Be the Change Agent

Right now, Realtors have a golden opportunity to make a positive impact regarding sustainability.   We are on the front lines of conversations about housing and talk to people who are buying, selling, and renting homes.  We work with builders, remodeling companies and investors.  The majority of our vendors are within the building industry, and we network with governments and nonprofits concerning affordable housing.   

Imagine if energy efficiency, water savings, and high-performance building techniques were more important than square footage and floor plans.  That would have a huge impact on climate change and sustainability in general!

We have the power to make that happen!  We can shift public awareness and create a demand for “green” homes, but education is the key.  Once you are aware of best practices then you can start marketing these concepts.   I have always seen marketing as an effective educational tool.  It really is easy for us to make this type of shift since we are excellent at marketing homes.

Now is the time to focus on “green” home features.  The Shelton Group conducted a survey that found 57% of the people polled were concerned about the environment; we have crossed the halfway mark!  Today, the majority is concerned about sustainability and climate change.  

The following National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2019 study about buyer and seller trends clearly shows that clients consider energy efficiency very important.

This isn’t new information, though. In 2018, NAR’s sustainability study reported that Realtors thought 61% of their clients were concerned about sustainability.

What are we waiting for?  Why hasn’t every Realtor gotten the NAR GREEN Designation?  Why hasn’t every Realtor’s Association greened their MLS?  

I started my real estate focus on “green” homes in 2004. Back then it was a fringe concept, but by finding Green Champions and education builders and clients, I had a thriving niche in just a few years. Now in 2022, the demand is here. In fact, if you don’t have some type of green, sustainable focus, you are probably losing clients!

Today we have so many resources and opportunities available to us as Realtors. Perhaps that is one of the issues; information overload can create anxiety.  I have had several Realtors tell me they are confused about what is really sustainable and what is just greenwash.

I have been teaching Realtors about sustainability and creating a green niche for years.  My motto has been, “a little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing.” Now, I feel an urgency to get the word out to more Realtors.   I am passionate about the fact that Realtors can change the world and its view on sustainability.  We have to do something and do it now!

This need is why I have created a series of online courses for Realtors and builders.  The first course, “Start Your Green Niche/Business” is fast-paced and will help you create a sound foundation to speak the sustainability language of your clients. 

The second course, “Scale Your Green Niche/Business” is for those who feel comfortable with general green, sustainable conversations and have already been marketing to clients.  This course will push you into making your own business sustainable and creating a network of vendors who truly care about sustainability. 

The third course, “Love the Green” is to train the trainer.  It is for coaches, consultants, and realty companies who wish to promote sustainability.

To learn more, email mary@lovethegreen.org 

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Hindsight 2020

What have you learned now that you have 2020 hindsight?  What has our country, our world learned?

For most of us this was our first pandemic. Will it be our last?  What can we do as humanity to prevent another pandemic? More importantly, are we willing to do what is necessary?

Crisis, revels weakness and strength. The past year was full of media exposing our weakness. Divisive, hateful politics, extreme economic and social injustice and the ease in which the mass public can be manipulated. Misery loves company and fear can cause us to react irrationally and feel helpless. Scapegoats were rampant in 2020.

If you were able to disconnect from the drama and focus on the positive, then good was also revealed. People made friends with neighbors that they have lived by for years and never knew.  Food and clothing were given freely to others. Families reconnected and had quality time together.  Pet shelters were emptied.  Strangers offered to help out the elderly. 

For me 2020 confirmed my knowing that everything is connected. We are all one. Humanity, nature, economics, social, religion, everything is connected.  My unexcepted revelation was just how few people actually believe this.  The idea of “ I can do whatever I want and you can’t make me….”, is childish.  Yet, it is this very attitude that has helped create the pandemic.  The believe, “what I do is my own business and it doesn’t hurt you”, is the lack of ability to conceive how we are all connected. The flip side of this train of thought is, “ what I do as an individually, doesn’t matter.”  This is often the excuse when trying to deal with issues like climate change, or social injustice.  It all seems too big to change.

The new year is a traditional time to vision a better life.  We lay out our goals and objectives in the various areas of our lives.  We feel good about it and stay on track for a little while.  Then something happens, and our resolve fades.  

2020 showed the world just how important it is to stay connected.  We need each other to create our supply chains. We need each other to provide food, clothing and shelter.  We need each other to overcome crisis and pandemics. 

Long term stress and lack of social interaction can be exhausting.  It is easy to take a position of hopelessness or to allow fear to create your reality.  Another choice is to focus on the positive. This may be difficult at this time. So try something easier.  Focus on connection.  My word for 2021 is connection. How am I personally connected to other people in my neighborhood, tribe, family, community, organizations?  Do I like the way I’m connected?  Do I want something different?  What can I do to improve the connection? How am I connected to nature?  What actions can I take to improve my relationship with nature? 

