March 5th, 2009
Eco-friendly Carpet Choices for Your Home
Stumble it!
A friend of mine is just about to have a baby, and she asked me for my thoughts on what kind of carpet or rug they should get for the nursery. Naturally, we here at Low Impact Living have many suggestions!
First, most commercially-made carpet is loaded with nasty chemicals which can off-gas and pose health risks to your baby and your family. (Learn more about indoor air quality.) Many carpets contain a chemical called 4-phenylcyclohexene (4-PCH), which is a byproduct of the latex binder used to secure the fibers to the backing. 4-PCH is a volatile-organic compound (VOC) that off-gases and is unhealthy to breathe.
Remember that babies and small children are more susceptable to air-borne toxins than we adults, so it’s particularly important to make good choices in nursery’s and childrens’ rooms. So I would say “no thanks” to most wall-to-wall carpet options. (In fact clean, natural, bare flooring options like reclaimed hardwood flooring or Marmoleum (shown at right) are really the best option from a health perspective–because they don’t trap allergans and chemicals like rugs and carpets do. But some people may not like these harder surfaces for little legs and arms crawling and knocking about!
How about a cork floor? Cork is a wonderful option because it is a renewable resource, dampens sounds (great for sleeping babies), and is soft on little bodies. Cork is harvested by shaving off the “bark” of the tree– trees are not killed in the process. I think a cork floor in a nursery would be green and groovy!
But if you’re set on getting some kind of carpet or rug, you have many great options.
You might consider a hemp rug. Hemp is a wonderfully sustainable material and is also durable and comfortable. Abundant Earth makes lovely hemp rugs made free of child labor in India, as does Rawganique, which uses European hemp fibers.
Other sustainable fibers include sisal, seagrass, and jute. All are rapidly renewable and can be woven into lovely rugs. They are also super durable and hold up great with the “spills and thrills” of children. Natural Area Rugs.com has a huge selection of all of these materials.
How about putting some Japanese flair into your room? Japanese Igusa mats are made out of sustainably-harvested, quickly regenerating rushes and are durable, beautiful, and comfortable. Raku Livingsells wonderful igusa mats for homes– and they have a super cute kids line with adorable bunnies, monkeys and elephants–oh my!
Popularity: 8% [?]
February 14th, 2009
GreenPods: Small, Lovely Eco-Homes
If you are interested in green architecture then please spend a moment welcoming GreenPods on to the market. These are wonderful, small, highly eco-smart dwellings.
GreenPod Developmentis based in Washington and they seek to design and construct affordable, sustainable, modular homes. At right you see one of their “SoloPods”, but the also have other designs that are equally compelling. Below you see the model called the “Floating Pod.”
The Pod designs range from 300 to 800 square feet. But if you need additional square footage, the Pods can be joined or stacked. Pod designer Ann Raab uses movable walls, multi-use furnishings, lighting, and windows to visually enlarge the Pod’s living spaces.
The Pods boast many environmentally-savvy features. All Pods utilize passive-solar design principles to cut energy use. Every Pod features low air infiltration design,energy-efficient windows, energy saving appliances, low-flow plumbing and LED lighting. They also make extensive use of daylighting.
The uber-green can go beyond these elements and opt for such additions as greywater recycling, rain water storage, roof gardens or green roofs.
Currently GreenPods is working on projects in Washington and California, and they can also service Oregon. Founder Ann Raab told me that they hope to be able to serve more parts of the country next year. I also asked her about costs and she said that depending on the size and features one selects for the their Pod, the cost would range between $150-$250 per square foot.
In case you are in Washington, you can stop by the GreenPod showroom. It’s at Artisans on Taylor, which is located at 236 Taylor Street, Port Townsend, WA, 98368 (across from the Rose Theater).
Popularity: 24% [?]
February 6th, 2009
Greener Gadgets Design Competition: You Get to Vote
The 2nd Annual Greener Gadgets Design Competition is on, and there are lots of compelling, interesting, and just plain kooky designs in the mix. Core 77 design magazine and Greener Gadgets host this competition to inspire outstanding design innovations for greener electronics. The top 50 entries are published online for voting and commenting. You can vote for your favorites. Voting ends February 20, so get on it!
One cool product is the eMetric. This is a wireless office power management system. Designer Jason Deperro contends that the eMetric “allows teams of conscientious workers to control and learn about their electronics’ energy consumption - saving energy and money.” We like the idea very much that teams of folks could instantly track their usage and then work to lower their power consumption. It’s e-Nifty.
One design we also like is the Indoor Drying Rackby Rob Podell. First of all, it’s not electronic, so that’s cool. Also, we’re big fans of air-drying laundry here at Low Impact Living (remember that your clothes dryer is one of the worst power-sucking, inefficient appliances in your home), so we think this drying rack is pretty nifty. It folds down from the wall and creates an aerated kind of table for drying. Easy, attractive and electricity-free!
We also dig the CompostAll. This kitchen device, designed by frog design, is a replacement for the home in-sink garbage disposal. It allows food waste to be composted instead of sent down the drain. The CompostAll saves mulched food waste in a removable container under the sink. Frog design claims that the devise provides a convenient, discreet, and odor-free location for food waste. What’s also pretty cool is that it comes with an alert light on the sinktop that tells the user the container is full. Then you can just take the container out from under the sink and put the contents into your outdoor compost bin. You already have one of those, yes?
In the kooky column, I’ll add the Guilty Wallet. Ruhel Mohammed has designed a series of wallets aimed at helping people cut our consumer culture (which he spells in ALL CAPS). He makes the interesting argument that we need fewer green gadgets and instead should all buy less. He goes on, “We spend for so many reasons, but it is undeniably true that we spend through one of these vessels: GREED, LUST, PRIDE, ROTH, SLOTH, GLUTTONY and ENVY. Although spending and debt are the foundations of the capitalist society, we should be careful of excessive spending or GREED.” Wow, don’t get Ruhel involved in a debate at a cafe– it will not be a short discussion. His wallets may not have much of an impact, but they do make you think about spending for a brief moment.
Popularity: 7% [?]
