Green Talk

Photo courtesy of Megan McCormick, under Creative Commons Share-Alike 2.0 license

Hopelessly Addicted to Craig’s List 

I have to admit, I am a Craig’s List junkie.  Craig’s List is a service where people post whatever they want to sell at a designated price and people contact them through their Craig’s list email.  Go to the website and see if your city is listed. (Note, the link above will take you to the San Francisco Craig’s list.  Look on the far right columns and you will see a list of the cities and countries Craig’s list is in.)  I have found a 1930s mirror and 1950s chandelier.  In my area, there can be a lot of very outdated furniture on the site, but if you are patient you may find what you want.  Also, be careful of scams, always go with another person when you are going to look at a piece just to be on the safe side, and make sure that any upholstery or rugs are not full of fleas.  My rule of thumb is I do not buy furniture from people who have pets or smoke due to my chilren’s allergies.

I have also sold pieces on Craig’s list but always have someone with me when I am showing the piece.

Garage Sales, the Hunt is More Fun than the Bargain

Garage sales are another one of my favorite places to find pictures and knick knacks.  I even found 2 beautiful Queen Anne chairs in a neutral color for $75 each!  Again, I was at the right place, at the right time.  My kind of garage sale is an older couple who is downsizing and is selling the contents of their house.  You can find wonderful treasures at these kinds of garage sales.

EBay, you thought it was just for electronics?

I also have a select group of dealers I watch on eBay for used furniture.  They tend to have higher quality furniture on their sites.  My rule is I only pick dealers who I can go to see their furniture.  I did buy a desk on eBay for my husband.  It was nerve racking because someone tried to outbid me in the last minutes.  I prefer the “buy it now” sites because I am not a risk taker.  Generally, the dealers are going to be higher than buying furniture from a homeowner.

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Since I built my home to be non-toxic, furnishing it has become a dilemma for me.  Many of my own pieces are worn from my children using them as jungle gyms, and the color scheme of my new house is very different than my old house.  I could buy furniture from companies that use woods from sustainable or managed forests, but they use solvent based finishes. I am uncomfortable about bring home a furniture piece with this type of finish since I do not know the long term effect on my family’s health from the off gassing of the chemicals from the piece. 

Another option is to buy furniture from Furnature, who sells environmentally friendly upholstery or have pieces custom made but the cost would be very expensive.  A couch from Furnature could easily cost more than $3000.00.  Over the last two years, I have become very resourceful in finding furniture that meets my nontoxic quest and my wallet.  I have broken down my suggestions in several posts:

Antiques and Vintage Furniture, A Recycler’s dream 

My fondest memories as I was growing up were in a house that was built in the 1920s.   It was full of antiques, including a beloved grandfather clock, glass knobs, and beautiful wood trim and doors.  We moved to Florida in my teens and my parents’ taste in furniture changed to more contemporary to fit the Florida lifestyle. 

 As I become an adult, I liked pieces that were light in color vowing to never buy dark, boring old traditional furniture. Not surprisingly, I built a house that echoes themes from my house that I grew up in.  All of the sudden, old traditional furniture started to appeal to me and I started shopping at antiques stores.  My first acquired antique was a 1920s drum table with a top shaped in the form of a flower pedal with a green leather top.

 Since my purchase of my unusual drum table, I have become a 1920s through 1940s vintage furniture shopper.  The cost of vintage furniture is very reasonable.  I shop at the local antique vendors and the local shows.

  Why vintage furniture and antiques?  What is greener than something that already exists versus something that has to be made such as new furniture?  I love the workmanship of these pieces. My belief, which is not based on any study, is that due to the age of antiques and vintage furniture, most of the off gassing of chemicals has taken place.  

 For me, I tend to shy away from recently touched up antiques or vintage furniture.  Many dealers will refinish the pieces using the same solvent based nitrocellulose lacquer that they use on furniture today.  I prefer not to buy furniture with recent solvent based finishes.  I have been told by the manufacturers of some of the products that once the product cures, the solvents in the chemicals have offgassed.  I was unable to obtain a general time period for curing because there are too many variables such as amount of the product that was used and drying conditions that cause different cure periods.  However, even if a product cures rapidily, I tend to be more cautious and am skeptical of the long term effects of the off gassing of some of the chemical in these finishes. I prefer to bring in my house only low emitting products.

