DAILY DANNY

Draft Table

Look, we all know SUVs are gas guzzlers.  But once in a while, they sure do come handy when trying to transport furniture to your house.   

I rented an SUV a week ago and kept it for a few days.   I found this amazing vintage drafting table at an antiques store and bought it on the spot.    The funny thing is that when I asked the store's owner about the table, she immediately lowered the price.   Fine, I'll buy it.

Then when I had one more question about the table, she said, "why don't you ask the seller yourself?"   The seller walked in and said, "I'll drop it another $50."     I was like... I said I'll buy it.   So, without trying, I got a really crazy low price on this table.

And here it is all set up.    I rolled out some old blueprints and threw on an old book.   I love it!

Speaking of all thing, I found this handmade wooden table in a junk store in Rosemont, NJ.    It was tucked away underneath a bunch of fabrics and I inquired about buying it.  For $10, it was mine.   It's really the perfect size for the two club chairs from JCPenney.    I love the mix and match feel of new upholstery with old, dented up wood furniture.    Perfect for a game of chess, checkers or Go Fish!

None of your Beeswax!

I've been experimenting with making candles for a while now.   So, today I decided to play around with a big block of natural beeswax.    It certainly wasn't the cheapest candle wax I could find, but it is one of the cleanest burning ones.  Plus, it comes from a renewable, natural resource... and who doesn't like the sweet scent of beeswax anyway?   

So I started with some containers---some white cups from Pearl River Mart and this vintage teacup---and inserted some lead-free wicks into them.

Here's the beeswax all broken up into chunks.  I was surprised how easy it was to smash apart with a hammer!

I found this double boiler at Goodwill of all places.  It was just 97 cents and I loved the patina and look of it all.   I picked up the hot plate at K-Mart and added these new tools to my crafting supply arsenal in the new craft room.   Here's the beeswax melting away over the double boiler.

Okay, I melted too much wax.   So I poured some into an old mason jar and made that into a candle, too!  Doesn't it look like honey?    I used twigs from the yard to steady the wicks.  And THANK GOD I protected the countertop with some brown kraft paper.  I spilled some wax while making these candles!

Finished!   Stamped the bottom of each candle with a four letter initial only my close friends would ever understand!   

Pearl River Mart, NYC

 

 

If you're ever in NYC, one place I recommend is Pearl River Mart down in Soho.   It's a two-story, no-frills shop full of mostly Chinese (and random Asian things here and there) items for everything you can imagine.  My favorite parts are the housewares sections on both levels.   It's always changing, always affordable and there are some very interesting things to always be found.

I picked up a few leaf inspired plates the other day.   I felt they would be perfect for the new house since I'm surrounded by nothing but trees and greenery.

I found this bamboo storage container in the clearance section in the basement.   It was $4.50, plus 40% off.  Not bad!    It's an actual bamboo pole, cut down, sanded and made into a rustic container.   No glues whatsoever!    But it is unfinished, so I thought it would be a nice idea to take some leftover stain and give it a honey color finish.

 

Here's the before and after.   I'll use these in the bathrooms to store basic essentials.  Again, just a few dollars!

And while I have you here: here's the new (er, old) antique desk I picked up in Lambertville, NJ.    It's going in one of the bedrooms and will have a slim computer on top so houseguests can check their email, etc.   This was a bit pricier than what I'm buying at flea markets, but it's an investment piece that I am sure I will love.

Saturday's Flea Marketing

Before I headed to Los Angeles for some work, I found myself with a day off and decided to spend it doing what I miss the most: rummaging through flea markets, antique stores and junk shops in Pennsylvania.

So, I rented an SUV (I know...but how else will I carry my stuff home?) and headed to Adamstown, PA for a few hours of sleuthing.

Above is a shot a giant warehouse full of nothing but amazing old wood piece: mantels, old bars, windows, tables, chairs...you name it!   I thought I had discovered some out-of-the-way store that no one else really knew about, but I was wrong.   Here's how I knew:
 

Hold for Ralph Lauren!

