It’s for the Birds
Date: October 30, 2008 | Category: Featured, Garden, Pets, The Home
Even if ornithology isn’t your thing, it’s hard not to be lured by colorful fluttering outside a window.
Outdoor birds can provide hours of watch-time (for both you and your cat) so why not provide them with digs that are just as green as your own? Check out this birdhouse from Doctors Foster and Smith, which is made of 100 percent recycled milk jugs and suitable for any small bird to nest in. Particularly perfect for wrens and chickadees, the roof can be opened for cleaning and the house comes with a wire hanger to dangle from branches.
The recycled birdhouse retails for $19.99. Certainly less expensive than investing in the indoor alternative and guaranteed to be better for all!
Green Goes with Everything
Date: October 1, 2008 | Category: Cleaning, Garden, Green Building, Home Furnishings, Kitchen, Office, Pets, The Home
For any person who is interested in creating a more pure environment for his or her family, a new book has hit stores that offers some solid guidance for achieving your eco goals.
“Green Goes With Everything,” by Sloan Barnett, is seven chapters packed with information and tips aimed at helping you clean up your act and your environment.
Like me, Sloan’s environmental quest was fueled by the desire to find a cure for her children’s asthma. And amazingly, like me, she was able to cure it by eliminating the toxins in her house and by switching to natural cleaning supplies. Makes you wonder how many people have had a comparable experience. My guess is that there are many of us out there with similar stories. But if you are a parent of a child still suffering from asthma, you might need this framework.
Sloan is the Green Editor for KNTV in San Francisco and she knows her stuff; the book provides simple, well-researched solutions to creating a safe environment for you and your family. It is available in stores and online now. I only wish this was out when I was embarking upon my initial environmental journey!
Need a Green Guide?
Date: September 26, 2008 | Category: Featured, Garden, Green Building, Home Furnishings, The Home
Like everything we do, our Harbinger show house project at West Coast Green was big, and one that we could not have completed without the help of our trusted advisors at Green Fusion Design Center.
Green Fusion Design Center, located here in San Francisco, is the most unique green retail showroom in the Bay Area, and an invaluable resource for both the homeowner and the professional green builder. Green Fusion offers products and services of all types to create healthier environments, both commercial and residential.
Their philosophy is that too often the only thing standing in the way of the average person attempting an eco-design project is a lack of available green resources, information and products. The company is working to change that by bridging the gap between supply and demand, by providing education to its customers and only selling products that promote healthier lifestyles.
On our project, not only was Green Fusion an important one-stop-shop for many of the building materials, fixtures and paint that we used, its team of experts on green design helped advise on which components would work together most efficiently.
Don’t believe us? Come check out what the ecofabulous/ Green Fusion Design Center team accomplished at West Coast Green, at the San Jose Convention Center through Sept. 27, or take an interactive tour of Green Fusion’s showroom.
A Can-O-Worms You’ll Want to Open
Date: September 18, 2008 | Category: Garden, Kitchen, The Home
So you’re an avid recycler… now it might be time to take your household’s sustainability efforts one step further. There are a number of ways to compost. One life-cycle loving way is the Can-O-Worms, a vermiculture composting system that allows you to turn a portion of your food scraps into organic fertilizer for your plants and vegetables. Similar in size to a trash can (29″Hx20″W), the Can-O-Worms is made from 100% recycled plastic and is compact enough to be used indoors.
Comprised of layers of stacked rings, the worms start on the bottom layer and eat through your compostable materials, climbing up to the next ring when the food supply wanes. The worms leave behind rich organic fertilizer in the form of their castings (aka, poop). The Can-O-Worms also features a tap drain on the bottom ring, which allows you to collect “compost tea,” or a pure liquid fertilizer that can be diluted and used in your watering can.
We’ve tried other worm bins with unsavory ends - we even lost a few critters when we got sloppy, but this time our flowers are more beautiful, our tomatoes have grown plump and we get to experience the tangible benefits of sustainability every day. And if you have kids that dig the little diggers, it can be a fun way to get some family science time.