Green Home Guide did a nice piece on the different type of finishes.  (Just click on the hyperlink.) It is very informative and links you to eco-friendly finishes.

 If the finishes concern you, ask what they used to refinish the product, the manufacturer of the refinishing product, and when did they refinish the piece.  It is possible they used an environmentally friendly version of shellac, oil, or low voc or water based lacquer. You can call the company who makes the product to find out how the emission of the chemicals in the product will affect your indoor air quality.  Realize that each person’s home is different and again, there are alot of variables that cause products to off gas at different rates such as levels of humidity, amount of ventilation, and the composition of the product.  In addition, each home has different furnishings which emit different levels of VOCs, and thus the indoor air quality is different for each house.  See the Greenguard’s article on indoor air quality:

http://www.greenguard.org/Default.aspx?tabid=118

Greenguard lists products on their website that have been independently tested and certifed to be low emitting products.  It is just not an easy answer. This is why I am so cautious.  If you have chemical sensitivities, check with your doctor before you buy any piece of furniture.

 Another suggestion if you are concerned about the finishes is to become friendly with some of the dealers and ask them if they find something that you like, to notify you before they repair it. It is worth asking if they would consider using a more environmentally friendly product for you or you can find a refinisher that will use these finishes.   If you are unable to find someone to refinish the furniture in one of the eco-friendly finish, you might not mind a little nick or gouge in a piece of furniture because it gives it character. Next post in this series is …Addicted To Craig’s List….

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I thought it would be fun to create a page where everyone can post how they reuse “stuff” that would ordinarily go into the trash. I will go first.

How many of you visit fast food places?  Come on, be honest.  Wendy’ s is actually one of my favorite places.  With four kids participating in many sports at the same time, we end up at Wendy’s, Subway,  or pizza.  You do not want to know what my car looks like.  For all of you cringing out there saying how can you go to fast food places, it is one of my vices besides chocolate. 

So, back to the picture.  I started planting bulbs this year and I wanted to have a permanent marker where I planted them.  Instead of buying fancy markers, I decided to either use the plastic knives or straws that we get with our food.  I wash them and then use them as a marker.  I need to put some color or something on them because I have to dig  up certain bulbs in the fall. 

So how have you used your trash???  Inquiring mind want to know.

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I happened to be on the Environmental Working Group’s website checking my facts on an upcoming story about used furniture, when I noticed a press release today about the launching of EWG’s Skin Deep website with updated safety information for more than 25,000 personal care products.  According to EWG, personal care products are not monitored for safety by the federal government. Their press release further states that only thirteen percent of the 10,500 ingredients in personal care products have been tested for their safety by the cosmetic industry review panel.   Basically, companies can put anything in their products including mercury, lead, or placenta extract. 

 The new update version of EWG’s original Skin Deep site called Skin Deep 3.0 has been improved allowing the consumer to be able to shop based upon certain criteria that they wish to include in or exclude from their care products.  You can designate if you want products that are organic, signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, and/or do not list fragrance in their ingredients.  In addition, you can exclude a number of products that can cause certain conditions such as cancer, endocrine disruption, and allergies just to name a few.  Also, the search engine allows you to exclude products that have been tested on animals. 

 I looked up one of the listing, Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo which is suppose to be a mild shampoo.  According to the listing, this shampoo is linked to numerous health issues including cancer, developmental reproductive toxicity, allergies, and organ system toxicity! 

 I have already put this site in my favorite bookmarks and I suggest you do too.   Also, consider donating to this non-profit to continue being man’s best friend, our trusty watch dog.

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I promised myself today Iwould write about all the amazing things I saw at LIGHTFAIR 2007 today but I got distracted because I was blogging on everyone else’s sites.   Its’ funny.  If you read my answers to people’s posts on Green Options, Debra Dadd, Green Homes, Jetson Green, Treehugger, etc, you will see a different side of me than this blog.  I answer people’s questions.  It is so much easier for me to answer your questions, then to take time to write a blog, so I promise to put a forum on the site for all of your questions.  I get distracted like everyone else and write about anything going on in my life, which is not always what I intend to write about.  Many of the posts are based on green decisions that I have or am making. 