 

I was really on the hunt for an old bed for the new house, so I resisted temptation to buy up pieces that I liked.    I really liked this old wooden chair with the wide unusual back.   It just needs to be reupholstered (a nice hemp fabric would be cool).

 

At another store down the road, I found this antique cello or bass case in the back room.   How cool is this?  It had a lot of intricate stitch work and real wear and tear (which added to its charm).   I have no idea what I could use this for, but I had to take a photo.    How do you even price something like this?

Not everything is an antique.   This Ball canning jar has been repurposed into a chicken waterer.  Fill up the jar, insert the metal dish, and invert.  It trickles out fresh water for chickens.   I thought about getting this for the birds at the house, but I think I'll make my own.

And I loved these antique marble planters from France!    Small is $65 and large is a bit more.   How on Earth can you tell which is small and large?  They look the same to me!

Chalkboard "Art"

 

I've used chalkboard paint all over the house for at least the past 10 years.  I love how unexpected it is: you can draw right on it with chalk!   I've painted entire walls with it and drawn all over the wall.   I've repainted refrigerators and written up grocery lists right onto the doors (and had it photographed for an issue of "Country Home" years ago, too!).  I've even painted terra cotta pots and written directly onto the pots words like "Basil" or "Sage."

So, I'm continuing the chalkboard theme (er, obsession?) with this idea: customized chalkboard paint using leftover latex paint. 

I had some leftover kelly green paint and thought it would be fun to paint a giant blank artists' canvas with it.   I mixed in a few tablespoons of powdered grout (from the hardware store) into a small container full of paint.  Mix well!    Then I covered the whole canvas with two coats of the homemade chalkboard paint!  Voila!

 

 

The cool thing is you can keep changing the art up whenever you feel like it.   Just wipe it down, let it dry and re-draw, draw, draw away!

Link Time!

1.   Watch the first of several online episodes of "Watch Isaac."     See as I show Isaac a cute JCPenney t-shirt as he guesses what eco fabrics it's made from.

2.  Bid on a Simmons Natural Care by Danny Seo mattress to benefit Bette Midler's charity, The New York Restoration Project.    Head on over to CharityBuzz to bid online!

3.  See an actual office detox online.  I raided the offices of Sprig.com and showed them how to detox, declutter and "green" their work space.   It's a fun piece!

4.  Pick up some eco & cheap bed pillows for just $12.95!  Filled with poly from old water bottles!  I just ordered a bunch for my new house.

5.  Read about a little crafting party I hosted in New York City at the Method pop-up shop in Soho.  One lucky hostess got a bottle of newspaper wrapped champagne from me.   It looks less curly somehow in her photo!

Technical Difficulties...

There seems to be some re-formatting on Typepad that is accidentally messing up posts from my blog!  Darn!  

I'm working on it...   but for today's post:

Here's a sneak peek at my new 2009 eco calendar: The Simply Green Home.

It's full of some of my favorite full-color photography from my books and other products, but daily eco tips, reminders and lots of space to jot down your own notes and ideas.

We're using lots of eco elements for this calendar, including soy-based inks (yeah!).  

Okay, now back to figuring out what Typepad has done to their formatting.  I am starting to fear for the worst!   Oh well...at least Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner.

Staying Awake!

My friend grabbed the camera and took this shot:  I look tired!    Okay, I'm playing it up for the camera a bit, but still, I think all this traveling is starting to catch up with me.

My energy level is pretty consistent and I thought I would share with you how I prevent getting sick and keep my energy levels up naturally when on the road.   With the summer (Memorial Day) vacation season soon upon us, I thought this would be helpful to all!

1.  Emergen-C Vitamin Packets!      I can speak enough about these fizzing vitamin packets!   They are loaded with B-12 (for energy) and Vitamin C (to prevent colds) and taste really great in a glass of water.  I just fill a glass with water from the tap (or order a glass of water at the restaurant with no ice) and stir in one packet.    I'll literally chug the whole thing all at once and feel re-energized and revitalized instantly.

