The Eco Chick Guide to Life by Starre Vartan
This is a quick interesting read that can also serve as a great pocket guide while shopping for clothes, food, or cosmetics. It was written in 2008, but much of the author’s advice is timeless. The book is inspiring and not too intimidating. The author understands that readers may be skeptical of some green living practices, such as making toothpaste, but the information is user friendly and appeals to all levels of commitment. The book also covers all aspects of green living including event planning, appliances, beauty, fashion, and travel. (This book also inspired some of the articles for this blog including: Silk is Natural but is it Eco Friendly? and Alpaca Fiber is becoming more Popular in the U.S.)

Green is the New Black by Tasmin Blachard
This fun-to-read book is recommended by both Vogue and Vanity Fair. It is very informative, though some found it difficult to apply the advice to their own lives (for example: high-end green wedding gowns obviously aren’t practical for every day wear, but they are still interesting to read about.) Some readers also found the book somewhat hypocritical because Blanchard discusses low-impact leather, which while better than traditional leather, does not sit well with vegetarians an vegans. However, this discussion makes the book appealing to a wider audience that may want to make a more subtle transition towards a green wardrobe.

Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side o the Beauty by Stacy Malkan
This book reveals all sorts of toxic secrets of the beauty industry. We’ve already discussed the perils of parabens and deodorant on this blog, but that is barely skimming the surface of the issues surrounding daily-use toiletries. What is intriguing is that this book looks at the impact of beauty trends around the globe – like the use of popular skin whiteners in China. After reading this book, the author hopes people will make more informed purchasing decisions that will be better for their health and for the earth.

Super Natural Home: Improve your Health, Home, and the Planet 1 Room at a Time by Beth Greer
We know that many people discover Merida while searching for natural fiber area rugs to give their homes a bit of sustainability with style. Super Natural Home shows what else people can do to make their homes more clean and earth-friendly. The book gives practical advice with a solutions-based approach. Its positive outlook and easy-to-do methods have made this book very popular. One negative review mentioned that Greer should cite more sources since much of her advice is fact-based, but a vast majority of readers simply love the book.

Go Green, Get Lean: Trim Your Waistline with the Ultimate Low-Carbon Footprint Diet by Kate Geagan
I have to admit, I was totally intimidated by the title, but all of the reviews say that this book is full of doable actions. It is well-researched, legitimate, and includes discussions on food-based issues. The advice is laid out into a six-week diet plan to a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. Much of the advice is great for families too – the dieting and weight-loss strategies are simple and safe. Even readers who didn’t experience weight-loss noticed an overall increase in energy and a healthier complexion.

While it is important to purchase decor items that have a low production carbon footprint (such as our natural fiber area rugs), it is also important to keep your carbon footprint low at home by using appliances as efficiently as possible. Dishwashers are one of the top energy users in the average household. Water use, energy use, and chemicals in dish detergent are all serious environmental concerns that stem from the simple act of washing dishes. Luckily modern dishwashers not only save time, but also energy and water. According to a study by the University of Bonn in Germany, the most efficient dishwashers use 1/6th as much water and half as much energy as hand-washing dishes. Of course, it is up to consumers to make sure they are using their dishwasher as efficiently as possible by only running it when it is completely full and by avoiding pre-rinse and steam cycles.

However for people with small households, it may be trickier to wait until the dishwasher is full before running it. Luckily there is a new trendy solution for this common problem: the dishwasher drawer. Drawer style dishwashers are becoming increasingly popular because they are much smaller than traditional dishwashers and are more ergonomic. Dishes are easier to reach and organize, so there is less bending and lifting involved when unloading the dishwasher. Drawer dishwashers fall under the category of “compact dishwashers” which means that in order to qualify for an EnergyStar rating, the appliance must use less than four gallons of water per cycle and use less than 234 kWh per year. On average, EnergyStar rated dishwashers use 41% less energy than non-rated washers. The smaller more efficient models, such as the KitchenAid KUDD03STSS uses just 1.8 gallons of water per load! This is incredible considering that just ten years ago, average dishwashers used about 8-15 gallons per cycle. The KitchenAid model is approximately $1000, but similar models can be bought for upwards of $700. (and in case you’re nervous about purchasing a cheaper dishwasher, studies prove that cost doesn’t affect the cleanliness of the dishes – just the noise level an amount of time the wash cycle takes.)
Not only are drawer dishwashers smaller and more efficient, they are also discreet and beautiful:

