This morning in my inbox: Orlando Bloom announced at Wednesday night’s Global Green pre-Oscars party that he’s building a green, solar-powered home in London. And an RISMedia report stating that despite the downturn in the general housing market, demand for green homes continues to be a hot trend. Both are great news for all of us.
Orlando Bloom has been a strong green living advocate for years—and one who really walks the talk. (A couple of us from the Natural Home staff had a chance to meet him three years ago when we sponsored the first Global Green pre-Oscars party.) It’s always heartening when someone with his reach and sex appeal takes on spreading the word. The word just spreads all that much faster.
And the public is getting it. The National Association of Home Builders and McGraw-Hill Construction project that green homes will account for 5-10 percent of housing starts by 2010, up from 2 percent in 2005. The RISMedia article said that during the International Builders Show earlier this month in Anaheim, green materials suppliers were reporting banner sales despite a somber overall mood owing to a 14.7 percent drop in single-family housing starts.
That’s great news, but I’m still not content. Ten percent is a start, but I’m not resting until we get to 100. I believe there will be a day when green building is not a hot trend or a fad but simply the way we all live—because it’s simply best way, and why wouldn’t we? News like today’s is heartening. But when we’re all living in eco-friendly, solar-powered homes, we’ll look back and wonder what the big deal was.
Anyway, here’s my ulterior motive for this post. It gives me an opportunity to post my blatant photo-op with Orlando (that's me, on the far left). Is that guy hot, or what?