Mindstates
GOING GREEN:
The Color of Healing and Renewal
by Jessica Valentine
Tiny, bright blue dots with buzzing wings reflect off a peaceful pond in the twilight, while orange and opal fairy-like creatures come to greet them for a dance in nature’s nightlife. This really isn’t a fairyland and those creatures aren’t figments of the imagination. They are the mystifying dragonflies which have come to prosper in Mary Lyon’s new habitat: her green home.
Lyon built her “Flintstones Meets the Jetsons” green home about three years ago in Brentwood, California. Not only is her home made of environmentally friendly materials, but it also rests in the surroundings of a massive, eco-friendly landscape.
As a parenting columnist, reporter, and prestigious jewelry maker, “The Crafty Mom” has merged her artsy side with her earth-loving personage. With her energetic spirit, Lyon created a home with innovative, yet natural features. For 30 years she’d dreamed of creating a sustainable, environmentally friendly home in which she could feel metaphysically close to Mother Earth.
“It’s a really nice environment to be in,” Lyon reflects. “It’s emotionally and spiritually sustaining, as well as [having green] construction components.”
Lyon’s green home is about 6,700 square feet with three bedrooms, a guest quarter and seven bathrooms, all surrounded by a quarter acre of land blooming with native plants.
Lyon hopes the house she built will have a domino effect on other home renovators. Just like so many people who have become more aware of global warming, she hopes eco-friendly building materials and green landscaping will become the norm with homeowners everywhere.
“There has been a huge struggle in the environmental movement to encourage people to take responsibility,” Lyon says. “At this point in 2008, a majority of Americans agrees that there is such a thing as global warming. We’re still working on the notion that people have caused [this].”
So, what on earth is green landscaping? With no pun intended, isn’t all landscaping green? The answer to the latter question is a simple, “no.”
The gist of green landscaping is planting vegetation that is native to one’s geographic area. For example, planting red roses in southern California doesn’t make sense if saving the environment is top priority. Conventional landscaping tends to go against nature, in that artificial means are used to help nurture gardens, such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Basically, the means by which gardeners “enrich” their yards are invasive and dangerous to the plants and animals that naturally inhabit the area. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, traditional landscaping decreases biodiversity due to invasive plants taking over the native habitat on which wildlife depends. Overuse of pesticides and land clearing also contribute to a reduction in the variety of plants and animals.
Some might not think plants native to southern California are very pleasing to the eye, but Lyon counters that native plants, such as mallows and geraniums, bring an array of color to her yard.
“We went all native and drought tolerant,” Lyon explains. “This is stuff that you’ll find in the Santa Monica Mountains, in the coastal valleys, and on Catalina.”
One of her main joys is being able to eat from her own garden. “We have apple trees that are in this little segment of our garden where I plant herbs, onions, mint and a few little veggies,” Lyon says.
Perhaps the best part of green landscaping is creating a flow with Mother Nature. Lyon would agree by giving an example of how tribal America lived in absolute harmony with nature. Lyon feels that her landscaping does just that when she says, “we’ve met all the conditions for life forms to thrive.”
With some research and a green architect, Lyon found herself defying the gardening norm and building a true habitat. Not only had she merged with nature, but she created an eco-friendly and cost-efficient masterpiece.
Everything in the “Flintsones Meets the Jetsons” green home is powered from the sun. Solar panels rest on the roof, which is made of recycled tires.
Gray laundry water is recycled into an automated sprinkler system to nurture the landscape. Lyon says this innovative aspect alone largely decreased her utility bill.
This ingenious water system doesn’t seem to compare with the passive heating and cooling system in the house. The water system is hooked up to the thermostat. In the colder months when the system is engaged, tanks in the basement release warm water through PVC (polyvinyl chloride) piping, which runs beneath the slate floors. As the floor heats, warm air rises. When the room reaches the desired temperature, the warm water tanks disengage, the ceiling panels and skylights open, and the house “breathes” on its own.
“Another thing about the skylights is that we have 26 of them and they let in an awful lot of light,” describes Lyon. “So our house is light inside until the last drop of twilight.
When darkness descends, a vantage lighting system detects a person in a room, causing the lights to flick on when someone enters, then off again when someone leaves. It sure sounds a little savvier than the Jetsons.
With Ultratouch housing insulation made of recycled, blue jeans material and other high quality natural fibers, it’s hard to imagine this sort of a place as affordable for everyone. Lyon says she hopes green building will become more economical in the near future. But as with most environmental and economical trends, politicians have a great effect on popular supply and demand.
Lyon anticipates, “Hopefully with the next [presidential] administration there will be much more of a mindset toward things like tax breaks and enterprise credits for companies that go green.”
If it’s not affordable now, Lyon urges people to be optimistic.
“I’m old enough to remember when the pocket calculator cost between $325 and $350,” she recalls. “How much do we spend on pocket calculators now? Like a buck and a half?”
With this line of thinking, we can expect easier access to green living; but just like anything else, it will take time. One thing is for sure: nothing compares to living physically and spiritually closer to Mother Nature. Unless you are the little dragonfly who wallows around the twilight in Mary Lyon’s ethereal kingdom.
To learn more about going green, visit www.epa.gov. For more information on Mary Lyon’s green home, call 323.462.4122. Jessica Valentine is a writer from Oklahoma living in San Diego. Contact her at valentinej@hush.com or 405.762.6368.