(photo by steveduncan.com)

Apartment Therapy is one of the world’s most popular home design blogs, and boasts about 5 million unique page views each month! But more intriguing to us at Merida, is Apartment Therapy’s sub-blog Re-Nest. Re-Nest is a great source that has “abundant design for green homes.” The mission of Apartment Therapy’s Re-Nest blog is to spread both knowledge and optimism about green design and to show people that their home design can really make a difference to our planet. The website features green home tours which include quite a variety of styles and types of homes. Re-Nest has electronic tours of urban farms, upscale apartments, yurts, suburban homes, and more. The sheer variety is inspiring because it is easy to find great sustainability ideas for any type of living situation.

Re-Nest also has lots of fun DIY ideas. They use a Before and After format to show how something old is reupholstered, repainted, re-varnished, or refurbished into a fabulous and stylish new piece. Some of the latest articles include an old architect’s drafting table that was altered to be a unique dining room table, and a scuffed up vintage bench that was reupholstered and given a new life. In addition to posts about vamping up old furniture, Re-Nest also includes some very creative upcycled designs – usually furniture made out of a material that was originally completely unrelated to the item it is now. For example, one of the latest upcycle posts on Re-Nest is a ceiling fan that has arms made out of discarded chalk boards.

Apartment Therapy also has some other great sub-blogs, including ones on: technology in home design, design for children’s rooms, and cooking. They are all wonderfully informative and inspire readers to make their living space healthy, efficient, beautiful, and warm – which, of course, is also the aim of Merida’s unique, elegant, and sustainable natural fiber area rugs!

Deodorant is becoming a major health concern for consumers across the United States. No one wants to smell bad, and deodorant is a bigger social staple in this country than anywhere else in the world. In fact, about 90% of American adults wear deodorant on a regular basis, making it a 2 billion dollar industry. However, the cultural obsession with smelling squeaky clean may be putting people at risk for some serious health problems.
Traditional deodorants contain many questionable ingredients, such as: aluminum, parabens, propylene glycol, TEA & DEA, triclosan, artificial colors, and talc. Aluminum is usually the active ingredient in deodorants and antiperspirants because it blocks sweat glands. However, when aluminum is absorbed into the skin, can interact with estrogen receptors, which is a risk factor for developing breast cancer. This is very frightening, but there are no conclusive studies that link deodorant usage with increased breast cancer rates. Similarly, parabens are chemical preservatives that affect human hormones, but studies still have yet to concretely link exposure to cancer rates. Propylene glycol is in almost every brand of deodorant (even in some “natural” brands). It was originally developed as an antifreeze because it keeps products from drying out, and is used for that purpose in toiletries even though the chemical itself is a known neurotoxin. In addition to causing headaches, propylene glycol can also cause liver and kidney damage. The use of TEA & DEA as an ingredient for toiletries is severely restricted in the European Union (have you ever noticed that it is difficult to find your favorite brands of skin and hair products abroad? Well, this is why.) TEA & DEA are used to adjust the pH balance of  given product, but longterm exposure to these chemicals contributes to liver and kidney damage and is carcinogenic.
All in all, deodorants contain many dangerous chemicals, but there is controversy on whether or not these chemicals are causing harm to the human population. Studies are being conducted on different types of deodorants, but so far, all seem to be either inconclusive or conflicting with one another. Luckily, there are many alternative brands that give consumers the option to reduce their exposure to these chemicals without foregoing odor protection. Eco-conscious bands such as Kiss My Face, Burt’s Bees, and Tom’s of Maine all have lines of “natural” deodorant. (although it is important to read the label because while these brands contain less chemicals than traditional deodorants, they still may contain some of the foremetioned ingredients). MiEssence deodorant has been recognized as one of the most effective and environmentally friendly brands of deodorant, though it is somewhat more expensive than traditional brands.

