In Bill Gate's We Trust!

After hearing all the chatter about the Paris Climate Talks yesterday I was feeling a little down about our near term ability to combat climate change.   We are just talking about trying to reduce the rising of emissions not reduce emissions all together.  Commerce, industry, and simply one person's survival are driving emission levels higher and higher all over the world.  Experts understand that it's not just about setting emission number goals and standards, it's about changing the way we live.  And we would have to change a lot just to stop the world's emission levels from rising.   Oh yeah, in case you were wondering I am feeling a little more optimistic today.  Why?  Because the same guy who created the operating system for the computer I'm using right now is in this fight, and he's working diligently to bring other investors on board as well with the Breakthrough Energy Coalition.

Mr. Bill Gates is funding and encouraging the funding for efforts to find alternative forms of energy.   He believes the energy sectors complacency to develop alternative energy make it open to disturbance and change. In addition, Mr. Gates spent his day yesterday at the Paris Climate Talks trying to influence leaders of nations to create their own environmental R&D units.  He believes we could find viable alternative energy sources with in the next ten to twenty years.  I believe the more brains working on all aspects of our environmental problems the better our planet's chances (don't forget building materials).  Thanks for reading!

Is the Climate Change Talk in Paris just Talk?

Today in Paris 150 heads of state including President Obama are meeting to discuss climate change. These leaders are in Paris hoping to negotiate and agree on strong measures that will reduce rising emissions worldwide.   As part of this negotiation the world's leaders are hoping to develop a system that will allow other nations to verify emissions reductions in participating countries.  That should work great!  Excuse my Volkswagon related sarcasm but I don't hold much faith in this concept.  I'm not saying nations don't want to reduce emissions rather I'm trying to point out it's much easier said than done.  When under the scrutiny of other nations, let's face it some countries in this world seem completely ok with cheating,  That's clearly going to happen with an agreement like this but my biggest concern is that we don't have all the solutions to our environmental problems, we're not even close.   Do these leaders understand that?  Of course, the summit will focus on fossil fuels which is only about half our total emissions.  A fossil fuel alternative like solar power is a viable solution, wind power is awesome too but how sunny and windy is it in all parts of the world? I'm guessing but I think it's pretty safe to say all these nations will not currently have viable alternatives that will allow them to reduce emissions. That's why this summit is just talk for me.    

I'd feel much better if this was a summit about solutions and not emissions numbers.  Solutions like how can we manufacture steel without it being the No. 1 emissions producer on our planet?  How can we create an electrical grid that doesn't lose half our energy?  How can we produce building materials without incurring the severe environmental effects caused by mining and deforestation?  Some might say we have more environmental problems that need to be solved than we have solutions.  Sustained success in reducing the world's emissions is going to take a lot more innovation than talk.  Just a thought...

DIY Green Friendly Remodeling

Can you do it yourself when it comes to eco-friendly remodeling?   Most definitely you can!  In this blog we'll share a few things that you can do to make your remodeling project as green friendly as possible.  Fortunately the trends of today align with what's good for our planet.

You've probably already heard this one but it really could impact our planet if more of us did it, repurpose and reuse everything you can.  Being able to create repurposed items in your home like furniture and woodwork will add unmatched custom features to your home.  It will also fit into the popular styles of today.

Eco-friendly building materials, use them if you can find them.  Procuring eco-friendly building materials is a little trickier today than it should be but if you do some research you may find that you can purchase some things locally.  Backing up a step it's important to understand what's eco-friendly when it comes to building materials and what's not.  Look for things made from recycled materials, pretty much anything created from recycled materials would be consider eco-friendly.   Building materials made from renewable materials like bamboo and cork would be considered green friendly.

Finally, keep it non-toxic...  We have so many toxic things around us in our homes and offices and they all usually end up buried in the Earth somewhere not too far away. Well that's after they may or may not have impacted our health.  Indoor air quality can be five times worse than the air quality outside.  The toxic things in our home probably have a lot to do with that, it's time to take a stand and go non-toxic!  Whether it's flooring, paint, furniture, cabinets or even things like wallboard and countertops, non-toxic options are out there.  They cost a little more but are well worth your health and peace of mind.  Thanks for reading!

Climate Change and Politics

I think most people have seen the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow'.  If you haven't it's a movie about climate change which depicts global warming causing the Earth to undergo a major climate shift.  How realistic the movie actually is I hope we never find out.  I'm referring to it because I think it shows the complicated nature of fighting climate change and politics.   The political parties in our country seem to be on the opposite sides of climate change belief and counteraction.  Making things even more complicated is one of the leading Republican candidates probably has bigger carbon footprint than some 3rd world nations.  So many things have to change in order for us to begin to be effective in this battle against climate change.  If the U.S. political parties are in a winded debate about this topic, I fear it will take decades before effective change can be implemented.  My opinion is that small business innovation and good old capitalism will be the jump start in effectively battling climate change.  But we're going to need more politicians along for the ride...

Repurposed Remodel Ideas

Repurposed isn't just for furniture   Given the right circumstances a home remodel can be loaded with repurposed features and recycled content from the previous design.  We fortunately live in a time when saving things is pretty cool, stylish, and completely custom and unique.  Trends have aligned in the Earth's favor and we hope this blog gives you some ideas during  your next remodel.  Not only is fashionable but it can also save you some serious money by eliminating cost of new goods.  And of course, using repurposed items during a remodel is great for our planet!

So, how can you incorporate repurposed items into your remodel?  Well obviously a lot depends on on the home you are intending to remodel.  The age, style of home, and general construction will depict how much you can repurpose or will want to repurpose.  One of the most stylish items in a home you can repurpose is definitely wood.   Any solid  wood removed from the home (especially beams) could be repurposed into the new design or even used in repurposed furniture for the home.   The reclaimed wood can also be used for custom built ins, closets, and general shelving. Also, you can look for ways to recycle or repurpose any lighting or glass that you take out of the home.   Finally, the cabinetry and vanities in the home can also be repurposed of refurbished making them more modern with alterations and color changes.

I hope these repurposed ideas help you with your next green friendly remodel!

