Feature Article |
How to Go Green
By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy
5. RECYCLE YOUR OWN TREES. Thinking of ripping out the gnarly old oak in your front yard? New Jersey-based CitiLogs will haul it off for only the cost of mileage, then truck it to Amish logging mills in Central Pennsylvania so it can be turned into useable planks. If you can’t bear to part with it, CitiLogs can help you turn the wood into finely crafted cabinets, doors, tables or floors, all with finishes that contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — the toxic “off gasses” that emanate from many carpets, paints and furniture. The 15-year-old company, which recently replaced the floors at the city’s historic Second National Bank building, can work with any type of tree that’s 10 or more inches wide (877-CITY-LOG; citilogs.com).
6. BUY OLD FURNITURE. “If you can reuse something, that really is the best thing for green living,” says Jenn Rezeli, of Re:Vision Architecture. “The energy to make old furniture was used long ago.” Plus, older sofas and chairs have long ago expended their VOCs. (Just be sure, if you refinish a piece, that you use a non-VOC varnish, like AFM’s Safecoat, available at the Environmental Home Store.) For architectural salvage turned into doors, tables and light fixtures, try ReStore in Port Richmond (3016 East Thompson Street, 215-634-3474; re-store-online.com), or Found Matter in Kensington, which also sells new furniture handmade from salvaged wood (by appointment, 1320 North 5th Street, 215-701-3949; foundmatter.com).
7. BUY NEW FURNITURE. European furniture makers, from discount Ikea — which describes each object’s environmental impact on its website (ikea.com) — to high-end Ligne Roset (4131 Main Street, Manayunk, 215-487-2800; ligne-roset-usa.com), tend to be greener than American manufacturers, because environmental standards are higher across the pond. Also check out Northern Liberties’ Flotsam + Jetsam, which carries a line of sleekly modern but still cozy furniture made from all-natural water hyacinth and rattan (1100 Shackamaxon Street, 215-351-9914; flotjet.com). As a general rule, Lili Wright, a Rittenhouse Square design consultant specializing in green living at Wright Design (301 South 19th Street, 4B, 215-546-2563; wright-design.net), says to avoid pressed-wood pieces, because they’re made with formaldehyde, and to give the new sofa you have your eye on the “sniff test.” “If it has that new-car smell, which comes from ‘off gasses,’ it probably isn’t green,” she says.
8. STORE GREEN. Stop by Iannone Design, local designer Michael Iannone’s Northern Liberties eco-furniture studio, and try — just try — to leave without his signature cabinet. A white glossy storage unit faced with inlaid, wood-colored dandelions, it’s made from FSC-certified plywood, low-VOC finish, and reclaimed stalks of sorghum, an easily replenished grass (by appointment, 162 West Lehigh Avenue, 856-889-7307; i-sdesign.com).
6. BUY OLD FURNITURE. “If you can reuse something, that really is the best thing for green living,” says Jenn Rezeli, of Re:Vision Architecture. “The energy to make old furniture was used long ago.” Plus, older sofas and chairs have long ago expended their VOCs. (Just be sure, if you refinish a piece, that you use a non-VOC varnish, like AFM’s Safecoat, available at the Environmental Home Store.) For architectural salvage turned into doors, tables and light fixtures, try ReStore in Port Richmond (3016 East Thompson Street, 215-634-3474; re-store-online.com), or Found Matter in Kensington, which also sells new furniture handmade from salvaged wood (by appointment, 1320 North 5th Street, 215-701-3949; foundmatter.com).
7. BUY NEW FURNITURE. European furniture makers, from discount Ikea — which describes each object’s environmental impact on its website (ikea.com) — to high-end Ligne Roset (4131 Main Street, Manayunk, 215-487-2800; ligne-roset-usa.com), tend to be greener than American manufacturers, because environmental standards are higher across the pond. Also check out Northern Liberties’ Flotsam + Jetsam, which carries a line of sleekly modern but still cozy furniture made from all-natural water hyacinth and rattan (1100 Shackamaxon Street, 215-351-9914; flotjet.com). As a general rule, Lili Wright, a Rittenhouse Square design consultant specializing in green living at Wright Design (301 South 19th Street, 4B, 215-546-2563; wright-design.net), says to avoid pressed-wood pieces, because they’re made with formaldehyde, and to give the new sofa you have your eye on the “sniff test.” “If it has that new-car smell, which comes from ‘off gasses,’ it probably isn’t green,” she says.
8. STORE GREEN. Stop by Iannone Design, local designer Michael Iannone’s Northern Liberties eco-furniture studio, and try — just try — to leave without his signature cabinet. A white glossy storage unit faced with inlaid, wood-colored dandelions, it’s made from FSC-certified plywood, low-VOC finish, and reclaimed stalks of sorghum, an easily replenished grass (by appointment, 162 West Lehigh Avenue, 856-889-7307; i-sdesign.com).
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Posted by Anonymous | Jan. 2, 2008 at 1:58 PM