The Red, White, and Green

One of the long-standing must-dos on my at-home eco-improvement list has been to add some purifying house plants to our apartment. As I mention in today’s Eco Etiquette column, the air in most homes is polluted with a wide range of toxic chemicals, thanks to the off-gassing of flame retardants, formaldehyde, and other VOCs from most conventional furniture, paint, and mattresses.

(All the more reason, by the way, to support the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act that’s currently making its way through Congress.)

The only problem with most cleansing house plants is that they can be poisonous if ingested; with baby on the way, I want to make sure they’re out of the reach of curious hands. The solution? Woolly Pocket’s Wally planters, which allow you to create a vertical garden on any type of wall or fence. Check ‘em out:

Photo: Suthi Picotte

Photo: Andrew Takeuchi

The posh planters are idiot-proof — just fill the pockets with soil and full-sized plants — and also virtually black thumb–proof, thanks to a cleverly designed breathable front that allows excess moisture to evaporate while naturally aerating soil. And at $49 for one indoor Wally, it’s a nominal investment in your family’s future health. Buy it online at WoollyPocket.com.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Since the BP oil spill, I’ve become pretty much consumed trying to eliminate every last possible petroleum-based product from my daily routine. I know my actions aren’t going to stop the spill directly, but it feels good to know that I may be helping to reduce our reliance on oil in the long run. As Amanda Little, author of Power Trip, has said, we need to save what little oil we have left for “its best and highest use,” finding sustainable alternatives wherever possible.

To that end, today’s featured alternative is a totally nifty product called EcoCradle. You know those big pieces of polystyrene that are used to cushion the ends of furniture and electronics in shipping boxes? Well, instead of being made from petroleum, EcoCradle is manufactured (actually grown, using a living organism) from agricultural byproducts like cotton burrs and buckwheat hulls. The process uses a mere one-tenth of the energy required to make synthetic polystyrene.

When you’re done with EcoCradle, it can be tossed in your garden or compost pile. It can even go in the trash, since it’s designed to break down in an air-locked landfill.

One of my favorite companies, Steelcase (oh, how I love your vintage tanker desk), has just announced it will begin shipping its products with the EcoCradle packaging. If you have a company that ships using traditional polystyrene, you should consider the switch, too — EcoCradle can be made into any shape and size, and is currently cost-competitive with other foam and bubble wraps on the market.

–Jennifer Grayson

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New to Habitat for Humanity homes in the US: Energy-efficient LED lighting from Cree. Photo via Flickr: FirstBaptistNashville

Too often, people think of eco-friendly home improvements like solar panels and LED lighting as being for the conscientious wealthy. But ironically, it’s the people with the least money who could benefit most from the cost savings a green home can provide. So why aren’t energy-efficient lighting and appliances automatically incorporated into new low-income housing?

They should be: Habitat for Humanity, for instance, just announced that it will be putting high-efficiency LED downlights from Cree in the kitchens of all new Habitat homes in the United States. The eco-friendly lighting will mean significant savings: In California, for instance, homeowners can expect to save nearly $100 a year on energy costs.

Eight dollars a month may not seem like a lot of money, but to low-income families, every little bit makes a difference. And keep in mind that this is only the savings for energy efficient lighting in the kitchen. Could you imagine if the whole house employed these LEDs?

Other organizations are working to bring green building practices to affordable housing. Global Green has assisted over two dozen low-income housing developers nationwide through its Greening of Affordable Housing Initiative, including the Nueva Vista Family Housing project in Santa Cruz, CA (solar electricity, fluorescent lighting, hydronic heating, and Energy Star appliances) and the Plaza Apartments in San Francisco (abundant daylight, rooftop PV panels, natural gas–fired boilers, and radiant hot water).

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo credit: Basil Childers

The Shanghai World Expo is set to open this Saturday — the largest world’s fair in history, with more than 70 million people expected to attend — and I think it’s mighty neat that an American design firm was chosen to design the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion.

ESI Design, based in New York City, was tasked with creating a building that would express Shanghai residents’ dreams for the city’s future, including a greater commitment to environmental responsibility. The resulting 40,000-square-foot masterpiece, dubbed the “Dream Cube,” achieves that and then some, with an exterior made of transparent recycled (and recyclable) polycarbonate tubes filled with LEDs; a solar thermal system that generates electricity and heats water for the pavilion; and rainwater collection for a misting system that will help keep visitors cool and add to the general dreamlike aura of the exterior.

More interactive adventure than structure, the Dream Cube invites visitors on a kaleidoscopic journey whose details I won’t even begin to describe here, for fear you’ll think I’ve ingested a dose of peyote along with my morning coffee. But the experience sounds and looks magical, to say the least. Take a glimpse for yourself:

While waiting in line to enter the Dream Cube, visitors can change the LED colors above them by clapping their hands. Photo credit: Basil Childers

On the escalator into the structure, bluish lights and soft ambient music help visitors transition from the noise of the outside to the otherworldly Dream Cube experience. Photo credit: Basil Childers

As visitors stroll through the Green Shanghai section, they can experience the changing seasons on massive media displays. Here, spring, with a lush carpet of LED "grass." Photo credit: Basil Childers

Want to experience the Dream Cube for yourself? You have until Oct 31 to get yourself on a plane to Shanghai.