From Dreary to Dreamy: A Small Kitchen Makeover

Small, dark, galley kitchen…these all sound like dirty words when it comes to most people’s “dream” kitchens. Yet just because you started out with a dark, narrow, or small space, does not mean you need to give up. There are multiple ways in which a kitchen can be taken from drab to green and fabulous! 

Through the use of eco-friendly building materials like bamboo your kitchen can be redesigned to be beautiful, inviting, and non-toxic. Custom, earth friendly bamboo cabinets can be custom built for narrow spaces, creating elongated and clean storage for any kitchen. By extending kitchen cabinets to the ceiling is a design that encourages the observer's eye to travel upward, giving the entire space a larger and airy feel. Complete a cabinet redesign by adding simple, modern hardware to bring any kitchen into the 21st century. Incorporating a custom color pallet in light, inviting colors further aids in giving any kitchen space a more open feel. However, if installing new cabinetry is not an option, simply changing the color from dark wood tones to cool, lighter tones allows the entire space to quickly seem more open, as this will allow the cabinets to receded into the similar cool tones of the walls. By further complimenting a single pallet kitchen with bold accent pieces, such as colorful kitchen island cabinetry, a strategic "pop" of interest can be added to a room used as one of the most general convening areas in any home.

When possible, incorporating solar tubes into a kitchen lighting design can not only save energy but add a sleek, beautiful, and environmentally friendly twist to any room. Solar lighting is a brilliant way to and natural illumination to a room where lighting is not only an accent, but also critical to functionality. Additional recessed lighting or single, large focal point lighting can also be added to compliment any contemporary redesign. 

Finally, adding beautiful, non-toxic, environmentally friendly flooring like bamboo, reclaimed wood, or marmoleum in a lengthwise pattern will complete making the space look and feel larger and more inviting.

Economy Friendly Eco-friendly

Economy Friendly Eco-friendly, what?  No, you read it right.  Economy Friendly Eco-friendly is my almost catchy label for one of the biggest factors impeding our fight against climate change.  See, there are some politicians and economists alike that are concerned with economic consequences that would result by eliminating heavy green house gas polluting industries and processes.  While our scientists around the world are conversely contemplating what will happen if we do nothing.  The complexity of our environmental problem could never be overstated.  First, it's clear we have to come up with new manufacturing processes or products that don't produce mass amounts of greenhouse gas pollution.   We've already developed some of these solutions but we have a long way to go before we can eliminate the greenhouse gas pollution created from manufacturing things like steel or concrete, or consuming fossil fuels like oil and coal.  Assuming huge strides are made and we come up with replacements for all these heavy polluters, we then need to make sure the roll out of these new processes or products doesn't hurt the U.S. or world economies in a significant way.   A lot of things need to happen in order for us to begin to begin reversing climate change.  Things like wind and solar power, electric motors, green friendly building materials, repurposed furniture, and other green ideas will have to be most prominent if we have any chance to undo what we've done.  Thanks for reading!

The Road to a Non-toxic Home

Sixty years ago the world went through what some people refer to as the chemical age.  Toxic chemicals emerged on the scene being used for almost everything including things like pesticides, household & industrial cleaners, and even in our food.  Over time we learned much about the affects of these chemicals to our health and to the well being of our environment.  Many chemicals have been eliminated all together because they created so much harm.  We’ve discovered things like VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are pretty harmful to our health.  You probably heard about formaldehyde in recent news, the latest toxic chemical to be scrutinized.  We once thought that chemicals like formaldehyde were ok if they were hidden under a layer of plywood or particleboard.  We’ve realized that even though these toxins are with in a sealed surface, they can still omit into the air because of things like off gassing.  Changes in the temperature and humidity can actually draw toxins into your home’s air.  Many air quality experts say that a home’s indoor air quality can actually be three times worse than the air quality outside.  Asthma and other breathing issues have been dramatically rising over the last few decades.  Air Purification systems have been developed all over the world to help combat this problem.  Medical experts have continuously connected indoor air quality to breathing problems like asthma and COPD.  Creating a non-toxic home is the only way to completely ensure you are getting the best air quality possible.  How? Non-toxic kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities are very important because they are in areas of higher humidity susceptible to off gassing.  Non-toxic paint is also a great way to ensure toxins aren’t seeping into your home’s air from the walls.  Non-toxic flooring is also available in all types and make sure any wall coverings or reclaimed wood is non-toxic.  Believe it or not but there is non-toxic furniture on the market, considering the proximity to us and our kids a non-toxic couch sounds pretty important.  We could be headed toward a non-toxic world, I hope it can help reverse asthma and COPD statistics.  Thanks for reading!

Clean Power Plan - The Third View

I'm going to start this out by telling you that I nor the Paper Blog have any political affiliation or do we care to share our political philosophy.  It is the environment we're focused on and we feel we have a pretty good way of combating climate change in our specialty, green building materials and eco-friendly remodeling.  With that being said, I'm going to share my thoughts about the current Clean Power Plan.  Now, I only know the basics of the plan that include carbon emissions reduction guidelines for U.S. coal power plants.  Simple enough, a plan that forces power plants to reduce their carbon emissions or I guess they'll be breaking a law.  Newsflash everybody, large corporations in this country break U.S. laws everyday, ok not sure where I was going with that.  Back to the Clean Power Plan, the opposition to this bill is up in arms stating that the plan will raise electricity costs, hurt our economy, etc etc.  I think we can all understand both sides of this argument.  Yes, we would love to reduce emissions from heavy polluting coal power plants.   No, we don't want consumer's electrical costs to go up or our fragile economy to be impacted.  This old song and dance, how about we sing a different tune.   In my mind we need to be more focused on finding actual solutions to the problems.  Problems like how can we effectively create and distribute electricity without causing emissions or other environmental consequences?  How can we manufacture our most prominent goods, building materials and other products without causing emissions, deforestation, or land destruction from mining?  How can we eliminate landfills and nuclear waste?  We have a lot more questions than answers when it comes to solving our environmental problems.  I vote for a plan that sets deadlines to finding solutions to these problems and  I commend those eco-pioneers in green building materials for doing their part!  Thanks for reading.

