Advice: Eco-Shopping in Mount Pleasant

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Despite what you may think, Mary Gatch did not open a green living store to promote her views about the environment. In fact, the soft-spoken owner of Mount Pleasant’s DwellSmart isn’t even much of a raconteur within her own shop. Instead, she encourages visitors to browse her collection of sustainable products, ask questions, and draw their own conclusions.

Confusion about DwellSmart, or at least what it represents, is understandable. The store is a Lowcountry first in that it offers only environmentally friendly products. Intended by Gatch to serve as a “one-stop shop,” it stocks everything from biodegradable diapers to organic pillows, serving home design and healthy living needs under one roof.

The DwellSmart idea was born shortly after Gatch and her husband relocated to the Charleston area and began building a home. Finding local sources for sustainable, organic, or reclaimed materials proved almost impossible, resulting in costly delays and discouraging compromises. At the same time, Gatch was learning more about sustainable living and threats posed by global warming and shrinking natural resources. “I just felt helpless to do anything about it,” she says.

Rather than sit idly by, Gatch decided to roll up her sleeves and create the kind of store she dreamed of during the homebuilding process. Today, after a full year of operation, DwellSmart is still generating buzz in a community that has been (by some accounts) slow to accept the green living revolution. “We’ve had people come in and literally dance around,” Gatch says with a laugh. “They say, ‘I’m not alone!’”

Looking ahead, Gatch hopes to better integrate DwellSmart into the community as a whole. With that in mind, the store hosts regular seminars on sustainable living (see sidebar for topics and dates), while Gatch and her team participate in local events, such as September’s Charleston Green Fair, and even create displays and educational materials for use in classrooms at Daniel Island Academy. “Ultimately, I’d like to build DwellSmart up to a point where manufacturers seek our knowledge and expertise before bringing a product to market,” Gatch explains. Until then, she and her staff painstakingly research and test nearly every item in the store to make sure it meets their requirements.

Yet for all its ideological appeal, DwellSmart remains a commercial enterprise, and one that may not always benefit from a philosophy that emphasizes efficiency and re-use. “We stick to our principles,” Gatch concedes, “and sometimes it costs us on the bottom line.”

Still, front desk mainstay Christopher Aupperle contends that the “store is really about building relationships. We’re not here to help people consume for the sake of consuming, but rather to make the best choices for the long-term.”

DwellSmart
615 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., #101
Mt. Pleasant, (843) 856-2282, www.dwellsmart.com