The Broom Chair

Here it is!  Phillippe Starck's and Emeco's Broom Bar Stool.  Made of 75% waste polypropylene and 15% reclaimed wood.  This piece of art is reclaimed, repurposed, and recyclable.  But, who would want to recycle it?   Phillippe Starck, "Imagine, a guy who takes a humble broom and starts to clean the workshop and with the dust he makes new magic."  That is why it is called the broom chair!

Emeco developed a environmentally sound material from 90% industrial waste. Wood polymers are composites made from reclaimed industrial polypropylene waste collected from the plastic manufacturing industry and reclaimed wood fibers from the lumbar industry.  WWP is used often for outdoor decking material, outdoor furniture, and fencing.  The Broom chair is made from discarded materials, reclaimed BEFORE the recycling process takes place. This saves natural resources and reduces energy use.  

"Working with Emeco has allowed me to use a recycled material and transform it into something that never needs to be discarded - a tireless and unbreakable chair to use and enjoy for a lifetime.

It is a chair you never own, you just use it for a while until it is the next persons turn. A great chair never should have to be recycled. This is good consideration of nature and man kind."

- Philippe Starck

Available in six wonderful shades for only $195.00 per chair and $350.00 per barstool.  

The Natural Wonders of Cork!

I'm hooked on CORK! From Cork fishing bobbers ~ to cork wine stoppers ~ to cork flooring! This is one of God's many wonderful gifts to man! Let me tell you about a few of the benefits cork provides us. There is no material man made or natural that has all the properties that cork has! Cork resists rot and is lightweight. It is compressible, recoverable, expandable, impermeable, renewable, and fire resistant in it's natural state. Cork is versatile and beautiful. On top of all that, the cork oak tree offers so many benefits to the earth! Cork oak trees grow in the Mediterranean regions of the world. "The cork landscape provides one of the most diverse habitats for plant and animal life found anywhere in the world" says Sonny Jelinek co-owner of Jelinek Cork Group in Oakville Ontario, a manufacturer of cork products. The Cork Oak Trees are not cut down to harvest the cork. Cork itself is the bark of the tree and is carefully pealed off. The tree is then left to heal itself and then the bark is reharvested every nine to ten years. The trees live approximately 200 years and can replant itself by dropping acorns.

Now, here comes the problem. Cork's main use is for wine stoppers. The dry oak forests and it's habitat have been protected because of the economical benefits the trees provide. But wine companies are quickly converting to synthetic stoppers and screw top bottles. Leaving the cork industry and the forests vulnerable to failure. This is where the green building industry intervenes and companies like Jelinek Cork Group take charge of their own destiny. Jelinek and others like them are taking the bark and going beyond wine stoppers into the home with tiles for the floors, walls, and ceiling. The gaseous elements in the cork are sealed in tiny compartments, similar to cells. Because of cork's natural makeup, it is great at absorbing sound and vibrations as well as resisting dust, mold, and heat. Cork is impermeable to gases and liquids, making it a great natural resource for design.

Now Jelinek adds to its diversity and green living by having the exclusive rights to mosaic penny tile. The company began a program called "Bag-a Cork" where consumers save and recycle their wine bottle corks and Jelinek reuses them to make tile flooring. The corks are cut into 1/4 inch thick pieces; then glued to a special paper that gets installed much like ceramic tiles; glue and grout. The cork can be left natural or stained any color you would like. It can also be mixed with other elements to create your own design. The cork is then sealed with a polyurethane like other wood floors. Cork is suitable for baths, kitchens, entries, saunas, showers, anywhere that is wet! With proper maintenance (clean with just water and polyurethane when it is looking dull), cork floors can last up to 30 years!

http://www.solatube.com/?gclid=CPyDtYP7-qECFcJD5godtXFHFA

Want to add some natural light to a dark depressing room? Want something cost effective to purchase and install? Want it to be Energy Star Approved? Well, Solatube is what you are looking for! This product is so cool! It is a tube that collects sunlight and redirects clear white light into your home. During the day, let your dark hallway and other rooms without windows, be lit with the beautiful light only the sun can provide! For night time, the Solatube can be accessorized with a Light-Add-On Kit, allowing electricity to take over. The makers of Solatube have thought of everything, allowing a dimmer to be added if the sunlight you receive is too strong. It is also available with a ventilation kit for damp locations. This Tubular Daylight Device can be installed almost anywhere. Its flexible design allows them to be installed even in rooms without direct roof access. As I'm reviewing what I have written, I sound strangely like an ad for Solatube. Pretty boring stuff, huh? But I think of how these light altering products save us money and the guilt of using more energy during the day than is truly neccessary; then I'm alright with sounding like an advertisement! We get the opportunity here to use the energy of the sun and the benefits it provides to alter a room's mood. We all know that sunlight is good for us. It improves our mental and physical well being. It gives us a boost of energy when we are feeling tired. It can make us smile when we are sad. Pay an experienced installer, and in less than two hours, without structural reframing, drywalling, or painting, you can change the look and feel of your space. I guess I just want to promote products and companies that are taking into consideration our Mother Earth and using her resources to promote a healthy life and a healthy home!

