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About Us

Written by Administrator | 12 October 2006

Our website and portal showcases our members

visionaries
entrepreneurs
sustainable educators
collaborators

who are finding ways to think outside the box and implement smart green residential and business practices that forge the path to a more sustainable future.

A message from the Co-founder of Upstate Green Central Station

My love of our natural world and sense of stewardship were developed early in childhood. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania on 1.5 acres that were surrounded by cornfields, wheat fields, meadows, creeks, and woods dominated by towering maple and oak trees. The Indians once referred to our family’s little berg of 20-plus homes, as Arbor Valley. We knew our community better as Adamsville.

At a time when it was safe for kids to roam the neighborhood unattended, I wandered as often as possible on foot or pedaling my red bicycle, through pastures and woods or along dirt and paved roads, to play with my friends or attend school. Long before the sky was encumbered with air traffic, the only sounds, which broke the silence that engulfed us in our valley, were those made by cows, crickets, frogs and a tractor plowing the field. Although today there is less of the Natural world, and I live amidst the hustle and bustle of downtown Spartanburg, 586 miles away from wistful memories, the connection still remains. As an adult, I find solace in Nature’s ability to restore my sagging energy, which gets depleted by city noise, ringing cell phones, and an onslaught of invisible electromagnetic frequencies.

These musings reflect what I believe is the earliest foundation for my present mission to build a more sustainable community here in my Upstate home. By thinking green, smart and sustainably, and by using our “dollars and sense” to save energy, we can all take the kind of action that protects our finite Natural Resources, which like many others, I naively took for granted in my youth.

As the co-founder of the Upstate Green Central Station directory and East Main Street “Green Showroom” in The Phoenix, Nancy Riehle and I are heartfully working to build awareness and make it easy and simple for every Upstate resident and business owner to help create not only a more sustainable future for all but a resilient one as well. Please join our growing community!

Linda Sechrist

When ECO Realty International was founded two years ago, I had one of those wonderful aha moments. I realized that before I got involved with retrofitting residential and commercial buildings to improve the quality of indoor air and make a difference in someone’s health, real estate was just about buying and selling property.

After using green building standards to renovate a house in one of Spartanburg’s older neighborhood, I formed ECO Realty. To do the retrofit, I got my credentials and devoured articles on the subject. Through the process I learned impressive things such as how much healthier a green house is for its residents, particularly children or anyone with asthma or allergies. At the same time, I also learned how difficult it was to find tradesmen familiar with “green and sustainable” building techniques; and how challenging it was to locate green materials. In the end, it was worth all the time and effort because the house, which turned out beautifully, was not only energy efficient and healthier to live in, it also sold in record time.

Next we contracted a project for a hotel renovation. To achieve our goal of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, we spent months searching for furniture makers who used recycled material, chasing down affordable fabrics and wall coverings that breathed and discouraged mold growth and searching for contractors who embraced the idea of being part of a sustainable project.

Linda Sechrist, a managing editor and writer for Natural Awakenings magazine, a national publication with 3.5 million readers, and I met during the hotel renovation project when she interviewed me about ECO Realty. Linda and I instantly connected regarding the need, not only in the Upstate but all around the country, for an online community resource that would help homeowners and business owners identify the components and local resources that make interior spaces more energy efficient and healthy places in which to live, work, and play. Just as important, we agreed that the Upstate would benefit from a central place where citizens engaged in helping to shape a more vibrant community could learn as well as exchange ideas about sustainable practices, technology and the green industry as it evolves. The Upstate Green Central station and its Green Showroom are the result of our connection. We welcome you to our green and sustainable neighborhood!

Nancy Riehle