Greenie, Meenie, Miney...GO!

Hello from rainy, dismal Maryland on what is usually my FAVORITE day of the week, but it looks like my Happy Hour will be turning into a Crappy Hour if this rain doesn't stop! Yikes, good thing I'm wearing my high heeled rubber boots! Ha!

It's hard to believe that one week ago at this very moment I was sitting by the pool at the uberchic Naples Grande Resort in SUNNY Naples, FL. Talk about a gorgeously green resort! Any of you who have the chance to scoot down there (but not on your private jet...pesky fossil fuels you know) will fall in love with the resort as I did. Now that I'm becoming such a fan of all things green, it's pretty cool to report that even the 5/8 of a mile walkway to the beach was made out of 100% recycled plastic milk jugs. I would be lying if I didn't add that the HEAT OF THE PLASTIC PLANKS BURNED THE CRAP OUT OF THE BOTTOMS OF MY FEET, but, hey, I digress. When I think about the discomfort our poor little earth faces every day, a couple of third degree burns are worth it. Earth, you can thank me later.

Anyhoo, I told you in the last post that while I was at the ART Conference (an amazing organization dedicated to the Home Accessories Industry) we had an awesome speaker named Jeff Hiller come and dazzle us with his take on what we should all be doing to be "green". Jeff is the president of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, as well as a pal of mine, and when I wasn't laughing hysterically at his humorous approach to being sustainably responsible I really learned some interesting things from him I'd like to pass along to you. Since as you all know by now that this blog is leading up to the opening of the CharityWorks Green House, you'll see from Jeff's tips what all of the designers who are participating in the house are doing when it comes to researching products for their rooms, and making selections that are stylish AND eco friendly. There's a lot more to being green than just pulling your recycling bins down to the sidewalk once a week (as I have been duly chastised for thinking) so if you're like me a little knowledge can go a long way. With that, drumroll please.........

Jeff Hiller's Top 10 things we can all do to be green (paraphrased by yours truly!)

1. When shopping for furniture, ask your designer (or sales person) if the product is made of certified wood, especially if the product is imported.

2. Favor using products made out of Rapid Renewable or Plantation Grown Wood. I didn't realize that many of the trees that are used to build furniture only have a life of 12 years or so, and when they are plantation grown they are constantly being replanted, thus bringing more trees to the earth that help us reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Even rubberwood trees are rapidly renewable, and that's where we get natural latex from. (And on a personal note, I'd like to now remind my high school science teacher that I really should have gotten an "A" in that class...)

3. Ask for low VOC paints and stains where you can. In fact, both Benjamin Moore and Farrow and Ball are providing the low VOC paints for the CharityWorks Green House that all of the designers will be using, so you can check out some of the great colors and finishes available. (Oh, and by the way, VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds. Because it has the word "volatile" in it, suffice it to say it's a bad thing. Yuk.)

4. Look for high recycled content in your products. A perfect example is Kravet's new line of KravetGreen products, where each fabric is made of eco-friendly or renewable resources. I mean, how cool is it to have a fabric made out of recycled water bottles? You'll see some Kravet Fabrics in our room at the GreenHouse, as well as in other designer's rooms I'm sure!

5. Avoid composite board when possible. Oopsie, sorry IKEA, but it's a fact: particle board and MDF (that's medium density fiberboard for you and me) are basically just hardpacked sawdust and glue pressed together to make these common building materials. Sure, there's the argument that "well, if you're using every single scrap of wood and renewing it, isn't it green?" but according to Jeff these polymers used to make the boards are pretty nasty little buggers, wreaking havoc with the environment.

6. Encourage recycling, especially when it comes to your home furnishings. Antiques are a perfect example of eco-friendly furnishings, as they are passed down through the years and cherished, not just tossed to the curb when we're done with them. Case in point, my pal Skip Sroka, who is a member of the CharityWorks Design Committee as well as a designer in the house, is actually going to recycle some old chairs and give them a facelift for the GreenHouse. Finding something old and reinventing it is all part of being green, and finding homes for what you no longer need can be green too. Look into local Furniture Banks in your area and help others while helping our environment.

7. And speaking of recycling furniture, if you're planning to redo a piece of upholstery, make sure you investigate bio-based cushioning alternatives. You can choose down wrapping as opposed to dacron wrapping, and use bio-hybrid foam vs. polyurethane. Um, just so you know even though the bio-foam is made of SOYBEANS it won't feel like you're sitting in a bowl of edamame. Trust me.

8. Replace all overhead track lighting and lamp bulbs with the new fluorescent or LED bulbs. Now, there was some heated argument in the room when this topic came up, because many of the lighting designers and manufacturers at the conference said the technology is not quite up to speed yet, but if you do your research you may find that in little used rooms the flourescent is the way to go. I'm sorry earth, but even though I love you I don't want to be cast in a ghastly blue glow when hosting my dinner parties. However, my laundry room, guest rooms and non-formal areas will be lit in a rocking eco-friendly way!

9. Stop using water bottles. Yep, you heard me right! The amount of bottled water consumed by Americans is out of control, and many sources of the "designer water" you're drinking is right out of someone's tap anyway! Sheesh, talk about stealth marketing. Instead, Jeff suggests just using a refillable container and using a Brita water filter instead.

10. Jeff wants EVERYONE IN THE WORLD to visit the CharityWorks Green House. Hahahahahaha...I had to slip that one in. Seriously, though, as Skip Sroka so eloquently put it, this house will be an inspiration for us all to do a better good for the world, and show that you don't have to turn your world upside down to do it. Using our own good common sense, and making better choices for the earth will benefit our planet, our children, and our souls.

So with that, I'm off to Twitter World and Facebook to spread the word about this new blog post. Are you following me on Twitter yet? Just this week new peeps: The World Wide Federation, Green Climate, CNN, and the executive producer of Curb your Enthusiasm. I don't know how green the last one is, but it's cool nonetheless! Check out the links at the right to find out more about the fun peeps I've been tweeting about, and I'll see you here next week!

Have a superbly GREEN weekend!

xoxoxo,

Lynni