Eco-Friendly Home Building and Décor
You are more likely to be buying decorations or home-improvement materials than new pieces of furniture, so chances are your old couch and dining room table will have to do for now, no matter how much you'd like that eco-friendly futon or that reclaimed farmhouse table.
The more common smaller purchases like new wall art, yard supplies, paint and textiles, though, give you room to improve your home by making it both prettier and greener at the same time.
The DC area offers quite a few good options for those seeking environmentally sustainable home decorations and building materials. A collection of quirky shops showcases all sorts of earth-friendly wares. And for those willing to get creative, the area's salvage operations offer a great alternative to traditional building suppliers.
Home Décor
• Greater Goods, 1626 U Street, NW: This browse-worthy shop sells all manner of things to help you live a greener life in style.
• Bluehouse, 872 Kenilworth Drive, Towson, MD: This carbon-neutral store near Baltimore will outfit you in eco-friendly from stem to stern. Get it all, from organic mattress to ceramic birdhouse.
• Mirrors Decorated, 6925 Willow Street, #26, Studio 228: This quaint operation provides "eco-friendly works of art to brighten your world."
• National Building Museum Shop, 401 F Street NW: Inside the National Building Museum, this extensive and welcoming museum shop carries green housewares, gifts and a host of other fun stuff.
Green Building
• Eco-green Living, 6201 Blair Road NW: A wonderland of eco-smart building supplies and homewares, this store will get you excited about going green.
• Amicus Green Building Center, 4080 Howard Avenue, Kensington, MD: This center offers the greenest of everything, from lighting to tile to gardening supplies.
• Community Forklift, 4671 Tanglewood Drive, Edmonston, MD: Just outside DC, this amazing salvage-joint brings creative homeowners surplus, rescued and new green building materials.
• The Loading Dock, 2 Kresson Street, Baltimore, MD: This Baltimore surplus-building-material supplier maintains that you could build a whole house from what people throw away. Will you?
• Green Floors, 3170 Draper Dr. Fairfax, VA: Here's a great resource for environmentally friendly flooring products.
The national capitol is also home to a number of green building organizations, including the U.S. Green Building Council, Everyday Green and GreenHOME. Not sure what it all means? Start with the city's "Green Buildings" page to get an overview of going green in DC.
