It’s officially Earth Day today, so we wanted to join in the chorus of those who want to celebrate, preserve, and protect our planet. Last week, we mentioned an Sat. event going on near our Greenpoint home, but there are plenty of events going on all over the city.
sustainable
ADD THIS There are only a few days until Earth Day 2011, and we just wanted to remind our neighbors about the GO GREEN! GREENPOINT! Earth Day Festival. The event, hosted by Town Square, Inc is going to be held on Saturday, April 30, 2011 from 12pm-4pm at McCarren Park
Celebrate Earth Day in Brooklyn
We’ve talked about green roofs before, and Greenpoint has a couple of great examples of the differences a green roof can make. We couldn’t pass up mentioning the article in This Old House, because it offers step-by-step procedures for installing a green roof in a strictly residential setting.
Spring Again
We were delighted to recently stumble upon Common Good’s Refill Station at Forager’s. Common Good, makers of sustainable cleaning products and home goods here in Brooklyn, found an answer to how eco-friendly products can embrace more of the Reduce & Reuse in the oft-used maxim Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Good question & better answer
Since the late 40’s the name Freshkills has suggested one of the most visible monuments to environmental abuse and our throw-away culture.Over the next 30 years the design for this environmental reclamation project will boast vast tracts of undisturbed meadows and fields combined with educations centers, public waterfront space, hiking trails, and open waterways.
Take a longer view…
It’s already been a busy year for us. So we’re excited to get a few moments to peruse the new issue of Dwell, which has a great feature on Christiane Hogner’s (don’t forget the umlaut) reclaimed furniture.
Celebrating the reused
Some of us are always intrigued by sustainability issues and the opportunity to research, and what we found didn’t disappoint. Eco Structures is an Australian company that creates low-impact, modular, and environmentally responsible structures for temporary, remote, and regional applications (and garnering lots of global attention since 1997).
Eco-tents & Happy Holidays
Since about 2006 there’s been the development of Slow Home, Slow Lab, & even Slow Planet – all with their own luminaries, manifestos, and philosophy statements. If “Slow Design” means honoring the tradition of handcraft, long-lasting materials, and a renewed respect for our environment, we’re all in favor.
Slow Design – just like Grandma used to make
Attorney General (and Governor-elect) Andrew Cuomo announced Wed. that Exxon Mobil reached a settlement agreement regarding clean up of the Greenpoint Oil Spill. Now that Exxon Mobil has finally been made to answer for their actions in more than just obfuscating, dragging their feet, and sending out the occasional press release, the work to repair the damage to our small corner of this ecosystem can begin.
A victory for Brooklyn, Queens, & Mother Earth
The Federal Trade Commission released their revised Green Guidelines 10.6.10, which embraced a more stringent stance on false claims made for products – a small and necessary step, but the issues we face are far too advanced to spend time and treasure on small steps.
Don’t’ just watch the bar, raise it
We are thrilled to have not just one, but two FTS designs featured in the November issue of Marie Claire. Amid the fall fashions, editor & eco-style setter Amanda Hearst has compiled an array of ethically minded and earth friendly products…
Marie Claire… On Newstands Now
Next week from the source is excited to be an exhibitor at GrowNYC’s New Green City 2010 in Union Square – Wed. Sept. 29th 10am – 6pm. Our booth will feature old favorites and newer items from our collections including our Railroad tie shelving, Hiboy bar stool, and some of our recycled/reclaimed discoveries.It’s a great chance to come learn more about our environmental efforts, or just stop by the booth and say hi
Visit us at New Green City – 9.29.10
Obviously, here at from the source, we love wood-as-counter-top, with customers using it in a couple of recent projects. We think Icestone is another great – and sustainable – countertop application – using a mix of 100% recycled glass and concrete to create non-toxic, no VOC counter surfaces.
your countertops & neighbors
The Sept issue of Dwell magazine is a lot about lighting, but we were particularly interested in a short piece on organic LEDs in their Great Idea section of An Introduction to Lighting article. Organic LEDs have been in play in research circles for years (regular LEDs for over a century), with reports coming from materials engineers each with more advanced and efficient results.
organic LEDs are here
Some of us noticed a startling report in the NY Times earlier this week about drastic measures taken by City and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to manage the population of Canadian Geese in Prospect Park. Canadian geese have been a fixture in Prospect Park for years, as one of the symbols of the park being a natural refuge from urban life, and a reminder of the other lives that share our planet.
Prospect Park geese R.I.P.
The NY Times’ Thursday Home and Garden section had a interesting installment in their Shopping with Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell searching for country inspired pieces for their upstate NY Beekman Mansion & Farm…In their search for pieces that I saw connections between what they found and some of our products, like our urban farm collection or architectural salvage collections.
Country living…timeworn pieces
In addition to our other eco-conscious efforts we’re also proud members of the Sustainable Furnishings Council. So, we were really excited to see the SFC profiled in the latest issue of Natural Home Magazine.