Green businesses spring up in Oakland County

Thursday, February 25, 2010 | Source: metromode

Running a truly green business in Metro Detroit doesn't necessarily require big-ticket items like solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal heating systems. Sometimes it just requires the right attitude and making a lot of the right little decisions to maximize sustainability.

Here are a couple of firms that are doing the little things to make a big impact on the local environment:

- Passage to Yoga built out its space in Southfield with features like low-VOC paints, bamboo flooring, energy-efficient lighting, recycled building and design materials, soy-based carpeting, low-flow water fixtures, an air filtration system, natural lighting via skylights, and recycling options. The firm also made a pledge not to use plastic products and sells yoga mats that aren't made of PVC.

Matthew Darling, director and owner of Passage to Yoga, says it's about making a series of the right decisions to conform to a sustainability ethos, which he says complements the principals of yoga. To be "not fanatical but responsible."

"As much as we could do, we have," Darling says. "It's not like we put these things in and said that's it."

- Don Thomas Sporthaus in Birmingham was constructed largely with recycled or renewable materials, such as entryway tiles composed of 98 percent recycled glass and concrete and industrial-grade bamboo. It was painted with low-VOC paints and has carpets made of recycled yarn. Several of the store's product displays were constructed out of natural wood, and all-natural grass cloth wall covering was used throughout.

LED signs were installed on the building's exterior. Inside, light sensors were installed to turn lights off when rooms are not in use.

Source: Don Thomas Sporthaus and Matthew Darling, director and owner of Passage to Yoga
Writer: Jon Zemke