DAILY DANNY

Meeting the President

I think one of the interesting things about my career is that I never really know what's going to happen next.

I'm constantly traveling and doing one thing after another: one moment I'm in the offices of O: The Oprah Magazine discussing the benefits of the Simmons Natural Care by Danny Seo bed and the next moment I'm filming a segment on dying Easter eggs in a pot of coffee for CBS The Early Show.     And then I'm back at home painting walls and doors in my new house or flipping the compost pile.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to meet the new Korean President Lee Myung-bak in New York City.  I was invited with a handful of other noted Korean-Americans to the Presidential Suite of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (I'm pictured above in the middle).     The invited guests included TV news anchors (Alina Cho from CNN, JuJu Chang from ABC News), mayors and other elected officials and scientists.     I was "Danny Seo: Environmental Lifestyle Expert."      The song "which one of these do not belong" kept ringing in my head.

The personal meeting was a real honor and we were able to discuss issues ranging from free trade to North Korea to the devaluation of the US Dollar.   Like clockwork, the meeting started and ended on time.  And when we wrapped up, we were all given gorgeous watches enclosed in a box reading "The President of the Republic of Korea."    I think I'll be giving these his/hers watches to my parents.

After the meeting, I kept thinking, "if you could ask the President of the US just one question, what would it be?"     In other words... if you were in my position, what one question would ask?      Would love to hear your thoughts.          

Isaac's Re-Dying Denim Tips

I recently stopped by the offices of designer Isaac Mizrahi.   

You might know him as the fashion designer who has the upscale women's and men's lines.... and also designed the lesser priced line for Target stores for a few years.    He's now in charge of the mega-brand Liz Claiborne and still doing lots of fun and exciting things to bring fashion to the masses.

At his offices, I shared some cool tips on how to go green including my new Simmons Natural Care by Danny Seo mattress and showed some other cool eco products that are coming out.   We filmed it as a webisode that will be online in a few weeks.  I'll post the link when it's up.

But in the guest room at this offices, I picked up a mini-magazine he published called "Isaac's Style Book."   Inside the book I found an amazing project I just had to share.

If yo have a pair of light blue jeans that fit really well, but look terribly dated, you can re-dye them yourself into dark denim jeans.   It's a quick and easy way to update jeans without tossing them out!

Here's Isaac's tips:

1.   Prepare a dye bath by filling a large stockpot with 3 gallons of hot water and dissolve 1 bottle of RIT Pearl Gray dye.  Add 1/2 Cup of salt and stir to dissolve.

2.  Wet the jeans thoroughly with hot tap water.   Uncrumple and add to dye bath.  Add more water for jeans to float freely.

3.  Place stockpot on stovetop and bring dye bath and jeans to a simmer.  COOK jeans for 10 minutes, stirring often.  Remove carefully from stockpot and rinse in warm, then gradually cooler water, until water runs clear.  Clean stockpot immediately (or it will be dyed).   Launder jeans in warm water with detergent and line dry.   Repeat for darker jeans.

Squeaky Clean Crafting Idea

Out in bookstores now is a guide to creating a healthier home from the founders of Method cleaning products.     The book---Squeaky Green---covers everything you need to know how to thoroughly and properly clean your home, top to bottom, in the most non-toxic way possible.    I wrote the foreword to the book and threw in a couple of helpful tips here and there throughout.   The next time you're at your local bookstore, take a look!

One of the craft projects that made the cut was this adorable bird feeder.    If you shop at Costco, you can find the refill size for Method's popular hand soaps.    The tear drop bottle is so iconic and beautiful, that I thought once all the hand soap is used up, why not recycle the container itself?

To make this bird feeder, all you have to do is cut out a hole in the front and back of the bottle.  Then insert a plastic ring (this one is about 1 1/4" wide and I got it in the plumbing section of the hardware store).    If you cut the hole slightly smaller than the ring, it should be snug and hold without the need for glue.

Use a large cork to plug the top and twist some wire around the "ribs" at the top so you can easily hang the feeder.

Fill with feed, insert branch and hang!

Sure, it's not the most squirrel-proof feeder out there, but I think it's rather adorable.  And easy to make!    

Shopping for the new house

I am a flea market junkie.   

It's eco because you're buying old things and reusing them in your house.

It's economical, because you can score some serious deals.

And it's just plain fun because it's really the thrill of the hunt: you either score or go home empty-handed.

At the Golden Nugget flea market in New Jersey, I stopped by one weekend morning and found this heavy mirror with a stripped wood frame around it.   The dealer explained I could probably restore it with stain and paint... but I loved the raw, stripped nature of the wood.  And the age on the mirror was real, not faux, which added to the charm.    And for just $10, it was mine.    Seriously... $10!    A reproduction in a store would easily cost ten times that cost!