Happy Earth Day!

I was driving in the northern Cincinnati area. The area I happened to be in was mostly buildings and concrete! "Pave Paradise...Put in a Parking Lot!" Sitting at a stop light, I looked out of the window and saw a long blacktop path. In the midst of all that asphalt, ( which is the waste material left after gasoline, and other more desirable fuels are processed), was this dandelion. That determined little flower didn't just squeeze itself through a crack! No! It pushed up through this byproduct... and gravel... and sand...leaving a mound in its wake. This determined little flower had avoided the usual squirt of Round Up and found its way to the sun! This little flower is truly a symbol of the purity of the Earth. The ability of the Earth to heal itself if given even the slightest chance. It is our duty to the determined dandelions of this Earth to make wise choices . Make wise choices in our homes; from the countertops in our kitchens to the cleansers for our toilets. Make wise choices in our outdoor spaces. Use organic fertilizers and natural pesticides. Give the Earth a chance to heal itself! Happy Earth Day.

Check this out!://www.coveringsetc.com/EcoTerrHome.aspx. I have been wanting to use this in someone's project for years. Eco-Terr is beautiful and can be manufactured to use in many different applications. You can customize your colors and style by changing the composite of the product. Pick your recycled glass color...It can be added to your counter top! Pick your granite or marble...It can be added to your floors! This product can be poured like terrazzo or purchased in tiles. Install it in slabs for countertops or custom design an artful wall. It really offers so much in flexibility of design.

Now, get this! Eco-Terr Is 70% - 80% RECYCLED Goods. Eco-Terr contributes to LEED Points 4.1 and 4.2. It is up to HALF the price of poured terrazzo floors. Great for commercial use. Eco-Terr is produced from marble and granite left over from quarry production that would normally be tossed away; dumped in a landfill. It can contain ten percent recycled glass chips. The binding composite contains fly ash, a by product of coal. Once sealed, Eco-Terr will not support mold, mildew, or bacteria. It has ZERO VOC and made of nontoxic materials. Made in Italy, the company was concerned about its carbon foot print, So it is shipped in large quantities to the states via container ship; which emits 1/6th of the CO2 of a semi truck.

Overall, I have been very impressed with the product. It currently ships out of Texas. So if you are concerned about the CO2 emissions of the semi truck and want to buy American, there is a product made here in the states called Ice Stone. The company is out of New York with a distributor in Indiana. It doesn't have quite the selection of colors, and it does not have the flexibility of Eco-Terr, but is great for countertops. It comes only in slabs, like real stone. A fabricator would need to cut it into tiles for example. It is made form 100% recycled glass with a cement matrix to bind. It is completely UV resistant. Check their website out! http://www.icestone.biz/

Why Try?

Why Try? What choice do we have? This is it! One world - One People! Growing up, I never really thought much about my carbon foot print. I didn't consider what impact I may be having on the environment. I grew up in the country where there was a lot of open land and fresh air. No one really talked about pollution. It wasn't until there were warnings given about swimming or eating fish from the nearby lake that I began to wonder what series of events occurred to pollute what I thought was an isolated body of water. Once I saw the map of all the streams and creeks that fed in and out of that lake, I realized the affect all of us have on the ecosystem. Like veins and arteries that carry blood to the heart, these waterways can carry pollution from lake, to sea, to ocean. My beautiful countryside was tainted. Full of pesticides from farms and bacteria from irresponsible structuring of leech fields and sewer systems.

When I began to have my children, my concerns for their future earth pushed me to take action. I no longer could sit back and expect others to fix it for me... for us. I started researching recycling and other ways I could make a difference. I purchased soaps for our family that didn't contain Paraben or Laureth Sulfite. I switched to organic fruits and vegetables from area farmers when possible. I began reading everything I could get my hands on about living a Greener Life! This is where all this research began to roll over into my work.

I'm an Interior Decorator. I see so much waste in my field. Clients throwing out perfectly working white refrigerators for the latest in stainless steel. Tearing out bathtubs, toilets, countertops, sinks, faucets, light fixtures, flooring. You name it, it was in the dumpster. I began to worry about what was being buried in our earth. I was beginning to feel guilty that a perfectly working white refrigerator was not being used by someone! I knew there were people out there in need. So, I began to bring everything that had life left, home. My husband was very patient with his garage full of perfectly working white refrigerators, My husband was very patient when his basement began to fill with perfectly working white refrigerators. Seven years later, he accepts that his garage has become a holding place for every discarded working appliance, unwanted student desk, or retro 70's light fixture waiting for a new owner.

So, that brings us to today. I continue to repurpose things. From countertops to doors. I give all the "unwanteds", away to anyone in need. I'm constantly on the search for products that reuse old building materials so less ends up in our landfills. I look for products that are produced in ways that are more earth friendly. I'm beginning this blog to encourage people to rethink what they throw away when restructuring their home. I'm beginning this blog to show examples of new ways to use old things. I'm beginning this blog to encourage and assist in the design of a healthier home. Why Try?... Why Not?