One Cool Shop: One Green Street

It was pretty sudden. As if overnight, the much lauded One Green Street was leaving it's West U address and coming to the Heights. The move might be considered a downgrade by some in 77005, but One Green Street proudly proclaimed "It had to be The Heights" across every avenue of social media.

Oustide of One Green Street, you're greated by Seedbombs. "Throw + Grow" grass and wildflowers!

I stopped by One Green Street's One Green Party on August 25, to get a first hand look at what an "organic lifestyle destination" is and what it was going to do in the Heights. In addition to a super friendly staff and a great looking revamp of the former Artful Corner, I discovered some pretty cool products and an owner with a solidly green mission: to make you healthier and happier by offering alternatives in a widely varied roster of products, promising to make the decision to buy and use them "hip" and easy.

If you're someone who's interested in more natural alternatives, Sherry Eichberger has spent hundreds and hundreds of hours researching products for you. She has looked high and low for items that are good for people and good for the environment. From lip balm to mattresses, Sherry has searched out what she considers some of the safest, most natural, least toxic products available for you and your home. Her passion for healthier living is fully embodied in One Green Street.

One Green Street is comprised of quadrants called The Gathering Place, Whole Body, Healthy Home, and Full Circle Fashion. In these rooms, Sherry has compiled items that are unique, inspired, fun, stylish and conscientious. You can read the labels if you want, but you don't need to. That leg work has been done for you. Instead, spend your time asking Sherry or store manager Yuliana to tell the story of how and where the product was found, about the small business behind it, what makes it special enough to land in the store. 

Gorgeous jewelry, much of it locally made, in Full Circle Fashion

Currently the store carries 3 lines of eco-friendly handbags, 

including these that can also charge your cell phone!

One Green Street's brand established itself quickly and after three years in business has a trusted reputation in the eco-conscious community. These days vendors offering natural products actually seek Sherry out, instead of the other way around. Not everyone will make the shelves. Sherry has established a vetting process "with 'local' as the number one priority." Sherry explains that "It is important for me to know my vendors, their story; eventually meet them and introduce them to my customers, the One Green Street family. Going right to the source of our product offerings sets us apart."

With all her first hand knowledge of the products, it's hard for Sherry to identify a favorite. "I personally choose every single product on our shelves because I love them for one reason or another." With that said, I was able to get an enthusiastic endorsement from her for the W3ll People cosmetics. Based in Austin, Sherry has gotten to know the founders personally. She knows their mission, how and why they chose their ingredients, and how they work. All this knowledge has made her a loyal fan! "I only use W3ll People and my skin has never looked so good!" 

W3ll People: Hippie Tested. Diva Approved.

Whole Body includes personal care for men

While W3ll is Sherry's favorite, it isn't the store's best seller. One Green Street shoppers who want an all-over eco friendly lifestyle flock to (and buy) the SKOY cloth. "People are always trying to kick the paper towel habit and if it can be done, SKOY is the ticket," says Sherry. These cloths are compostable, biodegradable "and do an amazing job in all areas of the home." 

Bamboo towels and other eco friendly items for The Healthy Home

So, why the Heights? 

OGS called the Heights its "One True Home," but why? Sherry and her husband have spent the last 25 years in Spring, raising two kids and eventually releasing them to their own, adult lives. While the Eichbergers were in the suburbs, Sherry's brother and sister-in-law chose the Heights. Residents of our amazing neighborhood for 30 years, they've surely seen a lot of changes in the Heights. Even through the ebb and flow of life in the Heights, Sherry was enamoured. With weekly visits to her brother's home, she grew to love and admire "the warm sense of community" and "the care and concern for maintaining the integrity of the original homes" plus the support of local businesses. This way of life is, she points out, "very sustainable." Her family shared with her "their own love for The Heights: simple living." It's special to them that they can be "close to downtown [while] maintaining the history and character of one of the oldest neighborhoods in Houston." This fits with Sherry's personal mission for her store. One Green Street "is very much about community, repurposing, reusing and it seems the people who call The Heights 'home' have that same ethos, in line with who we are as a business and who I am as it's founder. The grass roots atmosphere here speaks to me on so many levels. I do believe that we have finally found our 'one true home.' "

Welcome to the neighborhood Sherry and One Green Street. We do indeed hope you feel at home!

Sherry Eichberger and store manager Yuliana De La Rosa

For more photos of the party, check out the photo album on Facebook