Eco-friendly homes and gardens of Bellingham will be open to the public on June 27-28 for Sustainable Connections’ 13th annual Imagine This! Home & Landscape Tour.
For $10, participants can visit local homes that use innovative techniques for green design, reclaimed materials, net zero energy, rainwater harvesting, passive solar construction, rain gardens, permaculture and low maintenance landscaping.
Tickets for the tour are on sale at Village Books and both Community Food Co-op locations. On the day of the event, each stop on the tour will have tickets available for purchase with cash or check.
“We are excited to showcase this year’s participants,” said Rose Lathrop, Green Building and Smart Growth Manager for Sustainable Connections, in a press release. “Tour attendees will be delighted with innovative remodels, landscapes, and watershed friendly solutions. Each site has a story to be told with many useful tips, affordable ideas and takeaways to help jumpstart your next green project.”
An example of a site on the tour is the newly-built Lafayette Homes, at 2939 Lafayette St., in the Birchwood Neighborhood. The low-income homes are one of the latest projects by Kulshan Community Land Trust. They feature Energy Star appliances, LED lighting, solar panels built by Bellingham-based iTek Energy and water-saving fixtures.
As part of this year’s tour, Sustainable Connections is throwing its first ever Sustainable Living Festival on Saturday, June 27 at 210 E. Laurel St., in the Alley District. The festival will feature businesses, products and services for sustainable living, and tools and ideas for energy improvements, water-reuse and efficiency, urban farming tools, native plants, eco-friendly paints and earthen ovens. The festival will also include kids activities, giveaways, games, prizes, a beer garden and a food truck.
Admission to the Sustainable Living Festival is free. Plantas Nativa, a native plant nursery adjacent to the festival, will donating 15 percent of its native plant sales to Sustainable Connections that day.
Learn more online at www.sustainableconnections.org.