Composting Just Cleaned Up
Date: September 4, 2008 | Category: Garden, Kitchen, The Home
Composting has multiple benefits but can be a noxious proposition, if not dealt with properly. BioBag now offers a system that will rid you of the unwanted odor of rotting waste, while preserving the fresh nutrients you need to feed your backyard compost. (more…)
Avenge Your Garden
Date: March 28, 2008 | Category: Garden, The Home
The start of spring means we get to don our gardening gear once again and spend some quality time playing in the dirt. Unfortunately, weeds love the sunshine and warm weather as much as we do, and so our annual tug-of-war against them begins. Of course, we wouldn’t dream of putting toxic chemicals on our greens, but we have noticed that many natural and organic products don’t always do the trick. Luckily, EPA-certified Nature’s Avenger Organic Herbicide is coming to the rescue of our gardens, patios, driveways, and every other place we want weeds to stop growing! An organic herbicide with a citrus oil base, Nature’s Avenger has stood up in numerous tests against the leading synthetic herbicide as well as beating out other alternative and natural herbicides. It’s also biodegradable, quick working, and has the added bonus of leaving the smell of an orange grove in its wake. Nature’s Avenger is approved for organic production and is safe around kids and pets, so you can make tending your garden a family affair.
Wood You Like Some Protection?
Date: February 6, 2008 | Category: Garden, Green Building, The Home
To make sure your exterior woods are sustainable - meaning protected from water, swelling, warping and weathering - you need a good finish, and by “good” we mean a safe alternative to the toxic, flammable ones generally employed to do the job. That’s where Soyguard water repellent and sealer - free from harsh solvents and harmful VOCs (less than 50/L) - comes in. It utilizes a natural solvent, derived from soybean oil, to deeply penetrate the surface and encapsulate wood cells with a protective resin coating that’s safe for kids, pets and the environment, and is impervious to termites. Soyguard has the added effect of slightly darkening the wood, thereby enhancing its natural beauty. That’s getting the job done right!
I Want Worms in My Apples
Date: January 8, 2008 | Category: Garden, Green Building, Kitchen, The Home
Who knew kitchen scraps turned worm fodder turned plant fertilizer could be as physically beautiful as it is beautiful for the planet? DHLoveLife has the sleekest worm dwelling we have ever seen (though beauty does have a price…about 900 bucks). Made from bamboo on the outside and recycled rubber on the inside, this is an all around sustainable system. Your garbage is digested by your “pet” worms and they in turn transform your trash into a powerful plant supplement in the forms of worm castings and worm tea. Check out the easy spout for collecting the potent tea on Daryl Hannah’s “beautious bamboo worm bin.” Really, composting never looked so good. With these invertebrates pumping 5 hearts each, there is plenty of love to go around! To read more about worm composting, click here.
Mowed Over
Date: December 17, 2007 | Category: Garden, Lifestyle, The Home
Lawns cover nearly 40 million acres in the United States, making them our single most irrigated crop (in terms of surface area). Fossil-fuel-derived lawn fertilizers make up a 5 billion dollar industry. These chemicals pose serious health risks, with those most susceptible being small children and pets that use it the most! Run-off contaminates water and soil, negatively affecting microorganisms and aquatic life. One scary fact: a component of Agent Orange is found in 1,500 products marketed for lawn care. Plus, the green stuff is generally cropped using gas-powered mowers, and the remnants toted off to a landfill, where they decompose and release methane into the atmosphere. So it’s not hard to see why the green turf has garnered itself somewhat of a ghastly reputation among environmentalists. But, alas, many people are attached to their lawns (I admit I still have one). So, it is important is to learn how we can care for them in a way that alleviates their overt ecological disruption. Most importantly, you must kick the chemical habit. Proper watering, a little compost and the correct grass for your
conditions and you can have something safe for the little ones to roll around on. Though you won’t have that super tight look, think about looking for a no-mow variety of grass including buffalo and
creeping red fescue, or a strain that is local to your region. When you do mow, A NASA study found that by leaving the clippings in place, you can significantly reduce the need for fertilizers. And natural alternatives abound (check out our recent post on Terracycle). To learn more, visit SafeLawns.org and join their campaign to revolutionize lawn care. Or visit your local nursery and look for the SafeLawns display.
Consider Composting
Date: December 6, 2007 | Category: Garden, Kitchen, The Home
If you’re a composter, or have been throwing the idea around, this little guy will ease the back and forth between your kitchen and your main composting site - and do so in style. Of course, no one’s big on the idea of foul smells and bugs festering in their kitchen from putrefying food scraps. So when I found this stainless steel composting pail, I was not only excited about the lid with holes for aeration and charcoal liners to prevent any odors, but also about showcasing the bucket on my kitchen counter (it actually adds to my aesthetic!). When it fills up, you can quickly transfer the contents outside to your main pile or a green bin for pick up (check to see if your waste retrieval company supports this). Maybe it’s time to re-think where you toss that pomegranate peel?
