It’s easy bein’ green

From eco-friendly paint to recycled furniture and fluorescent light bulbs, one local storeowner has brought a little “green” to downtown Culpeper.

Sharon Clark opened Green Nest one week ago, using storage and office space formerly occupied by her other business, Pepperberries. The store offers earth-friendly gifts such as candles, lotions and children’s toys.

“Green Nest will serve as a valuable resource in our community to share our passion for going green,” Clark read from the store’s mission statement. “Our mission is to make a difference.”

Clark’s gift shops now occupy the first floor of the building at the corner of Main and Davis streets — known for being Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill’s boyhood home.

“We had to do it very inexpensively, because it’s not like we’re doing great and we have all this money to open a store,” Clark said. “It’s just the opposite.”

Green Nest is a business separate from Pepperberries, though shoppers will recognize its sales associates from the adjoining shop. Former Pepperberries seasonal employee Courtney Simpson, who conducted the bulk of the research on Green Nest’s inventory, will serve as the assistant manager.

The store’s mission statement specifies its requirements: that all products support the environment by being made of organic, natural and/or recyclable materials, not employ animal testing and use minimal packaging. Companies that forge relationships with Green Nest must be socially responsible, Clark said, and abide by fair-trade regulations.

“It’s been such an eye-opener,” Simpson said. “Little things you don’t even think of, like how things are made and where they go once they’re thrown away. Once you start researching, you learn a lot.”

Green Nest features dog collars made from bamboo, colorful one-of-a-kind totes made from recycled billboard materials and water bottles, shoes with soles made from tires and even stationery made from paper embedded with seeds that can be planted to grow flowers.

“It’s just nice to give people a different option,” Simpson said.

The intense research for inventory seeped from Green Nest’s practices to Pepperberries — which will switch from plastic to paper shopping bags — and even Simpson and Clark’s habits at home.

“Neither of us recycled at home,” Clark said. “And I’m embarrassed. We didn’t do that stuff. But it’s not just when we walk in here; it’s our lives.”

Clark said she found most of her green gifts’ prices comparable to non-green items. Jewelry, however, is typically pricier because of the recycled metal and glass. But a diaper bag made from recycled bottles ($84) is less than a Vera Bradley diaper bag at $90.

Even the gift boxes are made from 100-percent recycled materials. So when Clark received a shipment filled with packing peanuts from a “green” company, she raised her eyebrows. But the white fluff was actually water-soluble cornstarch puffs. Her friend and volunteer employee Waverley Lee tested it out.

“It just dissolved in my mouth,” Lee said, laughing.

Clark said she doesn’t plan to hold a grand-opening party any time soon.

“We’re just opening,” she said. “We’re respectful for the people who are having to close their doors. For me, right now’s not a good time for a big party. It’s kind of quiet, and we’ll open and our name will get out there.”