Speaking of stores though....I stopped by the Crate and Barrel store for a peek and found this wicker stool to my liking.   Lately, I've been more and more attracted to this style of design.   I don't know what the style is called, but I've been calling it "Truth in Materials."   Wood in its raw form... metal unvarnished...wicker as wicker. 

The stool looks delicate, but it's all wire reinforced.  So, you can easily put your feet up and use it as a foot rest.    The price wasn't bad--$189---but after paying just $10 for a gorgeous mirror, I passed. 

I bet I'll find a better one at the flea market next Sunday....

Glass House Windows

I love Spring. 

One moment, the trees are barren.   You go away for a week, and you find a forest of green when you come home.

One of the big reasons I bought this new house was the amazing marriage of modern, clean lines of the house with the lush, green landscape surrounding the house.     I always thought of it as a glass house in the middle of the woods; big giant windows overlooking lush, green forests.   

In the winter time, when I was doing the renovations, it was hard to remember why I even bought the house.   It was cold, dark, and BLAH.     But now it's such a joy to be inside the house and looking out the big windows. 

A serene shot from the guest bedroom.   The gunmetal canopy bed has been set-up; all it needs is a new Simmons Natural Care by Danny Seo mattress!

And a corner shot from my master bedroom.   The room is totally undecorated.   But it overlooks a deep ravine of nothing by trees.  I can't wait to wake-up to the sunrise!    I can imagine sitting at a desk working on something while peeking out the window to see wildlife roaming around.   

Air Plant

I got a plant in the mail recently.   Yes, a live, living plant.

It was a gift from the Los Angeles nursery Rolling Greens.   If you're ever in the Los Angeles area, a visit to Rolling Green would turn even the biggest brown thumb into an aspiring green thumb.   It's so lush and mindblowing with the vast array of plants in all of their greenhouses.

But this plant arrangement is something totally different: an air plant.    It's a piece of driftwood with arid-loving plants embedded inside.   A black metal chain is screwed into the middle for easy hanging.

Here, I hung the air plant in my shower.   The directions say to mist it every week or so to keep it alive.  I figure the mist from the shower will be enough to keep it watered.   The directions also say the plant will live on nutrients from the air, too.

So, for anyone who really has a brown thumb, this air plant might be the trick to keeping plants alive at home.

And speaking of plants, I got this Magnolia tree at my home the other day.  What a surprise!  It was a birthday gift from my agent in Los Angeles.    Her name is Maggie... so I bet she figured MAGNOLIA would remind me of her!   I can't wait to plant it in my yard!

Plated Wall

A few posts back, I wrote about buying these metal plates at the Renninger's Antique Extravaganza.  I loved the plates because of their geometric shape and shiny, pewter-like finish.    And since I had a set of eight dishes in a number of sizes, I thought they would looked lovely hung on a wall in the new house.

Here's the finished result.    I originally hung them all up so the sides were all straight.  But I felt it looked TOO perfect.   So I just twisted some of the plates to make them more pinwheel in design, and I think the finished arrangement looks so much better.

Hanging plates is actually a very easy thing to do.  Just start with a center plates and start hanging plates to the left, right, top and bottom.  No measuring is needed; if you eyeball it to your best ability, you can actually achieve pretty perfect results!

My Mattress Launch!

Today's the day that my new mattress line, The Simmons Natural Care by Danny Seo, hits JCPenney stores nationwide.   I've gotten about 100+ emails from people asking where, when, how they can buy the mattress, so I'm finally happy to say you can go to any JCPenney store in the country that has a mattress dept (search on jcp.com for stores with "furniture departments" nearest you) to test it out.      

This mattress was set-up on the sales floor of the JCPenney store in King of Prussia, PA a few days early, so I stopped by the store to check it out.  It was kinda exciting to see all of the hard work we all put into this mattress launch and to see it finally on the sales floor.  I can only imagine what the sales people were thinking as I was snapping away with my digital camera!

Here are some cool mattress samples you can feel at the store.   This is the natural latex foam that's inside the mattress.   The cool thing about natural latex is that it comes from the rubber tree---a renewable resource---and it's anti-microbial in nature.   In other words, it's dust mite, mold and mildew resistant for a healthier sleep.   The little holes in the latex help for air circulation for a cooler, more comfortable sleep.

Some eco features:

1. Fabric cover is a pattern inspired by the rubber tree, which we tap for the natural latex material.   The fabric itself on top is Tencel, a biodegradable fabric made from tree cellulose.
2. The wood base frame is collected from accredited and sustainably managed forests.
3. All of the steel used in the frame is made from at least 80% recycled metal.
4. Beneath the natural latex top is a soy base foam, made from soy beans (another renewable resource), which adds cushioning and additional comfort to the mattress.

 

I worked with the Simmons team on designing the educational foot streamers.   Here, you can learn all about the scientific and consumer benefits of our mattress line: a limited 20-year warranty and no-flip technology meaning you never, ever have to flip this mattress.

