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The “Future Green” store came to birth with the idea to bring all socially responsible shopping into one special place. Future Green provides shoppers with the ability to connect with some of the most exclusive in Organic, Fair Trade, Re-Created and Safe Interior Decorating tools.
Lisa, the founder of Future Green, has been living the socially responsible lifestyle for over 20 plus years. Being truly conscience of what is allowed into the store you can rest assured that the products you purchase create positive impressions on people and our environment. This is not a trend for us, and we are not jumping on the bandwagon like most, this is a pure healthy lifestyle we respectfully live. We hope you will also discover something special within….
Lisa at New Zealand Waterfall
Future Green was designed with sustainability as our forefront.
The store is unique in its history and it’s original design. This solid brick building is lined with a unique stone called Tennessee pink and the bricks came from a special quarry. The store’s age is around 1900’s. It was a dentist office and apartment units at one time and then purchased to become a recording studio. It was gutted and then soon abandoned. The building sat alone for over 5years.
When we came on the scene we wanted to keep the original brick intact as much as possible. Our architect Jamie Vega helped us create a building that enhanced its classic look and the full ECO potential this space could offer as a retail store.
In the front we took out the old windows and had to remove some of precious bricks but we put them aside and recycled them for later use. Here we will list the different design techniques we did to make this space as sustainable as we could on our budget:
1) Large operable windows were installed in the front and in the back to tap cross winds that circulate and air conditioning was not needed as much or at all. Three ceiling fans enhance this greatly by pulling up cooler air in summer and returning warmer air in winter.
2) For additional lighting we took out bricked in windows and added glass block that had a higher R-value and gave back a classy look.
3) We added solar tubes to the ceiling to bring in even more natural lighting.
4) Our heating system is a radiant heated floor with a high efficiency furnace.
5) Air conditioning units that are very quiet and high efficiency were later installed. We use them only about 4 times a year.
6) In the ceiling we blew in cotton insulation three feet thick to beef up our R-Value.
7) We installed a soap stone wood burner, “Manchester” that is capable of heating 2,500 Sq ft for supplement heating. We use scrap wood from the city and urban areas and this keeps our building toasty most of the winter.
8) We recently installed Solar PV panels on top to help offshoot our cost of lighting the outside (we usually do not light up our outside at night) and save energy. These solar panels may help run a pump for biodiesel.
9) Also installed recently was a two hundred gallon rain barrel that we will put to use in the backyard after creating a rain garden next year.
10) Interior was painted using only low VOC paint and on the walls of the bathroom and behind the counter we used American Clay natural plaster to give a warm transition into the bricks next to these walls.
11) Our window boxes in our front are “Edible Designed” so they function not only as beauty, but we just made fresh basil pesto from them last night! Included in our flower boxes are: Basil, mint, curry, lettuce, potato vines, chives, and a host of pansies and much more!
12) Oh yes I almost forgot about those recycled bricks! We used them along with the old glass block windows in our entranceway and to build a countertop. Add a few old re-salvaged doors we fond and vela a beautiful functional office space and check out area.
As we live near by we either walk or bike around our community. Both my husband and I drive bio-diesel cars that run either on homebrew biodiesel or waste oil. When we travel we try to limit our footprints as much as possible. At events and at home we use biodegradable plastic when we can and recycle as much as possible. We carry our own shopping bags and have started a small permiculture garden at home that feeds us through the summer.
Creating an environment that lives in harmony with the surroundings urban landscapes is both rewarding and functional. Businesses should be no exception and can even play a bigger role and lead the way. The homeowner who see these ideas at work or the office may want to bring them home! Imagine that!
Radiant heat flooring
Solar Tube & low VOC paint in ceiling
Recycled door & bricks counter
Herb garden flower box
Soapstone fireplace
Solar PV panels
Swee's grease car, interview with channel 12
Donations:
Donations:
Future Green, even though a baby (only 2 1/2 years old now), believes in giving back to the community and helping out whenever possible. In the past few years Future Green has given donations that have exceeded over $10,000! That huge for a very small company that is just getting off the ground! We want to thank our loyal customers for making all that possible and we will continue to help out whenever we can.
Here is a list of places we have helped out:
Milwaukee Public Schools (several years in a row)
CORE El Centro Latin Non-For-Profit Healing Center
Winter Fun in Bay View
Wisconsin Partners for Sustainability
MOSE Radio (Milwaukee School of Engineering) (several years in a row)
Milwaukee Public Radio
Big Brothers Big Sisters (giving each child in need a warm responsible adult)
Epoch Times News Paper (a national global news paper that is independently run)
The Holiday New Year Spectacular (a celebration of traditional Chinese culture)
The Humboldt Park 4th of July Association (our community 4th of July Celebration)
T’ai Chi Ch’uan Center of Milwaukee for their Chinese New Year Festival
Friendship Church (helping people with funeral expenses who cannot afford them)
Out Post Natural Foods (with a staff raffles)
The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
Habitat for Humanity
Friends of Falun Gong (children who were orphaned by the persecution in China)
Tsunami Victims around the world
Flood Relief in India
Green Party Fundraiser
Doggie Park (a place where dogs can be dogs in our community)
Milwaukee Restoration Church
Milwaukee BioDiesel Co-op
Amnesty International
Conservatory of Nature
World Wild Life Fund
The list goes on and on…..
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