New Orleans' new Green Light District: eco-elegance and recycled 'Mardi Lights'

New Orleans' Lower Garden District appears to be getting greener as the city's new Green Light District, an eco-friendly shopping destination, takes shape. Reporter Susan Langenhennig, in today's Times-Picayune, describes the Green Light District, a two-block stretch of Magazine St., as "a nascent effort by five shops to brand the corridor as a go-to place for everything from evening bags made from recycled billboards to wallpaper made from bamboo pulp."

On its Facebook page, the Green Light District says its mission is to "promote an eco-conscious lifestyle, educating clientele and the community about sustainable options, and fostering the development of green businesses." And it appears to be working. According to Langenhennig, in the past few months, several shops have opened or relocated to the area, including eco-modern home decor store Spruce Eco-Studio.

Attracted by the area's energy and diversity, Spruce co-owners Nomita Joshi-Gupta and Cheryl Nix Murphy moved their showroom from Uptown to a renovated row house at 2043 Magazine. Spruce defines itself as an eco-friendly lifestyle concept offering a variety of décor, design services and building products. Joshi-Gupta and Murphy, who have backgrounds in architecture, urban planning, environmental sciences and historic preservation, describe the District as follows:

This main street stretching from downtown in the business district all the way uptown to the river, is the epicenter for small business. The variety of businesses include art, antiques, florists, shoe repair, salons, service, restaurants, coffeehouses, boutiques, mom and pop operations as well as gourmet food stores. Our immediate neighbors include interior designers, design showrooms, specialty linens and art galleries. We hope to further our business on this historic street and become part of the local flavor. We love our space and our eco-modern lifestyle. We enjoy conversations with our design clients and showroom customers over cups of fragrant tea.

At 2041 Magazine is Green Serene, owned by Jamie Menutis, a New Orleans native, former relief worker, local guidebook author and writer. Menutis says her inspiration came after experiencing Hurricane Katrina. A yoga and meditation devotee, she decided to create a business aimed at helping her neighbors to rebuild their lives with serenity, and with the planet in mind. The shop carries furnishings made from recycled, reclaimed and organic materials.

I'm especially intrigued by what's going on at 2038 Magazine, site of
UP/Unique Products, owned by recycling artists Mark Kirk and Heather Macfarlane. Operating in New Orleans since 1999, UP describes itself as "an environmentally friendly retail gallery providing green themed home decor, accessories and lighting to a new and ever renewing New Orleans and beyond."

Kirk and Macfarlane's merchandise includes a unique offering of products - lampshades, art and accessories -- made from recycled Mardi Gras beads. Their "Mardi Lights" are made with melted "re-fused" Mardi Gras beads and I couldn't resist including a photos from their website gallery because -- I LOVE Mardi Gras beads. And doubloons and Zulu coconuts, spears, krewe cups... all of it.

I went to my first Mardi Gras in 1981, and carried my beads back to Chapel Hill in a paper sack stuffed in my suitcase. In 2003, my three children, their father and I carried what we could on the plane, then shipped nine boxes of our parade haul via UPS back to our home in Virginia (that's them in the photo below right). My daughters recycled their Mardi Gras beads into "bead hair" and "bead belts," and used them for numerous art projects over the years. I've used them for everything from Christmas tree garland to room dividers to glass bowl filler.

And I STILL have several cartons of beads in storage. But lighting is something I haven't thought about... so I guess I'll be stopping by the ol' storage locker on the way home from work today.

P.S. The "street musicians" my skirt-beaded daughter is listening to in the photo at right are a young Old Crow Medicine Show