Furniture’s impact on Earth, we can do better!

If you want to know how much impact our furniture has on the environment just do a quick web search.  There are tons of opinions out there on the topic but to be honest a lot of the information I read didn’t really tell me much.  As a result, we figured we’d chime in on the topic here at Paper Blog as our world’s furniture consumption is enormous and significantly impacts our planet.  In the U.S. alone, retail sales for furniture is in excess of $100 billion a year with over 30,000 retail sales outlets and a few thousand manufacturers who mostly import product from Asia.  This doesn’t factor in all of the used furniture outlets like craigslist, salvation army, consignment stores, garage sales, newspaper listings, office furniture, etc.   Our homes and businesses are loaded with different furniture pieces of all kinds.  The reality is that we manufacture a lot of new furniture on planet Earth when we have a ton of furniture already available to us.  So, what harm does new furniture have on our environment?  There are obvious things like deforestation as the core of any furniture is typically made with wood.  Some lower cost furniture is made with alternative products like MDF or particle board.  These materials are even more harmful to our environment because of the significant emissions from the toxic glues and chemicals used in the construction.  Furniture waste would also have to be considered, a lot of furniture ends up in U.S. landfills letting toxic paints, glues, and chemicals seep into the Earth.  All in all, it’s easy to see furniture consumption has significant environmental consequences much like our current building materials.  It’s also easy to see we have simple solutions like recycling to create repurposed furniture (upcycled furniture).  Repurposed (upcycled) furniture is currently just a tiny fraction of overall furniture sales so big changes would need to take place in order for the environment to benefit.  I hope the popularity of repurposed furniture (upcycled furniture) continues to grow in the world as it provides considerable environmental benefits as it eliminates both the manufacturing of a new item and the addition of waste to a landfill.  It would be great to see a day when a repurposed (upcycled) piece of furniture is more valuable and stylish then new furniture. That would be a good day for the planet, thanks for reading!

Sheeps just keep giving, Eco-friendly carpet!

In a past blog we’ve talked about how sheep’s wool is used as an eco-friendly building material in the form of home insulation.  Well, the sheeps in New Zealand want you to know that wool isn’t just for textiles and insulation, it also makes for a non-toxic eco-friendly carpet.  Standard carpet is typically made from polypropylene, nylon or polyester or some combination of those materials also combined with wool.  Polypropylene, nylon and polyester are petroleum based products that carry environmental consequences.  Now, that’s not to say a sheep doesn’t have environmental consequences as livestock in the world are major producers of greenhouse gas pollution.  As a result, there are experts that would probably challenge wool as a cut and dry eco-friendly carpet or building material input.  Whatever the case, wool is certainly natural and non-toxic which is also very important when it comes to carpet.   Possibly an even more eco-friendly carpet would be one made from recycled content like recycled plastic bottles.  U.S. manufacturer Mohawk makes a product called Everstrand with a patented process that takes premium PET from the highest-grade polymer, strengthens the fiber, and removes dirt-attracting residue with a multi-step purification system.   I think it’s pretty to safe to say the world of carpet has multiple eco-friendly options, I hope the options continue to develop.  Thanks for reading!

Holy Green Page

We’re full of confusing titles here at Paper Blog, let me explain this one. Holy as in Holy Moly and Green Page as in almost every company now a days has a Green Page or other Eco-Friendly related web page.  See, about a year ago I spent 4 months researching today's building materials and other home improvement related products including furniture, etc.  After scouring thousands and thousands of related company websites I came to realize a couple things about the 'eco-friendly shout out' corporate green page.  First, almost every company website (maybe 95%) in the building materials or home improvement world has a web page dedicated to their eco-friendly efforts.  An eco-friendly responsibility page has almost become a requirement in the building materials industry.  It's to the point where if you don't have a dedicated eco-friendly page, you'll probably get called out on it by some customer someday. Second, less than half of the Green Pages actually had anything to do with being eco-friendly.  I’m not trying to be critical, but as I read these pages the typical content seemed to be a challenged marketing writer's attempt at making a business that has no eco-friendly aspects, seem eco-friendly.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of companies out there that are actually doing things with in or outside of their business that helps our environment.  Even if their business has no eco-friendly aspects, companies have found ways to help our  planet through special programs and green efforts  Many thanks to those marking a difference and thanks for reading!

The Eco-friendly Modern Kitchen coming soon!

What does an eco-friendly kitchen look like?  Well, they come in different sizes and shapes but they’re always beautiful and of course, almost harmless to our planet.  In today’s blog we’re going to discuss the things that can make remodeling your modern kitchen eco-friendly in design and building materials.  These eco-friendly building material ideas will work for any kitchen, including small & galley or open and spacious kitchens.  Let’s kick off this eco-friendly kitchen remodeling discussion with cabinets.  If you’ve ever purchased kitchen cabinets before you probably know the choices and supplier types are endless.  Now a days, modern kitchen cabinets come in all different styles, quality levels, toxicity levels, and manufacturing locations.   You can affordably buy pre-made cabinets that were made overseas with toxic glues that contain loads of formaldehyde.  If you have a little more room in your budget you can have custom cabinets made on a local level.  But watch out because custom cabinets can also be loaded with formaldehyde.  When it comes to eco-friendly kitchen cabinets it all starts with them being non-toxic.  Today, the most eco-friendly non-toxic materials being used for cabinetry are bamboo and wheatboard.  Bamboo is a rapidly renewable material while wheatboard is made from recycled bio waste content, both can be made non-toxic.  Modern kitchen cabinets can also be made from non-toxic plywoods like oak, pine, and maple.  Whether or not wood cabinets can be considered eco-friendly is dependent upon what type of forest in which the wood came as well as your personal interpretation of wood as eco-friendly.  Many experts believe forest conservation would be an important step in combating global warming.  Now don’t forget, eco-friendly can also mean salvaging the cabinets you already have.  Some non-toxic paint or natural stains could help save your old cabinets by making them more modern.  Any time you extend the life of cabinetry that’s eco-friendly in our book.