–Jennifer Grayson

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All photos: Tim Street-Porter

I like to think of myself as a backyard chicken, pumpkin-patch growing kind of gal. (I realize that I currently live smack dab in the middle of urban Los Angeles, but this is a fantasy life I’m sketching out for you right now.) Even if I had all the money in the world and could work from anywhere, I would probably live in a small town way out in the country, where my main mode of transportation would be a Schwinn and most of my grocery shopping would be done in my vegetable garden.

Of course, just because you’re eco-minded doesn’t mean you have to commit to this sort of tree-hugging lifestyle. Some people adore city life, and some (especially in LA) have come to require a certain level of luxury. Lucky for them, green and luxe are no longer mutually exclusive, as I discovered last week when I got to visit the new eco residence (dubbed “Green and Vine”) on the top floor of the LEED-certified W Hollywood Residences.

Check out the rest of the amazing digs:

The one-bedroom, co-designed by Kelly Van Patter and eConnect Group, doesn’t leave a sustainable stone unturned. In addition to the super energy-efficient appliances, low-VOC paints used on the walls, and floor coverings made from recycled carpet remnants, all of the furnishings — save the LED HD flat-screen from LG — were sourced from manufacturers and artisans within a 500-mile radius.

OK, so maybe I’ll keep my house in the country and snap up one of these for my little pied-à-terre…

To read more about Green and Vine, click here.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo: O'BON

I’ll admit, I’m a nerd. It’s been years since I set foot in a classroom, and I still get excited over a fresh pack of pencils or a crisp new notebook. (Though that probably reveals my age — do students even use real paper and writing utensils anymore?) So when I recently stumbled across the O’Bon website, which sells stylish, eco-friendly school and office supplies like vivid rainbow-hued pencils made from 100 percent recycled newspaper, I practically drooled.

A few of my faves:

Bird 1″ Binder (Pearl). Constructed from 100 percent recycled cardboard, this elegant binder features an exotic bird-feather design, printed using soy-based inks.

Rainbow 2B Pencil Pack. Each pack includes 10 brightly patterned graphite pencils, made from 100 percent recycled newspaper.

O’BONanza A6 Notebook (Apple). With a cover made from 100 percent recycled cardstock, this cheery notebook comes stocked with 80 pages of O’Bon’s own sugarcane-based paper.

Need a little extra incentive to spend $6 on a pack of pencils? O’Bon will match every purchase with a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation, to help fight deforestation.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Save on your next O’Bon purchase by using the code FREAKOFRIENDLY.

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Photo: CowPots

It’s very rare to come across a perfect green product. In most cases, the inventions are an improvement on the original, but still have their own eco flaws: Compact fluorescent bulbs markedly reduce energy usage but contain mercury, a toxic chemical that pollutes the environment; canvas shopping totes cut down on paper and plastic usage but are often manufactured in China or India.

But once in a while, something comes around that is so sustainable, so ingenious, you have to wonder why no one thought of it before. I give you — CowPots.

You know those plastic pots that seedlings come in when you buy them at a nursery, that get thrown out (or sometimes recycled) right after you plant that seedling? Well, CowPots are made of composted cow manure, so you can just plant the whole thing — pot and all — right in the ground. Within four weeks, the pots biodegrade, nourishing the soil and the seedling at the same time.

Their brilliant design solves two environmental problems at once: What to do with all that waste on a farm that would otherwise pollute the water and land with excess nitrogen, and how to eliminate unnecessary fossil-fuel based plastic products that take thousands of years to break down in a landfill.

And no, CowPots don’t smell. The patent-pending manufacturing process eliminates all odors, as well as any harmful pathogens. They’re also super reasonable: A 12-pack of 3-inch pots will set you back about $6.99. Click here to buy.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: With spring right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to start off a summer of sustainable eating by planting a vegetable garden. Click here to find out what to plant in March.

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I’ve always been skeptical about the push for people to move to downtown Los Angeles. The sheer joy of living in LA is the California lifestyle — ocean breezes, long alfresco dinners at home with friends — why would anyone want to trade that in for a high rise in the smog? I guess if you’ve lived in California your whole life, then a truly urban existence might have some appeal, but as far as I’m concerned, I left that all behind when I moved out of Manhattan.

I formed all these notions, typical me, without actually ever having stepped foot inside a residential building in LA’s now-burgeoning downtown district. So when I was offered a sneak preview of the Evo Designer Showcase before it opens to the public this Saturday, I decided to put my preconceived notions aside. The showcase features five apartments custom-decorated by five amazing designers, including eco-designer Daniel Vandenbark, in LA’s only LEED Silver–certified high-rise. How could I in good green conscience say no?

