So if you could make eco-friendly furniture using nothing but recycled paper, why not? Cost effective, green, and even stylish. Check this video out…
Wow right. Visit Debbie Wijskamp to see more of the finished product.
You are currently browsing the archive for the Furniture & Appliances category.
Clothes dryers can use a ton of energy in your home, zapping resources and raising your bill. Luckily, there are plenty of options that will allow you to go dryer free most of the time.
The basic clothesline: Obviously people have been using the basic clothes line for hundreds of years. It’s simple to set one up too. You don’t need two properly placed trees either. Mother Earth News has an easy tutorial about how to make your very own sturdy clothesline. There are also retractable clotheslines you can invest in as well that can be inside.
Drying racks: Drying racks are nice because they can be used both indoors and out, and usually fold up nice and tidy and out of the way when not in use. There are many drying rack options like the Expandable Wall Rack (shown above), an Over-Bath Drying Rack, or a basic folding drying rack.
Hangers: You have to hang your clothes anyhow, so why not simply take them from the washer, put them on hangers, and hang them on the shower rack for a day. THEN move directly to your closet. This is pretty much what I do all year round. Living in rainy Oregon makes it difficult to hang clothes outside year round, so this is easier. Inside clothes dry super fast too, so it’s not as if your bathroom will always be clothes covered. There are even eco-friendly hanger options, such as…
- Save the ones your clothes come on. Seriously folks; according to a Readers Digest story last year, about 3.5 billion hangers end up in the landfill annually. What the!? Use the ones you’ve got.You can also check thrift stores for used hangers.
- B Green Bamboo Hangers
- Compost friendly Wheatware Hangers
There are all sorts of ways to save energy in the kitchen – but cooking with a pressure cooker is one of the best. Using a pressure cooker is a green kitchen move that not only saves energy, but allows you to creatively use leftovers and minimize food waste, and bonus – you’ll save money.
Using a pressure cookers can cut up 60-70% of your energy costs, which isn’t bad when you consider that overall, cooking typically makes up about 10% of your home’s energy use. You can’t use a pressure cooker for every single dish you make but they’re totally appropriate for tons of food items such as rice and other grains, soup, potatoes, beans, pasta, meat, and more.
Basic pressure cookers range from 4-6 quart sizes and come in various materials – but stainless steel is your best green bet for safety and recyclable qualities. A pressure cooker works by trapping steam inside the sealed cooker which saves energy from escaping and maintains a faster heating temperature, which allows food to cook much faster than say in a traditional pot.
Pressure cookers also allow you to cook with less fat and oil and dishes retain more nutrients. Plus pressure cooking helps to retains and intensifies flavors and can even tenderize tough cuts of meat. When choosing a pressure cooker look for a heavy bottom stainless steel cooker with heat resistant handles and an easy to manage lid.
To find a pressure cooker visit:
Learn more about using a pressure cooker or find great pressure cooker recipes.
The Evening Breeze Bed is a tease if you aren’t traveling to an exotic location; but so cool we have to see it anyhow. The Evening Breeze Bed is a stylish air conditioned canopy bed, designed to provide cool air plus the desired temperature and humidity in a bedroom. There’s a mosquito net (the canopy) which also protects you from unwanted biting intruders. Bed temperature levels range from a gentle breeze to extra cooling for hot nights.
Air conditioners, according to Evening Breeze, are the number one energy consumers in tropical households and holiday homes. The average energy use for the Evening Breeze bed is only 400 Watt, which means a typical energy use decline of 60% per room in a tropical (hot, muggy) setting. This implies a yearly saving of 4 MWh, equaling 1.000 USD or 2,5 tons of CO2 pollution.
Evening Breeze also has a triple filter system process to make sure that the air you are breathing is 99,97% free of airborne particles. You can keep your windows and doors open since the air is concentrated around the bed vs. room, so you don’t lose air. This means you get freshly circulating air all night long.
Where can you get one?
