Put most simply, to many people, "green" means choosing the environment, nature, and the atmosphere over traditional forms of design and furnishings. BLUE design means you don't have to do the research, we do it for you. Not surprisingly, there's a sense of green fatigue facing many consumers, largely because it's being promoted as a panacea in ways on which it doesn't deliver. Many products are not green at all, and there is a new term on the market called "Greenwashing" which essentially means that it is a label and not a reality.
Let's take traditional housing insulation as an example. Even as a child, when I would venture into our unfinished attic the chemically loaded insulation made me itch. There are packages on the market of these chemically loaded insulation materials that are calling themselves green. These are the very same chemicals that made me itch and are also hard on the environment and our health. To top that off, they are difficult to impossible to recycle once they have outlived their usefulness. We want to avoid insulating materials that include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) because they are ozone-depleting compounds and a source of pollution and hard on our lungs and skin. Whenever possible, we want to consider insulating materials made from recycled materials. For example, Warmcel 100 insulation is made from 100 percent recycled newspapers. It's non-toxic, non-irritant, and presents no health hazard. The insulation can be disposed of safely without creating toxic waste and it uses very little energy to manufacture, much less than other insulation materials. There are others made from sheep's wool. Wool is a natural fiber derived from a fully renewable resource and the production process takes a fraction of the energy required to produce glass fiber insulation. It's safe to handle, has a life expectancy of more than 50 years, and is also recyclable. This is just one of the many considerations that go into building and remodeling BLUE.
BLUE Design is part of a lifestyle movement that requires the construction of a set of practices that make up the way we wish to live our lives. Slowing global warming and protecting our last wild places is a necessity, but it's not the whole end. If we see our goal as moving beyond just ameliorating harm and toward creating the future that we want to share with everyone in the world, what can the logic of nature, the green movement, and the best parts of the environmental movement teach us?
- Produce zero waste
- Be powered by renewable energy
- Buy only green products
- Research the methods of production to ensure global and social sustainability
- Be economically conscious in our purchasing
- Consider health, materials, energy, workmanship and design in all areas of our lives.