Also becoming more popular is Crystal deodorant which does not contain any chemicals, and instead uses mineral salts. Users swear by it, but others are hesitant to begin using because this unconventional deodorant is like rubbing a rock in your armpits in the morning! Whatever you choose, more information and safety/environmental ratings can be found on the Skin Deep Database, which has information on 65,000 products.

Silk production has sparked an interesting debate among environmentalists and animal rights activists. In traditional silk production, thousands of silkworms are killed to make just a small amount of material. Silkworms are actually caterpillars that secrete silk thread to create their cocoons. Each cocoon is made from a single silk thread about a mile long, but when the caterpillar emerges from their cocoon as a moth, the silk cocoon is broken apart, which essentially destroys the silk thread. Therefore, in order to prevent the silkworms from destroying their own silk, the cocoons are thrown into boiling water, which kills the worms without harming the silk threads.

Because silk is an animal product, many strict vegans do not wear or purchase items made from silk, and because so many silkworms are killed in the production process, many animal rights activists and vegetarians steer clear from silk as well. However, most silk alternatives are synthetic and are not biodegradable. For example, rayon and polyester are often used as cheap, animal-free silk replacements, but this is far from sustainable. Not only do polyester and rayon take hundreds and hundreds of years to break down, but they also contain petroleum products, which means these fabrics are nonrenewable and solidify our dependence on foreign oil.

Luckily there is a type of silk that addresses these concerns: peace silk. Peace silk is natural silk that is created by allowing the silkworms to emerge from their cocoons. The broken cocoons are then collected and the segments of threads are mended using a spinning process. The spinning process gives peace silk a slightly thicker, softer, and more fragile texture than traditionally produced silk. Peace silk is also more expensive because it takes more time and skill to salvage and spin the abandoned cocoons, and less people are trained in this type of sericulture (silk production). As peace silk increases in popularity, so do programs like the Ahimsa Silk Project which trains local artisans on how to make peace silk, or even how to harvest cocoons from wild silk moths. These projects are likely to become mainstream over the next few years since demand for silk has been steadily increasing since 2000 and because consumers are becoming ever more aware of the impact of their purchases. Because of its benefits to people, silkworms, and the environment, peace silk sits with jute, sisal, abaca, and wool as an “eco-fiber”.

Igor Chernenko, the recipient of Merida’s first annual Sustainability Essay Scholarship. Congratulations to Igor for his impressive work! We would like to see some of those thoughtful ideas transformed into actions. We would also like to acknowledge our finalists and everyone else who submitted their wonderful essays for this inspiring contest.

To read Igor’s winning essay click here.

Many thanks to all participants and please continue to spread the sustainability story!

Our Sustainability Scholarship Contest has been an amazing success, but as with all the good things, it had to come to an end. Merida had launched this contest to tap into the passion that students around the country have for sustainability, the same passion we pour into our natural fiber rugs and rug runners. We would like to extend a big thanks to all participants that submitted their work and encourage them all to pursue the amazing ideas that they shared in their essays. It is exciting to know that there are a lot of young minds out there that share our passion for sustainability.

And without further ado, the finalists are:

Alexandra Westberg – Mission Viejo High School, Orange County, CA
Andrew Sbrissa – Hoover, AL
Cassandra McCullers – York High School, Yorktown, VA
Thomas Ricks – Skyline High School, Front Royal, VA
Igor Chernenko – Grand Junction High School, Grand Junction, CO

UPDATE TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
Due to a flaw in the vote tracking tool that was allowing individual visitors to vote multiple times and therefore breaking the rule of ONE vote per visitor we are decided to update the terms and conditions. We truly apologize for this mistake and any frustration that it may have caused.

