Looking out our living room windows over the streets of Manhattan or across the rooftops of Paris, the Earth looks very different this Earth Day, 2020. Automobile and air traffic are nonexistent or significantly reduced. Skies are bluer and crisper. In Northern India, after just two weeks of lockdown related to Covid-19, citizens can see the Himalayan Mountains for the first time in decades. Air quality around the globe has improved dramatically.
While staying home to flatten the curve comes with many challenges, one thing is clear: we are all interconnected and we are realizing now more than ever how much healthier our planet could be if we became more conscious about the choices we make as consumers.
The atmosphere inside our homes can and should be just as clean, invigorating, and healing as the spring rain or an autumn breeze. When we design and shop for our home décor with sustainability in mind, we make a promise to cure what ails us. We commit to banishing toxins and pollutants from our multifunctional rooms, our kitchens, our more private rooms—like our bedrooms—our every room.
When we make selections to reduce our carbon footprint, we look for labels that indicate our furniture, our fabrics, our paints, and our accessories are as locally sourced and environmentally-friendly as they can be.
Lighting
Many of us have made the educated and simple choice to go green and clean in the home by choosing energy efficient light bulbs, LED , smart lighting, and electronic systems. Saving pennies on our electric bill allows us to splurge a little too, on luxury lighting that is artisanal by design, uses LED bulbs, and is made of a non-plastic material, brass.
Paint and Wall Coverings
A new coat of paint changes the mood of a room and its inhabitants instantly. Wall coverings today are not your grandmother’s wallpaper. We can all breathe easier knowing there are multiple eco-wise options for freshening up our spaces with non-toxic and renewable products. Farrow & Ball is a green company, and their nature-inspired offerings include paint colors such as Elephant’s Breath and wallpaper patterns such as Peony.
Sherwin Williams Harmony paint line is not only Greenguard Gold certified with zero Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), but it also helps eliminate pet odors. Other eco-friendly paint lines, such as Benjamin Moore Natura, are certified asthma- and allergy-friendly.
If you want to add texture to your walls, wall coverings are a great alternative to paint. With its noise reduction qualities, Plyboo’s renewable bamboo Linear Sound Collection looks stunning and has the added advantage of turning your home office into a truly peaceful space.
Furniture and Textiles
Antique treasures and one-of-a-kind pieces can be purchased and repurposed at beautiful Chairish, Sotheby’s Home, and 1st Dibs as well as galleries such as Ralph Pucci or Maison Gerard. Maison’s curated collection runs the gamut from contemporary to classic, and of course buying an 18th century table is the ultimate gesture of upcycling.
Using only fallen or dead trees, furniture designer David Stine is redefining rebirth and beauty, with his chic award winning tables.
If you want to buy new, you want to buy responsibly. Cisco, of Cisco Home, is committed to bringing together craftspeople and consumers who respect nature and the health of the hearth and home. The company is a founding partner of the Sustainable Furniture Council (SFC), and their products range from mirrors, to loveseats, to leather—all meant to provide comfort and a clear conscience.
Mill Collective is an incredibly unique “curated talent platform” that exhibits a collection of new designers and fresh product at each High Point Market, connecting talented artisans with buyers, designers, and other key interior design industry players. Honoring small-batch, handmade products, traditional design, and sustainable production practices, Mill Collective provides their artisans with studio space at no cost, allowing them to focus on the creative process.
Finally, for those throws, comforters, sheets, and pillows you wrap around your OEKO-TEX Certified Coco Mat and Eco Terra mattresses or toss across your sustainably sourced Cisco sofa—you can’t beat Buffy and Cerda Fabrics.
Accessories and Décor
Given the Environmental Protection Agency reports 93% of our time is spent indoors (87% indoors, 6% in cars), it makes sense to liven up each room to enhance its unique qualities and purpose.
Biophilia is back-to-basics accessorizing—bringing the outdoors inside with houseplants instantly improves air quality, state of mind, and comfort level. Learning which plants thrive under which conditions, you connect with nature. Nurture a small windowsill garden of rosemary and thyme, and you are living the Earth Day, Every Day lifestyle by saving on trips to the grocery store.
Some say our plants “dance” after lights out, and whether that is true or not, all music lovers in the home will appreciate the grounded in nature, unobtrusive Transparent Speaker, made of recycled materials.
In 2020, we are learning what it means to truly be at home, to feel at home, and to create a home that is where the heart is. This Earth Day, we see what good we are capable of when we collectively step back, slow down, and focus on health. We see too how our first and only home—Planet Earth—can heal when we take positive responsible actions to tend to it and allow it to exist in its natural state.
If you are looking for ways to create a home that is a sanctuary that honors the planet, schedule a consultation with me here.
Thank you, and here’s to embracing Earth Day 50 with purpose and passion!
