The centuries-old practice of burying a statue of St. Joseph in the yard of a house for sale is supposed to enlist the Saint’s aid in finding a buyer. Today, thousands of home sellers and real estate agents continue the tradition of calling upon St. Joseph to help sell their property with successful results.
The EcoJoe Home Selling Kit is a green alternative to the current St. Joseph products on the market, which are mostly made with plastic. As plastic breaks down, it releases toxin into our eco-system, potentially poisoning our food and water. EcoJoe is made with clay, which is 100% from the nature itself and does not contain any toxins that can poison our environment and food chain. If he is left buried in your yard, EcoJoe will not poison the earth. A real Saint would never do that!
In addition, our packaging is printed with soy-based ink on 100% post consumer paper, which means no new trees were harmed and no VOCs emitted during printing process. We also continuously to purchase certified carbon credits to offset any carbon produced during production, transportation and shipping processes.
I mainly pursued the product idea because I was freaked out by how much junk and waste a single real estate transaction can produce. For new construction of a 2-bedroom house, 80% of most construction waste can be recycled, yet most of them ended up in the landfill anyway. All it took to prevent over-feeding the landfill was spending that extra 15 minutes before construction started to order bins and figure out where everything can be sorted and sent to.
I certainly wanted to do something to raise awareness of green real estate issues. Through my experience as a green real estate trainer, I have the first hand knowledge that merely doing seminars and classes through associations and awareness campaigns are not enough.
St Joseph statue is a great tradition and fits into the puzzle perfectly. Because of the popularity of the custom, tens and thousands of plastic statues are buried in the earth each year and never see the daylight again. Plastic products are generally by products of crude oil, which means they are toxic to produce, harmful to the factory workers while polluting the water and air around the factories. In additions, over time, when plastic breaks down, it releases toxins into the soil which in turns get into our eco-systems and food chains. Not to mention the political and economical impacts we have on our nation and other countries by increasing demands of oil.
I purposely made EcoJoe a fun and updated product. We updated the look of St Joseph and modernized his message for today’s customers. We want EcoJoe to stir up troubles a little so we can generate buzzes and inspire dialogues through this product. Our main goal is to change how real estate uses plastic and produces waste!
Inventor: Cindy Lin
Cindy Lin has been an entrepreneur since she was 5 years old bargaining allowances with her mother for changing her sister’s diaper. Today, Mrs. Lin still rolls her eyes every time she tells this story. After working for non-profits like AmeriCorps, Cindy started working in real estate in 2005 when she became a real estate agent to help manage a family friend’s rental property. The following year, Cindy founded Staged4more Home Staging and Redesigns, a full-service home staging firm in San Francisco and fully transitioned into home staging. A natural at staging, Cindy is passionate about making her clients look good and helping people sell their homes quickly so her clients can get to the next chapter of their lives quicker, less stressed and with more equity in hand.
Cindy has won industry awards with her staging business, including the Make Mine A $Million Business Award and the Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur Award. In 2009, Cindy was named a finalist for the Innovative Stager of the Year Award. Cindy also coaches small business owners and real estate professionals about how to leverage social media for business, and teaches the Live Green Live Smart real estate designation.
Our funniest stories come from our fans! During our launch party, our fans recorded made up stories about EcoJoe.
“I am a believer!!!! Buried my first Eco Joe 2 weeks ago at a house I was having trouble selling. That very day, at my open house only one couple stopped in...yes, you guess it, we are 2 weeks into escrow and I do believe in miracles and of course the power of St. Joseph. Prayer never hurts but back it up with a "Joe", it cannot hurt!” “Just sold our house!!! It was only 3 weeks since EcoJoe went into the ground. On Sunday, we noticed his feet were poking out of the ground thanks to a neighborhood dog, that night... a showing and an offer. Thank you Ecojoe!”
“Perfectly timed. The house sold the same day as it arrived!”
Diana Mercer says:
Jan 13, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I love this guy! The packaging is amazing so it makes a terrific gift for someone who's selling a house. We're selling a house and I was glad to get a boost from above without putting plastic in the earth. Go Eco Joe!
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Miracle Wanzo says:
Jan 13, 2010 at 12:44 pm
This is a great product!
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Lori says:
Jan 13, 2010 at 12:42 pm
The mere act of giving EJ will bring a positive energy to your home-selling friend or family!
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Romy says:
Jan 13, 2010 at 10:29 am
What a great gift idea! Love that it's eco-friendly!
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Lynne says:
Jan 13, 2010 at 8:23 am
EcoJoe is just such an adorable product and packaging! What a great gift to show your support for people struggling to sell there homes. Of course, I'm not sure if it should be left buried or the house might have to sell over and over again until EcoJoe … more decomposes! : )
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