Feature Article |
How to Go Green
31 Ideas to Get You Started
By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy
You don’t have to spend millions, or tear down your house, or pack up your Energy Star fridge and move to San Fran. Greening up your home can be as easy as swapping your Egyptian cotton for bamboo sheets, or as involved as installing solar panels on your new white rubberized roof. “It can be just one thing,” says Todd Ballantyne, owner of the new Environmental Home Store in Lansdale. “If a lot of people did just one thing, it would make the world a lot more environmentally friendly.”
1. RIP OUT YOUR CARPETS. They may feel good, but they’re breeding grounds for mildew and allergens. Instead, install floors made from hardwood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that ensures forests are managed responsibly. Look for wood that’s 70 to 100 percent FSC-certified, a stat your floor vendor should have handy. “If he doesn’t, then it’s probably not FSC wood,” says Ballantyne, who champions California-based EcoTimber, which sells 70 percent FSC-certified oak, maple, chestnut and walnut bought directly from farmers who are uprooting old trees (ecotimber.com; available at the Environmental Home Store, by appointment, 1684 Kriebel Road, Lansdale, 215-368-2589; environmentalhomestore.com). You can also find some green hardwoods, like oak, at Home Depot, the largest single purchaser of FSC-certified wood in the country (homedepot.com). Or install cork, the same soft oak that’s in your wine bottle (and in space shuttle insulation), which is more cushiony than hardwood and a bit less formal. Cork tiles are manufactured nearby, in several wood-looking shades, by Coatesville’s Expanko (expanko.com). Buy them at Bell Floor Covering in Northern Liberties (1050 North 2nd Street, 215-925-3089; bellfloorcovering.com) or Atlas Interior Home Fashions in Cherry Hill (1617 Marlton Pike West, 856-665-4010; atlas-wallpaper.com).
2. BRING BACK LINOLEUM. It seems worse than pulling your leg-warmers out of the attic. But not only is it made in a relatively gentle process from all-natural products — linseed oil, sap, cork flour and jute — it’s also long-lasting. Usually cheaper than tiles or wood, linoleum comes in all sorts of colors and patterns — including several new lines that are actually quite cool. Jenn Rezeli, co-founder of Re:Vision Architecture (133 Grape Street, 215-482-1133; revisionarch.com), a green architecture firm in Manayunk, recommends Marmoleum, by Netherlands-based Forbo (forbolinoleumna.com). Find it at Floors USA in King of Prussia (555 South Henderson Road, 610-757-4000; floorsusa-wholesale.com) or Norman Carpet One in Ardmore (60 Greenfield Avenue, 610-896-9700; normancarpet.com).
3. ONE-STOP SHOP. After years of lagging behind the West Coast, the Delaware Valley finally has its own environmental home stores. Todd Ballantyne uses his own green home as a showroom for his Environmental Home Store, carrying samples of different types of wood flooring and chemical-free wool area rugs; a line of recycled ceramic and stone sinks; paints; and kitchen counters, cabinets and tables. It’s worth the trip just to check out his Tulikivi soapstone fireplace, which is not only stunning, but also warms the entire room with a mild, ambient heat that radiates off the stone (tulikivi.com). At Earth Mart, a 5,000-square-foot environmental and fair-trade department store opening this month in Phoenixville, you can browse for everything from lumber to t-shirts to pet supplies to food that’s prepared by nearby Kimberton Whole Foods (235 Bridge Street, 610-935-0313; earthmartonline.com). And keep an eye out for Greenable, an eco-products store that’s slated to open in a yet-to-be-determined Center City location this fall. For now, find its wares on the Web at greenable.org.
4. EMBRACE BAMBOO. First of all, it’s a grass, not a wood. Second, it’s the closest thing to an environmentalist’s dream plant: It gets big fast, and replenishes in just five years. That’s why you can find it in virtually everything: floors, tables and cabinets, available at the Environmental Home Store and most kitchen stores; plus, t-shirts, sheets and cutting boards, like those at Earth Mart. Or head to Old City’s Scarlett Alley to outfit your bed in 250-thread-count bamboo sheets (241 Race Street, 215-592-7898; scarlettalley.com). But if you get just one thing made from bamboo, let it be the cool Hasegawa bookshelf by West Chester’s family-owned Iola Design, a wall-mounted unit of abstract cubes and shelves (610-836-1635; ioladesign.com).
