Congratulations to Rosa Parks Elementary  in San Francisco – one of three Grand Prize Winners of the CBS & EcoZone Green My School Contest!

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In total, 45 schools across the nation participated in the contest. Each participating school submitted a short standard submission form and a creative response exploring what being green means to them and why their school should receive a green makeover. The three winning schools are Rosa Parks Elementary School in San Francisco; Everett M. Dirksen Middle School in Chicagoland; and Miami Northwestern High School in Miami. The winning schools recieved extensive green makeovers with the eco-remodel at Rosa Parks including a solar installation on the roof, a rainwater collection unit, and alternative interior wall coverings like American Clay.

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Our friends at Yolo Colorhouse Paint in Portland Oregon contributed Zero-VOC exterior paints to Rosa Parks Elementary School for the striking murals that now adorn the walls of the school and playground.  All YOLO Colorhouse coatings are completely free of carcinogens, formaldehyde, phthalates,  hazardous air pollutants and ozone depleting compounds. You can find Yolo Colorhouse online at www.yolocolorhouse.com.  Scroll down for more pictures of the new colorful murals at Rosa Parks Elementary!

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From the desk of our product specialist:

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Here at Ecohaus, human health is just as important to our mission of sustainability as is the health of the environment. So, when we look at bringing a product on, we have a list of features that we energetically avoid in the products that we sell. We call this our “Bright Lines” policy (as in “bright lines in the sand” that we do not cross) and this is one of the cornerstones of our product-selection process. Our “Bright Lines” list includes things like persistent bio-accumulative toxins (PBTs), hormone disrupting chemicals, radioactive ingredients and more!

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We have just added another chemical called triclosan to our “prohibited” list and we want to tell you about it. You might recognize it as the active ingredient in many “antibacterial” products. Triclosan really seems to be everywhere.  It is present in hundreds of popular consumer products including liquid hand soap, toothpaste, lotions, undergarments and children’s toys (just to name a few.)   We are seeing triclosan being used in many building products as well. 

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Why does Ecohaus work hard to avoid this popular chemical in our products? Officially classified as a pesticide, triclosan is a persistent bio-accumulative toxin. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), lab studies link triclosan to thyroid dysfunction, developmental defects, and liver and inhalation toxicity — it persists in the environment, breaks down into substances highly toxic to wildlife and pollutes the human body.  Triclosan has been found in 58% of rivers, 97% of breast milk and in the urine of 75% of the population.   The EWG recommends that consumers avoid the use of triclosan-laden products whenever possible.

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Given the above, it is especially interesting to note that anti-microbial soaps, where triclosan is widely used, have not proven to be any more effective at preventing the spread of infections than plain soap and water.  Even the American Medical Association recommends that people avoid using anti-microbials such as Triclosan.

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According to a report in the Washington Post posted on April 8th, mounting concerns about the effects of triclosan have spurred the FDA and the EPA to begin a reevaluation of this widespread substance.

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Triclosan is only one of hundreds of such chemicals that raise serious concerns about their effects on our bodies and our environment. Currently, we have a regulatory system in which products are only regulated once the damage is already done.  To learn more about what you could do to help change the system, and ensure that chemicals used in consumer products are first proven to be safe for people and ecosystems, check out these links at the EWG:

http://www.ewg.org/kid-safe-chemicals-act-blog/kid-safe-chemicals-act/

http://action.ewg.org/t/1875/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26526

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To read more of the Environmental Working Group’s extensive report on triclosan, click here.

And here are a few additional links to more information:

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/Triclosan%20cited.pdf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040704621.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triclosan

http://abetterwaytoclean.com/?p=39 

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 For detailed information about personal-care-products and how they rate for toxicity, be sure to visit the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database.

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Sustainability explored through Multi-Media Dance Performances:

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Deborah Slater Dance Theater celebrates 20 years of theatrically innovative work with the world premiere of Men Think They Are Better Than Grass in seven performances April 30-May 9 at Z Space / Theater Artaud in San Francisco. The large-scale, evening-length work is inspired by the beauty and fragility of the natural world and W. S. Merwin’s poetry (from which it takes its title) and explores the interrelationship between humanity and the environment. Choreographed and directed by Deborah Slater, Men Think They Are Better Than Grass incorporates text, animation, visual design, an original score and video. The work uses interactive technology to create a stage environment that changes over time, through a wikipedia-like web component that will be uniquely different from performance to performance. This reciprocity between art, technology, and the stage–artistically innovative, participatory and solution-oriented–is at the heart of Men Think They Are Better Than Grass and will shape the creative process and the performance experience for artists and audiences alike. Performances will be given Friday, April 30, at 8 p.m. (Preview); Saturday, May 1, at 8 p.m. (Opening Night with post-performance Gala); Sunday, May 2, at 5 p.m.; Thursday, May 6-Friday, May 8, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, May 9, at 5 p.m. Z Space / Theater Artaud is located at 450 Florida Street, San Francisco.

