Archive for April, 2008
April 16th, 2008
Design a Reusable Shopping Bag
Stumble it!
Onus Gear is doing a cool thing– they host reusable shopping bag design contests. You and 5700 or so of your friends can submit bag designs, then everyone votes, and the winner gets their design made into a reusable bag that everyone can enjoy.
This strikes us as a great way to get people involved with switching from “paper or plastic” to neither!
You still have time to submit and vote for April– and the contest for May starts soon.
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April 16th, 2008
Eco-Shopping: Buffalo Exchange Earth Day Benefit
I made $30 bucks last weekend and kept four bags full of unwanted clothes and shoes out of the landfill. How did I do this?
By simply cleaning out my closet and taking all my great old stuff down to Buffalo Exchange. Buffalo Exchange is a chain of 36 clothing resale stores that buy, sell and trade clothing directly with customers. Selected used clothing can be traded for any item in the store, including jewelry and brand new clothing. Most locations will donate items they do not purchase, which saves customers a second trip to a donation center.
This coming Saturday, April 19th, 2008 is Buffalo Exchange’s Dollar Day Sale. All proceeds from sale items offered for $1 each will support Galapagos Conservancy in their effort to repopulate Pinta Island with giant saddleback tortoises to restore the delicate eco-system in the archipelago. Earth Day benefits at Buffalo Exchange stores have raised nearly $211,000 for environmental causes since 1997. Buffalo Exchange also donates to local non-profit agencies through its Tokens for Bags program, which has generated over $265,000 in donations to hundreds of non-profit groups since 1994, saving 5.3 million bags. Shoppers are encouraged to accept a token instead of a bag for purchases, and buffalo exchange donates five cents to a charity of the customer’s choice.
For store hours and locations click here.
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April 14th, 2008
How To Tuesday: Build a Rain Garden
Rain gardens are a great and beautiful way to reduce this problem. What exactly is a rain garden, you might ask? Well, it’s pretty much the same as a regular garden, with several key differences:
– It is slightly depressed, so that it can fill up with water during a rain storm;
– It contains plants that can deal with being “soaked” every once in awhile;
– It is strategically located to intercept water coming from your property, and
– It is specially designed to drain any stored water over a several day period.
If designed correctly, a rain garden can beautify your yard AND nearly eliminate your contribution to polluted runoff. Here are some simple steps to trying one of your own (or click here to find landscaping professionals who can help design and build your project): (more…)
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April 14th, 2008
Is That Really Organic? Don’t Get Fooled!
When you go to the grocery store or drug store these days every food or beauty product seems to shout at you “I’m organic!” or “I’m all natural!” But as you likely suspect, some of these products are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The Organic Consumer’s Association has recently started a “Coming Clean Campaign” in which they are hoping to drive greater integrity and clarity in the body-care products segment. As they point out, the word “organic” is not well regulated in the personal care products segment, and lots of products using the word do not pass the standards of the USDA National Organic Program. Click on the link above to learn more about which ingredients and brands to avoid.
Another excellent resource we use often here at Low Impact Living is the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. Skin Deep is a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products that is maintained by researchers at the Environmental Working Group. You can look up individual brands and products and find out if they contain any ingredients that may harm your health. They rate shampoos, makeup, soaps, lotions– almost everything. Unfortunately many brands produce both safe and un-safe products, so you really have to do your research. And Skin Deep is an invaluable help!
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April 13th, 2008
Eco-friendly Cabinets: The Definitive Guide
If you are considering any kitchen or bathroom remodeling, likely cabinets are on your list. In any green home remodel, incorporating eco-friendly cabinet choices into your plans is a great idea.
Fortunately there are many excellent options available to us now as green consumers. We are trying here to create the definitive list of eco-friendly cabinet options available across the United States.
First and foremost to embrace sustainability we should try to save as much of existing cabinets as possible– perhaps you can just put a new face on your cabinets and save the underlying ”boxes”? That can be a great way to reduce your use of new materials and cut your waste output. But if you need entirely new cabinets, here are some great options from the leading green cabinet makers in the U.S.
Bamboo Cabinets
AlterECO creates unique and beautiful custom bamboo cabinets built to high standards of craftsmanship, utility and sustainability. Based in San Francisco.
Grass Cabinetry creates custom, green cabinets in Sacramento, California. They also do work in hardwoods.
Laguna Bamboo is another leader in bamboo cabinets. Surprise– they are located in Laguna, CA.
Cabinet Makers Working with Mixed Materials (Bamboo, FSC Certified woods, reclaimed woods, etc.)
M8 Cabinetry is an innovative firm that is creating recycled and recyclable cabinet solutions. Their work is modern and beautiful.
Kirei board is a gorgeous option for cabinet fronts. Kirei is a unique material made from compressed sorghum stalks. Please give it a look!
Artistic Freedom Designs, based in San Diego, uses FSC woods, Smith and Fong Plyboo bamboo plywood, biocomposites, salvaged woods, and AFM safecoat finishes.
Sustainabuilt is based in Boise, Idaho and uses a wide variety of sustainable building materials in their cabinets, including Plyboo and FSC Certified hardwoods.
Neil Kelly Cabinets is a leader in the field and uses FSC certified woods, formaldehyde-free agriboard case/drawer material, and low VOC glues/adhesives/finishes.
Woodshanti is a wood-working cooperative based in San Francisco. They do gorgeous work in FSC hardwoods, and/or reclaimed woods.
CitiLog, based in New Jersey, reclaimed wood for use in their cabinets and other products. They also use non-toxic bonders and sealants.
Green Leaf Cabinetry, based in Cleveland, OH, manufactures cabinets using FSC certified woods, formaldehyde-free bonding agents, and low-VOC finishes.
Fiddle Head Designs, based in Brunswick, Maine, uses locally-milled, sustainable woods, and non-toxic glues and sealants. They also purchase 100% of the shop’s electricity from wind power!
Green Forest Kitchens & Baths builds cabinets from 100% reclaimed woods. They are based in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
Humabuilt creates a line of cabinets from their Wheatcore product, a LEED certified wheat-board.
Breathe Easy Cabinetry uses responsibly harvested solid woods which are formaldehyde-free and non-toxic water-based glues and finishes. They are based on the East Coast but have reps across the country.
Case Green Cabinetry is based in Denver, CO, and builds cabinets out of wheat board composites or Medite II.
John C. Duval Designs offers custom casework using sustainable materials. They are located in White Post, Virginia. (Also a green builder.)
GreenTech Cabinety offers a variety of sustainable materials and finishes. They have dealers across the country.
Blue Plum Design offers a variety of eco-friendly cabinet options. Based in San Francisco.
We have eco-friendly cabinet resources listed across the country– search your area by visiting our cabinet category.
Also be sure to check our green retail outlets across the country as many of these stores carry mutliple lines of eco-friendly cabinets: search your area by visiting our green retail category.
Are you a green cabinet maker and would like to be added to this list? Please send an email to info@lowimpactliving.com.
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