Many of us agree with the main goals of the environmental movement. Why isn't this reflected in the approach of the Realty profession?

I was lucky enough to be involved in a career that mattered to children (I was teacher of Spanish, Sign Language and Environmental Studies for 12 years), and it was through the eyes of my students that I learned about my own inadequacies in the area of meaningful environmental stewardship. In plain English: I gave lip service about the environment, but in reality I lived a wasteful life.

By the third year of my teaching career, thanks to a wonderful set of coincidences and opportunities, my school - a private school in Central Florida, had the only interspecies communications exchange in the world between hearing children and Koko, the signing gorilla. I had the opportunity to meet with Koko on location, and Dr. Francine "Penny" Patterson, the dedicated scientist whose life mission is to save both gorillas and their natural environment.

Dr. Patterson , indeed , became my mentor and guide in this field. Our correspondence in the years between 1999 and 2002 opened my eyes and fueled my interest in going green. I learned that I could make a difference, even if only in my own household (but that is how revolutions start, right?)

"YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD."  - Mahatma Ghandi

So this all brings me to the following: What do we know about "Green Consumers" (Read: Home Buyers)? They are thoughtful, restrained, assiduous and overly suspicious of their movement being hijacked for a corporate profit. The law of green purchasing, in its most rigid form, can best be summed up as "Buy not, buy less, but if you must... BUY GREEN." 

And that is the key: People need a place to live and every house is potential environmental safe haven for a green, environmental conscious family. Why not honor this amazing simple fact? By accepting that the environmental "issue" is part of the critical purchasing decision we will have made the first step in the right direction. Environmentally conscious people have housing needs too. They have been waiting for an honest approach from the Realty profession.

Indeed, the purchasing power of eco-friendly people is far greater than anticipated. Let us meet this fresh "green" slice of the market headfirst by acknowledging that they want to buy a product that benefits the environmental as well as satisfying their needs.

I would like to believe that "This is what I can do right now with the information I have".

Stay tuned for more...!

Best of luck!

Douglas B. Garbe, Your ECO-REALTOR