As the cold weather set in this season I turned to painting the dining and living rooms of my new house. I wanted to use an eco friendly paint and had previously decided I would use one of the low VOC paint brands I have previously mentioned. I settled on the Benjamin Moore Aura Low VOC Paint brand for interiors.
All I can say is, Wow. Benjamin Moore has always exceeded my expectations, but Aura really goes above and beyond. I had not used Benjamin Moore for several years because I sold another place and rented for a while. Back then, pretty much all that was available was their “Regal” line. Great colors, but not particularly low-VOC as I recall. I was glad to hear they had since added “green” alternatives.
In terms of consistency, Aura is deliciously thick, closer to molasses than runny water. That ensures almost no splatter as you dip your roller or brush and then take it to the wall.
When you apply it, Aura goes on smoothly and dries very quickly, much faster than other paint brands I have used. You can easily paint an entire room, let it dry, and then paint it for its second coat an hour later.
Its ability to cover the underlying paint is excellent. I had a jaundiced yellow color I was painting over, a truly dreadful shade. Aura was able to completely cover the old color with a single coating. A second coating was mostly necessary to correct minor painting errors the first time, and also to lend an even richer hue to the finished wall–but you could probably get away with a single coat if you are a complete perfectionist the first time around.
The Aura brand is “intended” for use with Benjamin Moore’s Affinity collection (although I believe the base Aura paint can be used with any of Benjamin Moore’s color collections.) Affinity is a grouping of 144 colors that the company says are specially selected to all go well with each other. This is important for me, you see, because I am not a professional interior decorator and I’m guaranteed to choose colors that go together terribly!
The collection seemed rather low-intensity for my tastes, but I gave the colors a chance and I’m very glad I did. My dining room was transformed by a combination of “Caliente” red and “Buttered Yam” orange, while my living room looks like a peaceful oasis with the light silvery-sage “Wind Chime.” The colors have an incredible depth and vibrancy to them that bring the rooms to life.
Consumer Reports gives Benjamin Moore Aura high marks for things like wearability and scrub resistance. However I have not had the paint on the wall for enough time to say whether I agree or not.
Aura is certified eco friendly by third parties. It bears the GreenGuard certification for low voc paint emissions, and is also certified by the California Collaboration for High Performance Schools (CHPS). It is also usable for LEED (eco friendly) green building construction.
Aura is not cheap. It is considerably more expensive than other options from Benjamin Moore and other brands. However, you get what you pay for. You don’t have to deal with headache-inducing, environment-harming volatile organic compounds. You get a paint that performs incredibly, dries quickly, and looks stunning. Personally, I would never use anything else for my home’s walls even though it hurts the wallet.
Summary:
Pro’s: low voc paint brand, looks amazing, goes on great
Con’s: it’s expensive
Why it’s green: low voc paint brands reduce toxic emissions that could cause health or other problems.
Green certifications: GreenGuard, CHPS, LEED
Thinking about doing a kitchen remodeling job, especially after reading the guest post on green kitchens earlier this week? That post inspired me to seek out the ways in which recycled or repurposed materials could be used to create fabulous looking kitchens.
The most eco friendly products tend to be those made from recycled materials such as glass. It turns out that there are several manufacturers of the most beautiful recycled glass kitchen countertops you can imagine, all of which are durable and made almost entirely with both recycled glass and other repurposed materials. These counters are so eco friendly, in fact, that they can be used to obtain credits towards LEED certification from the US Green Building Council for green building projects.
Using recycled glass countertops has the additional benefit of avoiding environmentally destructive quarrying practices used for extracting granite, quartz, and other materials used in ordinary countertops.
Here I feature five manufacturers that create some truly beautiful countertops, along with sample pictures. All of them are based or have major operations in America, providing valuable green jobs and minimizing environmental effects of transportation of materials. They have many different styles and colors, making it easy to find something just right for your kitchen.
1) Vetrazzo
The original recycled glass countertop company, Vetrazzo is the big kid on the block. Based out of Richmond, California, they have been called “a superhero of the countertop world” by Dwell magazine. For over a decade they have created dazzling surfaces that are comprised of 85% recycled glass that comes primarily from neighborhood curbside recycling programs. They also use post-industrial glass, windows, drinking glasses, automotive glass, reclaimed glass from building demolitions, and just about any other type of glass you can imagine. Their surfaces are strong, durable and as smooth as polished granite–and in fact are about equivalent to granite in heat resistance, care and maintenance. They need re-sealing every year or two.
2) ECO by Cosentino
This manufacturer, best known for its Silestone line, has its North American operations out of Stafford, Texas and makes the ECO line of recycled glass countertops with 75% recycled content. They carry the GreenGuard and Cradle to Cradle eco labels, which I consider to be highly meaningful as indicative of truly green building materials. They not only use glass, but other discarded and repurposed post-industrial and post-consumer products including porcelain, mirrors, crystallized ash, and stone scraps. Their resin is corn-based. The water used in their manufacturing process is 94% recycled. Any minerals they use come from quarries with sustainable practices including environmental restoration and prevention of emissions of harmful particles. These high performance counter tops resist staining, scratching and scorching very well. The material is non-porous, requiring no sealers.