Onto kitchen countertops, and you probably know what we’re going to say.  Yes, we love recycled paper countertops, it’s out there now!  We love them all over the house but our favorite in the kitchen is EcoTop.   EcoTop is a product that combines both recycled content in the form of recycled paper fibers and rapidly renewable content in the form of bamboo fibers to create a beautiful countertop material that has tons of character and will last for decades.  Another eco-friendly countertop option for the modern kitchen is recycled glass countertops.  Recycled glass countertops are really sharp but be careful in regards the recycled glass countertops that contain cement or concrete.   By many standards recycled glass countertops that are made using cement would not be considered eco-friendly.  Reclaimed wood pieces can make for an affordable eco-friendly countertop. With proper sealants old doors or other wood panels with character could become kitchen countertops.  Creating an eco-friendly backsplash might be the easiest thing to DIY in your modern eco-friendly kitchen.  If you can find an old pallet with nice patina you can create a reclaimed wood backsplash that’s unmatched.  Or if you’re the artistic type can try creating a backsplash out of recycled glass pieces and resin.  If you have some room in the budget for a kitchen backplash, you could consider eco-friendly panels made from recycled plastic or handmade tiles created from recycled porecelain tile.  Let’s not forget the floor!  Bamboo, cork, or reclaimed wood can make for beautiful eco-friendly kitchen floors.  Always check to see what’s under your current floor before you buy any materials, there could be an old wood floor underneath that can be brought back to life with some sanding and finish.  Another eco-friendly option in modern kitchen flooring would be marmoleum which is a non-toxic eco-friendly lineoleum made from bio waste and other recycled materials. Oh, and don’t forget some modern LED lighting, that always brightens up a modern eco-friendly kitchen.  Whatever your eco-friendly tastes we’re sure your eco-friendly kitchen will look great!  And the planet will thank you for it, thanks for reading!

The U.S. Recycling Industry Building Steam, Reducing Emissions

The U.S. Recycling industry has grown to be larger than many people would ever think.  It’s evolved into a complex engine that collects and supplies 130,000 million metric tons of scrap waste that will eventually be used as raw materials in new products.  According to the ISRI (Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries) the recycling industry itself employees 138,000 men and woman in this country and in total creates over $100 billion a year in revenue.  About a third of that revenue comes in the form of exports like steel and plastic that goes to countries like Chinaand India.  The recycling industry is growing and its total revenue has more than doubled over the last 10 years.  This is great news because recycling reduces our greenhouse gas emissions by dramatically reducing the amount of energy needed to manufacture new products.  It also conserves our natural resources by reducing mining and deforestation and it significantly impacts our landfills.  All in all, I think it’s pretty safe to say that recycling is one of the most beneficial things that we currently do for our planet.   

Paper, plastic, rubber, aluminum, iron, copper, steel, all these recycled materials are likely destined to be used as a raw material in the creation of a new product.  How likely?  Well, we’re better at recycling certain materials over others and it’s probably ultimately dependent on the material’s value and ability to be repurposed.  We’re probably the best at recycling metals, according to the ISRI we capture almost 70% of steel waste though recycling.  Aluminum isn’t too far behind with a 67% recycled rate and almost 64% of the paper we consume is recovered.  Plastic doesn’t fare as well but recovery percentages have improved dramatically over the last few years.  Based on the ISRI statistics we’re able to capture approximately two thirds of our recyclable materials.  Not bad, but how can we do more?

I’m not an economist or a recycling industry expert but I have a simple response to the above question, we can create more eco-friendly building materials using recycled content.  Many people are unaware that over the last few decades a number of U.S. manufacturers have developed eco-friendly building materials made from recycled content.  These pioneers have created stylish and fully functional building materials like wallboard (drywall) made from recycled paper milk cartons and even beautiful countertops made from recycled paper.  Companies are also using recycled plastic and rubber to make several building materials including: flooring, decking, siding, shingles, wall coverings and more.  The eco-friendly building materials industry is still developing and new products are continuously entering the market.  We live in a time when there is tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurs and inventors to create new building materials that are manufactured using a majority recycled content.  I believe the recycling industry will be pivotal in our world’s effort to reduce green house gas pollution and combat climate change.  I hope the eco-friendly building materials industry can serve as a strong partner, thanks for reading!

Small and Galley Kitchen Ideas for all budgets

Small and Galley kitchens can sometimes be more challenging when it comes to modern kitchen remodeling. It’s not just the size that’s a challenge but often times things become complicated because of budgets.  Let’s face it, not everyone has a large home where the kitchen lay out is nice and spacious.  This can make things more challenging when trying to determine how much to invest in remodeling your kitchen.  Small and galley kitchens often times can’t be increased in size so you have to remodel with in the same layout.   And of course, the size of your kitchen and property in general will impact the price in which you can sell your home. In today’s blog we’re going give you some kitchen building material ideas for your small and galley kitchen with three different budgets in mind.  Of course, we’re going to keep things as eco-friendly as we can!

Ok, so if it works out that you want to put a sizable investment into your small or galley kitchen here are some ideas that might help.  As you know, in a small or galley kitchen overall space is at a premium especially when it comes to the width or depth of the galley kitchen.   If you have a solid budget the first thing you should consider is custom cabinets.  We prefer non-toxic bamboo because it's the most eco-friendly cabinetry on the planet.  But as long as you stay with something non-toxic that should add value to your home and give you peace of mind in the process.  If you end up having cabinets custom made you can consider making the depth of the cabinets a few inches smaller.  This can help create more space in the runway area of the galley or small kitchen making the overall space seem larger.  Cabinet depth can be reduced on floor and wall custom cabinets but understand you’ll lose a little in both cabinet and counter space.  Also, please keep in mind the depth of your appliances...

If you have a modest budget custom cabinets may not be the best option for you.  If this is the case you may want to consider investing your money into the galley kitchen backsplash, countertop, and flooring. Instead of replacing the cabinets all together you could change the color of the cabinets and replace the doors with something more modern.  New hardware is a great addition and if you’re replacing the doors you could consider including a few glass panel doors or leave a few cabinets without doors all together.   Recycled paper countertops definitely fit into a mid sized budget and we believe will add extended value because it’s an eco-friendly building material.  Make sure to consult a design professional when it comes to color selections as the colors will be crucial when it comes to the space design of a small or galley kitchen.

