Green Talk

I was in Costco the other day and saw a package of “Wireless LED under Cabinet Lights” .  The package contained 2 strip lights with each strip containing 6 LEDs.  The lights are dimmable, and the light head pivots for a directional light.  LED lights are our future and this wireless light seemed like the answer to my under the cabinet lack of light.  I sew in this room and have a standing fluorescent lamp by the sewing machine.  I found as I have gotten older, in addition to needing glasses, I can’t see without a lot of light. 

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Between work, kids, and errands, it is just too exhausting to find out where I can find the right organic skin products or household cleaners that meet my needs.  Once I find what I am looking for, I end up spending even more time comparing prices. Thanks to Green Crawler researching and comparing eco-friendly products is a thing of the past.  “Through intense market research, Green Crawler provides a database for savvy shoppers to instantly find and compare thousands of unique green alternatives for many products throughout several industries, such as personal care, beauty products and household cleaners.” I can now search for a particular beauty product, find out who is selling it, and obtain a list of the product’s ingredients.  Since this growing young website only contains 3500 products, at the moment, there are only a few products that you can compare prices from vendor to vendor.    According to Ryan Lewis, CEO of Green Crawler, the website will be offering many options for both vendors and consumers as it continues to expand.   He agreed to be virtually interviewed about Green Crawler, and here are his responses to my questions: 

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I found the website, How I can Recycle This?, through Green Media. It was one of the best websites that I found.  Before you decide to throw anything away, visit this website.  People write in and ask where you recycle random items in your home such as old ashtrays, bundled wire, and all other assorted items that you normally would not be able to recycle.  Believe it or not, people answer how to reinvent uses of items in your house that you no longer want.  

 The website is produced by Lousia Parry and John Leach, two friends from Leeds, UK providing a positive spin on recycling.  They post three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.   I even added a comment to one of their post on what can you do with straws from drinks.  Use them as markers for summer bulbs that you have to dig up in the Fall, and supports for seedlings!  

Like all great ideas, they are born out of simple circumstances. So how was “Recycle This” born?  As the authors tell us:  “This site started from a bowl of pistachio nut shells.After we gorged ourselves on their lovely innards, they, the shells, just sat there, looking useful and versatile - but we had no idea what we could possibly do with them. Just throwing them on the compost heap seemed a waste - all the effort to make them tough and solid, and here we were just hoping they’d rot back down to mulch before the potatoes needed earthing up.

When we thought about it, we were in the same position with lots of things: leftover bits of food, old household items, empty containers of all shapes and sizes… And so this site was born.”

They also have a feature on the site if you want to suggest how to recycle a random item rather than simply ask what to do with one. 

 Their sister site is called Can I compost this? 

So what about those nasty ashtrays that people no longer use?  Well, I am not going to tell you.  You will have to go and visit the site yourself.  You will not be disappointed. 

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Sunday is Father’s Day.  How to green Father’s Day?  Well, I could tell you a multitude of green things to do but none would be important as this piece of advice. 

We spend our lives moving at such a fast pace.  Work deadline, soccer games, dance recitals, and countless of errands.  Take this one day to honor the fathers in your life.  It may not be your own father but your husband, uncle, or close friend who is a father. 

 I am lucky to still have a father with many of my friends have recently lost their fathers.  I don’t call him as much as I should and I live far away so I don’t see him as much.  He is the same man who took all of us out to breakfast every weekend when we were little for pancakes so my mom could have a break.  He always showed up at every dance recital, school event, and visiting day.  I still remember the letters he wrote me when I was at camp.  I know I make him proud because he tells me so.

 My kids are lucky to have a dad who is as hands on as their father.  He tries to go to as many games as he can despite the fact there is only one of him but many of them.  Anytime there is an event at school, he is always there.  He is very involved in their lives helping them in many ways.

 Like the Earth, we need to cherish what we have like our fathers.

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 I usually do not post other people’s articles but I have a lot of respect for Preston Koerner of Jetson Green.  His website is dedicated to featuring green building all over the world.   In describing his website, Preston states,” [g]enerally, I try to focus Jetson Green on modern + green building.  Specifically, I try to flaunt the business case for green building.  Sometimes I’ll delve more into the green building than the modern, and vice versa.” 