In addition, I spend a great time rewriting and researching what I am saying because I do not want you say “is that it?” I ask the questions that I need to know in order to make an informed decision.  Sometimes I give too much information.  It is the lawyer in me who want to make sure you understand.   

I am open to what you want to see. Let me know.   So, bear with me since Green Talk is just a baby.

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Photo courtesy of Gual Industrie 

In FreeEnergyNews.com’s January to March archive, there was a link about the Belgium based Gual Industrie StatoEolien Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine.  I found this article interesting because all the wind turbines you see are hortizontal.  What made this turbine different?

Also, there has always been controversy about the effectiveness of wind power.  Questions as to whether or not it can produce the energy that the companies are touting, birds and bats being shredded in the wind mill’s blades and the aesthetics of the wind turbine have plagued the industry. 

 Gual Industrie installed the first commercial prototype in 2004.  The Company claims that their vertical wind mill is thirty percent more efficient than the horizontal wind turbines that you see today.  Their wind turbine is able to create energy utilizing the wind streams differently than the horizontal wind turbines.  In addition, it fits on top of your house.

  Gual has two models with dimensions in meters.  (A meter is a little bigger than a yard.)  The G4 unit is 4 meters in diameter and 1.5 meters in height.   The bigger  G8 model is 8 meters in diameter and 3 meters in height. 

  I have been interested in wind turbines for some time since my own house sits on top of a hill.  In the winter, there is so much wind that I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when I go outside. However, my town has a height restriction for structures. Given my situation, harnessing this wind would seem to be the natural thing to do. 

  In order to install a 10K system, Bergey, a leading manufacturer of residential wind turbines recommends given perfect conditions to install their wind turbine, the tower should be at least 80 feet high and you should have at least one acre of land so there is no dispute with your neighbors as to its noise.   Given height restrictions in towns today, you would have to obtain a variance and the town may deny it. 

Gual’s vertical solution may be the answer for many residential landowners.  They claim that it is not noisy.  Judging by the dimensions provided by the Company for the G4, the turbine will only add about 5 feet to the height of your structure. Go to Gual’s website to see what the turbines look like on top of a house. They are not the most beautiful structures but they seem to be very effective.  Perhaps making the sides look like a chimney would help.

  See the following for more information on this turbine:  http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Gual_Industrie_StatoEolien_Vertical-Axis_Wind_Turbine#Official_Website or

Gual’s english site:  http://www.gual-industrie.com/english/cdromang.html.  You can download the video from that link.

I emailed the company about this product inquiring about how it fares with birds, who distributes it, and its cost.   I will keep you posted. 

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Lighting Fair NYC this year was home to amazing light technology from energy efficiency featuring LED technology to the reduction of mercury content in the fluorescent bulbs.  As an environmentalist I was impressed by the advancement of technology in lighting energy efficiency but was scared at the same time that we as consumers may be short sighted in our quest for energy efficiency by ignoring the proper disposal of these bulbs.

The LED technology impressed me with its long life and lack of mercury content.  In addition, Phillips and SLI lighting both featured low mercury content in their fluorescent bulbs.  SLI lighting featured the most impressive environmental concern with all of their fluorescent bulbs containing low level of mercury and their bulb glass was free of lead.

During my discussion with Flemming Jensen, Vice President of Industrial/Commercial Sales at SLI lighting about why the company was producing low mercury fluorescent bulbs and lead free glass, he made me aware of our current disposal practices of fluorescent lighting.  The world is pushing for more efficient lighting but has not looked at the disposal of the compact fluorescent.  Giants like Wal-Mart and Home Depot are offering lower priced fluorescent bulbs to encourage consumers to save energy.  It seems that no one has asked the question what about the disposal of these products after they no longer work.

 In my area in New Jersey, I have to make an appointment and then drive about thirty minutes to dispose of my fluorescent bulbs at the

County

Municipal building or wait twice a year to go to a designated location in my county to dispose of hazardous waste.  Most consumers are not going to take the time to dispose of their bulbs correctly.  It is too much of an inconvenience.  They just throw them away.   Fluorescent bulbs have mercury and lead in them, which is leaching into our soils and waterways from the landfills.

