Green Building Lingo Defined: FSC Certified

If you haven't heard, today is Arbor Day!
To celebrate, let's talk about saving and respecting trees!

A choice you can make in favor of trees is to responsibly select hardwoods for your building projects. One option? Look for wood with FSC Certification. What does FSC mean? It stands for Forest Stewardship Council. FSC Certification of a product implies that its wood source was sustainably harvested from responsibly managed forests. The Forest Stewardship Council has strict rules to qualify for FSC Certification. There are ten principles and criteria that need to be complied with to earn the certification, but to summarize, FSC Certification means that:

• The forests are managed to maintain minimal environmental impact (there is a balance between how many trees are harvested vs planted, trees are only harvested once they are fully mature, habitats are protected),
• Workers are treated fairly,
• Indigenous peoples' right are respected,
• Local and international forestry laws are abided by, and
  
• Environmental and social impacts of the tree harvesting are both carefully monitored and assessed

To identify products that are FSC Certified, look for the logo at the top of the page

In green building and design, you should look for the FSC certification on sources for wood floors, wood cabinets, and wood furniture. Other places you can find FSC Certified products? You will also often see the FSC certification on paper products - whether you are buying office paper, a magazine, or a new article of clothing with a paper tag, the FSC certification is becoming a common sight. Reclaimed wood and renewable alternatives to wood (such as bamboo) are other great options to use for your building projects.

Happy Arbor Day, from 'g'!

Earth Day Celebrations!

In honor of Earth Day, read below for some ideas on how you can celebrate...

1. Get outside!


2. Go for a bike ride - skip the car


3. Plant some green! Be it a tree in honor of earth day, some flowers to enjoy or veggies to eat, the plants will absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while giving us shade, a nice view, a tasty treat, promoting pollinators, and more!



4. Pick up some trash! If every person who sees this blog picks up 5 pieces of trash (and tells 5 friends to do the same)...that would be a lot of litter removed from the environment!


5. Change at least one incandescent light bulb to a compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL) and cut down on your electricity bill and CO2 emissions!

...Love your Mother!

If you are around Cape Cod and New England, check out this state website of Earth Day activity listings - some events have passed, but some go through May. Enjoy!

Also, we wanted to remind you 'g' is hosting a Green Cleaning Workshop tomorrow (Saturday, April 24) in our Mashpee showroom! Check here for details!

Product Spotlight: Preserve Toothbrushes

Happy Earth Day Week!

To celebrate, we want to give you some simple ideas you can help protect the earth... Today we're highlighting two products products and companies were perfect to showcase during Earth Day Week, and the company slogans speak for themselves:

Preserve: Nothing Wasted, Everything Gained
Rebagz: Change the World With Style

1. Preserve toothbrushes

Made from recycled plastic, when you're done with them you can send them back to Preserve to be recycled! Not only did Preserve work with top notch dentists to come up with a toothbrush design that preforms the most thorough cleaning, they thought of every detail to make their toothbrushes environmentally-friendly:

• the handles are made from %100 recycled plastic
• the packaging is reusable: it doubles as both a travel case AND the shipping package to mail the toothbrush back to Preserve, because
• the toothbrush and package are both fully recycled by Preserve! (You can even go to the preserve website to print a postage paid label to send your Preserve toothbrushes back - how neat!)

Check out their environmentally-friendly production process!

For less than $4 you can pick up a toothbrush for yourself, and think about getting them for your entire family! It's a contribution to cut down on waste, and an opprtunity for an educational moment! We should also let oyu know that we carry them in some eye-catching bright colors! Available in ultra-soft, soft, and medium.


2. Rebagz travel cases

These clever little bags are made from recycled rice sacks and come in bright colors, each one unique as the colorful graphics were already printed on the rice sacks in their first life! They've just come into 'g' and are already grabbing attention. Make a statement in style by picking one up and showing the world that it's great to re-purpose and recycle!

We now carry a variety of coin pruse/business card holders, small purses, a passport ravel bag, and a camera bag.



Stop in to 'g' this week and Love your Mother by choosing a Preserve Toothbrush or a recycled rice sack bag!

April 24 workshop: Healthy Environments - Cleaning Your Way to Green!

