Welcome to SWB's Green Page

To all our readers-whether you work with rock for your livelihood or just for your own pleasure:

While stone itself is not a renewable resource, it is a natural and sustainable resource and is a perfect candidate for green building material.  As demonstrated by the LEED guidelines (see following article), there are numerous ways in which we can use stone in an ecologically responsible manner. Therefore, this site will be a dedicated forum in which both homeowners and professionals alike can find resources for education, enlightenment, and perhaps inspiration in smart-scaping.  And since landscaping is only a portion of the sustainability push, we want to promote education in all elements of sustainable building. Our intent in this endeavor is to allow those of us who just got on the bus to catch up, and to lend some rational thinking to this challenge: how can we be better stewards of the land? 

In our GREEN CLIPPINGS we will highlight specific “Green” Projects in Southern California, list direct links to relevant websites (e.g. USBGC), offer both pro- and con-articles on “Green” building products (e.g. pervious concrete, synthetic vs live turf) along with Green-building trends, suggest ways to live "greener" (to fight global warming, become a vegetarian) and provide “Green” definitions (how does one measure a carbon footprint?) in the Green Glossary section. We will highlight local artists and professionals who have succeeded in making us acknowledge that “green” is achievable. 

Additionally, we are inviting participation from you. Send us your ideas, questions, share relevant articles and especially remarkable websites.  If you find a particular artist, architect, project, or product that piques your interest, please forward it to us. 

And, yes, the word “green” may well be overused. But any movement in elevating the awareness of our limited resources can be nothing short of marvelous.  We welcome your comments.

                                                                                                  Michelle McLeod