And a fun bolster pillow at the top of the bed.    I always wondered why the pillows on mattresses in stores always looked so floppy and unattractive.    I thought this would be an aesthetically-pleasing version instead; the leaf pattern on the left and right is inspired by the rubber tree... our source for the natural latex!

I filmed a video explaining the eco and consumer benefits of our mattress line.  It'll be posted soon and I'll share it with you.

Anyway, I'm really excited for the launch of this healthy, eco mattress line.   I really think it's one of the best green mattresses out there---natural materials and Simmons support and technology---for a marriage of style and sustainability. 

Let me know if any of you happen to stop by your local JCPenney store to test drive it out.  Would love to hear what you think!

PS-It'll be on JCP.COM in about a week!     And the retail price is around $1599 for a queen size set in your choice of firm, plush or pillow top!

UPDATE:   The website for the mattress is now live at www.naturalcarebed.com.    Check out the video I created all about the eco benefits of the Simmons Natural Care by Danny Seo mattress.

Also, some answers to a few questions:

1.  The mattress is not treated with the fire retardant PBDE.   In fact, all Simmons mattresses are free of the harmful chemical substance.  We use a non-toxic salt-based solution to treat our mattresses.

2.  The natural latex will not affect those with latex allergies.  Our Talalay latex goes through a thorough, triple-washing to remove all the natural proteins.   Also, when someone lays down on the mattress, they will never be in direct contact with the natural latex, too! 

 

Office Detox

I am totally in awe of something I'm a bit ashamed to admit: SkyMall.

It's that in-flight catalog in the backseat pockets in airplanes full of TOTALLY random "things" for sale like The Lord of the Rings replica rings and swords.... 22K gold dipped real roses... to wall-size posters of crosswords puzzles you can spend weeks trying to figure out.

But one item that caught my eye was a cell-phone looking device called the Zadro Nano-UV Disinfection Light.  You flip it open, press a button, and an ultraviolet light inside kills 99.9% of all the harmful germs and bacteria on things like phones, keyboards, toothbrushes, etc.  Whatever you want to disinfect, you just wave the whole thing over it for 10 seconds and VOILA!   Disinfected without harmful chemicals.

So, I bought one.   And have been trying it out.

I recently brought it along to the offices of some magazines in NYC to meet editors and help them naturally detox their offices.  It was part of my work with the nonprofit Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, which collects old cell phones and old rechargeable batteries (from cordless products) for free recycling.  We were reminding editors that you could drop off old phones/batteries at stores like Duane Reade, Lowe's, Home Depot, Circuit City and Best Buy.

But I also gave tips on how to DETOX their offices too and thought I'd share 'em:

1.  Use rubbing alcohol to disinfect your telephone.  Over time, germs and bacteria can collect, causing break-outs on your face.  Just use alcohol to truly disinfect it.

2.  Place a newspaper on the floor where you rest your feet.   Your shoes drag in 80% of outside dirt, pesticides and other harmful chemicals.  Newspaper will naturally absorb it; you can then recycle the newspaper.

3.  Wipe down the desk using Method microfiber towels and their dye and perfume-free Go Naked spray.  Spray, wipe and go.   The microfiber literally grips onto dirt and bacteria and it's machine washable!

4.  Keep an LL Bean boat and tote bag by your desk.  The rubber lined bag stands upright, even when empty.  Fill it with recyclable cans and bottles for recycling.  If there are spills, it can wiped up easily with the microfiber towel.

5.  And for fun: grab those extra sugar and lemon juice packets and rub the sugar and lemon juice together in your hands.  The sugar exfoliates and the lemon disinfects!

Eco Brooms

Now that Spring is here, it's time to bring the cleaning indoors and outdoors.    The other day, I grabbed my trusty all-natural corn broom and the whole thing just fell apart.   I thought I could screw the broom back into the handle, but to no avail.    So, there I was holding the broom part in my hands, hunched over, trying to clean the porch without a handle.   Not good.

So, onto the store I went to buy a new broom.  For years, I've always bought all-natural bristle ones; they seem to work really well and I like the fact they're made from all-natural, renewable materials.   

But to my surprise, something caught my eye at the store: a broom made from "80% recycled plastic materials."

Do you ever see something in the store that has a claim like that and then there's nothing else on the package explaining what exactly that means?    Is it pre-consumer plastic?  Post-consumer?   What kind of plastic?   How is it green?   I was going mad.

So at home, I googled and researched a bit and found out that the 80% recycled plastic bristles are actually made from old plastic water bottles.   Not bad.

It's from Libman and you can probably find it in most hardware and discount stores.      So, I picked one up and decided to give it a try.

My only complaint is that I do miss the good-looking, honest design of a corn bristle broom.   It's the kind of broom you can just leave leaning on a wall on the porch, and it still looks good.   This plastic broom, I'm not so sure I can do that.     But I do feel better knowing it's made from recycled materials.