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Tickets for Men Think They Are Better Than Grass are priced $20-25 with discounts for seniors, students and groups and may be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

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Zem Joaquin at our San Francisco Grand Opening

The Grand Opening Celebration for our new San Francisco store is picking up steam! 

Our celebration kicked off last weekend with big events in our store and exhibiting at the Green Festival just two blocks away!  The glamorous eco-celebrity and founder of ecofabulous, Zem Joaquin, helped set the tone on Friday night. As she welcomed us to San Francisco, she shared a story about the positive effects of green building materials on the health of her family – her kids have gone five years without an asthma attack since she decided to go green in her own home.  You can see her tell this story herself – and give us a nice plug too – on Kelly Ripa’s first Green Idea Swap webcast (she comes on around 8 minutes in!) 

At the store our Grand Opening Specials continue and Yolo has extended their Spring Sale rebate to San Francisco Customers through May 2nd! Also, check out our schedule of workshops and events on our San Francisco Community Page. 

The community gathers at our Grand Opening

Picture from 350.org's Day of Climate Action

Above is a picture from 350.org’s international climate action day that took place on October 24th, 2009. Across our blue planet, people took up the effort to convince world leaders that we should bring atmospheric carbon dioxide back down to 350 parts per million. This is the level at which, scientists say, life as we know it can continue to thrive.  For more information about this number, please visit Bill McKibben’s website, 350.org.

Now those world leaders are set to start meeting at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen next week to begin drafting an international plan that could set future limits on CO2 emissions and lay out strategies for reaching those limits. To be successful, they need to hear from us – the people that their decisions will affect. They need to hear that we are paying attention to what they’re deciding, and that we care.  There are at least two different petitions that you can sign to add your voice to the chorus: 350.org and Hopenhagen.org. These websites also provide updates on developments as they happen in the United States and around the world. Please join us in encouraging the UN to take strong action on this important issue.

To see more inspiring pictures from October 24th, please visit 350.org’s flickr stream.

Here at home, Ecohaus is trying to do our part – cutting our carbon footprint by providing local materials as much as possible, and by offsetting our carbon output by purchasing carbon credits in local forests through the Northwest Natural Resource Group.

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credit: Holli Dunn

How can you incorporate sustainability into your life beyond the paint you put on your walls, or the toilet you choose to install? Try greening your holiday celebrations! Corey Colwell Lipson and her mom Lynn Colwell have written a book called Celebrate Green which is an incredible resource for ideas on how to make holidays healthy and eco-friendly. They started with thinking about Halloween.

Several years ago, Corey started a national grassroots initiative called Green Halloween®. The goal: to spread creative ideas for tackling the waste and unhealthy habits typically associated with this plastic, chemical, and sugar heavy event.

It is easier to green your Halloween than you might think! Here are some of her great ideas:

 + Instead of giving away conventional candy, consider items such as pencils made from recycled newsprint, temporary tattoos sporting eco-savvy themes, or 100% fruit leathers. Even organic lollipops are better for children and the planet and some come in compostable wrappers.

+ Instead of buying a costume this year, see if you can make one out of materials you have lying around your house, can borrow from a friend or can find at a thrift store. Or, host a costume swap with your neighbors.

+ Decorate your front lawn, porch and home with items from nature. Pumpkins, gourds and hay are all great, green items that can be composted when November 1st rolls around.

For more inspiration visit www.celebrategreen.net, or come meet Corey in person at a Green Halloween party on October 8, at our Seattle Ecohaus showroom! Hosted by Biznik  and a whole host of great food and beverage sponsors, this will be a fun-filled networking event – and a great opportunity to pick up tons of simple ideas for making Halloween a healthy and happy event for your family – AND the planet!

This event is open to Biznik members as well as the general public. RSVP via BizNik or email Tracy(at)treadlightgifts.com. Click here for more information.

 Our Seattle Ecohaus showroom is located at 4121 1st Ave S, Seattle, 98134.

The Caroma Profile

Caroma has long been the world’s leader in dual flush toilets, and now they have taken water-savings to a whole new level. By incorporating a hand-washing basin right into the tank of their toilet, Caroma has made it easy for people to conserve even more. 

