Green Options

A part of the environmental debate that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention made the pages of the March 2009 issue of Consumer Reports and it’s sure to raise some eyebrows. The offender? Interior paint.

Are you using the greenest products to clean your home?

“It is often difficult to know which cleaning product is “greenest” but there are a few key words and phrases to look for which will help you identify those products with reduced adverse environmental and health effects, “says Lindsay Luhnau, environmental educator. 

She’s authored the Green Cleaning Guide For Businesses and Individuals, one in the Clean Calgary Association GUIDE Series.

What should you look for in a green cleaning product? Luhnau recommends looking for the following words and phrases on green cleaning products:

Many homeowners love do-it-yourself home projects, but are the products we use such as paint and wallpaper, non-toxic and safe?  We all want our homes to be free of cancer-causing toxins, especially when it comes to the decor we choose.  Not only is it important for adults, it is critical to use sustainable and green products around any area where children and pets play. Do we really want to decorate a nursery room or a recreation room with potentially toxic substances? I think not. But, how do you choose the right kind of non-toxic paint and wallpaper?

Fortunately we can now buy paints that low in or free of VOCs, or volatile organic compounds.  This is so important because the paints that do contain VOCs still release toxins years after they have dried. One hasty decision at the home improvement store can have very long lasting effects.  Non-toxic paints have significantly less odor that can spark allergic reactions, headaches and, nausea.  Make sure you are buying paint that is low on the VOCs or free of VOCs entirely.  Do this by reading the labels or asking your paint retailer. I have used C2 LoVo myself with wonderful results. The paint fume smell was non-existent. I was a very happy, green customer.

2008 was the year that saw elements of green building become mainstream and increased interest in green technologies.  But for those of us who are not building a new house or who don’t keep up with all the new technologies, there are many simple, inexpensive (or free) ways to green your life that you can do right now.  The result will be a more energy efficient, healthier, and more sustainable environment for you and your children.  Do yourself and you family a favor, take one or more of the following resolutions to go green:

Emissions and Indoor Air Quality

While sustainability and energy efficiency often dominate the green building conversation, the issue that can have the most immediate impact on your family’s health is indoor air quality.  Green building programs seek to limit your family’s exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, that exist in some building materials and furniture.  Continued exposure to these VOCs has caused health problems ranging from headaches and nausea to cancer.  Green building programs like the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes and LEED for New Construction encourage builders to eliminate these emissions whenever possible.

If building green comes at a slightly higher cost it is because many of these harmful chemicals are so widespread that finding products without them can be a challenge.  In fact, it is the presence of these chemicals in some products that makes them cheaper, as in wood products containing urea-formaldehyde.

Those looking to improve the indoor air quality of their current house can make several changes that will significantly reduce VOCs.

Some sources of harmful emissions in the home:

With new owners set to move into the the LEED light Arterra we throughout that we’d pay a visit to San Fran’s newest LEED certified condo. Arriving on bikes, we discovered that no bike racks exist for those wishing to inspect the demo models. Thus we had to pull out bikes into into the sales office. Walking though the corridors to the demo unit, we couldn’t help but smell [...]

Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh are writing a series on the surprising journeys of everyday things. They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post. Here’s a sneak peek at the desk you threw away.

How can a mahogany desk, made of slow-growing hard wood plundered from the Amazon, be eco-friendly?

When it’s re-used.

Often, the greenest consumer route is not buying new products made with Earth-friendly methods but rather scoring used products made with traditional, possibly heinous methods. Reduce, reuse, then recycle.

This rule of thumb certainly applies to office furniture. Unlike energy-consuming products such as appliances, furniture is somewhat innocuous to the environment during that period between factory and landfill known as “in use.” The impacts on indoor air quality, however, are like Britney: Not that innocent.

A modern take on a Victorian classic, the Cleo sofa is just one in a collection of completely sustainable and modern furniture.  Greener Lifestyles, based in Seattle, WA doesn’t believe you have to sacrifice your health, the environment or good design for well-made, long lasting pieces for your home.  Priding themselves on impeccible craftsmenship and attention to detail with 100% sustainability their goal, they’re always searching for the best non-toxic materials.  

Responsibly harvested FSC-certified wood is used for the frame, while sustainably harvested rubber tree sap is turned into their biodegradable and mold, mite and mildew-resisting latex cushions.  Anti-microbial and naturally fire-retardant organic wool is used with organic cotton for all cushion batting. 

We are doing a massive renovation at our house. Right now, we are living in a one room cabin with an outhouse, resident mouse, and possibly a bat (and oh, a one and a three year old) while our house is gutted.

Part of keeping the cost down is that we will do all our own painting and finishing of any wood.

So, we are on the lookout for low and no VOC paints and finishes to use. What are VOCs? Jessica shares about them earlier today and the virtues of new no VOC Mythic paint. Paints, finishes, primers and stains can all contain VOCs which causes indoor air quality to decline, putting little children at a greater risk of many health problems. According to Enviroblog:

Clean as Clean Should Be: Yes, this is the household bottleIt is difficult to find an all-purpose cleaner these days that doesn’t fill your kitchen with the fresh scent of artificial toxins. Whether the cleaning agents are safe or not, oftentimes the most harmful chemicals in cleaning products are the fragrances.

Currently, there are no regulations on the fragrance industry resulting in a lot of unnecessary airborne

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