Green Hero of Chicago-Jessa Brinkmeyer: Making Chicago Stylish and Sustainable

Many people look to incorporate their environmental responsibilities into their daily lives yet don’t know how. However, what if showing your green pride was as easy as simply picking out your outfit in the morning. Jessa Brinkmeyer, owner of the stylish eco-friendly boutique, Pivot, shows Chicagoans that by dressing with the environment in mind we can reduce our impact while increasing our style factor. For this reason we recognize Jessa as this week’s GreenWerks Green Hero of Chicago.

Walking into Jessa’s Pivot Boutique, you’d never suspect it was filled with clothing made from organic cotton, surplus materials, or recycled wood (in terms of the jewelry). Jessa understands that consumers today aren’t interested in being bombarded with environmentally savvy tips so she only adds subtle green touches—like her clothing tags. On the back of every tag there is information on what that piece is made of that makes it more sustainable than conventional cotton. “The tags are meant to not be too overwhelming. I want people to walk in and feel like you’re in any other boutique,” Jessa stresses.

Started in September 2007, this boutique was the first of its kind in Chicago. Jessa never dreamed of owning a retail store, yet she saw a need in this city and feeling passionate enough about the benefits of alternative materials she felt inspired to open her store, “I felt there was a void in Chicago for a place dedicated to eco-fashion and its education and promotion…yet there were great designers here.”

Jessa sees a lot of business as Chicagoans are slowly catching the green fever. Despite this recent increase in environmental enthusiasm, people are still a bit hesitant about eco-fashion, “There are lots of misconceptions out there. People think of burlap sacks when they think of this business,” Jessa admits. Another issue is the fact that Americans go for the cheaper price along with cheaper materials. This trend only leads to clothing that needs to be thrown out in a year as it lacks durability and quality—making this constant cycle of buying and re-buying an unsustainable cycle. Jessa shares that we, as a nation are lost in our efforts to be more consumer conscious, “Right now, we’re focused on fast fashion—people don’t think of the process and where things came from.” Her one request is that people become more informed about where their clothes were made and how they were made—from there, people will see for themselves the harmful and unnecessary steps that exist in conventional clothing and products.

Jessa attributes a lot of her success to Chicago’s recent focus on environmental responsibility. She’s actively involved in Chicago’s green community, something she describes as “vibrant and thriving.” She believes it’s a great community and they’re even seeing new people come into the mix on a regular basis. Having people with the same interests and desires for this city can only positively influences these businesses, yet there still is some progress to be made. “Some people don’t come in to my store because they might not feel connected with the green movement or they’re intimidated—some people can be intimidated by the process of greening your lifestyle but it’s just about making different choices,” Jessa notes.

We recognize Jessa for her dedication to the green community and her desire to inform conventional consumers to think differently about the products they use and wear. Simply by reevaluating these processes she urges that we can make better choices for the planet and even make better choices for our appearance. Jessa has made it easy for Chicagoans to make this happen, “I want people to realize that you don’t have to sacrifice style and comfort to create a conscious wardrobe.”

Green Hero of Chicago- Joe Silver: Supplying for the Green Demand

Having grown up in a construction supply family, it was an easy decision for Joe Silver to take on the family business. However, Joe chose not only to uphold the business but more importantly he chose to modify his product to be more applicable to the times—the more environmentally responsible times. Joe Silver is a partner in one of the leading sustainable building supply companies in Chicago, and for this reason he is this week’s GreenWerks Green Hero of Chicago.

After having originally founded GreenMaker Supply Co., Joe recently made the move to merge with Green Depot allowing his business to flourish in not only Chicago but other states as well. Joe’s Green Depot sells sustainable building supplies, whether it’s paints, carpets, cabinets, or any materials needed to build or remodel your space in an environmentally conscious manner. Green Depot prides itself on selling products that fit its green criteria of air quality, conservation, local, energy, and responsibility. These five staples are displayed all throughout their store and website allowing consumers to actually see what makes these green products different from conventional products.

Joe urges consumers to look into using more sustainable products as it is a smart, easy decision, “These materials lead to better indoor health—we take out all the harmful chemicals. Like let’s take our cabinets: there’s no added formaldehydes.” He also points out the better sustainability of his products, “Our flooring is all renewable.”

Despite Joe’s success–his stores are doubling in number every year, he admits that there is somewhat of a green resistance among consumers who have only bought conventional products, “In the beginning, we were working mostly on education.” A major deterrent for Joe’s business is the misconception that the pricing for green products is much higher than conventional products yet he shoots down this theory, “Half of our store right now is down to conventional pricing—there’s little difference anymore.”

As far as the hesitation to build green because it may just be a fad, Joe believes that’s ridiculous. Having grown up seeing the trends of construction and remodeling he is confident that being more environmentally responsible in your home or building is the future, “It’s here to stay—it’s not green, I hate the word green because that sounds like a niche—this way of building should just be the norm.”

What can we, the individual, do to help make sustainable building supplies the “norm”? According to Joe, it’s all about our decisions, “Contractors are afraid of change, it’s the homeowners that are making the demand.” Let’s make the demand, Chicago!

Start of Construction for Hutchinson Residence

We got some great feedback on the recent pictures we posted of the Oak Park project. I stopped out last week at the Hutchinson Residence where we are doing an entire home rehab. Our project manager Mark and site manager Santana has been doing a great job keeping this 8 week project on schedule. You can see from the photos below that in the first two weeks we did a successful deconstruction of the interior of the home and have begun framing out the new layout. The entire floor plan is being changed to open up this Chicago home, including relocation of the stairs which has been completed. Are you ready to have GreenWerks start your project? Give us a call today.

Framing, plumbing and electric are all working on site today!

The stairway was relocated and he built out the floor to cover up the area where the previous stair way existed.

Santana the GreenWerks site manager is reviewing the blueprints for this Chicago home remodeling project.