CasaSugar

Casa Verde: Eco-Friendly Candles to Help You Unplug

CasaSugar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:00:00 -0700

If you're having a tough time stepping away from the Internet, maybe you should partake in Sabbath Manifesto's National Day of Unplugging this Saturday. Taking the tech-free weekend further, spend your evenings dining, talking, and playing board games by the soft light of some clean-burning candles like this romantic D.L. & Co. Black Cassis Candle ($65), made from a blend of soy, maple, and palm waxes.

Here are some pretty, eco-friendly candles to help you unplug and unwind:

Casa Verde: Wine Heals All Moves

CasaSugar — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:00:00 -0800

Moving into a new home can be overwhelmingly exciting, but it often consumes a bit of time and money. Perhaps the toughest and most tedious project of all is packing up glasses and other small fragile items. While many folks wrap up their breakable wears in bubble wrap and spacious boxes, I've got an eco tip that will keep the earth and your purse greener.

Keep some padding in your wallet and help the environment out by using retired cardboard wine crates. Grocery stores and wine merchants are usually more than happy to dole them out when their merchandise has been unloaded. Bundle up your precious wares in socks and then stuff them into the separated slots. If you're feeling a bit risky, you could even slip them into the box naked.
When you're finished unpacking everything, get started on turning them into something else practical . . . perhaps Louboutin storage?

How-To: Conduct Your Own Energy Audit

CasaSugar — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:00:00 -0800

Energy bills rise as soon as temperatures drop, but your home's heat may not be the only thing cranking up your bill each month. Before blaming the power company or accepting the astronomical bills, investigate the problem by conducting your own energy audit. An energy audit helps homeowners and renters locate where their pads are not being efficient, and provides insight on where improvement is needed. Grab a pen and paper and use these tips for inspecting your digs' energy efficiency.

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Casa Beta: Mother's Lil' Helper

CasaSugar — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:30:00 -0800

Stains, you've met your match. Few people know more about pesky blots than moms. When red wine ends up on your carpet, who do you call for advice? If it's not Casa, it's probably your mama. Instead of making the phone call and updating her on your love life and hearing about family drama, just pick up a bottle of Mother's Lil' Helper instead.

To see why I think this belongs in your cleaning kit, just read more.

For starters, Mother's Lil' Helper is a self-proclaimed toxic-free product, which is a must in my linen closet. Not only are my nose hairs unsinged, my sniffer is actually pleased with the powdery scent that comes from the bottle. After a nasty wine spill left my natural color rug a little worse for the wear, I consulted a mother of four for her advice. Having battled it all, I trusted in the product she swears by - Mother's Lil' Helper.

Alas, her stain secret is a secret no more. Indomitable blueberry juice? Gone. A few drops of blood? Erased. The salad dressing oil that spilled on the tablecloth? Can't even spot it anymore. One application of the magical solution and you may be ordering this bottle by the box load. And I say ordering because it's not so easily found. I had to track it down at a local baby shop (it apparently works wonders on stinky child messes, too), but it's worth the hunt.

Casa Verde: An Eco Glam Office

CasaSugar — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:33 -0800

Earlier today, I showed you the impressive before and after pics from Bollare's office renovation. However, I only teased you with one of many photos of the gorgeous space. When Bollare, a full service fashion, beauty, and lifestyle public relations firm located in West Hollywood, CA, decided that it was time to move its office, the company turned to Green Tangerine to help transform the raw space into something both fab and green.

To find out more about the transformation and to see many photos of the space, read more.
Bollare turned to the eco-friendly wallpaper of Mod Green Pod for the striking, vibrant paper throughout its office. For paint, Benjamin Moore Pristine EcoSpec Paint: Zero-VOC was used on the walls, and underfoot, bamboo flooring made the cut for this eco office. Lighting is provided by CFLs, though Bollare notes that the lights are rarely turned on, due to the natural light that saturates the space.

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Casa Verde: The Andrea Air Purifier

CasaSugar — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:30:38 -0800

Are you concerned about the indoor air quality in your home? If not, maybe you should be: harmful toxins in the air within the home, including ammonia and formaldehyde, are commonly found in carpeting, cleaning products, paints, and wallcoverings. One way to combat these toxins is with an air purifier. A new product on the market is the Andrea ($199), an air purifier recently introduced to the United States.

Invented by Harvard University professor David Edwards and French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, this high-design air filter actually uses everyday household plants to absorb and eliminate common airborne toxins. Houseplants possess natural systems that absorb and eliminate airborne pollutants, employing active plant filtration along with water and soil to cleanse the air. The Andrea is 40 times more efficient in cleaning air than standard HEPA/carbon filters, and boasts a sleek, modern design that won't distract from your home's style.