Right now it looks like this bed is a commercial deal. Got a hotel or holiday home and you’re good to go. Residential use, I’m less clear on. The team over at Evening Breeze notes, “We are currently developing our sales and service network in the Caribbean and Africa. If you are interested in an Evening Breeze bed, please let us know. We will tell you when and where our beds are available in your region.” Contact them here.
I think cooling just a sleeping area makes a lot of sense even if you’re not in the tropics. You save money, save energy, and get a pretty canopy bed to boot. Hopefully we see this available on a wider scale soon.
What do you think – does the Evening Breeze Bed look good to you? Learn more at Evening Breeze.
Wood burning may seem like a weird summer topic, but plenty of folks burn fires at night in the summer, and it’s been on my mind, so let’s take a look at the greenness (or not) of wood for heat.
In Humboldt my family lived in a little house near the beach, in a super small ex-logging town. The homes hadn’t been updated since their initial building, and all the heat we had was a wood stove. While living there, I always wondered if wood heat was green or not. Of course the perk is you’re not using non-renewable energy to heat with – trees will obviously grow again. After some research I found that it’s sort of a two-way street. Wood for heat can be green but it depends on some various factors…
The type of stove or fireplace you burn in. For example, a basic old wood burning open masonry fireplace is just 10 to 20% efficient while a circulating wood stove burns at 40-50% efficient. Basically, a wood stove is going to burn more efficient than a fireplace. See a list of EPA certified wood stoves (pdf).
Where the wood stove is located. You want the stove located in a central area in your home. Wherever the family hangs out most is the best place for a stove.
Size of the stove in relation to your home. If you have a house with many small rooms, one large wood stove is a bad idea. The stove will overheat the room it’s in, but not necessarily spread heat well to other rooms. You’d be better off with two smaller stoves.
What sort of wood you use. Sometimes you’re at the mercy of wood suppliers in your area but if you have a choice choose a wood that burns hotter to conserve. Black birch, hickory, locust, northern red oak, rock elm, and sugar maple are some of the woods that burn well. Cedar, alder, balsam fir, hemlock, and spruce are some woods that burn less hot.
How clean you keep it. You have to keep your wood stove clean or it’s not only a safety hazard, but less eco-friendly.
If you rarely have a fire at home, the greenest log is one of those commercial quick start fireplace logs. They burn cleaner than real wood and are made with waste products (sawdust).
See a huge guide to choosing and using a wood stove.
We’ve already discussed the eco pros and cons of landlines vs. mobile phones here, and mobiles clearly come out ahead. However, mobile phones do have some eco-downsides as well, and we could green our use of them even more. Here’s how:
Always unplug your charger when you’re not actually charging your phone. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, anything left plugged in is drinking down energy (slower than an item in use, but it’s still using energy). Better yet, skip electricity use and snag a cool HyMini Wind + Solar Hybrid Charger for cell phones, iPod, iPhone.
Buy the greenest phone possible. Right now there are very few eco-minded mobiles on the market, but if consumers buy them and ask mobile phone makers for them, more eco-minded cells will launch to meet demand. Right now some better green phone options include:
- Samsung solar powered phone
- Sony Green Heart
- Blue Earth – coming soon
- See a list of the seven best eco-friendly phones
Only buy a new phone when you actually need one. You don’t need a new one, with new gadets each year. Use it up and then recycle it when it’s life span is over. If you do buy a new one before your old one’s prime, donate your phone to a local non-profit or recycle it.
Try an eco-friendly mobile carrier – like the phones, there are few, but Credo and Earth Tones are two to consider.
Get some cool green applications for your phone. There are plenty of apps out now that can help you go or stay green. See the best green mobile apps.
How are you greening your mobile use?
If you’re looking to remodel or are building a new green home, you should check out the following droll worthy eco-bathroom ideas. First up, Rapsel, a company who makes some of the most unique and beautiful bathroom systems and other bathroom products I’ve seen. Their products are modern and fresh and anything but ordinary and many have sustainable attributes. A sampling is below…
My favorite Rapsel bath system is One, an invisible and functional look that allows pipes and drains of the loo, sink, and shower to vanish, seemingly into thin air. Made with sustainable larch wood.