Although the world is taking notice that we need to stop global warming, there should be a simultaneous effort being made to require easily accessible places to dispose of the fluorescent lighting.  The giants like Wal-Mart, could easily exchange burnt out fluorescent bulbs for new ones with a discount offered to encourage people to recycle. 

Cities and counties could have more accessible place for people to drop off their bulbs like they drop off their newspapers and plastics.  The only way for more easily accessible recycling to be achieved is for the consumers to demand it. In addition, we can demand that bulbs are made of low levels of mercury and lead free glass.  We have the power in this world because we speak in the language of money.   We have asked for more energy efficient technology; let’s now demand for our landfills to remain lead and mercury free.

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Photo courtesy of Ecoforms 

I subscribe to both Home Magazine and Vegetarian Times, and noticed they both featured Ecoforms, organic biodegradable pots. What’s the odds that two very different magazine would feature the same product?  There must be something to this product.  I have to look into these pots.

The pots are being distributed to retailers all over the United States through Sweetwater Nursery, an organic wholesale nursery in California.  They are made out of grain husk (mostly rice) and natural binding (corn starch, water soluble binders and biodegradable additives). Plastic pots are made out of petroleum products.   In my area in NJ, you can not recycle plastic pots even if they are HPDE.  My county recycling department explained that even though the numbers on the bottom of the pots would lead you to believe that you can recycle it, it is a different type of plastic than soda bottles, which can be recycled.  There aren’t any companies in my area that will re-use the pots to manufacturer another plastic product such as plastic lumber.  You may have the same situation in your state.

In addition, if I could choose between putting my seedlings in plastic which could  leach chemicals into my seedlings or a natural product like Ecoforms, hands down it would be the natural product.    I also find the plastic lightweight pots tear and are not very durable.  As I said before, what do I do with the plastic pots when they fall apart?

Who makes Ecoforms?  I called and spoke to Jed at Sweetwater Nursery about the product.  Jed is David Brown and Elise Lovelay-Brown’s son, the owners of the nursery.  The Browns were concerned about their use of plastic pots in their nursery operation and saw this product in Holland at a trade show.  They formed a relationship with the manufacturing company and are distributing the pots to retailers all over the country. 

In addition, they are using the pots in their own nursery to educate other growers.The pots are made using environmentally friendly practices.  Very little water is used in the binding process, there is very little pollution in the manufacturing process, and all scraps are recycled.  Its only draw back is that the pot will only last for five years under normal conditions.  If you wanted a product to last forever, well that is plastic.  After its life, you can compost them into your yard and the soil will have a PH of 7.

One of my concerns was the reuse of the product.  I was told by growers that they do not re-use their pots for fear of bacteria from the old plant killing the new plant, and disinfecting them would be too costly.   (If they did disinfect them, you have to wonder with what.)  Jed told me that they reuse their pots and do not need to disinfect them.  Any bacteria contamination is so minor, that it would not matter.

The pots range in size between 3 1/2 to 12 inches in diameter and come in six colors.  They come in three different series:  Nova (simple but elegant planter pots), Grower pots (only comes in natural color) and Decor series (different styles of elegant pots).  In addition, they sell saucers and shuttle trays (to carry grower pots).  They are as functional as they are beautiful.

I asked if they plan to import bigger size pots.  Jed told me that the pots could not be made bigger because structurally they would not be able to handle the weight of the dirt and water.  I was a little disappointed since I could envision nice sized planters with petunias and trailing vines outside my front door.

Ecoforms are being distributed by a nursery that uses them.  This gives the product a lot of credibility.  Who else would know better if this product works?  According to the Browns, the pots have excellent heat insulating properties (great for seedlings), suitable for all climates, and are resistant to freezing and thawing, unlike terra cotta pots.  I was told to treat these pots like terra cotta.  Just like terra cotta, Ecoforms are durable but should not be dropped or knocked around.  They will break.

Ecoforms are priced at $4 to $25 depending on the pot you choose.  Right now you have to call (707.566.8133) or email the nursery at info@ecoforms.com to find out a retailer near you.  Since this is the nursery’s busy season, I would suggest you call.

Mother’s Day is coming up next week.  What a perfect gift for your special gardening mom.  Saving the Earth and making your Mom smile.  Priceless. 

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