His posts are concise, informative, and easy to read.  In addition, his photographs that accompany his posts are clear and fully illustrate his topic.  He is a one man show and does not have a slew of writers to help him unlike many other green websites out there today.  His website was recently voted one of the top ten up and coming website by the folks at Lighter Footsteps, a green online magazine dedicated to sustainability.  Go preview Jetson Green and I am sure you will enjoy his website.

I really liked an article on his site regarding the first LEED west coast residence. Preston gave me permission to reprint his post.  Although, Preston’s post is dated February 14, 2007, this article is a little dated but very informative for those wishing to build green.

 Tom Kelly with Neil Kelly Company, as the general contractor, built one of the first LEED house on the West Coast.  The name may seem familiar to you because Neil Kelly Company started  Neil Kelly Cabinets, one of the largest eco-friendly kitchen cabinet makers in the country.  I hope you enjoy this article as much as I did. 

February 14, 2007

                                  Nick Garibbo, Photo Design, 2006

The LEED-H Silver Kelly Woodford Retreat Near Mt. Hood, Oregon

As one of the first residential LEED homes on the west coast, the Kelly Woodford home is blazing a trail for the future of residential construction.  In addition to its USGBC certification, the home is “net zero energy use” and Energy Star certified.  The 2,000 square-foot, three-bedroom/two-bath retreat has a great view of Mt. Hood and some pretty impressive green features.  Tom Kelly and Barbara Woodford built the home as a family getaway (with the Neil Kelly Company as general contractor), but they’ve also made the home available half the year to Neil Kelly employees to enjoy. 

It’s important to note that some green features work better in one location than another.  Localization is key, not only for the carbon impact, but for what works due to the local weather and climate (i.e., Californians may build sans AC, but that won’t fly in Texas).  This home has an amazing slew of green features, so I’m just going to throw them out:  net-metering photovoltaic panels; south-facing windows + passive solar design to reduce heating/cooling requirements; natural ventilation and proper solar orientation; solar-powered hydronic radiant floor; foot thick SIPs (structural insulated panels) for the roof to insulate against the winter chill; Energy Star-rated appliances; 16 SEER heat pump; CFL lighting throughout the house; two Sterling energy recovery ventilators to keep the air fresh; clean air filtration system; internal finishes from American Clay Plaster, Rhodda Paint’s Green Seal Horizontal line, and Yolo Colorhouse paints; FSC-certified lumber products; concrete with a high percentage of fly ash; 20-30% recycled steel roof with a shingle appearance; wheatboard and reclaimed lumber bath + kitchen cabinets; and recycled counter tops.  That’s just a few green features.  From beginning to end, it’s clear the entire process elevated sustainability to #1.   

Kelly remarked about the home, “When our family, friends and employees enjoy their time here, we want them to know they are living with nature, not in competition with it.“  Kelly’s serious, too.  He drives a bio-diesel fueled car and thinks residential building is going the direction of green.  Don’t you agree?!

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In my previous posts, I have extolled the benefits of buying used furniture.  What is more eco-friendly than buying something that already exists?  However, the downside of buying used upholstered furniture is that you have to worry if it contains a certain flame retardant known as PBDE. 

 Environmental Working Group (”EWG”) conducted the first study in the United States regarding the amount of the flame retardant, PBDE, found in American women’s breast milk.  The study found that the breast milk of 20 first time mothers was on average 75 times higher in the flame retardants than the breast milk of European mothers.  A similar study at the University of Texas confirmed these results. The EWG further explains that:

Like PCBs, their long-banned chemical relatives, brominated fire retardants are persistent in the environment and bioaccumulative, building up in people’s bodies over a lifetime. Brominated fire retardants impair attention, learning, memory, and behavior in laboratory animals at surprisingly low levels. The most sensitive time for toxic effects is during periods of rapid brain development.  Fire retardants in breast milk are one measure of the chemicals that a mother passes on not only to her nursing infant, but more importantly, to the unborn fetus, which is most vulnerable to impacts from neurotoxic chemicals.

PBDE has been banned since 2005 from furniture but it does exist in old furniture.  I spoke with Sonya Lauder of EWG seeking advice as to how best to protect yourself from PBDEs in old furniture.  She stated, “People should take general precautions to avoid exposure–be extremely careful when removing foam carpet padding, and avoid any contact with crumbling foam in furniture, automobile seats or mattresses. As for used furniture–make sure the covers are intact and the foam is not misshapen.”  There are EPA approved flame retardants in new furniture but the long term effects have not been tested.

