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Posts Tagged ‘Eco-Friendly’

Making A Difference With Eco-Friendly Area Rugs

February 6th, 2010 No comments

People who once said that going green is a drag are now probably eating their words. Environmental protection is not just the in thing but already a global campaign. United Nations has taken a strong stand. Powerful countries have supported the importance of eco-friendly living. So why should we wait any further? Let’s join the bandwagon and do our share in conserving the environment.

Let’s start our eco-friendly lifestyle right at home. A certain proverb says that one should clean his own backyard before pointing a neighbor’s unclean yard…sounds perfect for a home decorating article. You can take it literally but I like to go deeper and think figuratively as well. Before doing something more complicated or before spreading the word of going green, starting at your own turf is a good idea. You will then practice what you preach. I know I do…

Good designing means going for the maximum style potential in your decorating. As always, make sure that the theme is consistent with what you are trying to express. In the case of green home decor, there are a lot of natural area rugs that go quite well with the rest of your furniture. Light colored ones would look good in a sitting area to maintain that warm, welcoming feel and darker ones can be put in places such as your bedroom.

There are a lot of natural area rugs that are available in a variety of designs, colors, shapes and sizes that can go easily with any theme. So you don’t have to worry that there in not enough natural rugs to meet your eclectic taste in home interior design.

Natural rugs don’t only look good but they can affect room temperature. Rugs made of wool and cotton absorb heat pretty well, which means you wouldn’t feel too stifling in the hot summer days. Because of this, you’ll get to save on electricity bills from excessive air-conditioning. Fanning yourself is actually a good workout for your arms but it’s no fun, so might as well welcome the relief from cooling area rugs.

Moving on to money saving from the above given cases, you can save more from paying cheaper electricity bills. Natural area rugs are also sturdy, hence expect to have them around for a long time. You won’t need to buy new pieces if you don’t want to because they can withstand wear and tear. Of course, proper care is also a must to preserve their tip-top shape.

Natural area rugs are the best deals. They will make your home a more attractive place while keeping you safe from toxic materials. You’ll save energy and some money too. Just think how you will do the environment and your finances a lot of good. Support eco-friendly home decorations, natural area rugs in particular so you can add to the demands for these goods. See how your home transforms. Hopefully, after natural area rugs, you can move on to other decorative items. Pair that with recycling and you are an environmentalist at heart.

Keep up to date with Natural Interior Decorating trends and enhance your home with natural bamboo area rugs.

Things To Look At When Choosing Oak Wooden Flooring For Your Home

January 30th, 2010 No comments

If you’ve been looking at wooden floors, then you know that there are lots of different options to choose from. Oak wooden flooring is one of the most popular options out there. Before you go spending your money on an oak wooden floor, though, let’s take a look at the alternatives and see how oak wooden flooring stacks up. We’ll consider the most important buying points, and see if oak wooden flooring is really the best choice.

Oak Wooden Flooring Versus Oak Laminate Flooring

If you are thinking about wooden floors, you should definitely compare directly to at least one laminate and one engineered product. After all, once the floors are installed, they all three look quite similar. If cheap wooden flooring is your primary goal, then you should concentrate on laminate. It’s not only cheaper to buy, but maintenance is also less expensive, and easier. The only real advantage, besides looks, that solid wooden floors have over laminate, is that they can be sanded if deeply scratched or scuffed.

Oak Wooden Flooring Versus Oak Engineered Wooden Flooring

Engineered wooden flooring should also be on your list of things to look at. The price differences between engineered and laminate are usually minimal, and engineered floors can actually be sanded if needed, but only once or twice. Engineered uses more real wood than laminate, and is usually tougher. With an engineered floor, the top layer is actually a thin layer of wood, while with laminate, it’s a picture of wood. There are two schools of thinking on the differences. Some feel that, the less trees cut down, the better for the environment. Those who favor solid and engineered wood feel cutting the trees down is better for our planet than plastics and resins as trees are a very renewable resource.

Aesthetics: What To Look For

Oak wooden floors are usually sought after because of their looks. However, be sure to check some samples, and find out what the various floors actually do look like, since modern staining techniques can make wood look different than you might think. You can find cherry, white, dark, and light, and that’s just with oak wood flooring. A natural colored oak wooden floor, which might still have a stain added, should be almost sand colored with darker brown streaks. Flaws, such as scars and worm holes, are considered desirable, to a point, in solid wood floors, so be prepared for that if you go with solid.

Oak Is Very Durable

Many people default to choosing oak for their floors if they know they’re going to have a lot of foot traffic. This is because the oak is an extremely strong tree, and thus a very durable type of wood. With solid wooden floors, the type of wood can be a good indicator of how resistant the floor will be to damage. However, with laminate and engineered wooden flooring, the durability of the end product will have more to do with the rest of the plank than the type of wood that is either pictured or on top.

Learn more about wooden flooring at Wooden Flooring Info.

Is Your Bottle Eco-Friendly and Safe?

December 25th, 2009 No comments

Whats the first thing you do when you are out of home and thirsty? Certainly you relent from drinking water from unknown sources. You don’t want the unnecessary elements and bacteria to ruin your body. So what do you do? More often than not, you go to the nearest convenience store and pick a bottled water can and you consume the liquid down your throat, with the assurance that this will be the safest form of water that your body deserves. Well, unknowingly you might have now consumed much worse an ingredient than bacteria, and are contentedly oblivious of the consequences. Once you have emptied the bottle, you commit another error again in your ignorance. You chuck it into a garbage bin as a responsible citizen; however you have now harmed the environment as well. How so?

It is highly likely that the water you just consumed has traces of BPA, which the plastic containers tend to leech. It might sound absurd, since you have been practicing this healthy regime for years and everyone around you is doing the same. Besides, it is so convenient what with a bottle of water easily available to buy anywhere you are and can be easily disposed of. Then how could you be wrong?

Okay here are the hard facts if you want to know. That clean, transparent, innocuous looking bottle you have in your hand is made from a kind of plastic termed Bisphenol A or abbreviated to just BPA. It belongs to the family of polycarbonate, organic in nature. BPA is a combination of many important plastics and additives. It disrupts the function of the endocrine glands that provides us with hormones to effectively fulfill many of our bodily functions. It is a double agent. It mimics the hormones by passing off as the real thing. Even the prestigious Society of Endocrinology fears the ill effects caused by BPA in our system, as we get more and more exposed to it.

Apart from the damage done to your body, these plastic bottles cause a huge dent on the planets eco system. With every bottle that is discarded the dangers are ever more increasing. The toxins and chemicals released by these plastic bottles can get into the land where they are disposed which causes further havoc. And no one can deny the universal effects of plastics ” plastics are a component derived from petroleum. And oil is one of the most revered natural resources and more so in these times and has caused much damage to civilizations, nations, people and more.

Plastic bottles are not the only way to store your water in. There are several better alternatives and one of the best solutions comes in the form of a stainless steel water bottle. These canteens do not leak any toxins or chemicals like BPA, are highly durable and added to that they come in a variety of fantastic design and colors. Above all, imagine the number of plastic bottles you save from going to landfill with one such bottle. This is certainly a great way to drink water for a safer you and a safer planet.

You can find a wonderful Stainless Water Bottless that is BPA free and healthy from The Poison Bottle Company. Are you a Colorado Fan? You can get Colorado Souvenirs also.