It's Not Easy Being Green

Has anyone else noticed the love affair with that ugly flourescent green color that's telling the world to "Go Green!" You would think of all the greens there were to pick from, they could have found one that was less annoying. Because I'm all about saving Polar Bears, but that poster almost makes me want to punch one and see how I fare.

In any case, whether you're a polar bear or penguin fan, going green can be tough on the wallet, at least up front. This is especially true if you are wanting to go all out with geothermal or solar power, convection heated floors, and and all sustainable materials. But doing your part to be environmentally conscious doesn't have to be extreme, or extremely expensive.

First, let's discuss sustainable materials. Can the material being be naturally replaced? Bamboo is awesome. Versatile, strong, and beautiful, this grass's lifecycle is 28 years. It will replace itself very quickly and provides a thriving industry in East Asia. It also satisfies my next question. Can the product be efficiently harvested, quarried, and shipped to its final destination? How long will the product last? Can the material be reused once its original purpose is complete? More important, can old material be used instead of new material? If old material can be used there is the possibitlity for a look that would be very labor intensive to achieve in new matierial.




Designer Trevor O'Neil used salvaged cork to create this modern sofa. Thanks to
Treehugger.com for the picture.

 Salvaged material is amazing. There is an entire industry that pulls sunken logs off the bottom of the Mississippi River and other large shipping thoroughfares, dries them out and uses them for furniture and accents in homes and office buildings. The amazing part about this is that the logs being pulled up from the bottom of the river are much larger than the trees growing around the area today. Being settled on the bottom of the river changes the logs, even when dried out, the preserved logs are aged. Obviously this is an expensive process, resulting in an expensive product. Something less expensive. My grandma was pulling down her barn and needed a picture frame, she needed some wood for her picture frame, she used the wood from the barn for the picture frame. I love that picture frame.

Try looking at old things it new ways, how can I use this instead of just tossing it aside. If there isn't a way to use it, recycle it. It's really quite easy being green, you just have to find one that suits you.