2.  A cold compress.    I've been checking into hotel rooms around 2 or 3 AM lately.  One day, I checked in at 430AM and got my hotel room keys to only see someone else in workout gear just waking up.   I thought I was hallucinating.     But here's something you can do to de-compress after a lengthy trip: a cold compress.   Just fill up the ice bucket halfway with ice and the rest with cold water from the sink.  Take those little hand towels and soak them in the ice water.    Let it soak for a few minutes and then ring them out.   Roll it up and rest it on your eyes.   The coolness, the pressure...it all helps.    

3.  Schedule, schedule, schedule!    For business travel, we are all used to scheduling meetings, appointments and business dinners for colleagues.    But I like to schedule everything down to the last detail, including time to relax, rejuvenate and take time for yourself.    It's important to schedule things like "wake time" and "exercise block" so you can mentally know when something is happening and when.   When people complain they don't have time to, say, go for a jog...it's because it was never really figured out into the daily schedule.   Make time and you'll feel a million times better.   Plus, if you take the time to exercise a bit, maybe you can indulge in that slice of chocolate cake at dinner.

Plus, I do other "strange" things:   I order (3) appetizer green salads and ask them to put it into one giant bowl.      At the W Hotel, they have free lemon scented hand wipes in the gym, so I'll take an extra fee and use them on the plane or train to wipe "grimey" stuff off my hands.     And I always prefer to underpack than overpack and just wear something twice so I can lug around the lightest possible suitcase.   And If I have a rental car, I'll type in "WHOLE FOODS" into my GPS device and just pick-up healthy snacks, drinks and other goodies to eat instead of filling up on junk.

What are your tips for staying healthy on the road?   Would love to hear them.   

Jar Lid Table & More...

I was recently in Las Vegas to give the keynote at the Hospitality Design conference's "Green Day" event.  I had a great time there and I hope all the attendees left with some good information and inspiration to "go green" in their hotel design work.

I always think it's funny that I'm invited to give speeches on green living in Las Vegas, perhaps the most non-green city in the entire world.    But even in eco-sin city, I can still find some inspiration on green design for my blog.

I stayed at The Palazzo hotel that just opened (beautiful rooms) and ran into Barney's New York to check out the organic cotton collection from Rogan and Loomstate.    

On my way across the store, I saw this display table (try to ignore the mannequins with shorts around their ankles) and realized it was made entirely from the lids of jars.   Here's a closer look:

I loved this look and I'm starting to save my jar lids now to make my own version right at home.

And here's another sorta eco-design "chair" (I put that in quotes for a reason):

You know, in a photo, it looks like an awful monster, doesn't it?  But in person, it was a wire chair with various vintage ties woven in and out of it.     I thought about making one of these, but now I'm thinking about passing.  Still, I like the clever recycling aspect of it all.

PS- And just a shout out to my colleague Steve Tipton at Simmons!   Here we are sitting on the

Simmons Natural Care by Danny Seo mattress in the Hospitality Design's "Green Room."   

 

Natural Curios

Happy Weekend! 

I'm painting like a mad man this weekend and I'm turning off all distractions--Blackberry, television, Ipod, phones, TV----and just getting the painting DONE! 

But before I shut off the computer, I wanted to share these natural curious I spied at ABC Carpet and Home in New York City.

I love the acrylic boxes filled with stems of cotton, wool, wheat and a stray sunflower head.    The juxtaposition of modern meets natural works for me.  I might have to steal this idea for my own house.   Funny how the one thing not for sale in the store is what I really want.

Spending a Day at Home

I took the day off recently to spend the day to just work on the house.   I've been running around the country like a crazy man and I guess I felt like I was neglecting the new house.   So I scheduled a day to polish things up, paint trim, and begin the long (but fun!) decorating process.

