Sustainability gets a boost from Living Green store

C. J. Williams and Nancy Grigsby, owners of Living Green, display a solar-powered battery charger and a backpack with solar panels

By Virgil Hervey

Those guys standing around with their hands in their pockets on Xenia Avenue on weekends, while their wives are browsing in one of our village’s many shops, may soon be doing a little browsing of their own at Yellow Springs’ newest store, Living Green. According to owners Nancy Grigsby and C. J. Williams, they have been stocking their ecologically sustainable store with all kinds of “green gifts, gadgets, and gizmos that people wouldn’t know existed” in anticipation of its grand opening during the weekend of Nov. 17–18. The wives of “those guys” and their gizmos will find the stock just as interesting.

A visit to Living Green last week found shelves filling up with such items as Kill-A-Watt, a device that measures the electrical usage of an appliance and calculates the cost of running it over a period of time. When you realize how much it’s costing you, Williams said, you will remember to shut it off when you are not using it. Other electrical related devices include a solar-powered battery charger with panels that fold up to fit in the palm of your hand and a backpack with solar panels. Both devices come with a variety of adapters and can be used to charge or operate just about anything from cellphones to laptops. The store also carries hand cranked radios and flashlights.

Grigsby and Williams, both domestic violence social workers by profession, were living in Atlanta when they decided they needed to move closer to their aging parents. Williams was raised in Indiana, and Grigsby is from Dayton. Cincinnati seemed like a good compromise, but after days of searching for suitable digs, they were persuaded by a friend to look at Yellow Springs.

Grigsby had fond memories of visiting the village as a youth from Dayton and had even brought Williams here during Christmas a couple years ago for a hike in the Glen.

“I had always loved coming here,” Grigsby said in a recent interview, “but it never occurred to me that this was a place where I could actually live.”

They moved to the village in July and began the daunting task of looking for jobs. When that didn’t work out so well, they started to consider opening their own business. They spent the summer months biking, kayaking and discussing what kind of business they would want to commit to.

“If we were going to do something for profit, it would have to be something we believed in,” Williams said.

They learned of a store in Amish country that specialized in non-electric items. Aware of how hard it is to be green, they were fascinated by the idea of a business that would make it easier for locals to pursue that interest. They thought it incongruous that people had to drive long distances to purchase environmentally friendly items or have them shipped from afar.

“We are trying to purchase locally or as close to local as possible,” Grigsby said.

They researched available products and began thinking about a mission and guiding principals for their business. They also started thinking about an appropriate space. Outside the Sunrise Café waiting for a table for breakfast recently they noticed the space next door, formerly a chiropractic office and then a head shop called Third Rock, was vacant.

“We had been looking for signs,” Williams said, “and this was the last.”

They leased the store on Oct. 15 and have been working hard to get it stocked and up-and-running in one month. Williams will be the manager and Grigsby will, in addition to helping out in the store, be doing contract social work in the domestic violence area.

Already in stock are such eco-friendly products as chlorine-free disposable diapers, baby wipes and training pants; and plant-based cleaning products, detergents and American-made, non-toxic toys. On the wish list or already on order are tankless water heaters, non-toxic paints, and sun pipes or sun domes, devices that capture outside light and channel it inside.

“We are hoping to interface with other businesses,” Grigsby said. “We want to compliment them, not compete with them.”

A visit to the store will be a learning experience, not only from seeing and experiencing some of the products for the first time, but from informational signs about the environment and sustainability the owners plan to place around the store. They also hope to sponsor Earth Day events and have in-store lectures and hot tea and cookies once a month.

Recycling and the use of recycled materials will also be a big part of the store’s business, Williams said. Among the products made from recycled materials are razors and tooth brushes, towels made from bamboo, items made of recycled glass, and stationary made from old maps. As a service to their customers, Grigsby and Williams will recycle used compact fluorescent bulbs, which contain mercury, and take part in a program run by Verizon that recycles old cell phones as a fundraiser for domestic violence shelters.

According to the women, part of their own education in the field has come from local resources, “the people in town who are so knowledgeable,” many of whom have already stopped in to share their wisdom. They also plan to survey their customers to determine their needs. The process will begin on Nov. 14, when the owners open the doors to the public a few days before the official opening on Nov. 17.

“When it comes to living green, we want to emphasize the doable,” Grigsby said. “We don’t want our customers to feel overwhelmed.”

Contact: vhervey@ysnews.com