Read the rest of this entry »
Composting is one of the best things you can do for a healthy planet and garden. Not only do you eliminate landfill waste when you compost, but it’s free organic soil, and you save money on your garbage bills.
One comprehensive composter is the NatureMills Plus Composter. (shown above). Benefits of this composter include…
- Mixes automatically – hands-off mixing ability.
- No trash odors when kept inside. Continuous air flow and a powerful carbon filter remove odors.
- Can be used indoors or outdoors or even under the cupboard. Outside use works even in cold weather, rain, or snow.
- You can add food and other waste any time, any day, up to 120 lbs per month. Waste items are processed continuously, mixing every 4 hours, until they are completely ground down to small particles.
- NatureMill is made from recycled and recyclable materials.
- Energy use is just 5 kwh / month, or about $0.50/month – less than a garbage truck would burn in diesel fuel to haul the same waste.
- New compost is ready every 2 weeks. A red light will tell you when to empty the machine. Just open the door and remove the compost and place it in your garden.
- All NatureMill models can handle pet waste, kitty litter, and cage beddings.
- You only have to replace the filter every 5 years.
Watch this video about it…
NatureMills makes other composters as well. Visit NatureMills to learn more.
Creollus (pronounced kré/ol/lus) was established in 2001 and currently offers a wide selection of sustainable and unique lamps.
Recently, Creollus sent me some info about the design and production process that’s really cool so I thought I’d share. The raw materials used for the creation Creollus lamps include banana fibers (raw materials discarded at harvesting), recycled kraft paper (from cement bags) and natural pigments extracted from the ground/soil making these lamps a beautiful and green choice for your home. See the banana fibers below:
The fibers don’t look like they’ll become a lamp huh? And yet…
Creollus carries three unique product lines: Housewares, Fashion Accessories, and Fine Art. Visit Creollus to see all their goods which include many various lamp designs. Or learn where to purchase Creollus products for your home.
According to Rainforest Relief, the U.S. is the largest importer of tropical wood by dollar amount. That’s not cool. Tropical woods harvested from rainforests create all sorts of negative impacts on the planet, and for little gain – flooring, furniture, and other home uses for tropical woods can all be altered. There are plenty of wood options nowadays that won’t kill rainforests. What’s worse is that massive destruction of rainforest habitats are required to produce relatively small amounts of actual usable wood.
Woods to avoid:
“Endangered forests” are usually defined by organizations as…are defined to include the following
- Tropical forests (excluding plantations);
- Old growth or overharvested temperate forests.
- Old growth boreal forests.
Rainforest Relief notes that high value species like mahogany, ipê, jatoba and virola in the Amazon, African mahogany, wenge, oklumé and padauk in Africa, ramin, apitong, keruing, kepmpas, kapur, nyatoh and balau in Malaysia and Indonesia, are targeted by legal and illegal loggers and should be avoided.
Woods to look for:
When shopping for wood products for your home – i.e. for building projects, flooring, furniture, and accessories look for the following…
- Wood from companies accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council.
- Wood products that have been recycled or reclaimed.
- Recycled plastic lumber (RPL) – this is 100% recycled materials and doesn’t contain any wood fiber.
Rainforest Relief offers a great graphic look at the best and worst woods for indoor home use. The chart below can help you make smarter decisions when it comes to buying wood products. The top (in green) are best woods to look for, while the bottom of the chart contains the worst woods to buy; that is, if you’re interested in NOT killing the last of the rainforests off.
Do you know which wood types are used most in your home?
When it comes to organic food and organic home products, there are a lot of choices. It can be overwhelming. However, there’s no need to freak. You will totally look like you know what you’re doing (even when you’re not so sure) with these simple rules…
Organic is not always best: There are absolutely some items you should purchase organic, and then there are the organic items that matter less. Clothing, textiles, and other fabrics for your home are good organic, but you can also choose used or other sustainable fabrics that are just as eco-friendly as organic cotton. For example – hemp, bamboo, and thrift store finds all lower your footprint without the organic label. As for organic food, some purchases offer better health and eco-benefits than others. Check out which organics you need to buy and 11 Ways to Save Money on Organic Food in order to make smart choices.
