YES Green Living - New Green Home Store

YES Green Living is your source for all things Conservation. It's a store, museum, and learning facility where you can go to answer "How do I do that?" and "Where can I buy that?"



Owner and Founder Mitchell Furlett A. said it all started because of a drought in Georgia. When he and his family stopped at a hotel in Georgia in 2008 he noticed the water tanks in the toilets were filling up all the way wasting precious water. Funny thing to notice - unless your family business is plumbing. After talking with the hotel manager he realized most people didn't know about toilet retrofits and other products that Conserve water (and save money).

When Mitch returned home he stepped down from the family plumping business to start YES Water Conservation, a company that sells and installs water saving devices. In doing this he realized the need for Conservation education and the need to bring consumers, distributors and manufacturers together to learn, shop and live green.

Museum
When you walk into YGL you see a little house. It's the YGL Museum. The roof has solar panels, inside you'll find a toilet with a sink on top, upcycled light fixtures, renewable flooring, a compost container, upcycled kids furniture, and outside is a rain barrel. You can see how these items work in your home, touch them, try them out, purchase them, and YGL has a short list of local installers if you need them.

Store
As you walk through YGL you will find many Conservation products for your home including:

• Conservation Kits (gas, electric or water) that are a perfect house warming gift
• Recycled, Bamboo, and Cork flooring
• Water Conservation products
• Wind Turbines
• Solar Panels

YGL also highlights several local artists and manufacturers with unique green products that are upcycled, recycled, or focused on conservation that include:

• Accessories, bags, and other neat nick nacks from It's Our Earth based in Wheaton
• "Ferniture" Upcycled Kids in Evanston
• Funky upcycled light fixtures by Lighting Lease from Evanston
• Rain barrels beautifully painted by local artists

Learning Facility
What really ties all this together is the classes YGL offers so you don't have to figure out how to be green all by yourself. The most popular class is Conservation Investing which teaches you how to save money through conservation and greening your life. The class also highlights the additional benefits of health and safety when you invest in Conservation. YGL also has an education program for kids, "YES Eco-Heroes" and story time for preschoolers. Most classes are free and you can find out more by calling or visiting online.

YES Green Living is located in Evanston, IL at 2814 Central St., 60201, 847.834.YES3 (9373) YESGreenLiving.com. The store is open Monday through Saturday, 9-4 M, 9-5 T-F, and 10-3 S.

 

Alexandra Gnoske is an Environmental Expert, the Founder and President of RECYCLE ME, and the author of "Loui Saves the Earth."

 

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR MINDFUL BUSINESS MATTERS, FEBRUARY 2011

5 Things to Know About the Water you are Drinking

Clean, safe freshwater is vital to our lives. Here are five things you should know about the water you are drinking:

1. At least 315 contaminants have been found in tap water throughout the United States. According to the Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org), at least half of these are not regulated and are legal in any amount.

2. Hexavalent Chromium, the toxic chemical made famous in the Erin Brockovich movie, has been found in the water systems of 31 cities in the United States.

3. Is Bottled Water free from contaminants? No. An average of 8 contaminants were found in 10 major bottled water brands, with up to 38 contaminants found overall. Unlike water utilities, bottled water companies are not required to report the results of contaminant tests. Four brands were contaminated with bacteria. Two brands were indistinguishable from tap water.

4. As much as 45% of bottled water comes from municipal water, but it costs you 119 times more than getting it from your tap.

5. You can have clean, safe drinking water right now, from your home, and take it with you in your BPA free water bottle! If you wait for your municipality to clean up, it can take months or even years to establish a filtration system that reduces Hexavalent Chromium. But you can get your own residential filter. Try a reverse osmosis system - you can also find more from Pure Earth.

Water is essential. Safe water is a must. You can have it. You can also join up with ewg.org to help uncover the chemicals in our lives and get Congress to do something about it!

Originally posted on www.greenwala.com Alexandra Gnoske is an Environmental Expert, Green Business Owner, and Author/Illustrator of "Loui Saves the Earth."