New Green Design - Kelly Laplante

I'm always excited to find and share with you new green designers (well, new to me) who are doing what I so admire - green design!  Part of what I do each and every day is educate our customers about living green, and that it's really SO EASY!  That's what's great about it - you can make it yours, and find your own ways to be green, so that it fits your lifestyle.  Kelly Laplante seems to embody this - her design firm, Organic Interior Design, embraces organic and vintage, but her projects seem to really reflect the homeowner's style and budget.  She professes that it's pretty much impossible to be 'eco perfect', but she strives to be the exception to the rule - she and I seem to strive together.  I'm happy to have found her and even happier to bring her here, to you.  She can help you see that being green means a lot of different things, and that you can make it fit any style.  What's more, Kelly's firm is enjoying lots of great press these days, so you may see her around lots more.  Also, she's been nominated in Traditional Homes 25 Young Designers to watch, so if you feel inclined, you can give her your vote!

The Green Traveller - Quebec's Ice Hotel

I've been wanting to feature this amazing place for quite some time, but I've been humming and hawing about whether it belongs in the green travel category.  I mean, yes, its built with snow and ice, something we have no shortage of here in Canada, but, it has to be rebuilt every year, meaning that resources are consumed each time.  Well, I've looked into it a little more, and here is what I've surmised:

The ice hotel is built every year in December.  It takes about 20 workers for the construction and 10-15 more for the finishing (there's a whole lot of polishing going on to get the ice that sparkly!).  Here is what makes the practice sustainable, in my mind: snow is renewable, of course; to construct the hotel, they use pre-forms made of wood and steel that have been prefabricated, and they can use over, even though some of the details change from year to year; there is very little electrical, so the main source of light is fire; and, judging from everyone's snowsuits and that the place is made of ice, there's no heating, hence less energy use.  Pretty cool huh? (Seriously, no pun intended!)

The hotel is located in Sainte-Cathrine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier (a bit of a mouthful), Quebec, and is the only ice hotel in North America.  A stay is worth about $219 /couple/night (not bad, considering!).  They have a slew of winter activities available, but I expect you would spend most of the time gazing around, jaw-dropped, in wonder at this amazing feat.  As long as global warming doesn't take it out of operation, I will visit someday.

DIY - Organic Sugar Scrub

Replenish dry, winter skin with a super easy to make sugar scrub.  I absolutely love this DIY, I use it at least once a week.  The organic sugar provides gentle exfoliation, while the alph-hydroxy acids found in it naturally tone the skin. 

To Make:

1 cup of fine organic sugar

2 tbsp. of organic olive oil

1/2 tbsp. of organic avocado or sweet almond oil

a few drops of essential oil; suggestions - lavender is great for night-time, mint is a great wake-up!

NOTES - go slow with the oil, you don't want too much in the mixture.  I don't add any colourants, it's natural, so what's the point?  Keep the mixture in a resealable jar, use a few spoonfuls per scrub!

Buyer's Guide 2: Chocolate for Valentines

Personally, I don't need an excuse to eat chocolate and I'm not going to turn down a delicious chocolat from someone special on Valentines, but, in Pure Green's second buyer's guide, I thought I'd help you make a more sustainable, and still delectable, choice.  The truth is, our relationship with chocolate isn't so sweet - you may be supporting deforestation, child-labour and illegal pesticide use when you bite into your favourite bar!  Don't despair, many companies are using responsible cocoa, and I don't mean to be overly negative or sensational.  But every decision we make as a consumer sends a message - I've researched a few chocolate companies and collected my findings here, making it that much easier to buy green. 

3 things to look for when buying chocolate:

1. Organic {obviously} - This one is kind of a no-brainer, but ever thought about why its so important?  Well, cocoa is grown in countries where pesticide use is less regulated; this may mean that pesticides banned by many countries (with the resources to research their effects) are still being used in second and third world countries.  Any use of pesticides is harmful to the eco-system, and let's face it, its not good for you either.  Further, cocoa isn't meant to be grown in the sun - doing so requires more irrigation and more pesticides.  Which brings me to buyer's guide tip #2:

2. Look for companies that support shade-grown or reforestation projects.  This means that you are now supporting a company that doesn't chop down the rainforest to grow cocoa, or perhaps they are funding reforestation to grow their crops, which in turn supports biodiversity.  Cocoa is meant to be grown in the shade anyway, like coffee, meaning that you get better tasting chocolate.

