What is GOSHH?

GOSHH is an acronym for Green, Organic, Sustainable, and Healthy Home.

It represents our steadfast belief that we are stewards of the land, that Mother Nature provides us with many opportunities to respect her, and that it is our responsibility to live a lifestyle that protects our resources and keeps us healthy.

Corollaries to this are that many of the resources our society uses are non-renewable and therefore finite, that we are squandering resources and health in the quest for never-ending profits, and that our society promotes a lifestyle that is neither healthy nor sustainable.

The G in GOSHH represents Green, a now household word denoting environmental protection and social responsibility. While eight or so years ago, no one knew the term, now it is bantered about in many conversations. Green building is a major thrust in construction. However, green and healthy, while frequently going hand in hand, are not always aligned. More of this issue is found in the products section of this site.

The O in GOSHH represents Organic. Like Green, organic was an unknown word only a few years ago, but now is, frankly, overused. It is typically used to refer to raising crops without artificial fertilizers or pesticides, and animals without chemical injections or additives like antibiotics or hormones.

Now that there is a large market for organic products--even Costco carries many organic products--large agribusinesses are trying to usurp the term "organic" and change its definition. There is even great pressure from big business to allow genetically modified organisms to be allowed to be called "organic" if, once they are propagated, they are raised in accordance with the classical definition. It would be difficult to find an individual farmer who agrees with this.

The S in GOSHH represents Sustainable. The use of the word Sustainable denotes that whatever noun is attached, whether it be development, agriculture, community, or production, meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. For us, it means not depleting the land of nutrients so the the land can bear no more. It means putting back in some form what we take out. Composting is a good example: we take vegetables from the garden, eat what we eat, and turn the [human] inedible parts and spoilage back into useful soil that is rich in nutrients.

The first H in GOSHH represents Healthy. That's really the whole focus of our migration to the Applegate Valley and the building project we are undertaking. The home page begins a detailed description of the reason why we are doing all this; that story is continued on another page. Healthy refers to creating a house and a home that dramatically reduces if not totally eliminates volatile organic compounds (VOCs), specifically formaldehyde. More on this subject can be found in the products section of this site.

The last H in GOSHH represents Home. We make a clear distinction between the house and the home. The first is the structure. The second is the lifestyle, what we do in the structure and on the rest of the land. There is much more about this topic. Just refer to the navigation on the left side of this page.