They started with a High-Efficiency Dual Flush Toilet (two flush options: 0.8 gallons for liquids, and 1.28 gallons for solids) and changed the design of the tank so that water refilling the tank is first routed through a faucet at the top, making that clean water available for hand washing. As the water from your hand washing goes down the drain of the basin, it goes directly into tank to be used next time you flush the toilet.

Hard to imagine? Here’s an image of the inside of the tank so you can see how it works:

On top of making use of hand-washing-wastewater for flushing, Caroma dual flush toilets use less water to begin with. With an average flush of just 1 gallon, Dual Flush toilets reduce water consumption by 40-70 percent. Just imagine the water savings when the water from your hand washing gets recycled on top of it all!

Want even better news? Right now  through 10/18/2009 the Caroma Profile is just $399.99 – that’s $100 off the regular price! Come in and check it out!

The Caroma Profile is a certified High Efficiency, WaterSense toilet – and has received the Popular Mechanics “Product Breakthrough” award for innovative design and engineering.

The final numbers are in! It was the hottest day of the year and traffic was at it’s absolute ugliest but that did not dampen people’s passion for sustainable waste solutions!

At our Seattle Waste Alternatives and Electronics Recycling event on July 29th, Seattlites turned in 36,931 pounds of old electronics! That means that nearly 18.5 tons of garbage were collected for local, certified-responsible recycling by Total Reclaim. 

Our very esteemed guests at the event included: local green resource GreenDwelling Seattle;  the international watch-dog group The Basel Action Network; the waste-diverting countertop manufacturer Squak Mountain Stone; Cedar Grove Composting (who gave out 100 free bags of compost in 20 minutes flat); Arcade Magazine; the salvage company Second Use Building Supplies; Seattle Public Utilities; and the new-to-Seattle reusable-moving-box company Frogbox.

Visit www.ecyclewa.org for more information on how to recycle your electronics responsibly in Washington State.

Live Music was provided by the fantastic, fun gypsy-swing band Hochiwichi.

The folks of BAN showing off their program for verifying E-Waste Recyclers

It took over 7 box trucks to move all the waste that was collected.

This radio's a real old-timer!

This is great news, and on Saturday, August 22^nd, the ladies from YOLO will be making an appearance at Ecohaus Portland to celebrate! From 10am until 2pm they will be in the showroom to share information about their new Green Seal 2010 Certification and what that means for your indoor air quality – and they will also be showing off their new color line, The Color Of Hope.

Since Ecohaus started selling eco-friendly building supplies back in 1992, we have never been satisfied with the status quo of the market. We diligently pursue new levels of “green,” seeking out companies with strict standards, and encouraging our suppliers to innovate – to push beyond their previous achievements.

YOLO’s attainment of the Green Seal 2010 certification is a perfect example of a company that was already extraordinairly eco-friendly continually seeking to go further still. The newly certified YOLO Colorhouse paints work harder to protect indoor air quality, contain less hazardous chemicals, and reduce VOC (volatile organic compound) levels. All YOLO Colorhouse coatings are completely free of carcinogens, formaldehyde, phthalates, hazardous air pollutants and ozone depleting compounds.

“YOLO Colorhouse has demonstrated that the challenges posed in the revised standard can be met,” said Dr. Arthur Weissman, president and CEO of Green Seal. “We are proud to put our mark on such innovative and environmentally responsible products.”

So, come on in to Ecohaus Portland on August 22^nd to learn more. And if you think their new certification is dazzling, just wait until you see their bright new color palette!  You can also visit them online at www.yolocolohouse.com.

Ecohaus Portland is located at 819 SE Taylor Street in Portland Oregon.

The proceeds from the raffle and collection baskets were all donated to the River City Skate Park – a soon-to-be-breaking-ground destination for the youth of South Park.

ECOSS’ primary mission is to help businesses and individuals, through education and outreach, prevent pollution, conserve energy, manage hazardous materials and clean up contaminated properties. Since 1994, ECOSS has offered confidential, free training for businesses around how to make their operations more efficient (read: save money) and sustainable. If you’re a business owner and you want to learn more, please click here!

The work of the folks down at ECOSS extends to enriching the community through facilitating coalitions and organizing around a variety of neighborhood causes. An example of one such cause has been the River City Skate Park – the idea for this park began with kids in the South Park neighborhood who wished for a good place to practice their skateboarding.  You can find out more about the work that ECOSS has accomplished in the community at large by clicking here, or read their recap of the party on their blog.

ECOSS Executive Director Kevin Burrell addresses the crowd