Home Green Homes Izumi Tanaka

“During Covid I started to think more about the products I was using and plastics.  I’d always used refilled bottles for water and I’d reuse plastic bags at the grocery store.  Then I heard the statistics that 2.5 billion tons of trash are in the landfill just from hand and body lotion alone and hand and body wash… “ - Libby Bourne   

Libby Bourne is the store manager for a sustainable store Sun Moon Rain in Santa Monica, offering refillable cleaning and personal care products. The store aims to eliminate single-use plastic and toxins through education.

Libby outlined the store's most popular items like refillable dish soap and laundry detergent, appealing for their effectiveness and concentrates reducing plastic use. Customers favor natural deodorants and handwashes for their safe, non-toxic formulas. Libby ensures products meet the store's high standards by checking Environmental Working Group ratings and trusting suppliers with aligned values. This gives customers confidence that items support wellness without compromising the planet.  

She explains how the store attracts families seeking non-toxic products plus students and health practitioners concerned with sustainability. Santa Monica schools influence interest, and youth outreach grows demand while older customers remain open to change. While progress encourages Libby, a perfect solution remains distant. Continued education and small individual changes can chip away at plastic pollution if companies also curb production. Collaboration across generations offers hope for positive change.

"We’re not sacrificing anything aesthetic.  We’re not sacrificing anything ergonomic by being mindful.  We’re just pausing and thinking about it and making a good decision instead of rushing through to check everything off the list.  It’s not going to be apparent in the final end result that you did everything in a very sustainable mindful way.  It looks the same.  It functions the same.  It’s just going to last, and it didn’t hurt anyone in the process.  And if it’s ripped out, it’s not going to hurt the earth for getting ripped out." - Ali Davin

Ali Davin is a founder of Jute Interior Design, who specializes in sustainable and healthy designs.  Ali's passions for art, antiques, and spatial design led her to study and work in those fields in Italy and the US. Clients regularly sought her design advice beyond individual pieces, inspiring her holistic interior design practice.

For her sustainability means prioritizing the earth's and inhabitants' well-being. Ali incorporated sustainability from necessity due to her chemical sensitivities. It involves mindful material selection, waste reduction, and opting out of consumerism through repurposing.

Building codes and contractor mindsets don't always support sustainability. Willing contractors make incremental changes, while some reject discussions. Education is key to accepting health risks in building practices.

Ali informs clients of sustainable options without pushing agendas. Most clients initially prioritize aesthetics over sustainability. Changing mindsets requires patience, as rushing decisions sacrifices health and environmental impacts.

Ali sees growing receptiveness as sustainability connects to individual and planetary well-being. Her dream is working with aligned clients and contractors on thoughtful, waste-reduced projects that minimize footprints.

Her book, Live Natural, aims to introduce sustainability gently through beautiful imagery and approachable, bite-sized writing. It encourages absorbing sustainable messages comfortably without sacrificing aesthetics or function.

“You as a consumer, I as a consumer have enormous power to make the transformation that we want to see.  But one of the transformations as a consumer is selecting the right products because the competitor who is not doing the right packaging or the right product is going to see that they’re losing clients to the competitors that are doing more sustainable product, produce and materials, so he’s gonna change. He’s only going to change because us as consumers are driving the change by purchasing the right or the best materials available for us.”  - Denise Braun

Denise Braun found her calling for sustainability work after witnessing waste flooding during a storm as a child in Brazil. She was further inspired after reading a book on applying sustainability in businesses while working in human resources. This led her to pursue a career in waste management.

Denise founded All About Waste 8 years ago after having a child, encouraged by her husband to start her own business focused solely on zero waste solutions. The firm now provides zero waste certifications and consulting globally to reduce building waste.

She leads by example with zero waste practices like composting and using refillable products. She encourages others gently and hosts zero waste children's birthday parties. She also recommends shopping at farmers markets when possible or using services like Imperfect Produce. She also suggests stores like Sprouts for bulk options. In Europe, she noticed less waste from smaller grocery formats and buying daily needs. Her goal is advising political leaders on waste policy.

Other resources mentioned:  The Natural Step, the book

"For me, mantra in my sort of day-to-day climate work is go for the gigatons. And while as a homeowner, a single homeowner, you can't do that, you can look at your biggest spend. So what are the most gigantic energy sinks in your home? Two-thirds of home energy use is from heating and hot water." - Trent Wolbe



Trent Wolbe is currently a VP of marketing for a start-up called, Harvest, but I invited him to be my guest because of his fascinating history and passionate dedication to help this environmental crisis we face.  He recently joined me as a co-chair of the Green Home Committee at USGBC-LA and dove right into actions, which I’m so grateful for.  He shared how watching Ninja Turtle in his youth led him to be who he is today, and how he and his partner built a sustainable ADU in Los Angeles.  

A chance sighting of unusual structures revealed Earthships to Trent, inspiring him to study their off-grid design harnessing nature for comfort through materials and thermal gain. And upon building his ADU, he optimized for minimal energy use with a tight envelope, geothermal, solar, battery and heat pumps. He shares lessons from a challenging but educational process.

"For some folks, they become really motivated by the climate crisis. They start to understand that in their family, maybe their single largest source of climate pollution, and it's a big one, is sitting in their closet just heating their water and heating their house, right? So that's some folks are motivated by that, and they want to start finding out what they can do. Other folks maybe don't care about climate at all, but they've got high utility bills, and they want to understand how electrifying their home can actually reduce their utility bills.  This is a common misperception. People think electricity is expensive, and they think it's dirty. Electricity is not dirty in California. Our electricity supply is remarkably clean. …  Also, electricity is not expensive when you do the math right when you compare apples to apples, running your home on electricity and running it on gas. You'll discover that over time, you can save, a typical home will save thousands of dollars over the lifespan of the equipment that we're talking about." - Cooper Marcus, Chief Quitter, Founder



Cooper Marcus founded QuitCarbon, which is a platform that makes home electrification easier, cheaper, and better for all with free expert advice, personalized plans, contractor referrals and support through the process to transition homes off fossil fuels.  Chief quitter, founder of QuitCarbon shares how he started this company as he went through a complex process of electrifying his Victorian home in San Francisco.

QuitCarbon is free for homeowners and generates revenue through contractor partnerships by connecting them with clients, with the goal of helping millions of homes electrify while educating contractors on the transition. Cooper addressed pushbacks like climate concerns, cost worries and reliability myths, noting solutions like battery backups and that electricity is often cheaper than gas long-term, especially as incentives lower upfront costs. Also QuitCarbon has developed a software that tracks almost 300 ever changing financial incentives available and be able to inform the homeowners the best possible path of electrifying homes.

“…what can we do in terms of water and energy? Something that's super decentralized that doesn't make people compromise. And we started to look at where water is used most within the residential home and 50% of that water use stems from the bathroom. It's quite alarming when you start looking at how much we actually use in terms of water.” - Alisha McFetridge

A typical 10-minute shower uses 25 gallons, whereas Rainstick Shower uses under 5 gallons, saving both water and the energy required to heat excess water. Its point-of-use cleaning further reduces costs and environmental impacts. Alisha McFetridge, Co-founder and CEO, detailed Rainstick's recirculation system saves 80% water and energy by reusing shower water up to six times through cleaning and pumping, while maintaining a strong 3 gpm flow. Her background in water management and sustainability led to developing this solution.  She also explained the installation process, maintenance as well as the possible upcoming financial incentives.

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