Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Mothers give us life. I think that’s why we often refer to our lovely planet as Mother Earth. This blog is a reflection on how we treat the big blue ball we call home.
Sustainable and Green practices are a perfect way to celebrate and enhance your life while doing your part for the Earth. Sustainable or Green interior design is an environmentally conscious architectural and design style that focuses on using materials and methods that lessen a building’s impact on the environment. It is also centered on improving the health and wellbeing of the people who use these spaces.
Green design focuses on reducing harm in the present and near future. Sustainability looks at long-term consequences by using elements and techniques that will continue to minimize negative impact on the environment, and make sure that ‘Mother Earth’ can sustain life for decades, centuries or even millennia to come.
Sustainable and Green design places an emphasis on air-quality. Did you realize that some of the most polluted air can be found inside our homes? Green design focuses on improving indoor air quality by ensuring proper ventilation within our homes and reducing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and dangerous toxins and dust particles from floating around the air, all having the potential to make us sick.
When we’re designing beautiful spaces, consideration of the occupant’s health and wellbeing is very important. By carefully selecting and adding soft furnishings we can reduce noise pollution in our living environment, which is all-important for psychological wellness. Using lined draperies, carpets, and blinds can improve insulation and thermal comfort resulting in reduced costs for heating and cooling.
Reduced energy costs are a benefit of green design. By using as much natural light during daylight hours, we can reduce stress and increase productivity. This is especially helpful for those of us who work from home. Painting your walls light colors can decrease the need for artificial lighting. Arranging your furniture to open spaces around air vents will improve circulation.
Automating the turning-on and off of electric lights, as well as the strategic timing of opening and closing window coverings can contribute to the energy efficiency of your home. Smart thermostats work to ensure the proper heating and cooling, when the dwelling is occupied.
Utilize as much natural light as possible to reduce the need for electricity.
When considering the purchase of new furnishings, focus on longevity. Seek out high-quality materials and products expected to last longer. Should you become tired of the style or fabric, you’ll have something worth refurbishing, passing on or donating – not something destined for the landfill.
Natural stone is minimally harmful to the environment and can last centuries.
The 3 Rs of Recycling – the expanded version
The three R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle – longtime well-known approaches of waste management for being environmentally responsible. Reducing waste, reusing items, and recycling helps save landfill space.
There are “5 Rs of sustainability,” which are the basic principles that underlie how to live sustainably:
Reduce: Use the minimum amount of materials and resources to minimize your impact on the environment. Consider biodegradable over plastic.
Reuse: Avoid single-use products (especially plastics) by using glass, metal or wooden alternatives wherever possible.
Recycle: This one’s self-explanatory. Overall, dispose of your aluminum, paper, cardboard, fabrics and glass responsibly. Compost when you can – there’re cool composting tools for apartment dwellers, too.
Repurpose: Utilize your possessions in different ways once they’ve served their original purpose.
Refuse: Say “no” to environmentally unfriendly products by buying only those that are made from recycled materials, recyclable and ethically produced.
This driftwood table is a great example of using responsibly sourced wood.
There is more to the story of how to honor Mother Earth, this is not the end. We’ll blog more with updates on best practices for being Green and best practices for Sustainability.
