…that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.”

Meet Carter Oosterhouse, hottie with the body, philanthropist, handy man, nice guy, and HGTV’s green guy. Oh and he’s single. Still, while I applaud his efforts to “Bring Green Mainstream” as he says on his commercials, I have the sinking feeling that he’s part of the Greenwashing craze. I’m all for people getting hooked on changing their lifestyles to be more sustainable, and if he’s getting the message across to a few single ladies who watch HGTV more than they should (ok – I’m guilty), then so be it. And yet, he could be a little more pushy about Green and less pushy about the marketing.

First, he’s got a fan club style website (cheesy). Second, he’s hawking the HGTV Green Home, which in my understanding, is not all that green. It’s “registered” with LEED, but they must not have received a very high rating or they would promote it a little more. Also, the fact that it’s all new construction “green” is not green at all – maybe they should have made an old house a little greener to minimize the footprint. Additionally, they are not changing the standard by making green stand out more. It essentially looks like any other house in any other subdivision, save a few “green” features. So Americans keep their same mindset about what to expect for new construction. It needs to be rethought completely. To top it off, they’re giving away a Yukon Hybrid. Want to know what kind of MPG a $51,000 gigantic SUV hybrid gets? It’s no surprise that it gets about 22 miles per gallon on the highway and 21 miles per gallon in the city. That’s repulsive. Are we really still stuck in the idea that American’s have big houses that look a certain way and big cars that look and drive a certain way? I guess so.

Alright, I’m getting sidetracked from my guy Carter.

But when you get down to it, strip away the silliness of the TV show, you’ve got a pretty boy with the right mindset. He majored in nutrition and got into both construction and media as a sidetrack. In an interview that’s on the HGTV website, he said these brilliant words:

“Growing up, my family was always into nutrition. My dad was always telling me, keep your body clean, eat healthy and that sort of carried over into his business and life in general. Being taught that at such a young age, that carried over into: Why can’t I try to build something without taking away from the environment? I’m doing something that’s so progressive, trying to erect something and take away from natural resources, that if I can, I do it while still being eco-friendly and smart. I feel a lot better when I can be green about my building than when I’m not.”

I may not agree with some of the things he presents for viewers, he’s still got the right ideas. If more people thought of health as a starting point, our cultural, physical, and natural environment would be a lot more sustainable. People ought to make that connection more often.

You can take a deep breath, because HGTV’s got us covered. As Americans are on the brink of being collectively repulsed by McMansions, the American Dream image itself is being reworked. Think small house, front porch, square street blocks with a central community green space. Right now we’ve got a country scarred with miles and miles of tangled caul-de-sacs leading nowhere and no sense of center. So while the change takes over in the painfully slow way anything good happens, HGTV showcases people who are doing it right.

Not only are the houses/apartments featured on Small Space Big Style modest in size and proportion, but they generally incorporate a fair amount of bricolage by their owners. In other words, it encourages creativity, economic and practical responsiveness to available options, and inspiration to make unique spaces. That is exactly what I’m talking about! Say goodbye to boring architecture a la Ryland and others; say hello to the world where individual ingenuity and environmental awareness collide!

Thank you, HGTV for making small hip again. Because apparently America doesn’t “do” small anymore. At least for now.