1. RIP OUT YOUR CARPETS. They may feel good, but they’re breeding grounds for mildew and allergens. Instead, install floors made from hardwood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that ensures forests are managed responsibly. Look for wood that’s 70 to 100 percent FSC-certified, a stat your floor vendor should have handy. “If he doesn’t, then it’s probably not FSC wood,” says Ballantyne, who champions California-based EcoTimber, which sells 70 percent FSC-certified oak, maple, chestnut and walnut bought directly from farmers who are uprooting old trees (ecotimber.com; available at the Environmental Home Store, by appointment, 1684 Kriebel Road, Lansdale, 215-368-2589; environmentalhomestore.com). You can also find some green hardwoods, like oak, at Home Depot, the largest single purchaser of FSC-certified wood in the country (homedepot.com). Or install cork, the same soft oak that’s in your wine bottle (and in space shuttle insulation), which is more cushiony than hardwood and a bit less formal. Cork tiles are manufactured nearby, in several wood-looking shades, by Coatesville’s Expanko (expanko.com). Buy them at Bell Floor Covering in Northern Liberties (1050 North 2nd Street, 215-925-3089; bellfloorcovering.com) or Atlas Interior Home Fashions in Cherry Hill (1617 Marlton Pike West, 856-665-4010; atlas-wallpaper.com).
2. BRING BACK LINOLEUM. It seems worse than pulling your leg-warmers out of the attic. But not only is it made in a relatively gentle process from all-natural products — linseed oil, sap, cork flour and jute — it’s also long-lasting. Usually cheaper than tiles or wood, linoleum comes in all sorts of colors and patterns — including several new lines that are actually quite cool. Jenn Rezeli, co-founder of Re:Vision Architecture (133 Grape Street, 215-482-1133; revisionarch.com), a green architecture firm in Manayunk, recommends Marmoleum, by Netherlands-based Forbo (forbolinoleumna.com). Find it at Floors USA in King of Prussia (555 South Henderson Road, 610-757-4000; floorsusa-wholesale.com) or Norman Carpet One in Ardmore (60 Greenfield Avenue, 610-896-9700; normancarpet.com).
3. ONE-STOP SHOP. After years of lagging behind the West Coast, the Delaware Valley finally has its own environmental home stores. Todd Ballantyne uses his own green home as a showroom for his Environmental Home Store, carrying samples of different types of wood flooring and chemical-free wool area rugs; a line of recycled ceramic and stone sinks; paints; and kitchen counters, cabinets and tables. It’s worth the trip just to check out his Tulikivi soapstone fireplace, which is not only stunning, but also warms the entire room with a mild, ambient heat that radiates off the stone (tulikivi.com). At Earth Mart, a 5,000-square-foot environmental and fair-trade department store opening this month in Phoenixville, you can browse for everything from lumber to t-shirts to pet supplies to food that’s prepared by nearby Kimberton Whole Foods (235 Bridge Street, 610-935-0313; earthmartonline.com). And keep an eye out for Greenable, an eco-products store that’s slated to open in a yet-to-be-determined Center City location this fall. For now, find its wares on the Web at greenable.org.
4. EMBRACE BAMBOO. First of all, it’s a grass, not a wood. Second, it’s the closest thing to an environmentalist’s dream plant: It gets big fast, and replenishes in just five years. That’s why you can find it in virtually everything: floors, tables and cabinets, available at the Environmental Home Store and most kitchen stores; plus, t-shirts, sheets and cutting boards, like those at Earth Mart. Or head to Old City’s Scarlett Alley to outfit your bed in 250-thread-count bamboo sheets (241 Race Street, 215-592-7898; scarlettalley.com). But if you get just one thing made from bamboo, let it be the cool Hasegawa bookshelf by West Chester’s family-owned Iola Design, a wall-mounted unit of abstract cubes and shelves (610-836-1635; ioladesign.com).
 |
Change text size |
 |
Print |
 |
Email |
 |
Write a comment |
Posted by Anonymous | Jan. 2, 2008 at 1:58 PM