Green Wisers Read The Label

How do you know what you are buying?  We look to labels to help us out.  With companies pushing back on what the label can contain, it becomes difficult to really know the content or the processes that were used to manufacture a product.

Reading the labels on food packages has become a common and important practice for us.   It is the result of efforts from many experts who know the importance of good nutrition. 

‘You are what you eat’ may have been a slogan scoffed at by some as something belonging to those hippies.  Even then, as those words reverberated and bounced around in our brains, it was hard to deny.  

While much is still left out of food labels, we are becoming wiser and continue to demand more transparency.  

The same is true with products we purchase for our homes and work places.  Being green isn’t just a trend, it is a way of life whose effort is to get us closer to a healthy and abundant lifestyle.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to breathe in tons of toxins and then have to spend tons of money on health care to fix the problems that arise, assuming those problems can even be identified.

Best choice?  Learn to read the labels.  Just like what has been done for our food knowledge in helping us to make better choices for fuel for our bodies, we can do the same for our homes.   So what we breathe in, rub against, put on and kick up won’t make us sick.

Here are reasons why labels are important to consider for your home.

People spend a large amount of time in their homes, and the air they breathe is 2 to 5 times worse and more pollutant than the air outdoors.  Hard to believe, but true.

The primary source of the pollutants comes from furnishings, building materials and cleaning processes and products we use every day.

These products release potentially harmful toxins and particulates that you breathe in and have been linked to a number of health problems like asthma, heart disease, learning disabilities, reproductive disorders and some types of cancer.  Yikes!

Take a look at kitchens, for example.  Cabinets and countertops (yes, even stone) can contain adhesives, finishes and sealants that release or offgas chemicals into the air, for a long time, that you and your family breathe in. 

Because flooring is in every room, the amount of chemicals and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that are released in the home can potentially be very high.  This is one area you really want to consider products that are low in the chemicals emission. 

Paint is another product that covers lots of surfaces in the home.  Paint is a bit quirkie.  Even when it says low VOC or no VOC, applied paint to your walls can still offgas for years to come.  It is in the make up of the paint itself, its ingredients that do the releasing of chemicals.

In looking for labels you can trust to be reliable, look for those that are supported by research, testing, analysis, and professional evidence.  It is important to look for third-party certification whose interests is in health and who is independent from the product, manufacturer and industry.
 
Because these are times of mass misinformation distribution, greenwashing has also raised its ugly head by misleading consumers regarding the environmental standards or practices of a company and product.  

So, an important piece to evaluating a certification is to make sure the certification body stands behind its claims and evaluations.

At Eco Living Design, we do the heavy lifting for you!  We work to improve the indoor air quality in your home and work place.  Sustainable solutions can absolutely be integrated with your aesthetics to make beautiful spaces to be, that are healthy, more comfortable, add greater value and last longer.

Being green may be easier than you think!

A Look Beyond The Price Tag For Fabrics For Your Home

Take a look beyond the price tag that you spend for the fabrics for your home and you'll see some surprising things.  It might even make you mad.  Rather than getting mad, get informed and have the information you need when choosing fabrics for your home.

Taking a look beyond the price tag of the very popular polymer, polyester, that's in all our lives, may prod you into making some lifestyle changes that will protect your health, the health of your family and that of the planet.  

Polyester is very cheap to produce but not cheap for your health or the health of the planet.   There are many types of polyester.  The one used to make polyeser textiles, and oddly enough used to make plastic bottles too, is PET or polyethylene terephthalate. 

The production of PET requires lots and lots of oil, along with a heavy metal, antimony.  Antimony is an abundant metal found in the earth’s crust.  Antimony trioxide is used a lot for its flame retardant properties.  It’s also used as a catalyst in the production process of PET.

Antimony is toxic and has carcinogenic risks associated with it.  Even at low levels, as found in drinking water, antimony is suspected of causing endocrine disruption.  Not too long ago, it’s been established that PET leaches from plastic bottles, too.  Drink anyone?  

When it is used in the polyester production, antimony does get becomes locked to the polymer and in this locked state, doesn’t present a problem to living things, like ourselves. 

The problem comes in the dying process.  The high temperatures required for the dying process allow antimony to be released and leaches into the wastewater.

Cleaning up the wastewater takes another technology which isn’t always affordable or just plain ignored.  Even if clean up is done, the remainder is a toxic sludge which now has to be dealt with.  The sludge gets incinerated, creating plumes of toxic air or put into landfill. 