Don’t go nuts all at once: Small organic changes are just as good as a complete life overhaul, but WAY easier. Don’t try to go massive organic all at once. Start making small changes; i.e. buy organic peanut butter and organic cotton pillow cases. Eventually all your simple changes will start to add up.
Got pets?: Let them go organic too. Many people forget their pets but currently there are many organic varieties of pet foods, green pet homes, and toys out there.
Go organic for health: If you’re only going organic for the eco-benefits, that’s fine, but the health benefits of organic over conventional offer you much more motivation. For example, you can make over your bathroom soaps and cosmetics in order to cut chemicals out of your world or buy a better organic mattress for a non-toxic dream time. Think about organic in a way that personally relates to you because this makes shopping decisions easier.
Make it easy for your kids: Kids raised on organics are in a better position to grow up understanding the long-term benefits. Don’t just go organic – talk organic with the kiddos so they know what’s up. Once they’re old enough to make shopping decisions, they’ll have a far easier time than our generation of adults.
How are you going organic at home?
In a previous post, How To Choose Green Used Home Goods, we looked at what to avoid when shopping for household goods at a thrift store, antique shop, or other used goods place.
Here are some ideas about making used products work for your home:
Basic rules…
- Think useful over decoration, or you’ll end up collecting a bunch of junk you don’t need.
- Think about how the object might look with minor adjustments – i.e new fabric on a stool, new paint on a frame, or an old tweed blazer made into pillow cases.
- Think outside the box. Re-purpose an item. Almost everything has more than one use.
Old jewelry can be used to spiffy up a picture frame.
Cool recycled wooden crates can be made into shelving or even a small table.
Reclaimed house items, like doorknobs, non-rusty fixtures, and drawer pulls can be used as coat or towel hangers on your wall.
Clear and colored glass vases or bottles can be used as a window cover – i.e. line them up (like in the picture above). You get privacy, but without a curtain. Plus the light shining through is cool.
Old buckets, bathtubs, sinks, boots, carts, and more can be used for interesting container gardens.
You can make wind chimes from old silverware, jewels, and small tin toys.
Old dishes can be broken up and used for a new mosaic table top.
Books that can help you make the most of used goods:
Abode a la Mode: 44 Projects for Hip Home Decor
Decorating with Great Finds(82 ways to use finds from antique stores, garage sales, & attics)
Garage Sale Decorator’s Bible: How to Find Treasures, Fix Them & Furnish Your Home
Junk Beautiful: Room by Room Makeovers with Junkmarket Style
What have you re-purposed for your home?
Buying used, from a thrift store, antique shop, or flea market is one great way to keep it green. You’re giving old products a new life, avoiding production of new products, and getting some cool unique finds to boot. That said, you do need to be smart about which used products you choose for your home. Buying the wrong used item isn’t green, it’s a waste of time and money.
Used products to avoid:
Avoid impulse buys: Like any purchase, you need to ask some fundamental green purchasing questions before you buy. Make sure you’re getting something you’ll actually use.
Avoid broken stuff: Some broken items are ok. If you’re sure you can fix it (really sure) go ahead and buy. If something is going to take massive repairs to get it halfway presentable or working, don’t bother.
Avoid multiple projects: A project is not so broken you can’t fix it, say a shelf that needs refinished, but having too many projects on hand pretty much ensures that none of them will get done. One project at a time is smart.
Avoid non-green kitchen supplies and dishes: If it’s not energy efficient or a smart green tableware choice avoid it.
Avoid safety hazards: Old furnishings may have lead based paints – fine if you’ll refinish it, but not ok as is. Same for thrift toys and especially baby furniture. Make sure everything works and won’t harm anyone.
Avoid large textiles: In most cases used textiles aren’t a great green deal. Most won’t be made of eco-friendly materials, most are super hard to properly clean, and with something like an old pillow, it’s almost impossible to sanitize.
Later we’ll look at some good used home product decisions.
