, and toolkit called the Living Well Standard, which published a message that still stands true today. It spells out how much it matters that the places we live, work, and play should not hurt us but protect us and enrich our lives in a sustainable way. That should be a standard that we can all expect and enjoy, rather than a luxury or a privilege.  Environmentalism is all about people and living well. But that tends to get lost amid all the advocating, politics, and policies. That is why I am all about action because words do not mean much until we get in there and do something! I am Marla, the Green Home Coach. Today, I am pulling a show out of the archives in which I have a great conversation with my co-host, Tony Pratte, and we share a lot more detail about the Living Well Standard and toolkit. We discuss how the Living W

There seems to be an app for everything right now!  Could you imagine downloading an app for your house? Or even a whole bunch of apps? Well, that is what you need to do if you have a smart home! But how do you go about connecting everything in this time when technology is constantly moving and things keep on changing?   I am Marla, the Green Home Coach! Today, I am happy to have my co-host and resident expert, Tony Pratte from The Sound Room, joining me to have an in-depth conversation about the latest technological developments for smart homes.  In this episode, Tony and I talk about the intersection between home and tech, and we discuss the digital revolution that we are going through right now. Tony sheds some light on the technology you need for your smart home and explains how to connect and control everything to make your home easier to live in and more comfortable than ever before. We also offer some great tips for having a smarter and more connected home. Things are moving fast Technology is moving s

Most of us do not realize how often our beliefs, values, and traditions play out in our lives because they are so deeply entrenched.  Working with sustainability and green over the years has taught me a lot about people. I have learned how much our beliefs, values, and even our traditions impact the way we live our lives and how the way we live connects with climate change and sustainability.  I am Marla, the Green Home Coach. Today, I will be focusing on beliefs, values, and the traditions we tend to adopt. I will offer you some alternative perspectives for looking at your home and living in it. I will also explain how the way you think impacts the way you live.  Thinking is changing Mainstream thinking is changing. Ideas around what people consider green, eco-friendly, and environmentally friendly have advanced over the last decade. Raising awareness Climate change, social injustice, and wastage affect all of us. Chemicals, toxicity, and polluted air impact our health, and when things in our homes are off-g

Did you know that reusing stuff is back in vogue again?  People reuse things for many different reasons. When they do, it always reminds me of my grandmother because that is her legacy. She was one of the biggest motivators for me getting involved in the green and sustainable world. I am Marla, the Green Home Coach. Today, my occasional co-host, Tony Pratte, The Green Guy, is joining me to have a conversation about my grandmother’s legacy of reusing almost everything.  In this episode, Tony and I discuss how different generations relate to the notion of reusing things, and we also talk about what we can learn from how our grandparents and great-grandparents did things.   My grandmother My grandmother was born in 1909 in a small town in South Texas. She was a young woman during the Depression. Back then, most communities were small, rural, and self-sustaining. So things were scarce and had to be reused. I remember her telling my sisters and me when we were little to use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do wi

Houses and buildings are moving like crazy, but supply chains are still nuts! Remodeling has been affected by all the craziness that is going on with homes and homebuilding. However, when we decide to do a remodel, we have the opportunity to do some amazing things to make our homes even better! I am Marla, the Green Home Coach, and today, my occasional co-host, Tony Pratte, is joining me to have a conversation about remodeling and building. We will cover the building envelope, systems, and changing fixtures and finishes. Build My Future Build My Future is a one-day construction event. It is an interactive job fair designed to give high school students a hands-on opportunity to experience how things get done in the construction industry and skilled trades. I assisted in bringing a Build My Future event to Oklahoma City in 2019. We hosted another event in Oklahoma on October 26th, 2021, and I was both honored and excited to be part of it! Labor shortage The labor shortage keeps on getting worse, but we need peo

Recycling has gone awry, and there is plastic everywhere! Do you sometimes forget to put recyclable items, like plastic soda bottles, pill containers, and the little plastic takeout cups and lids from takeout food, in the right place and end up throwing them out with the trash? Or have you ever had something that you would like to recycle, but you do not know what to do with it?  I am Marla, the Green Home Coach! Today, I am excited to have my occasional co-host, Tony Pratte, AKA Tony, the Green Guy, joining me in my virtual studio for another episode in our series on the climate crisis, where we discuss convenience, where our plastic products come from, and tips you can use for better and wiser recycling! Creative solutions Even though Tony and I do not always see eye-to-eye on everything, we are not afraid of having difficult conversations. We are just as willing to talk about things we disagree on as we are about things we agree, to find creative solutions. Katharine Hayhoe Katharine Hayhoe is a well-known

So many people have been buying and selling houses over the past year!  Lately, people have been much more concerned about their health and wellness, both in their lives and in their homes. Fortunately, we now get to take our health and wellness into account when looking for a new home or fixing up the house we are living in.  I am Marla, the Green Home Coach, and I am excited to bring you another teach-talk! Today I will be doing Part 2 of an episode I did a couple of weeks ago with Tee (Therese Forton-Barnes) of The Green Living Gurus. In that episode, Tee and I had a fantastic conversation about different ways to make your home better and how to clean up your house to make it less toxic, safer, and healthier for everyone living in it.  In this episode, I will be talking about what you, as a new home buyer, need to look for to find a new home that works for you and has all the elements you need. I will help you formulate a plan and share some of the things I learned from my experience of buying a home about

Finding a new home is not easy. We all want to live in a comfortable place that keeps us in good health and wellness, but many of us do not even know where to start because there are so many factors to consider.  I’m Marla, the Green Home Coach, and today I am sharing the podcast with Tee (Therese Forton-Barnes), the host of the Green Living with Tee Podcast. Both Tee and I have a strong desire to help people make their homes healthier, so we decided to introduce our two audiences to each other by co-hosting this show. In this episode, we will be diving into some simple and straightforward ways to ensure that your home is safe, healthy, and comfortable for you, your family, and the whole community. About Tee Tee lives in Buffalo, New York. She has the Green Living with Tee Podcast, a business called The Green Living Gurus, and a product line called Tee’s Organics, which will launch soon.  Tee came out of college as a party planner. She ran a party and wedding planning business for thirty-five years. When the

The topic of unintended consequences is huge! Just thinking about it is enough to make my head spin! There are so many different aspects to consider in that regard, particularly when you think of unintended consequences in terms of their impact on the environment, climate change, and the day-to-day way we live our lives.   I am Marla, the Green Home Coach. Today, I am excited to have my favorite co-host, Tony Pratte, joining me live in-studio to tackle the tremendous topic of unintended consequences.  In this episode, Tony and I talk about how we need to think a little more about everything we do because there will always be some other effect or consequence to any of our actions. Leaping to conclusions So often, people leap to the conclusion that a certain solution is the only solution. I do not think that there is only one solution for anything.  It will take many solutions I feel it will take many solutions to improve our health, safety, comfort, and this planet on which we live.  A systemic approach Often,