People looking to improve their homes now have a powerful resource to find the best environmentally friendly products. WholeBuffalo, which officially launched in February, gives consumers a one-stop product resource site to easily find the best eco-conscious products for the home from the tens of thousands available on the market. The site currently covers categories ranging from energy saving appliances and efficient heating equipment to solar panels and day lighting options.
“WholeBuffalo is designed to make it easy for people to find great, environmentally friendly products for home improvements and upgrades,” said Co-founder Lindsay Kavet. “WholeBuffalo takes the work out of identifying materials and products that perform well, save money, and are good for the environment.”
WholeBuffalo pulls together an immense amount of publicly available information, including efficiency data from government labs, environmental organizations and trade associations, and combines this with published expert and user reviews to provide hundreds of specific recommendations on virtually all major purchases for home remodeling, retrofits, or additions. Each report recommends the best products to buy, with detailed information on pricing and locally available incentives. WholeBuffalo calculates the environmental impact of each purchase, and gives estimates of operating costs and payback periods. The site also features detailed reports and resource links.
“I think most people want to choose eco friendly products when they renovate, but find it difficult to know how well many so-called ‘green’ products actually perform.” Said Kathryn Gray, a site beta tester. “WholeBuffalo allowed me to find products that were not only efficient, but worked great in our home.”
Site Content and Rating System
WholeBuffalo is the user-friendly way to create a greener home. Products and their benefits are covered in detail, taking the mystery out of sales pitches from vendors and building professionals. A consumer can go from knowing nothing about an appliance to buying the most environmentally friendly model in less than 20 seconds. Or, for those who want to find out more, the site provides analysis on environmental impact, has links to all major manufacturers, explains cryptic industry terms in easy-to-understand language, and provides an exhaustive listing of the sources used to make recommendations.
WholeBuffalo currently offers recommendations and reports in fifty categories. Some of the most popular reports cover water filters, LED lighting, radiant barriers, solar light tubes, and efficient clothes washers. Recommendations are tailored for different groups of users, with products best suited for various locales, budgets, and personal preferences.
“As a mom, I want to do the right thing for my children and the world, but also know how little time parents have to delve into product brochures or compare reviews looking for the perfect mix of ‘it works’ and ‘it’s good for the environment’” said Kavet. “WholeBuffalo is designed to make buying green a one-step procedure, with clear recommendations and built-in purchasing options. I wish I’d had this years ago.”
The site will soon add a bimonthly newsletter, containing eco-friendly tips, seasonal alerts, and warnings about frauds and scams to watch out for when greening your home. To sign up, click “get the newsletter” on the home page at http://www.wholebuffalo.com/ and enter your email address.
WholeBuffalo Background
WholeBuffalo came about when founders Gregg and Lindsay Kavet attempted to make their home more environmentally friendly. Some of their home improvement projects were great successes, but others either failed to work well or had little real impact on their environmental footprint. The couple realized that not only was it hard to understand competing environmental claims, but choosing wrong could mean living with a sub-standard product for a long time.
Deciding there had to be a better way, the couple established WholeBuffalo in 2010 as a way to help others find environmentally friendly products for the home. The name came from the Plains Indians’ concept of “Using the Whole Buffalo”. As settlers in the plains shot buffaloes for sport or for hides, they wasted a tremendous resource that had supplied Indian tribes for thousands of years. Today, a similar wasteful attitude in how we use and consume things has caused immense damage and disruption around the globe.
The site is designed to provide eco-friendly product recommendations for anyone renovating or improving their home. Ratings start by examining the environmental aspects of a particular product—how much energy it saves, how much it reduces waste or minimizes toxicity. After the top environmental performers are identified, WholeBuffalo researchers comb through expert and user reviews, checking to see how the products hold up in the real world. The products selected for recommendation are great for the environment and great for users, proving that doing good doesn’t mean making sacrifices.
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