Andrea was recognized as the Invention of the Year by Popular Science magazine and was also exhibited in the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Do you have an air purifier in your home? Are you considering purchasing one?

Casa Verde: eBay Gets Green With DIYs

CasaSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:00:13 -0800

eBay, purveyor of thousands of used goods, is pretty green to begin with. But now the online auction house is asking you all to be earth-friendly, too. The eBay Green Team and sustainable style blog Ecofabulous have aligned forces, asking you to turn everyday items into fab must haves for a chance to win a $1,000 "shopping experience" on eBay and a personal consultation from Ecofabulous.

To inspire you, Ecofabulous founder and DIY superstar Zem Joaquin has given new life to a few vintage, used, and discarded furnishings with a little elbow grease and a few eco-friendly supplies. This stripped and refinished cabinet was one of her projects, in addition to a transformed telephone bench and a reupholstered couch. To enter, you need to send in pictures or a video of your eco-DIY project. Considering all of the wonderful before and after projects many of you have submitted to Su Casa, I'm sure you're up to the task!

5 Common Myths About Going Green at Home

CasaSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:00:07 -0700

One of my favorite resources, This Old House, recently updated readers on 10 myths about green living at home. Definitely read all of This Old House's advice on the topic - you may be surprised! Here are the five myths that I thought would most interest Casa readers.

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Casa Verde: Wooden Furniture That's Green and Budget-Friendly

CasaSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:00:22 -0700

Slate magazine recently answered a reader's question about affordable, earth-friendly furniture. Are the two concepts compatible? And what are the best options? You can read the whole article here, but I've handily summed up the advice from writer Nina Shen Rastogi. The first (and perhaps most obvious) piece of advice is to buy the highest quality, solid wood furniture you can afford. This way, your furniture will last for decades (at least).
Ready for the rest of the advice? Then read more.

Furniture made from medium-density fiberboard is an affordable option that is made from leftover sawdust and lumber scraps. It takes more energy to produce MDF than it does to process lumber. However, as the article notes, "[f]igures from New Zealand suggest that, on a pound-for-pound basis, the production of composite-wood products is more energy-efficient [PDF] than making plastics and most metals."
Plywood, another type of composite panel, uses about the same energy to produce as MDF.
Buyer beware, though: MDF, particleboard, and plywood all contain adhesives that may release formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen, according to the International Agency For Research on Cancer.
The cheaper the furniture, the more likely it is to release formaldehyde, since it's more expensive to use more high-quality, less toxic glues, and to cure the furniture over time to ensure that the furniture isn't releasing formaldehyde.
To avoid this danger, look for furniture with low- or no-formaldehyde adhesives.
If your new MDF or particleboard furniture contains recycled content or alternative fibers, it is less likely to offgas.
If your particleboard or MDF furniture smells funky, leave it outside for a few days so it can offgas outside of your living space.
When buying solid wood furniture, ask about how the wood is sourced. Look for certification from the Forest Stewardship Council. Always ask retailers about how the wood is sourced, and let them know that this is important to you as a consumer.
The best option for both your budget and the planet is to buy secondhand solid wood furniture. Check flea markets, Craigslist, and tag sales for quality items.

Casa Verde: Quaker Oats Fuel This School

CasaSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:15:22 -0700

I love to see America's universities taking a lead in environmental awareness and sustainability, so I was thrilled to hear about the University of Iowa's biomass project. For the past few years, the university has worked with a local Quaker Oats plant to replace the burning of coal with the burning of oat hulls, which are a waste product from the Quaker Oats factory.

About 60 tons of discarded oat hulls from Quaker Oats are delivered daily to the UI power plant, and this organic material is burned with coal to produce energy for the school. The oat hulls fuel 15 percent of the school’s total energy, generating nearly nine million kilowatt-hours of biomass power annually. This is equal to the amount of energy needed to power 900 average American homes annually.

Thanks to the use of the oat hulls, the university has reduced its emissions by seven percent already, equalling a reduction of 70,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year and 30,000 tons of coal per year, which isn't burned. Ferman Milster, associate utility director, says that the decision to move to oat hulls was easy. “I immediately recognized that burning biomass material has a very positive environmental impact and I saw an opportunity to reduce the University’s purchased-energy costs. Plus, the money we pay for that fuel material stays in Iowa."

You can watch a video documenting the project, as well as the University of Iowa's other green measures, when you read more.

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