3) Gilasi
Gilasi is based out of Chicago and uses 85% recycled content in its countertops. All materials needed are sourced locally, within 250 miles of the factory. Glass used is mostly waste from local businesses they have partnered with through Chicago’s Waste to Profit Network. Most of the glass they use cannot be recycled using traditional methods. Less porous than marble or concrete, Gilasi still does need occasional re-sealing with a wax-based formula. The material is heat resistant, although the sealant used may not be.
4) IceStone
Icestone, from Brooklyn, New York, makes recycled glass kitchen countertops bearing the coveted Cradle to Cradle Gold certification. They use 100% recycled glass in a cement mix, and about 75% of the material is comprised of the recycled glass. The countertops contain no petroleum-derived materials. Twice as durable as marble, they require similar care and maintenance as regular stone, and do need yearly re-sealing. Icestone is heat resistant, but again the sealant might not be.
5) UrbanSlabs
UrbanSlabs, based in Southern California, also uses 100% recycled glass in a cement mix. The glass is 85% from post-consumer glass sources, and 15% is post-industrial. The counter tops resist fading, scratches and stains. The material is very flexible yet strong and can be cast as thin as 3/4″ of an inch if needed, allowing for use in a wide variety of applications. It appears to require occasional re-sealing, though the website was vague on this point.
Several of Rubbermaid’s shelving and closet organization products have won the stringent GreenGuard Certification for Children & Schools. In order to achieve this level of certification, Rubbermaid’s products were screened for more than 10,000 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including formaldehyde and phthalates. The certification means that these products have passed rigorous tests that ensure they do not release potentially harmful chemicals into indoor air.
The GreenGuard site lists the products that won certification, which include:
- Closet kits
- FreeSlide shelving
- Linen shelving
- TightMesh shelving
- Ultra FreeSlide shelving
- Wardrobe shelving
These products are very popular for organizing closets and storage areas. You can now use them with further peace of mind, knowing that they are safe in your home and around your children without fear of VOC contamination in your indoor air.
For our seventh installment in our greenwashing series we look at Terrachoice’s Seventh Sin Of Greenwashing: Worshiping False Labels, a new sin that has arisen as a result of increased interest in and demand for green products.
Terrachoice’s first research report came out in 2007 and identified the six greenwashing sins identified in the previous six articles (a full list of which is at the bottom of this post.) In early 2009 Terrachoice published a second report which looked at what had happened in the interim. The latter report found some good news: the number of “green” products is exploding in response to consumer demand.
While greenwashing is still a major problem, legitimate eco-labeling became almost twice as common in 2009 as it was in 2007, with 23% of products reviewed listing a valid eco label. That’s great for consumers trying to bring method to the madness of green shopping, because it brings the light of meaningful third-party certification to an increasing number of truly green products. Valid eco labels help shoppers tell the difference between the green and the greenwashed.
Hearing the clamor from consumers for eco labels, some product marketers are unfortunately trying to create the impression, through words and images, that a valid third-party green endorsement has been given when no such endorsement actually exists. In other words, these companies are slapping fake green labels on their products. Fully 23% of green products evaluated by Terrachoice in its latest report committed this sin of worshiping false labels.
Examples cited included:
- A US brand of aluminum foil with certification-like images referring to the name of the company’s in-house environmental program without giving any explanation about what that meant.
- A Canadian paper towel product that made the bold claim “this product fights global warming.”
- Various products using certification-like images with green buzz words like “eco safe,” “eco secure” or “eco preferred”–all of which are meaningless without context or proof.
It’s inevitable that companies try to tap into increasing demand for green products, but applying a label that looks official to convince the customer of a product’s green credentials is not the way to go.
So how do you avoid this last sin of greenwashing? The only real solution is to become aware of what is considered a good, independently verified eco label and what is not. Here are six major eco labels to look for when doing your shopping:
- Green Seal, found primarily on cleaning and building products. I’ve talked a lot about it here at EcoVillageGreen because I consider it one of the gold standards for eco labels.
- GreenGuard, also used on cleaning and building products, including low-VOC paint.
- EcoLogo, a meaningful Canadian eco label for a wide variety of products.
- Energy Star, a US government label for energy efficient appliances.
- WaterSense, a US government label for water-saving faucets.
- USDA Organic, a US government label for organic foods.
There are other meaningful eco labels that will be covered in future EcoVillageGreen posts, but this short list is a good place to start. If you see an eco label you don’t recognize, be suspicious and do your research. It may be good–but it could just as easily be made up and therefore meaningless.
Seventh in a series. The full list:
How To Avoid Greenwashing Sin #1: The Hidden Trade-Off
How To Avoid Greenwashing Sin #2: No Proof
How To Avoid Greenwashing Sin #3: Vagueness
How To Avoid Greenwashing Sin #4: Irrelevance
How To Avoid Greenwashing Sin #5: Lesser Of Two Evils
How To Avoid Greenwashing Sin #6: Fibbing
How To Avoid Greenwashing Sin #7: Worshiping False Labels
Is A Greener Product Green Enough? Our Greenwashing Series Wrap-Up