I took this snap shot because I loved the "work-in-progress" look of it all.    The vintage metal ladder was left behind in the house and it's been so wonderful to have on hand.    It's one of those unusual ladders that can be a five different ladders in one.   Here, it's the typical kind.   Flip a few switches, and it's a very long single ladder that I can use to change lightbulbs way up on the ceiling.   Flip a few more switches, and it's a mini ladder that I can to balance a piece of wood on for a quick work table.   

But I took this photo because I thought it actually looked cool in the room, standing next to a pile of artwork on the floor and my new JCPenney Studio "boardwalk" club chairs.    The breezy linen drapes and the dapple of daylight coming in from outside...  something felt just right about this total look.

 

This tablecloth is one of my favorites and I bought it in early January at a sample sale in NYC.   It's from designer John Robshaw and I am so happy I snatched it up.   It looks great on this table with the old wooden chairs and chandlestick.   I'm still hunting for the right dining table... but for now, this will do.

Hanging Art

I've been collecting art for the new house for a few weeks now.   I've grabbed a flea market find here and there.... swiped a painting from my current house and brought it over to the new house... and framed some "found art" that I found in the house when I moved in (like these squirrel drawings and some blueprints found in the hall closet).

I've hung artwork in all of my houses uses a very simple trick to get perfect results without having a million holes in the wall trying to get the layout right.   I use recycled paper brown paper to make templates and hang those up first for placement.

Just trace the art on paper and cut it out with scissors.  If you score the paper sharply enough, you might be able to fold the score marks and cleanly rip the template right out.

Here's a signed photograph portrait of Nelson Mandela.  This was shot by my friend Kwaku Alston, a famous photographer out in Los Angeles.   Kwaku and I worked together on a photo shoot in Australia years ago and he sent me this photograph as a thank you gift.   I love it. 

Here is a stack of finished templates.   On each one, be sure to write what type of artwork it is.   I've made the mistake of not doing this in the past and forgot which sheet went with what artwork.   

 

Here are all the templates taped onto the wall.    I used a low-tack painter's tape so it wouldn't take off paint from the walls when I moved the papers around the wall.   I think I moved it around 10 times before I was happy with the layout.

And voila!   

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.   

Find of the Day: Bamboo Knife Set

Okay, I'm obsessed with these: Ikea's bamboo handle knife set.   

The three-piece set is just $19.99 and available only at Ikea stores (not online).  The "DISTINKT" product comes with a 9" utility knife, 13" cooks knife and 12" vegetable knife.

These are the only knives that I think I need for my house.   Whenever I get one of those knife sets in the store (you know, those 20-piece sets that come in a large wooden holder), I always end up just using two or three knives.   Years later, there are always 17 pieces that look brand new because, well, they were never, ever used.

So, I have these eco-friendly knives in my house now and plan on putting a magnetic strip up near the stove so they can just stick to the wall.     Can't wait to try them out!    

Green Roof?

Here's a photo of a green roof example I saw at the GreenBuild show out in Chicago a few months ago.  I've had it saved on my digital camera for months now... because it has been a small obsession of mine to do the roof of my new house as a "living" roof.

Even as more and more contractors are embracing green, it's funny how I still get strange looks from people telling them I plan on doing a living roof.   I can only imagine they think I plan on hauling bags of peat moss and topsoil to the roof to grow corn or wheat or whatever...  not realizing that a green roof is something totally different.

One of the advantages of owning a home with a flat roof is that it can easily be adapted to a living roof.   What basically happens is that palettes of sedums are placed on top of the roof.   That's it.   The palettes are basically metal trays (with drainage) filled with lightweight lava rock with easy-to-maintain sedums tucked in here and there.   Over time, they grow and fill in the tray and basically take care of themselves.

The advantages of a living roof are many: a lush, green roof is one, of course.   But also, it helps maintain the longevity and life of the roof... cools during the summer (since the hot sun's rays aren't beating down on a black roof).... and, of course, the living plants help fight global warming, too.

So, I'm off to see what this little project is going to cost me... I'll keep you posted.