If it doesn’t make sense to put much money into your kitchen we’ve all been there. It just means you’ll have to be a bit more creative and maybe get your hands dirty completing your small or galley kitchen remodel. Restaining or repainting your cabinets is a great way to affordably change the look of a small or galley kitchen. If your countertops have seen better days you can consider adding a tile countertop or butcher block.  A tile countertop using large sized tiles and a wood moulding or metal trim edge can modernize any kitchen and cost you less than $100 in the process.   You can also get creative with a modern backsplash using affordable things like recycled glass or reclaimed wood.  Hope these ideas help you with your small or galley kitchen remodel. Please try to keep it eco-friendly if you can, thanks for reading!

Repurposed Furniture Equals Happy Planet!

I’m not sure if you’re aware but repurposed furniture (upcycled furniture) is trending in the world right now.  Unfortunately, trends seem to come and go but what if some how repurposed furniture became the most popular furniture sold?   We don’t usually talk hypothetical on the Paper Blog but I thought we’d step out a bit in this post.  To answer the question, a whole lot of things would change and our environment would probably come away the biggest winner. Before we get into answering this hypothetical question in detail, let’s first examine the current environmental benefits of repurposed furniture.  Repurposed furniture really makes two positive impacts to our environment.  First, by repurposing a preexisting item it prevents a new item from ever being manufactured.  If we reduce the manufacturing of new furniture on a mass scale that in turn would reduce deforestation or other materials consumption as well as transportation of the goods.  Second, by making a used piece of furniture into a repurposed new item, it prevents the original item from being added to a landfill or even worse burned.  

Ok, back to the question at hand.  What would change in the world if repurposed furniture became the most popular type of furniture sold?  I think it’s safe to say landfills would likely be significantly impacted as almost no furniture would probably make it there.  A large supply of used furniture pieces and other items would be required in order to make all the repurposed furniture needed.  Second, U.S. furniture imports would likely be severely reduced as demand would drop to make room for repurposed furniture.  Third, I think it’s safe to say there would also be a mass of U.S. jobs created as we’d need lots of upcyclers to actually make the repurposed furniture.  This level of job creation would certainly make a positive impact on the U.S. economy.  Finally, as mentioned above the planet would greatly benefit in a number of ways if repurposed furniture were to become the most popular furniture sold.  All in all, if repurposed furniture were to become the most popular furniture sold it would create positive changes for both our environment and economy.  I’m not saying this is a realistic change that’s going to happen anytime soon.  But it’s been fun pondering, thanks for reading!

Recycled metal, the good and the bad…

The metals that we use to manufacture our cars, our building materials, kitchen and home appliances, and even our food containers combine to make metal the most recycled material on the planet.  Almost everyone knows at this point in time not to throw metal in the trash.  In our last blog we discussed the environmental consequences of metal manufacturing.  In this blog we wanted to talk about metal recycling understanding both the benefits and the environmental concerns.  Metal recyclers in the United States handle appx 120 million tons of recycled materials each year.  In fact, metal recycling is around a $20 billion industry in the United States, that’s larger than U.S. steel manufacturing industry.  So, what are the environmental benefits of metal recycling?  Well, by using recycled materials as input the entire process of mining for iron ore is avoided.  This eliminates the deforestation and land destruction that would have previously taken place in order to produce the metal.  This is clearly a great thing but does using recycled input make metal manufacturing harmless to our environment?  Unfortunately it does not...    

Manufacturing metal using recycled input still requires a high temperature furnace.  The furnace is used to melt the recycled metal in order to be reformed or reshaped.   As we've talked about in previous blogs these furnaces are highly damaging to our environment because while in use they omit significant greenhouse gases and other toxins into our atmosphere.  Scientists and other researchers are working on technologies that will allow us to reform steel and other metals without having to use high polluting furnaces.   However, these methods could be decades away if not more.  Fortunately, recycled metal is big business in the world and it should continue to flourish as time goes on.  It’s clear that using recycled metals in the manufacturing of new metals is the environmental choice, well at least for now.  Many experts believe that in order to truly combat climate change we'll need to create eco-friendly alternatives to high omitting furnaces like those used to manufacture recycled metals.   Let’s hope these discoveries don’t take too long, personally I’d feel way better about it if we had lots of smart people working on it.  We need more…

Steel and other metals, painful for the planet?

Steel is one of the most produced materials in the world, making up appx 2.5% of the U.S. GDP.   It is also currently the most abundant building material available on planet Earth with years of supply already on-hand.  So, pretty important question above, is steel production destructive to our planet?  The short, medium, and long answer to this question are a most definite Yes!  In today's blog we're going to discuss why the manufacturing of steel is so harmful and what's happening in the world to change this.

First, to understand why steel manufacturing is bad for our environment let's first examine how steel is made.   The process  kicks off with the mining of iron-ore minerals.   As we've discussed in previous blogs mining is very damaging to our planet because it includes deforestation and land clearing, the use of noxious chemicals, and an aftermath of dangerous exposure and leakage   Once the iron-ore has been gathered it's then shipped to a steel manufacturing facility for processing.   Once in production the iron-ore is smelted in blast furnaces (at temps up to 3600 degrees F) where the impurities are removed and carbon is added.  The definition of steel is "iron alloyed with carbon, usually less than 1%.  Facilities that carry out these processes are often associated with emission of  high quantities of air pollutants such as hydrogen fluoride, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, offensive and noxious smoke fumes, vapors, gases, and other toxins.   Of course, it does not end with gases as heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, nickel, copper, and zinc are also exposed.  All in all, the steel production process results in the single most damaging manufacturing process for our planet, that's no joke.

So what's being done?  We've discovered this to be a more complicated question in the world of steel.  Based on our research there isn't much being done unfortunately.  This is a very complex problem that has yet to be solved but there are at least a few people working on it.   MIT's materials chemistry professor Donald Sadoway and assistant professor of metallurgy Antoine ­Allanore have been working on a process called molten oxide electrolysis.  The process would make steel manufacturing emissionless but it is still very much in the R&D phase.  Steel is a completely recyclable material, but to be reformed it must be melted using a heavy omitting furnace.   The unfortunate reality is that in order to maintain our current lifestyles we need steel.  It's not just a building material it's also a key component of our kitchen appliances,  automobiles, and other forms of transporation as well as many of the tools we use everyday. Personally, I feel we should have skyscrapers full of people working on this problem...  With every great problem comes a great solution, let's hope!