During our conversation, Sonya sensed my frustration because there just did not seem to be a good answer. If you dispose of the furniture in a landfill, then our landfills will leach PBDEs or if you buy the used products, our bodies will continue to be exposed to PBDEs.  Perhaps if you find out the name of the manufacturer of an upholstered piece you want to buy, you could call that manufacturer and ask if they used PBDE in their upholstery.

 Another alternative if you are going to reupholster the furniture is to replace the old cushions with new cushions with the recently approved EPA flame retardants or with latex rubber cushions. (Just ask the reupholster if they can used water based glues in the reupholstering process.)  Natural latex cushions can be obtained at Foam Order.com.  Note, latex rubber cushions are more expensive than foam cushions.  View the different prices at Foam Order to get an idea of the cost.

Two companies that market their products as environmentally safe are Furnature, who uses natural rubber, and Lee Furniture (Natural Collection) that uses foam made in part with soybeans. They both use nontoxic finishes.

Some people are allergic to natural rubber.  To find out more about latex allergies and whether you might be susceptible to having such an allergy, see the following link:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/980101ap/reddy.html

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Groovy Green’s Michael d’Estries’ recent article about UsedFurnitureFindex.com caught my eye. (Visit Groovy Green.  It is a fun green website.)  Interior Designer Denise Cooperman started this website as a resource for people to sell their loved possessions.  She found that her clients did not know how to dispose of their old furniture. Many did not want to sell their furniture through newspapers or consign their pieces.

  It is not a surprise that Denise started this website.  As a confessed acquirer of used furniture, Denise was practicing the 3 Rs in fixing up old pieces for herself.  She never realized that she was eco-chic way before the term was coined.  She has successfully combined her love of used furniture with the need to create a solution to help her clients dispose of their furniture.

  So, what is the difference between her site and Craig’s List?  When I posed this question to Denise, she replied that her search engine is one of a kind which enables you to search by many different avenues such as type, location based upon how many miles from your zip code, dimensions, and style.  You can even search by whether you want to buy only new furniture or slightly used.  This search engine will make it easier to find exactly what you are looking for.  Only an interior decorator could think of such an efficient way to search for furniture.

In addition, UsedFurnitureFindex features surplus new furniture.  Just check to make sure how long it has been warehoused so that most of its toxins have off gassed. Majority of the off gassing takes place in the first year. However, it could take longer for all of the chemicals in the furniture to offgas.  Each piece is different. 

I went on the website to check it out and found it very easy to navigate.  As you look and click on furniture, the website keeps a record of your finds.  When I was searching for an armoire I noticed that everyone I saw was from Philadelphia or the surrounding area.  I asked Denise if she has customers from only the Pennsylvania area and she replied, “I have clients coming to the site from California, Texas, Florida, Rhode Island and all places in between.  The site is national and there are no boundaries.  We recently had someone in Baltimore purchase a sofa from someone in Philadelphia and a local furniture delivery service that advertises on the site made the delivery.”  So, don’t be shy to either look if you live in any part of the world. However, right now you can only post if you live in the United States. 

 At this time there is a fee of $5 to post on the site and the furniture can stay on the site until it is sold.  In the future the time period for a listing will only be 60 day.  I have been trying to sell a few pieces on Craig’s list, but have not been able to sell them.  I am going to post on UsedFurnitureFindex and see what happens. This site gets the recycling thumbs up from Green Talk. 

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Freecycle is a website where people give away their used possessions for free instead of putting them out at the curb.  This site is truly about someone’s trash, is someone else’s treasure. Freecycle was started in 2003 in Tucson, Arizona  to help reduce the waste in Tucson’s downtown as well as to help save the desert landscape from becoming mountains of landfills.Watch their video at http://www.freecycle.org/video.html.  It pretty much sums up what Freecycle is about.  According to their website as of today, they have 4041 community groups including an international presence in many countries including UK, Australia, Germany, and Canada.  I joined my local county group last year, which consists of over 5500 members.  The listings were voluminous.  Freecycle helps you start your own community group if there is not one already started. Sign up and take a look at what is being offered.

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