If you’re looking to set your perfect eco-holiday, I’ve got you covered. I’m going to be running a table series covering everything from eco-friendly dishes to cloth napkins, to flowers. Starting with…
The table.
Of course you’ll need a table to dress up. Being that I happen to be heavily addicted to ogling eco-furnishings I see an untold amount of tables. I have lots of favorites. I picked a nice variety to share here. Hopefully you’ll find something to love.
The Lapis: A table I’ve always loved; well, not since birth, so always is inaccurate. However, I have loved it for a good long while. It’s lovely and light, modern and fresh, and simply glows. This piece is finished with an organic milk paint finish. Comes in various colors, but I’m sticking with linen, my fave.
Lite2Go is way fun, and I think it would make a great green holiday gift. Take a look:
Lite2Go is about as fun as a low-key lamp can get. The lamp packaging becomes the recycled polypropylene shade, the instruction booklet and label are printed on recycled paper with eco-friendly inks, and it comes with a CFL bulb. It’s a very neat idea. I love that everything is used to make the lamp. Kids would get a kick out of that.
Around the holidays it seems like the coffee pot is going non-stop. Or at my house year round (expert coffee addict here). In any case, it’s easy to green your coffee routine, no matter how often you brew a pot.
Your coffee maker:
First of all there’s your actual coffee maker. There aren’t exactly green standards set for coffee makers. That said, you can estimate your coffee maker’s energy consumption at The Department of Energy. Also, Inhabitat has an in-depth, and great post, GREEN YOUR APPLIANCES! Coffee Makers that will put you ahead of the curve regarding coffee makers. You can also try a French Press.
Your best bet for a green coffee maker is going to be in how you use it, not so much the appliance itself. Read the rest of this entry »
You might. There are some easy ways to figure out if it’s time for a new greener fridge, or if you should stick with what you’ve got.
If it’s old: Older refrigerators suck up double the energy of new Energy Star refrigerators. A good rule of thumb is that if it’s older than 12 years, start shopping.
If it’s newer: Even newer fridges may be replaced with a more energy efficient version. Just because it’s new, doesn’t mean you ended up with the most efficient model. Of course this means you’d be giving up a fridge (lots of materials and cost) which is something else to consider. To learn how much money you could save by trading up to a greener fridge, visit the Refrigerator Retirement Savings Calculator, then decide.
If it’s broken: If there’s a major issue with your fridge, and it’s going to cost a lot to fix PLUS it’s already old, thus less efficient, I wouldn’t pay for the repair. If you can swing it, get a newer fridge.
What’s next?:
Find a recycling center for your old fridge. Visit the Recycle My Old Fridge Campaign or Earth 911 to get started.
You also might be interested in:
- Green Your Fridge & Freezer
- Fridge Door Open Too Long? Sound the Alarm!
- Top 7 Tips to Green Your Refrigerator
Just for fun: DIY Recycled Refrigerator Magnets
In most older houses the answer to this question is… The toilet.
Regular old toilets used to use a ton of water – up to seven gallons per flush. If you’ve remodeled your old house bathroom, or bought a brand new house it’s likely you have a new toilet, and that’s good news because newer toilets use far less water per flush (usually less than 2 gallons).
Options for older toilets… And by old, I do mean old. Models since the mid 90s have used less water. If you have a toilet older than say 1995 or so, that’s when you need to be concerned.
Replace it: Your best option, hands down is to replace your older toilet for a nice new model. You can upwards of 2000 gallons of water per year by changing out your toilet. Preferably you want to get a dual-flush model (available in the U.S. from Kohler and Caroma U.S.A), a water sense approved model, or an ultra low-flush. There are also some nice composting and waterless toilets available, which will save you even more money and water.
Besides water, there’s that additionally bonus that a water efficient toilet will save you lots of cash over the years. Costs to buy and install a new toilet (or 2 or 3) can seem high, but you’ll get back that money quickly. Visit Conserve Water Utah, to see a list of water efficient toilets.