The non-toxic train! Sealants, Caulks, and Adhesives

Go train go!  Non toxic is a growing trend in our world and for very good reason.  In this blog we wanted to help make sense of why this trend is so important and how it connects to the building materials world.  You've probably heard non toxic quite a bit over the last handful of years or so, maybe even VOCs has entered the brainwaves a few times.   VOCs, volatile organic compounds, are the ugly compounds or chemicals that can be released even after installation.  Have you ever been in a new building and noticed that new building smell? That smell was actually a whole lot of VOCs, probably really unhealthy VOCs.  In building materials, formaldehyde (methanal) is probably the most well known VOC and it can typically be found through out our homes.  It's in ceiling tiles, wall boards, paints, sealants and adhesives in cabinetry, shelving and flooring.  It's a big deal because formaldehyde can be  slowly omitted into our air over time  with changes in temperature and humidity (also known as offgasing).  These types of VOCs are part of the reason indoor air quality can be significantly worse than outdoor air quality.  After poisoning our air quality for years many of the toxic items in our home end up in a landfill or even worse are burned.  Non toxic is a no brainer for anyone equipped with this knowledge but it isn't always realistic for everyone's budget.  We're working toward and looking forward to a day when non toxic doesn't mean really expensive.  If you can fit non toxic into the budget it's one of the the best ways to improve indoor air quality.

When it comes to building materials, sealants, caulks, and adhesives are on the map with non toxic options.  These finishes are often used all over the home especially during kitchen and bathroom remodeling.  Chemlink of Schoolcraft, Michigan has developed a line of high performance adhesives, sealants, and coatings that are completely non toxic and perform as well as traditional toxic products.  AFM (American Formulation & Manufacturing), of San Diego, CA is another eco-friendly manufacturer offering non toxic sealants and adhesives.  AFM also offers non toxic paints, primers, stains, and sealers.  We're happy to see some very established non toxic sealant manufacturers and expect some bigger names to add non toxic sealants, caulks, and adhesives to their product lines in the near future.  Thanks for reading!

Eco-friendly or not so much eco-friendly? Navigating the maze.

Confusing title?  More like confusing eco-friendly products market.  Eco this Eco that, what the heck is eco-friendly and what's not?  In today's consumer markets there are many companies that offer eco-friendly products and services.  Well, these companies are claiming eco-friendly...but are they really not harmful to our planet?  And that's the maze!  When we first started Paper Plane Co. we set two steadfast guidelines that we wanted our business to maintain as an eco-friendly building materials supplier.  First, Paper Plane Co. is only providing what we know to be truly eco-friendly building materials for the kitchen, bathroom, and home.   Second, we're keeping our message positive focusing on educating consumers and not attacking any false advertisers or otherwise misguided.  The last guideline is going to make writing this blog a bit difficult but we'll see if we can get it through without naming any names!

So what's eco-friendly?  Well, it's probably a little easier to think about what's not eco-friendly...  The first thing to consider is the manufacturing process for the good in question.  Understanding how much energy is required to manufacture the good can help determine whether or not it's really eco-friendly.  For example, some of the delusional claim concrete to be an eco-friendly building material.   The reality is that a key component of concrete, cement or Portland cement, is produced via one of the most destructive manufacturing processes to our planet because it requires so much energy.  Just know high temp ovens and furnaces are bad!  If the product requires a gas or coal fired furnace during it's manufacturing process, it cannot be considered eco-friendly.  These ovens burn at temperatures over 2500 degrees and release significant pollutants into the atmosphere.  For example, glass manufacturing utilizes kilns to melt and form the glass.  Even if the glass being manufactured had been previously recycled, this still could not be considered eco-friendly.  The environmental damage of the oven counteracts any benefit of using a recycled input.  Keep in mind toxins are never ok!  Anything made with toxic components cannot be considered eco-friendly.  For example, bamboo is considered rapidly renewable and highly eco-friendly.  But when foreign manufactures utilize toxic glues to make bamboo flooring or plywood, it's no longer eco-friendly.  These materials will likely end up in a U.S. landfill someday and the toxins in that glue will be there for years to come.  Finally, mining is seriously painful to our planetbecause of deforestation, the use of noxious chemicals and an aftermath of dangerous exposure and leakage.   Anything that was mined could never be considered eco-friendly.

I hope this snapshot of info helps green friendly consumers in this topsy-turvy eco-friendly world.  When in doubt, it's probably best to just use common sense.  If it doesn't seem like it's eco-friendly than it's probably not!  In addition, organizations like the FSC and the EPA are consistently providing information on what's eco-friendly and what is not.  

Can we insulate without hurting our planet? Yes we can!

The materials generally used to insulate our homes wouldn't exactly be considered eco-friendly or even safe for that matter.   Though these insulation products have improved over the last 20 years, the fiberglass and foam products used today are still harmful to our environment and the workers installing them. Even though today's fiberglass and foam products contain some recycled content, they also contain hydrochlorofluorocarbons  which damage the Earth's ozone layer. Fortunately, we do have alternatives to fiberglass and foam insulation.  The short list of these eco-friendly insulating products include wool, cotton (recycled denim),  and recycled plastic.  Natural wool insulation first developed in Europe and there is one product currently available in the U.S. called SheepRoll.  The product is manufactured by the British company Black Mountain and it's mainly comprised of natural and sustainable sheep wool.  Wool insulation is not only breathable but also able to absorb, retain and release moisture without affecting its thermal properties or performance.  It's fire resistant and will maintain it's thermal properties far better than other insulation products.