3. Lastly, look for fair trade.  You'll recognize the little black and white symbol.  The means that no child labour was used, and the farmers are being paid fair market prices.  This allows independent farmers to use their own land as well.  Some companies go one step further, and offer market shares to their growers! 

Here's a small collection of widely available brands you can try that meet all of these standards:

From Left:

1. Divine - These guys are pretty awesome. Besides having great packaging, 45% of their company is owned by the growers!  Their packaging is biodegradeable too.

2. Endagered Species Chocolate: this brand was developed to help spread awareness about endangered plants and animals.  Besides being fair trade, organic and shade-grown, their facility in the U.S. in LEED Certified.  How great is that? Theses guys also have baking goods.

3. Theo: describe themselves as 'bean to bar' - they import organic beans into the U.S. and manufacture it there too.  Most companies import the finished product from Europe.

4. Dagoba - Hand poured and hand wrapped chocolate.  This company is very committed to the environment as well, sponsoring reforestation and ecology programs in Costa Rica, as well as green energy and urban greening programs in the U.S.

P.S. - for the Canadian contingent, also check out Cocoa Camino.

Eco Style {for men}: F.Rock Bags

I have Ariana from Boston to thank for this tip: sustainable company F.Rock from Boston - makes gorgeous messenger bags for men.  The designer of F.Rock is Nicolé Keane, who says "she is inspired by the look of a well-dressed man, nuances of menswear design and the vision of a closed-loop production system."  Doesn't that sound amazing? 

"F. Rock is a new Boston brand that draws on vintage days when clothing and accessories were richly crafted and made with quality in the USA, not mass produced or sent overseas for production. We have taken traditional lines of days past and added an urban edge through hardware, fabric selection and an easy-use organizational system. Most importantly, our bags are constructed from 100% reclaimed fabrics and leathers from factory scraps."  {from the website} 

The fabrics are scraps from premier men's designwear companies, the lining is organic cotton and the hardware is from a local company.  Very nice.  I'd love to get one for my guy.

{p.s. anyone else got a great idea?  i'd love to hear from you. as always, PGD is open to reader input.  send me an email or a message on twitter, either or, i'd love to chat}

Highlights from IDS 2010

Artifice - Not the first time I've seen this, but I'm always amazed.

Above: Christina Covello Designs   Shawn Place

Left: Coup Design Group  Right: Ridgely Studio Works

Science & Sons - I think this is cool: the radio only plays CBC 1 & 2; I get all my new favourite music on Radio 2 Drive with Rich!

I didn't get a chance to get to this year's IDS show in Toronto. I heard it was a good one.  However, I did have a chance to look up this year's event, and chose some eco-friendly highlights to share with you.  Thank you to Kitka Design and Modern Karibou's flikr stream for sharing!

Pick me up Etsy Grab Bag

It's been a hectic week.  Nothing like a trip to Etsy to take your mind off it.  I just typed in 'organic home' and kept browsing until I found a few things that made me smile.

1. Pillow by Chocolate Creative: {Eco’ collection, printed on ecologically sound fabrics, such as hemp and organic cotton. Ideas behind the collection are based on creating individual messages from familiar packaging such as coffee sacks, and the concept and look of Victorian cameos.}

2. Wood Bowl (so beautiful) by J&L Wood Turner, and such a steal at $84!:

3. Terrarium with air plant (one of nature's little wonders) by L Brand Terraria

4. Clothespin holder (dreaming of spring and line dried cotton I guess) by Down Home Amy

New website!!!

My word...I have been building a new website for my company, Sustain.  We sell sustainable building and living products, as well as run a design firm.  Working like absolute mad!  But, I wanted to take the time to introduce to you my new website, and see what you think.  Leave me a comment and give me your thoughts!  In the meantime, check it out here. 

Zero Energy Design

I received an email from Adam from Zero Energy Design the other day, alerting me of his company and the work that they do.  I've had a lucky streak, this is the second new designer who's found me this month!  Regardless, Adam wrote to tell me of their recently completed project, the English residence, located in Orleans, Massachusetts.  What I like best about Zero Energy Design (ZED) is that they consider not just design, but energy and the health of the space, very much like what I do in my work, every day.  I don't come across this too often, but I hope to more and more!  Adam included a narrative that describes the space, which I'll share with you:

"The new home offers year round living and continues the legacy of a modern artistic home, treading lightly and focusing on the outdoor environment. New features include the clean, green feeling throughout the house, healthy indoor air quality, very comfortable and stable temperatures from the radiant floors, and exceptional energy performance with renewable energy systems. And, the artist family members immediately felt that the new home’s bright red, orange, and cedar colors really ‘made the house’."

