THE GOODS : Earth Bound : At Eco Expo, the Emphasis Is on the Practical

Look around your house. Chances are you see a lot more environmental awareness than there was five years ago.

That’s the assessment of experts who have been tracking the American environmental movement since Earth Day ‘90, the high-decibel event that whipped the nation into a frenzy of environmental activity that then seemingly waned.

“The green movement is reshaping,” says Lois Kaufman of Environmental Research Associates in Princeton, N.J. “A couple of years ago, everything was issue-oriented and we saw headlines about oil spills or dolphins caught in tuna nets. Now it is becoming more institutionalized.”

What does this mean to the everyday consumer? An overview is offered this weekend at the fifth annual Eco Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The two days of exhibits, seminars, fashion shows, and food and wine tastings are billed as “proof that the ecological lifestyle is within our reach.”

The exposition, which kicks off the Los Angeles celebration of the 25th anniversary of Earth Day, has provided an ongoing picture of environmental living since film producers Marc and Nina Merson founded it five years ago.

They have watched a steady stream of environmental products moving from little “green” stores to mainstream supermarkets and home supply centers, Marc Merson says.

“We have fewer crazy gimmicks and more practical products at the show this year,” he says.

Kicking off with a Green Business Conference today, Eco Expo opens to the public Saturday and Sunday with a range of activities. Fashion shows at 2 p.m. daily will dramatize how the apparel industry is using everything from recycled milk jugs to old shoes for sportswear, handbags and footwear. The Office of the Future will be stocked with energy-efficient copiers, recycled cartridge printers, notebooks created from computer circuit boards and address books from recycled inner tubes.

The exposition’s offerings for children include posters and models entered in the Young Eco Inventors Contest, the supervised building of an eco-city, magic shows, and a Wildlife Way Station for study of exotic and endangered species.

A major exhibit will be a full-sized environmental home designed by Walter Scott Perry of Systemic Ecological Architecture. The modular eco-home is stocked with such technology as solar panels, energy-efficient fixtures and nontoxic finishes from recycled wood and plastics.

“Most environmental houses have been designed for upscale incomes,” Perry says. “I’d like to see the environmental agenda and solutions become more affordable. Here we are designing a do-it-yourself model.”

The house will be completed during the exposition to show visitors how it works, he says, and eventually sold.

It emphasizes practicality, Perry says, starting with its modular design, which allows it to grow or shrink as user needs change.

“We do have an electrical charger in the carport that is a bit futuristic, but almost everything else is right off the shelf,” Perry says. “I have tried to take the available products and create a healthy, efficient home for the average homeowner.”

Expo visitors can also test-drive several models of alternative energy cars and get a look at the Ford EVent, a concept car designed by consumers for a battery that doesn’t yet exist. “It is built for an advanced lightweight battery that we hope will be available by the turn of the century,” says Ford spokesman Howard Hampton.

The sleek, three-door model, making its debut at Eco Expo, is the result of interviews, focus groups and surveys with 10,000 consumers. “You have to put out a product people want,” Hampton says.

The EVent is still on the horizon, but just about everything else from the 400 exhibitors is available now. The exposition emphasizes shopping for everything from biodegradable golf tees to cornstarch packing peanuts. Visitors can sample organic wines from Fetzer and Frey’s vineyards, hear a debate on organic beef versus a vegetarian diet, and jot down their own green resolutions on an Earth Day Wall.

Joel Makower, editor of the Green Business Letter, says that along with consumers, businesses are getting greener, partly because they’ve realized it can be profitable.

One such business is Home Depot, the 360-store chain where Perry bought most of the materials for his eco house.

Home Depot is committed to improving the environment in the building of its stores and in its merchandise, says Mark Eisen, director of environmental marketing.

“After your decision to have children, your home has the biggest impact (of any life choice) on the environment--not only in how you choose to build it, but in terms of all the lifestyle and maintenance things going on under your roof,” Eisen says.

“What we have realized,” he says, “is that the customer needs the data to make an informed choice. If you are going to use steel instead of wood for your little home improvement addition, or a biodegradable cleaner, or a recycled content flooring tile, you must know these choices exist.”

Eisen can reel off a list of dozens of products that make a home green--some so simple as a kitchen range hood that vents outside rather than recycling the air, or a fly swatter instead of a toxic aerosol.

His advice: “Don’t think of green products as something new and strange. Most of them are mainstream. And there is a constant stream of new, improved environmental products coming into the marketplace.”

“What we have learned since Earth Day 1990,” he adds, “is that environmental isn’t a matter of declaring winners and losers among products, like paper versus plastic. It isn’t that clear-cut.

“You have to judge the trade-offs and make your decisions based on that. If we have the information, we can make informed decisions, not emotional decisions.”

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EXPO PREVIEW

Perrier Glass:

Green Glass Co. has perfected the environmental technique of converting throwaway bottles to glasses, vases and bowls.

Desk:

Phenix Biocomposites combines waste newsprint and soybean flour to make Environ biocomposite, a new finishing material that looks like granite and bonds to wood.

Egg Table:

Frances Anderton’s functional and artistic oval table is made from Syndecrete, a recycled cement product created by David Hertz of Syndesis.

Lawn Mower:

Ryobi America’s battery-powered, rechargeable mulching mower does away with gas cans, spark plugs, extension cords, noise and fumes.

Electric Car:

Ford’s EVent, a stylish and aerodynamic concept car, was “designed” by consumers for a lightweight battery that doesn’t yet exist.

Eco-Home:

Model of Walter Scott Perry’s modular environmental home to be completed at Eco Expo. Designed with the average homeowner in mind, it is stocked with off-the-shelf green technology.

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ECO EXPO

When: April 8-9, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Where: Los Angeles Convention Center.

Cost: Adults, $7; children under 12, free.

For more information: (818) 754-4488.