BETTER LIVING: 7 Ways to Make Home Projects Greener

Monday, February 06, 2012

Candita Clayton, GoLocal Lifestyle Expert

bl green remodel

It's remodeling season: take advantage of green upgrades

As the weather gets colder, our thoughts turn increasingly indoors, and especially to home projects. If you're thinking about redecorating, remodeling, and refurnishing your home or office, it’s a good idea to think Green: it’s not only good for the Earth, it’s better for you. But it’s not always easy to know what you’re getting, especially when it comes to products that don’t come with ingredients labels.

Here's are some environmentally conscious choices to consider when you're choosing products to renovate or redecorate your home or business.

Down to the Bare Walls

Paints, stains, and lacquers are all full of solvents which emit dangerous VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) as they dry – and then continue to do so for weeks, sometimes even months, polluting the air in your home. When choosing your wall color, look for low-VOC – or better yet, VOC-free – paints, which are becoming widely available even at big box retailers. Benjamin Moore makes a great line called Eco-Spec. Also check out Ecos Organic Paints (a U.K. company with  some seriously cool products, including paints that absorb toxins from the air!), and the Green Home Environmental Store, which has a list of eco-friendly paint manufacturers.  

If you’re wallpapering, avoid conventional wallpaper paste, which can emit as many VOC’s as paint. Look for non-toxic varieties with a wheat or methylcellulose base. Or, make your own using this recipe from care2.com.

Strip old wallpaper using equal parts vinegar and warm water: chemical mixtures don’t work any better. If your home is older and there is the possibility of lead paint, hire a lead paint removal service, or protect yourself with the proper equipment. Most states have laws and procedures in place concerning the handling of lead paint and the debris that results from removing it; visit HEALTH's site, here, to learn more.

Furnishings

If you want to add a touch of green to your furnishings, there are several ways to do so, and not all of them have to be costly.

Used furniture is a great budget-friendly solution. You can refinish it yourself using non-toxic paints and stains (Old Fashioned Milk Paint is a great option for creating your own 'antiques'), and you’ll be helping the environment by saving new materials. Chairs can be reupholstered using natural cotton or wool batting (polyester is made with crude oil, and may be treated with formaldehyde or other chemicals to make it fire-retardant), and organic cotton, wool, hemp, linen, silk, or bamboo fabrics. 

If you’re buying new furniture, try to avoid PVC plastics (unfortunately, that’s just about any molded plastic furnishing, including swivel chairs and the like), as well as particle board and veneer (which may be treated with nasty chemicals like formaldehyde, as well as VOC-laden lacquers and finishing agents).

Don’t have time for research? Consider solid wood Amish or Shaker furniture. Constructed by hand using earth-friendly, time-honored techniques, these pieces will surely become family heirlooms, and they alleviate any concerns regarding manufacturing practices or labor conditions. Some eco-friendly furniture sites to check out: Amish Loft, Vivavi, Green With Glamour.

 Eco-decorating

Now that you have your beautiful new eco-friendly furniture, you’ll want to decorate. Here are some ideas.

Window treatments: Undyed, unbleached cotton is a great neutral choice for curtains, and it’s surprisingly cheap and easy to find (check out the fabric section at Ikea). Also wonderful: bamboo or wood blinds .

Lamps/lighting: So long as the lamps aren’t made from PVC plastics, you’re pretty safe. If you have old lamps or fixtures to get rid of, call your local recycling authority to see if there’s a better way to dispose of them. Make sure to use energy-efficient light bulbs in all your fixtures, when possible. 

Carpeting: That 'new carpet smell' comes from chemicals, and is not at all healthy for you to breathe! If you’re replacing wall-to-wall, look for carpets in natural fibers like cotton, wool, or silk blends that aren’t treated with stain-resistant finishes (many of which utilize formaldehyde derivatives). If you’re covering wood or tile floors, hold your throw rugs to the same high standards. If you can’t find a suitable natural carpet in your price range, you can use a carpet sealer like SafeChoice to lock chemical residues away from you and your family.

 Remember, Green is Great: it’s better for you, it’s better for your family, and it’s better for the environment. The more people start to choose eco-friendly, sustainably manufactured products over their chemical-laden, conventional counterparts, the more accessible those products will become for everyone. Let’s use the laws of supply and demand to our advantage, and change the world one  cleaner, greener home at a time.