Another insulation alternative is cotton and it's primarily manufactured using recycled denim jeans.  Like wool, there is only one product being sold on the U.S. market called UltraTouch Denim Insulation.  UltraTouch is produced by the U.S. company Bonded Logic.  This insulation product has a low thermal resistance and is sold more as an around the house insulation used to fill in any gaps in the home or around kitchen and plumbing appliances.  The last of our short list is called Supaloft Polyster insulation and produced by another British company called Thermafleece.  Thermafleece is apparently the original manufacturer of wool insulation in Europe.   Supaloft Green Insulation is manufactured from 95% recycled PET and it provides excellent thermal insulation performance.  Supaloft Green is long-lasting, safe to handle and can be easily recycled at the end of its life.   Unfortunately, we could not find this product available on the U.S. market.

In all honesty, the current eco-friendly insulation products available are far more expensive per square foot than standard fiberglass and foam products.  However, in the case of wool insulation the product will last far longer providing a far more consistent thermal insulation.  Products like fiberglass tend to deplete over time because of moisture fluctuations.  Though we're encouraged by the products available we would be delighted to see more eco-friendly insulation products on the market.  We'd also love to see more U.S. manufacturers getting involved in the cause, we can't be letting those blokes across the pond lead the way, jk!  But seriously good job Great Britain!

Where Mining meets Building Materials

Most people generally understand that mining is bad for our planet.  In today's blog we want to explain why exactly that is and how mining impacts today's building materials.  According to environmental experts mining is one of the most detrimental things that we do to our planet.  There are several negative effects and it all first starts with the complete deforestation of the land that is to be mined.  Deforestation results in a massive loss of oxygen producing vegetation, the elimination of essential habitats for wildlife, and is a severe disturbance to the area’s ecosystem.  Once the mining site has been cleared than the real nasty begins.  Explosives, cyanide, and other disturbing chemicals are used to open the land in order to extract the nonrenewable resource sought.   The chemicals and explosives used can affect local residents and of course the miners working the site.   Once the resource is removed a variety of poisonous chemicals, including mercury, arsenic, cyanide, methyl mercury, and sulfuric acid will be dangerously exposed.  All of which will eventually leak into local ground water supplies or dissipate into the air causing lovely things like acid rain.  Many mining sites are completely abandoned once the dollar signs are gone leaving the land to suffer for years to come.

There are several building materials now a days that are derived through mining.   Mining is needed to acquire aggregates used in concrete and concrete block as well as components of drywall and other gypsum products.  Granite, quartz, basically any stone kitchen or bathroom countertop or flooring was likely the result of mining. Even today's popular backyard designs typically include landscape pieces that had been previously mined. All in all, it's sad to say a good portion of today's building materials are derived through some type of mining.  But the good news is that we have eco-friendly alternatives for most of these building materials.   We also have peace of mind knowing that there are some really smart people developing new eco-friendly building materials that we'll be blogging about soon!

Paper Countertops, not paper napkins..

What the heck is a paper countertop?  What if it gets wet?  We hear questions like this quite a bit at Paper Plane Co.   No, paper countertops don't get soggy when wet.  They are a completely non-porous solid surface that can with stand temps up to 350 degrees.   The reality is most people have never heard of paper countertops, or as we like to call them recycled paper countertops.  It's been our experience that after some explanation and our best friend product samples, home owners quickly become open to the idea of having a countertop like this in their home.  Simply made by compressing  recycled paper fibers with resin, recycled paper countertops are the most eco-friendly countertops on the market.  Hundreds of pounds of paper avoids going to landfill each time a recycled paper countertop is manufactured.  The manufacturers of these beautiful products use eco-friendly resins and colorants making the whole process harmless to our planet.

Recycled paper countertops currently come in two forms.  There is the standard version that consists of recycled paper and eco-friendly resins.  This type of recycled paper countertop is currently available in three brands, RecycleTop by Kliptech, Paperstone by Paneltech, and Richlite's Northwest Collection by Richlite Company.   Each manufacturer offers different colors and not all the colors of Paperstone and Richlite are made with 100% recycled paper so watch out for that.  We love this product in the bathroom, the soft nature of it makes it a perfect bathroom countertop.  The other type of recycled paper countertop combines recycled paper and rapidly renewable bamboo fibers to achieve new heights in color and scope.  Our favorite for the kitchen, EcoTop comes in a beautiful snow white color that pairs nicely with modern dark cabinetry.  Richlite's  Stratum combines a recycled paper top and bottom layer with a paneled bamboo core creating a whole new concept in countertop.

It's safe to say the recycled paper countertop industry is here to stay.   The industry as a whole made huge strides before being stymied by the Great Recession.   Previous bad timing aside, these manufacturers are pioneers of a product that could be essential in the eco-friendly building efforts of tomorrow.  

Bamboo Cabinets, wanna know more?..

In a follow up to yesterday's blog, we wanted to provide some more information about Bamboo Cabinetry.  We hope this information helps the general consumer but also any cabinet makers or otherwise entrepreneurs who want to get into the bamboo cabinetry game.  As we mentioned yesterday, cabinetry is a large U.S. industry.  Economists are predicting that it will grow rather nicely over the next five years after a previous five years that saw a drop than recovery.  This a great time for eco-friendly cabinet makers (small and large) to enter the industry and start saving the planet one cabinet at a time.

Besides being eco-friendly and non-toxic, bamboo is a great material for cabinetry for several reasons.  Attractive to many people, the natural bamboo patterns make for brilliant looking kitchen and bathroom cabinets.   Strong and durable, bamboo will last longer than both MDF and plywood.  Because bamboo is so strong  smaller panels can be used making bamboo cabinets much lighter than those made from other materials.  Bamboo is also far superior when it comes to termites.  Though termites will eat the celluse in bamboo, they're much more likely to go after any wood that is in their vicinity.  Because of the structure of bamboo, termite treatments are far more effective at eliminating the colony.  Did you know that a good deal of pre-manufactured cabinetry comes with termites already in it?   Sounds crazy, but it typically takes at least 5 years for termites to even make their presence known.

