As you might know, we are very proud to be among the NAHB’s certified green builders and also to be a part of the St. Louis HBA’s Green Building Council. Green home building is more than a construction trend, it plays an important role in how builders are approaching projects large and small, and more homeowners are demanding energy efficiency and eco-friendly materials for their homes.

If you are interested in learning more about green living, this weekend there is a great event in downtown St. Louis that will feature more than 90 exhibitors from the green industry. The annual EarthWays Green Homes Festival will be held in Grandel Square (between Grand Blvd and Spring Ave), which is the home to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s EarthWays Center until they move it to the Garden proper by the end of 2010.

This Saturday, September 25 from 10am until 6pm, more than 90 exhibitors will be on hand to demonstrate the latest and greatest in green living, to educate folks on making their homes greeners, and to host workshops in sustainable home building and more. There will also be activities for families and kids to participate in, and a “made from scratch green marketplace.”

Admission and parking for the event are free, and there will be healthy food provided in the food court. You can find out more about the event by visiting Green Homes St. Louis’s website.

This basement completion project included creating a workout space that the homeowners wouldn’t dread spending time in. The space is open to the rest of the basement, and includes overhead lighting perfect for reading and a flat screen television so they can schedule gym time to coincide with their favorite programs. How’s that for motivation?

From making simple switches and adding green and leafy vegetables, to saving green by bringing a lunch from home, to thinking green with eco-friendly brown bag alternatives- more green is always good when it comes to your lunchbox. With school back in session, now is the perfect time to start adding more green to your family’s lunch habits that will save you time and money, while promoting a healthier lifestyle and planet.

Here are a couple of quick, easy green lunchbox makeover tips that will have your family packing a green lunch in no time:

1. Be Picky About Your Food Sources – One of the easiest ways to save money and pack a better lunch is to fill your lunchbox with items from your local farmers market. Produce from the farmers market is typically less expensive than at the grocery store, and the available selections are sure to reflect what is in season so the nutrients are more dense. And if you can’t make it to the market search for local and organic alternatives at your local grocers. You will be adding some healthy touches to your lunches and when you buy from local producers you are not only reducing your family’s carbon footprint, you are also keeping your dollars in the neighborhood which directly benefits your local economy and family.
2. Replace Your Trashables with Reusables – In just one week a typical family of four who literally brown bags their lunch throws away almost $4 in trashable lunch items like sandwich baggies and brown paper bags. That means about $208 a year is literally being pitched in trash. The green movement has spurred the development of many companies that create reusable lunch goods like ReUsies sandwich and snack bags that come in really fun patterns, The EasyLunchBox System which features sectioned containers that can be covered and carried to school or work, or the Lunchbots stainless steel lunch and snack containers.

These simple, lunch makeover tips will save you money while doing good things for the planet and your family.