It never seems to end.

There are a few points to clear up.  Most of the many million barrels of oil used to create polyester is used for the textile, not for making the plastic bottles. 

Also, polyester is sometimes thought of being ‘green’ because it can be recycled…but can it?

Polyester production is very energy intensive thus producing greenhouse gases.  Recycling polyester requires more energy and adds to the emission of more greenhouse gases. 

The toxins in the polyester production process don’t just disappear after a product is made.   When polyester is recycled, antimony trioxide is released into the air, adding to the greenhouse gases.

Polyester can only be recycled only so many times before it looses its value, and although it postpones an early end in the landfill, it eventually ends up there.  While this is helpful, for sure, we really want a better way with a cradle to cradle goal for products.

With only 30% of plastic bottles being recycled of more than 40 billion produced each year, the other 70% goes directly into landfill.  There are difficulties within recycling process of PET, as well.

There are alternatives, believe it or not, and it’s a good thing, too.  After all, no one wants these toxins in their environment or drinking water.  We certainly don’t want to sit on toxic fabrics or have them on our backs either. 

There are companies that will take back your worn polyester clothing to recycle and churn into new products, and there are newer products that begin by being eco friendly in their production.  They have the added advantage of being able to be recycled indefinitely.  Very cool.

Learn more about greening your home, particularly where you lay your head down to rest.  In the meantime, when you launder polyester, switch from hot water to cold and line dry.

P.S.  Here are just a few names you may recognize, but did you know they were PET products?  Now you do.   Dacron, Tergal, Trevira, Mylar


Blue Planet Run: The Race to Provide Safe Drinking Water to the World

Save Water With Natural Fiber Fabrics For Home Furnishings

Saving water by choosing natural fiber fabrics may not be at the top of your list when fabric shopping for your home furnishings, but it can be.  Natural fibers like hemp require virtually no water and produce beautiful fabrics.

Hemp is one of those natural fibers that can be made into beautiful home furnishings and beautiful clothing, as well.  Hemp is strong and soft.  With clothing, the more you wash hemp, the softer it becomes.

Of course, you couldn’t stick your sofa in the washer, but you can find easy tips to cleaning natural fiber fabrics by signing up for our DIY Newsletter. 

Hemp is often blended with other fibers for a number of reasons.  One of those reasons is that hemp helps keep items from stretching and losing shape.

It absorbs moisture and has moisture transfer properties that make it an ideal fabric for hot weather climates.  Hemp is also UV, mold and rot resistant.

With all these wonderful qualities, hemp becomes an even better choice for our home furnishing fabric when we look at its growing requirements.

Hemp requires very little to grow.  Hemp is a ‘bast’ fiber which means it comes from the bark of the plant.  Bast fibers are very hardy.  It requires little to no pesticides and no herbicides.

Cotton, on the other hand, requires tons of pesticides and chemicals to protect itself from pests throughout its production process.  Cotton also uses an enormous amount of water to grow.

Check our my video “Eco Living Textiles” to learn more about cotton.

Hemp starts from seed and produces a dense crop with a canopy that keeps moisture in and weeds out.  It provides fertile ground for a diverse population of animals, insects and other micro-organisms. 

Hemp’s root system is deep preventing soil erosion.  The skin of the hemp plant is insect resistant.  Hemp is often used as a rotational crop. 

Hemp has been grown for over 12,000 years.  It’s used in textiles, wood fibers, for paper, biodegradable plastics, construction, fuel and health food products. 

Hemp can produce 4 times per acre what an average forest can yield.  Using hemp in place of some wood products can help save forests, wildlife habitats and increase carbon sequestration. 

Because of the long fibers in hemp, its paper products can be recycled several times over and more than wood based paper.  Hemp is the fastest growing biomass known. 

As a health food, hemp oil is the richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids and essential amino acids.

Hemp often gets confused with marijuana and is not allowed to be grown in the United States.  Other countries, however, are moving forward and have successfully introduced hemp farming, creating a multi-billion dollar industry.

Just to keep things clear, hemp comes from the same species as marijuana, but hemp contains virtually no THC, the stuff that makes poco loco in marijuana.  Hemp cannot be used as a drug.

Need some questions answered about choosing the right fabric for your next home improvement project?  Creating your eco living lifestyle is easier than you think.