We all want to be part of something better than just self.  Even, fringe groups connect to each other because they want to be heard and no that they are no alone.  So, I encourage you to reach out, connect to something, someone, organizations, events, neighbors, pets, horses, nature, whatever it is that brings you comfort and joy.  Focus on the positive, find those little things that help you know that you are part of the whole.   Now go out there and make it a GOOD YEAR.

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The World as We Know It Has Ended

I have always been fascinated about words and how we attach meaning to them. Words mean different things in different languages, time periods, geographical areas and to different people.  The translation of words brings an even broader layer of meaning.

When I was young, I read everything I could about the Mayans. I was fascinated about a culture that just disappeared from the planet. Much of the recorded history I read was translated from Spanish, then I came across a direct translation of what was considered the Mayan language. When discussing the end of the world prediction, this translation said “The world as we know it has ended.”

That translation has stuck with me all of my life. I thought of it when a loved one died, when I got sober, when I met Deb, when I moved and when I changed careers.

The world as I know it has ended many times.  Sometimes, it was by choice, other times it was forced upon me by other people and events. 

How I handled the end of the world varied on my perception. I looked to other people, places, things, activities and beliefs to save me. Eventually, I saw my world end enough times that I realized it was part of life and how I handled it was up to me. That is when I became more compassionate with the world and more excited about the power I have within myself!

The world as we know it has ended for almost everyone on our planet. This disruption has the opportunity to create a world that works for all. We as humanity and as individuals get to focus on what is important. We are at choice to be victims or our own hero. For me, I choose to focus on the positive and trust that I am surrounded by people who will hold me up when I’m down.

With this in mind, I want to share what I seeing working well in our new world. I want to share the positive and good news.

Quantum physics is proving what the mystics have known. We get more of what we focus on.  Now is not the time to be in denial. We are social distancing, the coronavirus has spread throughout the world and our economy is in unknown territory. It is OK to feel scared. Now is the time to be more than who you were before your world ended as you knew it.

I am sure in the next few months there will be great change. People will rise to improve the new world, and individuals will find a power inside themselves that could only come from all of this. We are so much more than we ever imagined! I encourage you to look for good.   

Right now, a good thing for me that is happening is that I am actually starting this blog.  It is not what I thought it would be and that is OK.  There is a need inside myself to write and share and give people hope.

So it begins. 

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Connecting the Dots for 2020

For so many people, January 1st is a time to set goals and think about the New Year.  The first few weeks are full of starting new habits and vows to change, but before the end of the month, most are back to old habits and behaviors.  What causes us to want to change in the first place, especially if we have had past experiences of not being able to obtain these goals?  Why do we give up so easily?

I believe that everything is connected, that life is interwoven with all seen and unseen matter.  There is something deep inside humanity that needs to grow. Just as a seed must sprout, so must we.  One issue of accomplishing goals is that often, they are so big that we don’t know how to break them into small accomplishments.  When we do make them manageable, we don’t see the results as fast as we want. 

Today, global warming, zero waste, social justice, eco trends, alternative energy and others fall in to the larger concept of sustainability.  It’s easy to get all riled up and declare new behaviors at a rally or after watching an inspiring movie, yet after a few weeks of carrying those mason jars to the food co-op, many people become discouraged and whine that the problem is just too big to do alone.  

Therein lies the problem. When we think we are alone, singular actions rarely make a difference to our mind. Yet, when we feel a part of something greater – something bigger than just me – courage and power rises within us.  Today, more than ever through social media, we all have the opportunity to be connected with some group.  Even then, we can easily get distracted and forgot what our original goals were.

For me, the best way to create change is to feel connected.  I need the big picture and the small steps to get to that point.  I need to feel the energy that flows as the dots are connected.  This is what has kept me honoring the planet and humanity.  Knowing that I am greater than myself, and believing that my small actions make a difference because I recognize the oneness of everything, encourages me to move forward through the hard times. It also allows me to start all over again when the current plan doesn’t work.

Finally, we are starting to see how action, as well as inaction concerning environmental issues, not only affect the planet, but also humans living on the planet.  I grew up on a farm, so I learned at an early age that crops needed to be rotated in order to improve the soil.  I also learned that many plants and animals were symbiotic and needed each other to thrive.  That meant we had food to eat, so I understood the connection of my actions on Earth. 

One of the reasons I promote “Green Building” is because building science looks at the building as a whole system. It takes into consideration everything from the site to the people living in the home.  The guiding question is “how does everything work together to create the best home ever?”

