Greening a building can seem like a tall hill to climb, what with
LEED certification and Energy Star rating and all that technical stuff. But it doesn't have to be a mountain, as residents of
Grinnell Place Lofts in Corktown have found.
Vanita Mistry moved into the building in 2007 after a brief stint at an apartment complex in Troy. She hated the fact that there was no on-site recycling program and liked that the Grinnell's developer built pick-up from
Recycle Here! into the condo association fees. "It's one of the reasons that I wanted to live in the building," she says. "(Recycling) is kind of a pain in the butt otherwise."
Apparently, other like minds were drawn to it as well. Residents have chipped in to build four raised garden beds. "We hope to expand that," says Mistry. "Right now, we are growing vegetables and flowers."
One couple is collecting rain water from their roof access for the garden, another simple initiative that Mistry hopes to expand building-wide. There is also a shared compost pile and all common area light bulbs have been replaced with
CFLs.
Dedicated bike parking is also high on Mistry's green to-do list. "There are more and more people moving in with more and more bikes, and it's getting out of control!" she says, promising to bring it up at a association meeting, which is how all of these sustainability efforts have gotten started. "We get together and make it happen, and usually, we want the same things."
Currently, the Grinnell's 33 units are about half-occupied. For information, call 313-961-6121.
Source: Vanita Mistry
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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