Read the rest of this entry »
See how I can rhyme my green tips! But that’s besides the point. If you like your TV big then consider a LED-screen, rear projector screen, or even just a biggie old fashioned TV – all three use less energy than plasma screens.
In fact, some figures show that with continued plasma use, TVs will end up consuming about 8% of the energy used nationally per year. 8% sounds small – but think of al the stuff we own that uses energy, and that makes 8% to TV alone seem pretty icky.
To learn more read: Televisions Will Consume More Energy Than a Fridge – yup even the title is scary.
The other day we were talking about sustainable furniture, and I promised to show some cool pieces. If you missed the other posts, read: Sustainable Furniture Guidelines and Re-purpose the Furniture You Own.
Green furniture shops to adore:
Modern Bamboo Spring Chair from Design Public: (Comes in Cherry and Ebony as well).
Donato 6 drawer dresser in bamboo from the always lovely Fernwalla:
Smile by David Trubridge from Greenergrassdesign:
Other sustainable shops:
- William Garvey Ltd – Teak Baths, Sinks, & More
- Gorgeous Spun Bamboo Stools
- The pli line from Bang Design
- Gaiam
- Ecotots – sustainable design for the littles
- Branch
- Vivavi
For even more great eco furniture store visit Co-op America.
Today we’re talking about sustainable furniture. One great way to own sustainable decor, with very little cost, is to re-purpose the furniture you already own. A close second choice is to remake furniture you find at a thrift store, garage sale, or antique store.
Some ideas for the furniture you already have:
1. Add new hardware: A new shelf knob or handle can remake an entire piece. Try something natural, like the Viola Knob from the Carol Beach Pressed Flower Knobs Collection or the recycled glass Drawer Pulls from the Aurora Accents Drawer Pulls Collection (available in six colors; Amethyst, Apricot, AquaBlue, ClassicClear, Cobalt, and Emerald). Both are available at Nature’s Hardware.
2. Refinish with healthy paints and non-toxic varnish: Don’t forget to sand your piece down first.
3. Use stencils: You can go one step beyond painting and stencil cool designs on a shelf or wall mirror. In fact, if you’re really creative, I’d go freehand.
4. Use covers: You can re-top a table with recycled glass tiles or cover that old couch with some new organic fabric.
To learn more read Reasonable Redecorating: Reuse, Refinish, and Repurpose.
Still to come: Places you can score sustainable furniture.
Incorporating green options into your home includes many aspects – building, energy systems, landscaping, interior decor, and even furniture. If you’re going to build or remodel green, why fill your home with toxic furniture?
Home decor is just as important as what’s on the outside of your house. Following are some tips that can make choosing sustainable furniture a little easier:
Look for the right wood: Make sure to buy furniture made from fast growing woods like bamboo or mango, or look for wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC is a worldwide healthy wood standard.
Re-make what you already have: Maybe you don’t need new furniture. You could refinish your current furniture and make it bright and new. Fresh non-toxic finish or paint, plus some cool new hardware (like shelf knobs made from natural items) can cast a new light on old pieces.
Recycled and reclaimed pieces: Another option is to choose thrift store, antique shop, or garage sale furniture. You can re-purpose a piece, although sometimes it’s perfect as is. You can also look for shops that specialize in reclaimed and recycled woods or full pieces.
Go organic: When it comes to recovering an old couch, or even buying new chairs, look for fabrics that are organic or even vintage (re-used).
Look for healthy finishes: You can have healthy, sustainable wood furniture, but if it’s slathered in toxic sealing chemicals, it sort of cancels out the good. Make sure your furniture is finished in eco-friendly paints and varnishes.
Forget leather: The upside of leather is that it lasts and lasts. Long lasting is a smart eco-trait. However, the downside of leather is of course you have to skin an animal to get it. Also, leather production is costly and an energy drain – you have to have pastures for cows, factories for production, and forests are cleared for grazing. Leather is not a good eco choice.
Buy local when possible: It’s not always easy to buy everything local, but if you can, it’s better for the earth. Shipping is a large energy drain and doesn’t foster community.
Later we’ll look at some sustainable furniture options – and some ideas for re-purposing what you already own.