We have spent the past century breaking everything into parts in order to understand how it all works. Vast improvements have been made in industry, medicine, transportation, social welfare and food production. America had high goals and effectively created steps and processes that allowed us to rapidly obtain those goals – our school system was divided into time frames much like assembly line workers; doctors focused on singular cures and specialties; individual cars created convenient mobility; vast amounts of food were created in mono systems.  All of this elevated the overall quality of life for most Americans.  Somewhere in all of the objectives and mini-goals, we forgot the big picture.  We forgot that most things work in tandem and everything is connected to something larger. 

Quantum physics and string theory are changing the way humanity sees itself.  Science is now stating the words of ancient mystics and agreeing that, indeed, everything is connected and our awareness of our universe and ourselves depends on those connections.  It means that what I do and what you do really does matter!  It also means that “a little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing!”  It means when individual actions are recognized and intended to create change, then they will.   This is why we start with those lofty New Year goals and break them down into smaller objectives that we can accomplish.

2020 is a new decade and an excellent time to create personal goals and objects. The key to keeping those goals and actually creating change for yourself is to believe that little steps matter, and as long as you don’t give up, change will occur.  It is also important to recognize that when you make a better version of yourself, you are in fact creating a better version of the world you live in.

Let’s create a world that works for all!

Happy New Year!

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Net Zero Green Built Home

Tour of Platinum Net Zero Green Built Home in Asheville's Olivette Riverside Community and Farm

Join Mary Love as she talks about this new home in the Agrihood Community of Olivette in Asheville, North Carolina.

This house is the winner of:

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Living the Green Life

I am at a season in my life where I am enjoying the fruits of my labor.  I have taught others about green building and green living so long that I am called the “Grandmother of Green”.  At first, I was taken aback by the idea that anyone thought me old enough to be a grandmother.  Then I remembered how much I had learned from my Mamaws.  So, it is with respect and honor to my roots that I have embraced my Mamaw Love.

The concept of “green living” has been around for several decades.  Over the years, it has meant different things and called a variety of names.  Today, the popular catch phrases are organic, local, zero waste and sustainability.  In the past, it was vegetarian, hippie, environmental and tree hugger.  Whatever term is popular right now, it all comes back to the core concept that humanity and all of nature do better when we are in harmony with one another.

I realized my direct connection with the earth as I grew up on a farm.  Today, my family would have been referred to as sustainable farmers. Back then, we were just poor dirt farmers who didn’t have enough money to buy those fancy fertilizers and pesticides. My extended family, especially my Mamaws, showed me that nature was abundant as long as we understood and worked with her natural cycles.  We planted with the moon, saved seeds and used our farm animals’ manure to enrich pastures and gardens. We canned, froze, dried, smoked and stored our seasonal harvest.

For me, nature, the woods, creeks, trees and rolling meadows were my playground as well as a safe place to escape.  When I climbed to the top of a tree and silently swayed with the wind, I became one with something so much greater than I could express. When I crawled inside a dark small cave, I could feel the heartbeat of the earth. Those moments were when I knew my true self and understood the connection of everything.

As I grew, I learned more about what we considered progress, and the good for humanity often have unforeseen consequences.  I loved science and the cause and effect of everything.  I felt a deep sense of responsibility to honor the earth.  On one of my hikes in the woods, I came across an old paved road. Pieces of black top were staggered between dirt, grass and weeds.  It occurred to me that the earth didn’t need saving, it would be fine if we left it to do its natural thing.  Mother Nature just wants us to pay attention to how we interact with the planet and with each other.

Society’s denial of how everything is related often frustrated me, and I was delighted when Environmental Science became a field of study.  Finally, there seemed to be a logical connection.  However, I was frustrated as we broke into specialty areas without showing how they interrelated.  For years, the main jobs you could find were chunked into waste management, nuclear, and air pollution.

When building science became a field, I was hooked.  I loved the idea of seeing a house as a whole system – the work every step of the building process. It thrilled me to know we could now create buildings that utilized nature’s building process.  Plus, there were all kinds of cool tools that gathered data to prove how these processes all work together.  Building science had the formula to create a sustainable world!

For me, the concept of “Green Living” just comes naturally. It is so much more than conservation or alternative energy. It is more than how to build a house or live on the land or reducing plastic. It is also about social justice and honoring the process of where we are as individuals, communities and as humanity.  “Green living” is also about looking to nature to find strength and connection. We as human beings are part of nature. Individually and collectively, we can create amazing, wonderful, positive change for the earth and for each other.  Our journey through life always gives us opportunities to see how we are all One. Nature, the woods, sunshine, flowers, food, animals and humans all give us a chance to see how we affect each other. “Green living” is our opportunity to thrive as we all learn how we interconnect.

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