The “Like Widget” will be removed from the blog immediately, and in an effort to conduct a Fair-Play contest, the winner will be internally selected by Merida. The winner will be announced on June 2, 2011 on our blog and contacted via email.

Good luck to all of the finalists, and many thanks again to everyone that participated.

In an effort to encourage and promote sustainability, Merida Home is offering a $1,000 scholarship to the high school student who best expresses Merida’s key theme: sustainability with style.

Alexandra Westberg – Orange County, CA

It seems that today, most of the country is concerned with “going green.”  People do their part by using reusable shopping bags, trying to help the environment one plastic bag at a time.  And they are helping.  However, I believe that preserving the Earth goes much further than these small actions.  The natural world is composed of complex systems working together to perform a function.  Protecting these systems is going to need a lot of work and a continued effort.  The Earth is beautiful and miraculous, and it is necessary to actively change the way people view natural resources, because they wont last forever.  When I look at something as simple as the wildflower field behind my house and feel a sense of hope, I know that I need to protect this special place.  To me, “sustainability with style” means translating the delicacy and productivity of nature into something that can be used in everyday life to help protect the natural world.

When I think of sustainability, the first thing that comes to mind is recycling.  Without even noticing it, people are affected by recycling everyday.  An innocent bystander sits on a bench that was once a lot of plastic grocery bags and feels a sense of relief.  When I see something like this, I am amazed that what once was just garbage has been turned into something that has beauty in its utility.  Recycling is such a simple act, yet it makes a big difference in reducing our carbon footprint.  What was once discarded as garbage can be turned into an item that is used everyday to reduce our impact on the environment.  It is these small things, much like the small things in nature, which I find wonderful.  These mundane items can be even more stylish than the materials it was made out of.  They can be unique and extraordinary.  We are making an improved world, because we are taking materials and making something much better out of them.

I have a set of plates that are made out of recycled glass.  The glass swirls in different colored patterns that remind me of the yellow of a sunflower.  Instead of ending their useful life in a landfill, the glass was turned into something stylish that I use everyday.  These plates are not the fine china that many people find beautiful, but because it helps the environment in some small way, it makes these plates even more appealing to me.  Style does not have to conform to what our culture deems “cool.”  Style can have an evolving definition – a definition that is special for each person, because each person finds beauty in different things, be it in a plate, a bench, or even a rug.

In an effort to encourage and promote sustainability, Merida Home is offering a $1,000 scholarship to the high school student who best expresses Merida’s key theme: sustainability with style.

Andrew Sbrissa – Hoover, AL

Sustainability is what drives the entrepreneurs of the 21st century. A growing issue in our world is the impact we humans have on the planet, and how we are accelerating our global climate change. Sure, we can go through extensive engineering, research, and development to create sustainable products and resources, but the true essence of sustainability is the purity of style.

You might think of sustainable style as how modern your “eco-friendly” kitchen is, or how sleek your new hybrid is. Though style can trend with what is popular in the designer world, anyone can create their own style. Searching for the appropriate substitution to a not-so-efficient appliance may resort in creating an entirely new way of completing the task.

Style not only refers to the external appearance of a product or idea, but the internal, passionate manner in which it is developed. How we conduct ourselves in the face of adversity, alongside failure, or accompanied by our successes, is a critical part of style that never goes unnoticed. If someone wanted to develop, say, a sustainable line of patio furniture, they would need to incorporate the natural materials from the area which the collection is inspired from, input from locals on the design and application, and if an area of the project fails, the purity of one’s style can shine.

As we grow into dreamers and thinkers of our future, let’s focus on a cradle to cradle relationship with our environment. Let’s incorporate nature into our products to so that they don’t exist in nature, but are extensions of nature. We can use our creative and ingenious minds to develop new ways of creating and maintaining sustainable products. Let’s collaborate in a movement that involves character, ingenuity, and design to push the boundaries of sustainability with the purity of style – sustainability with style.