Besides, I’d get a chance to see how five of LA’s hottest designers are incorporating environmentally friendly materials into their work. And I wasn’t disappointed: Sustainability is very much on the minds of all the designers involved in the showcase, even the ones who weren’t specifically tasked with creating a green dwelling (that was left to Daniel Vandenbark). Renown interior designer David Desmond and I chatted about the importance of investing in pieces that will last for generations; but he emphasized that those classics don’t have to cost a pretty penny. Check out the gorgeous coffee tables in his showcase (shh, they’re Ikea!):

Australian-born Mark Cutler, named one of the Robb Report’s top 40 designers in the US, talked about incorporating the “50-mile rule” (embracing local materials and craftsmen) into his work. And while his taste is undoubtedly sophisticated, Cutler told me that the raw materials don’t necessarily have to be, especially if they’re eco-friendly: He used old-fashioned burlap to construct elegant table skirts and window shades for his showcase’s muted, earthy bedroom.

Take your own sneak peek at more of the eco-conscious designer showcases:

From Room & Board:

From Daniel Vandenbark:

I’m still not convinced that living downtown is the ideal way to experience Los Angeles, though I will admit that the view from the 20th floor of the Evo was pretty glorious — unobstructed views of the city and snow capped mountains, and nary a streak of smog in sight. But more importantly, the showcases reminded me that green living isn’t only for people who are lucky enough to have beachfront property or trees in their backyard. A whopping 3 billion people — a majority of the world’s population — now live in cities, and we need to find ways to make those areas more sustainable as well.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: If you live in Los Angeles, check out the Evo Designer Showcase this weekend.

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Photo: Orion Energy Systems

There’s been a lot of debate as to what the real technological breakthrough is when it comes to eco-friendly lighting. Compact fluorescent bulbs are massive energy savers, but are pretty darn ugly, no matter what color temperature I’ve managed to test out. They also have the nasty problem of containing mercury, which can pose a serious health hazard if the bulb accidentally breaks or isn’t disposed of properly once it’s toast. With LED lighting, there remains the issue of prohibitive price; it’s also been speculated that widespread use of LEDs could worsen light pollution, harming wildlife.

Without risk of sounding like an infomercial, what if there was a solution that actually looked great, didn’t use a drop of electricity, and was free of harmful contaminants like mercury and lead? There is: It’s called a solar light pipe.

It’s basically the same concept as a skylight: A hole is placed in the roof of a building to allow natural sunlight to light a room, but the solar light pipe, or light tube as it’s also called, uses light refraction technology to focus that light to a specific area. When installed in large numbers, the effect is a lot like recessed can lighting (see photo, above).

Why I, wonder, aren’t more greenies talking about this incredibly efficient type of solar lighting? Maybe I haven’t heard a lot about it because many of the big-time green lighting developers, like Orion Energy Systems — who yesterday received a utility patent for its Apollo light pipe system — are focusing on commercial use. (Disclosure: I have a family member employed by Orion; he in no way promised to give me his Prius in exchange for writing this post.)

It seems kind of redundant to put solar panels on a building to help pay the electricity bill for your fluorescent bulbs, when in a lot of sunnier climates you could just skip that step and harness the sun directly.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Are you one of the few not-broke Americans who’s in the process of renovating her home or building a new one? Check out these solar tubes for residential use.

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Photo via Flickr: Leandro's World Tour

The world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa (formerly called the Burj Dubai), opens its doors to the public today. Stretching 2,716.5 feet into the sky — that’s half a mile — and boasting 900 private residential apartments, an Armani Hotel, and a fountain extravaganza that makes the one at Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel look like a squirt gun, the architectural marvel is a symbol of the capitalistic superfluity Dubai has represented for over a decade.

But the world has changed drastically in the past couple years, both from an economic standpoint and an ecological one. With Dubai facing a debt crisis and a severe recession, and resources like water and oil growing ever more precious, you have to wonder how the electric bill is going to get paid for the monstrous Burj. Dubai has year-round hot, sunny weather; why wasn’t the darn thing completely blanketed in solar panels?

A look at the Burj Khalifa’s massive environmental footprint:

• Water: Around 250,000 gallons of water a day
• Electricity: At peak times, roughly 40,000 kilowatts — the equivalent of 500,000 100-watt light bulbs burning at the same time
• Raw materials: Nearly 40,000 tons of steel — enough to stretch a quarter of the way around the earth if laid end to end
• Wasted space: The upper 30+ floors are so tiny, they can only be used for storage

Still, the building does manage to have one green feature: Condensation produced by the structure during Dubai’s hot and humid summer months will be collected and used to water the tower’s plants and landscaping.

–Jennifer Grayson

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