Buying bamboo cabinetry in the United States can be a little challenging but the options are continually increasing.  Large cabinet manufacturers like Masterbrand and Kitchencraft produce their own line of bamboo cabinetry and these brands can be found at kitchen cabinet dealers around the country.  There are also RTA bamboo cabinets available for purchase on-line from The RTA Store and Domain Cabinets Direct.   Custom bamboo cabinetry is probably the most difficult to find as many custom cabinet makers don't yet have experience with bamboo plywood.   Working with bamboo plywood is much like working with any other plywood.  Bamboo panels can be found in brands like Teragren, Plyboo, Kirei, CaliBamboo, and Nadurra.

We hope the use of bamboo cabinetry and other eco-friendly cabinetry continues to grow in the United States.  We look forward to the day when foreign toxins are no longer ear marked for U.S. landfills!

Non-toxic Cabinetry, the bee's knees!

The United States cabinetry market may exceed $18 billion with in the next 5 years.  That's a lot of cabinetry, and if came from China as most cabinetry does, that's a whole lot of formaldehyde...and who knows what else.  The worst part of it all is that these foreign toxins will eventually end up in an American landfill.  Now, that's not to say that all the cabinetry made in the U.S. is non-toxic.  Often times U.S. cabinetry manufacturers will use materials that contain formaldehyde and other toxins.   China has looser standards so the cabinetry from China is possibly far more toxic.   All in all, you can get harmful cabinetry that is made almost anywhere in the world.   But you'll be happy to know you can also get eco-friendly cabinetry that isn't toxic at all!

Our favorite eco-friendly cabinetry at Paper Plane Co. is definitely bamboo. Bamboo cabinetry has many advantages other than just looking mighty cool.  Of course, bamboo is eco-friendly because the bamboo plant is highly sustainable.   Did you know that when growers harvest bamboo they cut it off near the bottom of the stalk and then the whole plant just regrows...trees don't do that!  Lighter and stronger than wood, bamboo will not wear easily and is great for high traffic areas.   It can be stained just like wood and in the end it's easily bio-degradable because it doesn't have any chemicals.

Other eco-friendly cabinetry options being sold today include reclaimed wood, strawboard, and wheatboard.   Strawboard and wheatboard are both manufactured from agricultural waste and are completely eco-friendly.  The Chinese manufacturer Ronbow manufactures a line of bathroom vanities that are made from strawboard.  Otherwise, it's still pretty rare to see these materials used in the manufacturing of cabinetry.  Hopefully, the use of these and other eco-friendly materials will continue to expand because our landfills are tapped out on formaldehyde and other toxins.

Green Friendly Wall Finish, we have a long way to go...

Traditional wall finishes consist of building materials like plaster and stucco.  Historically, plaster was used on the inside of the home and stucco used on the outside.  The two are made from the same base materials:  lime, sand, and water.   Sometime over the years lime was replaced with cement to add durability.  Plaster and stucco continued to reform through the years improving durability and workability.  Now a days, stucco and plaster in their traditional forms are rarely used on the interior or exterior of the home.  Modern versions of these materials are available in products like Liquid Stucco, which is described as a specially formulated acrylic medium texture finish.   And on the interior of the home, products like Homax Wall Texture have replaced traditional plaster products.  Homax products are typically comprised of things like calcium carbonate (limetone) and mica.  These products or their predecessors wouldn't be considered eco-friendly or sustainable by modern standards.

There are also alternative wall finish products available like American Clay.   American Clay is made in Albuquerque, NM and is described as a natural clay plaster product that is non-toxic an sustainable.   This wall finish is 100% natural with no VOCs, it absorbs odors and is durable and mold resistant.  The current cost of this product when compared to standard wall texture and paint can make it quite difficult to justify.  An American Clay starter kit that  covers a 500 sq ft space costs a whopping $750.  To give you some perspective, that amount of wall texture and paint would probably be under $50.   In theory, this product would be a great eco-friendly alternative.  But since the components of American Clay are vaguely described as a proprietary blend of aggregate, clays, and preservatives: we're not exactly sure about their claim of sustainability.    American Clay having no VOCs is certainly an advantage over the competition, but the cost of this product would likely need to be far more effective to have mass appeal.

All in all, interior and exterior wall finishing products have a long way to go to become eco-friendly and cost effective.  Our hope is that there are eco-friendly manufacturers out there working on products that focus on utilizing recycled components rather than aggregates or acrylics.    Just like every other area of building materials, we feel it's just a matter of time!!

Now we have choices in Eco-friendly Paint!

Eco-friendly paint may have been a novelty building material 5 to 10 years ago.  Now a days, the selection is getting wider by the fiscal quarter as plenty of paint manufacturers are jumping into the eco-friendly paint arena.   One of the pioneers of the eco-friendly paint industry is called Eco Paints.  Started almost 25 years ago, EcoPaints has a client list that includes the likes of Westminster Abbey, The London Olympic Village, and The Googleplex.   ECOS Paints also operates under the brands, Lullaby Paints and Air Pure Paints.  Ecos Paints have zero VOCs but also claim to be 12500 purer than other non-VOC paints.   Not only is the paint eco-friendly but the ECOS Paint's can is also made from 100% recycled content and is recyclable.

Mythic Paint of Hattiesburg, MS launched on the market in 2007.   Mythic Paint was the result of over six years of intensive polymer research performed by the University of Southern Mississippi.   They claim to be the world's first high performance, zero volatile organic compounds (VOC), zero toxins and non-carcinogenic paint.  Recently, one of the larger players in the paint industry, Benjamin Moore, jumped into the eco-friendly paint market with a product called Natura.  Natura also has zero VOC's even after tinted.  It's available in any Benjamin Moore color and functions as all Benjamin Moore paint.  These paints are competitively priced with traditional paints.

Farrow & Ball changed its paint to a water-based formula and it significantly reduced the solvents in its products to low and zero VOC. Colors are derived from natural pigments, as well as other natural ingredients such as china clay, lime putty, and linseed oil.  Another product was developed in the UK by Marston & Langinger after the garden rooms company found most paints were too toxic to use for its greenhouses.  Both of these paints are on the higher end of the price scale.

I think it's pretty safe to say the eco-friendly paint market will continue to grow.   If we have paint products that are safe,the same cost, and function the same as VOC omitting paints shouldn't we only be using the safe products?  Hopefully every paint manufacturer in the world is working on their eco-friendly paint, the technology is here!