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The List

Here it is, dear readers, what you’ve been asking for all along--sort of!

Penny Bonda -- Interior Design, 3/24/2008 9:28:00 AM

Please send me the list of green interior products, furniture and furnishings.

There it is—my most asked question. Everyone wants a list of sustainable materials and my answer has consistently been, there is no list. Products and their many attributes must be evaluated in the context of the project and in relationship to each other. My best advice from a previous column still stands—ask questions, lots of questions.

I do realize, however, that my response isn't entirely satisfying. You want more—an actual list. In the spirit of pleasing my readership, and because it's spring and the cherry blossoms are blooming, I turned to my list of the greenest interior designers I know and asked each to name their favorite green products. As you'll see, many couldn't limit themselves to just one (and one received two endorsements). They generously responded with the names and the very instructive "why" of materials they turn to again and again. Here goes.

Rachelle Schossler Lynn, Studio 2030, Minneapolis

One of my favorite green products is the Interface carpet tile, specifically for the aesthetics—especially the introduction of products for the hospitality market—the inventive TacTiles and the company's corporate sustainability mission including its Cool Carpet program.

I also rank the AllSteel #19 chair as one my favorites because it's a beautiful ergonomic task chair with 18 parts—easy to put together and easy to take apart. I like the minimalist aesthetic that is so well designed.

The Herman Miller Mirra chair is equally a favorite—again I love the design of the chair and I appreciate that the designers considered sustainability from the onset of the design process.

Clifford R. Tuttle, Forest Perkins, San Francisco

I love Legna bed linens from SDH European Luxury Linens. Imagine the smooth and supple feel of silk combined with the easy care of cotton! This lustrous, long lasting fabric reflects light and drapes beautifully. The wood pulp used to create these amazing linens is harvested from managed forests, helping to make them completely biodegradable. Meticulously finished to meet stringent standards for quality, these luxuriously soft linens have true and lasting beauty.

Annette Stelmack, Inspirit-llc, Denver

Lulan Artisans is an exquisite and timeless collection of handcrafted, contemporary textiles made with sustainable business practices that embrace environmental and social philosophies.

I found Urban Hardwoods through on-line research a few years ago. They are a joy to work with and create the most amazing pieces from salvaged urban wood in the Seattle area.

Eco Friendly Flooring is a small, woman owned business that crafts luminescent glass tiles from post-consumer and post-industrial sources. The tiles have the texture of found sea glass in an incredible array of colors and a solid variety of shapes and sizes.

What's not to love about 3-form and their products, their mission and their customer service? Their eco-resin product holds infinite possibilities through the use of color, organic materials, and textures.

Carlie Bullock Jones, Ecoworks Studio, Atlanta

One of my favorites is the Herman Miller Mirra Chair—because it shows that being green can also be stylish and comfortable! I also love all those big bags given away at conferences—now I just reuse them for grocery shopping. No more paper or plastic!

Kirsten Childs, Croxton Collaborative Architects, New York

Terragreen Traffic Tile uses 51% recycled glass from automobiles and I use it on almost every project. It's good-looking, versatile, cuts well and can be used in multiple locations for floors and wall—I like its staying power!

LED lighting is going to revolutionize lighting in terms of cost and energy conservation. We are just beginning to use it but, with its super low-energy profile together with advances in color spectrum control, I think it's going to be huge.

Holley Henderson, H2 Ecodesign, Atlanta

Collins Pine FreeForm—what's not to like? FSC certified particleboard with no added urea-formaldehyde.

Bernadette Upton, EcoDecor, Inc., North Palm Beach

One of my favorite products is INDIKA fabrics, all organic cottons, linens, wools and other natural fibers made with natural dyes . . . and absolutely gorgeous! It's the first product that I go to for chemically sensitive people who can't deal with synthetics.

I also love river-recovered wood from Goodwin Heart Pine. The product is so beautiful and incredibly durable.

Another favorite green product is EarthWeave wool carpet. I call it the purest carpet on the planet. It is biodegradable and free of any pesticides, chemicals and dyes. Its primary backing is made from hemp and cotton while its secondary backing is made from jute (not latex). The adhesive is made from the rubber tree, all-natural, biodegradable and non-toxic.

Kari Foster, Associates III, Denver

My current favorite green product is American Clay Natural Earth Plasters. It's a beautiful, environmentally friendly alternative to gypsum, acrylic, and lime plasters that uses all natural clays, recycled and reclaimed aggregates, and all natural pigments. The manufacturing process does not require high-energy kilns or reactors to manufacture, plus it's made in and uses materials from the U.S. American Clay emits no VOCs and has the capacity to "breathe" and release negative ions that help filter air of pollen and dander.

Sandy Campbell, One Earth One Design, Seattle

Squak Mountain Stone and their new product Trinity—countertops made locally out of recycled King County materials, including paper, and granite dust—is the most sustainable countertop materials available in the Northwest.

Decopour, a pour in place terrazzo floor, is another product we really like. They also make a water-based dye and hardener that we've used on concrete floors and it's performed wonderfully.

Many thanks to my contributors. Designers, anyone else want to weigh in?