On Saturday, April 24th, join us in our Mashpee showroom for our last workshop in the current series. The topic: Healthy Environments - Cleaning Your Way to Green.

We felt it could not be more timely to assist you in your spring cleaning efforts. We've now introduced you to some of our top-rated earth-friendly household cleaners, including Greening the Cleaning and Modern Mermaids, but this workshop takes green cleaning to the next level. At this hour-long, captivating workshop (did you ever think cleaning could be captivating?), we'll learn more about many different products and practices to lead to cleaner air and water, in your home or office setting. Not only does that include air and water purification systems, but best practices, including air and water quality DOs and DON'Ts. If you or someone you know suffers from pollen and other irritants this time of year, we'll also discuss methods of attack.

There will be a guest speaker, Joe Letourney, who will provide information on his revolutionary EcoWater systems. Don't miss out on this informative workshop - go to our website to register, or call (508) 477-7988. We'll see you next week!

Product Spotlight: Modern Mermaid

In the name of spring cleaning and celebrating and supporting local businesses, this week we wanted to highlight Modern Mermaids: a Cape Cod born company that makes eco-friendly cleaners. This young company was started by two eco-savvy women from Cape Cod, who both felt [rightfully] uneasy about the amount of chemicals found in common household cleaners. They, like many other entrepreneurs, wanted to create and offer products that would not harm consumers - you can read their full story here. Their biodegradable products work extremely well, smell wonderful (you won't find any strong citrus-to-mask-the-bleach odors in these products!), and are great for you and the environment!

Modern Mermaid Products we offer @ 'g':

• Healthy Hand Foamy (Waterless Hand Cleaner),
• Fruit and Veggie Wash,
• Foaming Healthy Hand Soap,
• Sweet Tingly Mint All Purpose & Glass Cleaner,
• Dish Soap,
• In the Bare Bathroom Cleaner, and more!

Many of the products come in a concentrate as well, to refill your original in an economic and earth-friendly manner. You can check out the concentrate selection at your local 'g' showroom. The cleaning products all come in a 16oz bottle, and the prices range from an affordable $5-$8 ($12-16 for the concentrates, also 16oz).

We especially recommend trying the [almost] pocket-sized Healthy Hand Foamy sanitizer as an alternative to the anti-bacterial alcohol-based sanitizers out there - it smells great and kills germs naturally!

You can absolutely take our word for it, but we recommend checking out these wonderful products for yourself! Stop into 'g' today!

Builders Spec Guide: A product comparison resource for builders

Attention Builders and Contractors!

We want to share a useful resource with you: our Builders Spec Guide. Whether you have a client who wants to construct a LEED certified building, a client with chemical sensitivities, a client with a special care to green their project, or you want to be prepared to offer green options to clients, we can help you get the answers and the products you need. This guide begins to detail some of the many green products that are out there, and is a quick cheat sheet for product pricing and price comparisons between different types of materials with similar uses. You will also see on the brochure below that contractors receive a 10% discount when they register their firm with 'g'! (Be sure to click each image below to see it more clearly)

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Not only do we welcome homeowners into our showroom and work with them to design and implement their green remodeling and construction projects, we encourage all builders and contractors to develop a relationship with your closest 'g' Green Design Center. We will give you one-on-one attention with ideas and information about all of the green products that you can work into your clients' projects. We want you to succeed in greening your practices for the sake of the environment and your clients' health - it's what we care about! (And, customers are telling us: they want green and want it to be accessible!)

In the coming months you should also stay tuned for more workshops being offered, as well as Lunch and Learn seminars (one-hour sessions where our staff introduces green products and practices specifically to groups of builders and contractors).

Product Spotlight: Earth Machine Composter

Not only is April the month when Earth Day calls, it's National Gardening Month! By this time, you've probably started prepping your garden for a summer of bounty. Now is the perfect time to set up an outdoor compost bin!

For those of you who are seasoned composters, there's no more snow on the ground to keep you from getting outside to dump your organic food scraps into a bin in your back yard. We also understand that some of you may be new to composting. Composting is an excellent way to recycle and re-purpose your kitchen food scraps.

