I caught up with the very busy mom, realtor and green products distributor Hilary Davis just after she received an award from the Bay Area Green Business Program.    

The vivacious Davis wears at least two professional hats, which are not only compatible but complimentary. One as a realtor and “Green Home Specialist” at Marin Modern Residential Real Estate where she helps clients green their homes. The other is as an Eco-Consultant/Advisor for Green Irene & Only Green where she offers advice, solutions and products to customers interested in sustainable living in their home, business or lifestyle. 

A native of Marin County, Davis grew up in San Rafael and is married to Robert Werner, a popular fitness trainer at the Jewish Community Center. Whenever she has a minute, she likes to hike and bike. Between the two careers and raising Jayden, the 4-year-old son she and Werner adopted from Guatemala, they are few and far between.  The family lives in the Lucas Valley area of San Rafael in a Mid-Century Modern Eichler. It seems appropriate that Marin Modern is the number one real estate company for these types of homes in San Rafael. 

As a realtor Davis decided to become a Certified Green Building Professional, so that she could better advise her clients. She went through a series of trainings with a company called Build it Green.  

Originally started as a series of classes to help those in the construction trades (plumbers, electricians, tile setters etc.) understand greener practices they can use in their businesses, the courses are now opening up to realtors, designers and architects. “I learned easy solutions to being more sustainable and how we can conserve energy, water, use non toxic products, consider air quality and reuse, reduce and recycle compost,” Davis said.  

Marin Modern is a “high tech, high touch” company which has “modern representation for modern times,” Davis said, “It is a fantastic agency for people who are relocating to Marin County.” 

The Green House Effect  

Besides her working knowledge, Davis is now tied into a huge group of specialists with a similar interest in nurturing mother earth.

Davis is the ideal realtor for the type of client interested in greening their home and wanting a lifestyle using sustainable living practices, in home, yard and property. That client would want their house to be: energy efficient, water efficient, made from non toxic building materials, like recycled glass for counter tops, non VOC paints (VOC is volatile organic compound. Benjamin Paints has non-toxic paint in their Natura line.) 

That client tends to choose renewable (FSC) cabinetry, FSC certified wood, recycled content in countertops and tile and energy efficient lighting (CFL and LED.) The typical house her client would like is either custom built or was built in the last few years. 

When buying a house, Davis said that “Ninety nine percent of people buy on emotion. They find something that fits their needs and their budget. I can educate and help them in greening a house as it is, and also when/if they choose to remodel.  There are many more choices now, and each wrong choice can have a significant effect, for instance, on indoor air quality for their child. 

“Because I have a family and small child of my own, I am well are of the difference that things like air purifiers in the baby room, water filters and bath water conservation kits can make. I am seeing that my clients, especially those with young children themselves, are particularly interested in the greening process I can offer,” she said. 

Green practices save money - if not immediately for sure in the long run - but primarily green practices speak to the comfort and health of the family who lives in that green home. Not to mention what greening does for our planet.   

Eco-Consulting and Green Irene Products 

More than anything, Davis is spreading the G word – green. Being an advisor and distributor for Green Irene offers her a way to suggest real products which offer change for clients and our local communities.  She can give practical advice to move families toward a more healthy, green and low-impact lifestyle. “Most of the time,” she said, “it is just slightly changing what you are already doing.” 

Green Irene sells basic cleaning products, lightbulbs which offer energy efficient lighting in shapes for almost every fixture including CFLs and LEDs, an amazing ionic purifier, the Activeion ionator, which is a powerful appliance that cleans without chemicals.   It converts ordinary tap water into a dirt removing bacteria killing agent. And it works. I saw it in action at her home.  

Davis also showed me the Green Irene indoor composter  NatureMill PRO XE Automated Indoor Composter,which is compact, efficient and perfect for a homeowner (even one with a larger family).  “Unless you have a huge garden you really don’t need those unsightly 40 gallon size composters,” she said.  I watched and photographed as she scraped her son’s left over scrambled eggs into it. It is quiet, portable, just outside her back door and the cost is $400. 

Sitting at her dining room table, I mentioned that the air purifier (from Green Irene of course) seemed to be working much more effectively than the one in my home, and she said there are many types including one for the germs and allergens in baby’s room and one that will remove dust, dander and pet odor.  

Besides totes and stainless steel water bottles, which make great gifts, Green Irene also has serious solutions like water heater covers, Mercury device recycling kits, and a line of products for water conservation.

There are green children’s toys too, like eco-friendly glue, modeling dough and paint. Her son was playing with a green recycling truck made out of 100 percent plastic bottles. Green toys save energy, and they also teach children about cans and papers.  On the side of the recycling truck box, it says, “On average every pound of recycled plastic used to make green toys saves enough energy to run a laptop computer for a month or to power a TV for three weeks. 

The Green Irene products are priced competitively to what you would see in a supermarket which carries eco-friendly items. But most supermarkets don’t have the expansive product line that Green Irene does. Many of their items would be found in a home improvement store or an eco-friendly hardware store.   

According to Davis, “Green Irene is like having 100 stores all in one location, all online and through one site. The items are drop shipped to my customers’ homes, arriving in about 10 days, and everything has a 30 day guarantee. 

“All of the products are very well researched,” she said.  “The owners of Green Irene take the guess work out of a product you might be looking for.  Instead of going to a home improvement store and glazing over trying to figure out which showerhead out of 30 might conserve the most water, they have narrowed it down to the top two or three and fully explain the assets of each on their site.”   

I was amazed that one twist sponge cloth is the equivalent of 17 rolls of paper towels and the biodegradable tableware (paper plates/bowls/cups) to use in place of paper goods is made of sugarcane, or the cups of biodegradable corn plastic.

Dana Armanino, Green Business Coordinator Sustainability Team for Marin County Community Development Agency says that the Bay Area Green Business Program has certified over 400 businesses in Marin County and over 2,200 in the Bay Area. It recognizes businesses that comply with all environmental regulations and conserve energy, water and other materials, reduce waste and prevent pollution. These businesses help protect valuable natural resources by doing the right thing as part of their everyday business operations. We encourage all certified businesses to proudly display the Green Business logo so that customers can ‘close the loop’ by shopping ‘green’.  

The Marin County homeowner is interested in healthy non-toxic items for their family, they want to save money and they want to use things that are good for the environment. “Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something and all those little ‘some things’ add up to a lot, “Davis asserts. 

 She not only walks the walk, she drives a Prius.  Of course she does.