ECO FRIENDLY: Home products that save money ... - The Insite Group

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ecoproducts paint moist. This new line is also a one-coat product with a unique color-lock that means customers can use flat paint in bathrooms or any sheen anywhere they want. “It still looks like a gallon of paint,” he laughs, but is completely different inside. In the case of the Aura line, the color vibrancy and VOC reduction means a significantly higher price. For some consumers, especially those with allergies or sensitivities, that price increase is worth it, though it is not yet “a mass market product,” he says. One woman contacted Chapman about Aura paint before they had received it, but Jahnke promised her she could be “the first in Brazos Valley” to buy it, and she was. Jahnke says, “My speculation is that five to seven years from now, that old system will be gone,” and all paint will use these oil-free colorants. It’s “market changing.” Benjamin Moore and other paint lines are also selling paints with reduced solvents. For his business, he says it’s the quality that sells first and then “oh yeah, it’s also green.” The technology was first available in California and Europe (“they are always ahead of us, in terms of standards,” says Jahnke), and is unrolling stateside one market at a time. “It’s the thing of the future,” he says. 26 Insite/February 2008 “The market will drive it because they have to ultimately get away from the entrenched system.” The Aura paint line and all other paints sold there are available in two-ounce sample jars so that customers can test the colors before buying an entire gallon. Cabinets In n 2004, Kent Moore Cabinets decided to update its finishing center to something more automated. They traveled to an Atlanta builder products show to see what was available, says Teresa Galliher, vice-president of sales West at KMC, and discovered a waterborne technology “being used in Europe that had not been brought to the U.S. on a widespread basis.” This Giardina Flatline system is “the most environmentally friendly finish available in the world,” and KMC offers it right here in our community, one of only a handful of companies in the U.S. to use this unique finishing system. (More information is available at www. kentmoorecabinets.com.) When KMC upgraded to Giardina Flatline, “hardly anybody asked or mentioned it,” says Galliher, “but in the last six to eight months, more people are asking about it.” The idea that green products lead to a compromise in quality couldn’t be further from the truth at Kent Moore Cabinets. “Actually it’s a superior product with smooth, consistent application,” says Galliher. Additionally, the flatline system meant getting away from VOC-emitting varnishes. They have cut their VOC emissions tremendously. “We wanted to make an impact on the environment by doing that,” she adds. It just so happens that Giardina is also more durable. Galliher is proud that their system would easily “qualify” in California, where compliance regulations are more stringent. “Usually what happens in California eventually rolls over to the rest of the country,” she says. “We are already there.” Interiors by Joan General Contracting and Professional Interior Decorating • Renovations, Remodeling & New Home Construction • Design Consultations • Kitchen & Bath Renovation Specialists • Custom Window Treatments Joan Rockett (979) 676-2035 – cell • (979) 567-9371 – studio 25 Years Experience
Kent Moore Cabinets recycles wood scraps and sawdust, which is used as “an alternative energy source” for another company; it fuels their boiler. They also recycle their solvents. In keeping with their company-wide environmental statement, they only purchase lumber “from companies that use sustainable forestry practices. What we don’t do is buy wood out of the Brazilian rain forest,” says Galliher. So green thinking is the company culture at Kent Moore Cabinets that the state of Texas “has asked us to apply for an award they are giving for environmentally friendly businesses,” states Galliher. KMC is also applying for their trade association’s environmental stewardship certification. “It’s so important,” she says sincerely. “We want to make our environmental efforts go hand in hand with our operating costs so that customers can buy the environmentally friendly stuff without it being a huge increase in cost to them, like the waterborne sealing.” n Window treatments One of Barbara Holley’s customers suffers from breathing problems requiring her to use a breathing machine. This woman did a little interior design homework and discovered that ADO’s Actibreeze fabric “literally cleans the air, not only of dust but of bacteria,” says Holley, owner of Holley’s Window Fashions. It was the perfect fabric for this client, and Holley could not be more thrilled to be selling it. “I don’t know how they made it,” says Holley, but it is just “great!” You might assume that industrial-grade odor-eliminating fabric only came in shades of gray or tan better suited for medical offices (where it is actually used) than cheery living rooms, but the Actibreeze fabric selections “are very pretty,” says Holley cheerily, who has sold the relatively new product for about a year. It is perfect for people “who want to use fabric but have allergies.” “Barbara has given us a room beyond our expectations… it’s a warm comfortable, cozy room our entire family can enjoy” – Donise ernst Holley also sells environmentally friendly shutters made of composite wood material or manmade products that look every bit as elegant as wood. She is proud that the interior design industry “has been very focused on trying to really help our environment as we make our surrounding areas beautiful.” She has made a personal commitment “to use green products as much as possible.” This means selling fabrics that incorporate bamboo; “they look the same as cotton or linen,” she says, without any stiffness. For Holley, the marriage of beautiful interiors with green products “is a wonderful thing.” Showers “G WINDOW FASHIONS & INTERIORS n lass is green,” says Donna Morehead of Acme Glass. “We’ve been thinking about how we can better advertise that.” Of course she’s not just talking about green-tinted glass. Our ubiquitous shower curtains “release chemicals in the bathroom” when they’re in use and clutter landfills when they’re not. Morehead recommends checking out bathenclosures.org for some surprising information about the dangerous toxicity of polyvinyl chloride, used in most 4091 Highway 6 S. • College Station (979) 690-8889 · Cell (979) 219-1482 • Email holleyswfi@msn.com February 2008/Insite 27
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