"On the ground level, an open porch provides indoor/outdoor living with safe, step-down decking as stairs, which can also be used as seating for larger family events. A roof deck on the second level of the house offers the wonderful feeling of living in the trees, with a glass rail to open the view and an outdoor kitchen for entertaining. Abutting the roof deck is a lush, living green roof built to fill the view with green vegetation at eye level while seated, as well as provide insulative value, energy savings, and reduce roof run-off from storm water. The second level rooftop reveals 2.5 kilowatts of solar electric panels which provides ~30% of the home’s electricity."

{look at that green roof!  love, love, love}

"A wide open living space functions as the ‘heart’ of the home, with areas for relaxing, dining, and cooking. Recessed cabinets float off the floor and hide a vast pantry within the wall. Open shelves inspired by the client’s admiration for Julia Childs offer quick access to dishware. The generous counter space provides ample working area for food prep, stool seating for everyday use, and. a built–in wine rack to cradle each vintage.

"The construction of the home features specialized hurricane-resistant structural reinforcement and windows for coastal storm conditions, spray foam insulation in the wall cavities, rigid foam to eliminate thermal bridging, and a mix of fiber cement and cedar siding on the exterior for long term durability and low maintenance. Flooring finishes consist of rapidly renewable bamboo in the living areas, travertine tile at the entries, and recycled glass tile in the bathrooms, and FSC certified Garapa decking on the porch & roofdeck."

{that looks suspiciously like a biofireplace, (a portable, flueless fireplace that runs on denatured ethanol, which combusts nothing but oxygen and C02), we also have these at Sustain}

Here's a breakdown of the energy and health features of the house I mentioned before:

Energy
Grid-tied Solar Electric System, Solar Hot Water System Plumbed, Radiant Floors, Hydro Air System, Energy Recovery Ventilator, Open & Closed Cell Spray Foam Insulation, Rigid Insulation, ENERGY STAR Certified HERS 39

Health

Whole House Ventilation and Allergen Filtration System, Low or No VOC Materials/Sealants/Paints, Hard Floor Surfaces, Shoe Storage, Rainwater Management with Dry Wells, Motion Detection Ventilation in Bathrooms.

Construction for the home was completed by Cape Associates of Eastham, MA. This project is ENERGY STAR Certified, and has been registered with the USGBC LEED for Homes program in an effort to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Stay tuned for more from ZED.

Suncatchers Project

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a screening of the Banff Mountain Culture Film Festival world tour - if it's coming to a city near you I most definitely recommend seeing it.  It showcases our planet and different cultures beautifully, but keeps you engaged and entertained too (think extreme sports like free solo climbing, kayaking, skiing, biking, etc.)!  One of the films featured a really great organization which I felt inspired to tell you about called the Suncatchers Project, which is working to alleviate deforestation, erosion, malnutrition, poverty, violence and disparity, all by doing ONE simple thing!  They are working to introduce solar ovens...how can this help?  Well, the African people struggle with purifying water and cooking food daily.  To do this they must either use wood (a resource which is overused, hence deforesation and erosion are critical problems, essentially turning the once lush African landscape into barren deserts overnight), or coal (very expensive for them); both of these resources are difficult and dangerous to obtain, meaning that most go without proper food or water.  Not new problems - but our classical approach of simply giving them things teaches them no skills to empower them, and as we know, isn't really solving the problems (or at least making very slow progress). The sun ovens offer a completely FREE resource (sunlight!), solving their issue of clean water and helping make food accessible.  Suncatchers has donated a few community sized ovens (capable of boiling 60 gallons of water or cooking several hundred meals per day!), but more importantly, they travel between villages teaching them how to make their own!  This gives them a valuable skill, which may eventually help relieve poverty.  I could go on forever, but I'd like to encourage you to check them out and maybe even donate...or tell someone about it...spreading the word works wonders (feel free to post this (just link back!) on your own blog or tweet about it!)  At the very least, watch the video below and see the work they are doing first hand.  I know we are all focused on Haiti's struggles right now, but this could probably help them too!

Suncatchers from Suncatchers on Vimeo.