[Reclaimed Wood Table with Stainless Channel Tray shown above available at Acacia]
This week we’re looking at easy and effective ways to green your living spaces. So far we’ve looked at how to green up both your living room and the baby nursery. Today, we’ll look at the bedroom.
- Use compact fluorescent light bulbs rather than typical incandescent bulbs in lamps and overhead. You can even use LED lighting if you only need to light a small space. It’s the bedroom – you could just go with some soothing organic candles.
- If you charge items in your bedroom, unplug them when they’re not charging. In fact, it’ll save even more energy if you unplug lamps and stereos as well.
- Use a non-toxic, chemical and pesticide free organic mattress.
- Be sure to invest in soft organic pillows, blankets, curtains and other natural bedding accessories.
- Choose sustainable bedroom furniture that’s non-toxic.
- Use natural flooring options or choose natural safe carpet.
- Instead of mothballs in your closets and drawers use natural cedar blocks, dried lavender, or make a mix of dried orange peels, cinnamon, cloves, and essential oils.
- To remove stains from bedding try a natural method: sprinkle the stain with table salt and lemon juice; leave your linens sitting in the sun for a few hours; brush off salt and wash on gentle.
- To keep your bedroom clean aim for all natural green cleaning methods. Green cleaning is important, but you really want to avoid chemicals in the bedroom.
- Choose environmentally friendly paints for your bedroom walls.
This week we’re going room by room, looking at how we can green up all the spaces of your home. It’s really important to keep your little one’s sleeping space free from chemicals, toxins, and other icky things. Babies, with their smaller bodies and immune systems are more sensitive to everything. Following are ten tips that can help you green your nursery.
- Get rid of smelly baby odors (think diaper pail) with natural methods.
- Install energy saving lights and light bulbs. You can also set up lighting on a timer or sensor – for example, a night light on a sensor can save a ton of energy.
- Use non toxic paints and finishes on the walls and furniture.
- look for refurbished or recycled furniture. If you refinish it yourself, remember to use healthy non lead, non-toxic laminate or paint. Avoid materials like plywood and particleboard, because it usually contains formaldehyde.
- Be sure to buy a safer, greener, baby mattresses. These used to be spendy, but you can find great deals on green mattresses and it’s worth it. While you’re at it, make sure to invest in organic baby bedding as well.
- Look for flame-retardant and sustainable floor coverings and rugs.
- Invest in toys made from sustainable wood, non-toxic materials, and made with Fair Trade practices. These type of toys cost more, but it’s better to buy fewer toys that are safe than a bunch of plastic toys chock full of chemicals. You can even consider what you have around the house as toys. Babies still love to bang on pots, play with cups, and dance with you – try to have fun with fewer toys overall.
- Invest in greener diaper choices.
- Keep your baby clean with natural soap and care options.
- Stock up your baby’s closets with natural and organic clothing finds. For some ideas visit the following stores:
This week I thought it might be cool to go room by room and offer some tips that are both easy and will make your rooms greener and healthier.
Let’s kick it off with a high traffic area – the living room:
- If you have a fireplace or woodstove, make sure that you close the damper when you don’t have a fire going. You can save a lot on your energy use and electric bill by containing the air or heat you keep inside your house.
- Buy furniture made from sustainable woods or recycled materials.
- Try to buy soft furniture and fixtures, like sofas, carpet, chairs, and blankets in organics or natural, renewable fabrics and materials.
- You can also go for alternative non-carpet flooring choices.
- Turn off the television at least two nights a week (more if you can). It’s summer so you can head out for an evening game of Frisbee with the family, or simply have a family game or quiet-time night.
- Unplug equipment when not in use. Your stereo does not need to be plugged in 24/7 and it drains electricity.
- Choose the best air conditioner for your space.
- Buy plants that actually help to improve air quality – your whole family will feel better.
- Use LED lighting to light small reading areas, and use long lasting eco-friendly light bulbs in other lighting accessories. Once in a while try lighting organic soy candles instead of turning on the lights.
- Clean and dust your living room without the use of toxic chemicals.