To get your compost started, stop in and pick up an Earth Machine Composter. This composter is America's favorite for many reasons: the black [recycled!] plastic heats up to speed the breakdown of the organic matter as do holes around the cylindrical container, the top locks on to keep critters out, a closing door at the bottom allows removal of compost once it is ready for use, and the composter has been redesigned once again to now include a grated bottom, to keep burrowers from getting into the bin.

Now, we understand that for some, the term “composting” can sound intimidating. They may wonder - how does one recycle food? It seems to carry lots of rules, smell and mess. But composting is in fact very easy, doesn't take a lot of room, and can reap many benefits. For those of you who are unfamiliar with composting, some tips and answers to commonly asked composting questions are provided below.


What can I put in my compost?
The key to composting is using equal parts brown and green ingredients. Brown items are high carbon and green are high nitrogen.

Browns include wood, bark, cardboard, leaves, fruit waste, straw, pine needles, peanut shells, and straw. Greens include alfalfa, clover, grass clippings, food waste, garden waste, and hays.

It’s important to avoid putting in meat, bones, fish, fats, and dairy. Also, keep your inorganic materials (aluminum foil, glass, plastics, and metals) in the trash. Hopefully in your green household you dispose of minimal amounts of these products anyways.

To get started, try using an empty coffee can, an old ice bucket or pail. You will want something that can be covered inside to keep smells at bay. Place the composting pail either on your counter near the sink or where you cut and wash vegetables, or under the sink, but near enough so that it gets used on a regular basis. We do have some very simple composting pails with tight fitting lids made of recycled plastic available in the 'g' shop for about $15. Its a neutral color, and be hung on the back of our sink cabinet door if you like.

Do I need worms?
No, you do not need worms. If you do your best to keep your green and brown levels relatively equal, you should have beautiful soil in several months. If you do want to use worms, you will need to find an appropriate container. Give us a call and we can help you out.

Will my backyard smell? Isn’t compost unsightly?
Not anymore! Come on in to ‘g’ and check out the Earth Machine. This great compost bin is America’s best selling for a reason. The Earth Machine produces an all-natural soil conditioner, which adds nutrients and helps soil retain moisture. Its 80-gallon capacity is easily accessed through the convenient harvest door. More effective, less mess, and no smell, we see no downside to this amazing recycled plastic bin.



You can use your composted materials as a mulch before winter, and you can add it to your soil in the spring (realistically, the compost you start collecting this spring will not be fully broken down until the end of the season, but is a great way to add nutrients to your soil to prep next season's beds). Either way, it is of great benefit to your flower and vegetable beds. What are you waiting for? Come on in to ‘g’ and we’ll get you set up with your new Earth Machine and compost pail. You’ll be on your way to easy composting in no time!

Last Saturday's workshop in Review...

Last Saturday we hosted the third in our series of four workshops at the Mashpee showroom. The topic this time: Managing Your Green Remodeling Project.

The plan? Bring together contractors and homeowners to discuss all of the things that need to be considered for construction and renovation projects, and the steps to take, for both homeowners and the contractor, to put a green spin on those projects.

What happened? Well, we were joined by about a half dozen contractors and a handful of homeowners.

The good news? There are a lot of contractors out there who are learning about green building and remodeling because YOU, the consumer, have created the mandate. The contractors were quite well-versed in the green products, methods, and rating systems...Together a lively discussion was had, with insight provided from 'g' Founder Nicole Goldman, on the steps to green remodeling projects.

Some of the discussion points: How to identify parts of your remodeling project where it makes the most sense to go green (we readily admit that it is not plausible for all projects to be all green!). Important choices to make: Conservation. That means thinking about how you will save energy and resources throughout the life of the space. Insulate, insulate, insulate. And if you're going to opt for a renewable energy system? Go with solar thermal for the best return on your investment! One of the contractors present brought up a very important point that if you do your research right, there are a lot of financial institutions providing loans for efficiency projects and special incentives to specifically finance green projects.

Contractor Steve Klug was excited by the dialogue and the recent progress in the green building industry. "I've been into green since the 70's and am glad it's here and sticking around". We are, too!

We were thrilled to host this training and are excited about its implications for green remodeling and building across Cape Cod. We are not alone in the spreading of the green gospel, and you are not alone in your interest!

*Be sure to join us at the next workshop, Cleaning Your Way to Green, on April 24th!*