Green living and the design dilemma

Green living isn't a trend; it's a societal shift towards responsible living.

And more and more North Americans are embracing this shift -- making energy saving and environmental ramifications an integral part of their lifestyle decision-making.

Now, style-gurus are coming out to promote this not-so-new attitude toward sustainability. More and more interior designers are starting their environmentally friendly with style options to give homeowners a chic choice when being responsible.

As such, more and more how-to tips offer homeowners options for eco-chic rooms. These options include alternative choices for paint, flooring, window treatments, furniture and lighting.

Self-professed environmental lifestyle expert Danny Seo, who's written a series of books on the topic called "Simply Green", compiled a list of simple suggestions for decorators. These suggestions include:

PAINT: Chose a low VOC paint. VOCs are "volatile organic compounds" — the only bad "organic" you should avoid. (The higher the VOC the stronger the paint odour). As such, companies like Benjamin Moore are producing low VOC paint called ECOSPEC. It's virtually odorless and can be tinted almost any color.

FLOORING: For the wine lovers (and environmentalists) the best flooring option is a cork floor; cork is an ecological and durable choice. And there are a number of reasons for this choice. The first is that cork is slowly becoming an usused resource as wine makers turn to plastic, rather than cork, to top their products. With this decreased demand for cork, the cork forests -- where cork material is stripped from the trees without killing them, making it a sustainable choice -- are being clear cut for farmland. So, choosing a cork floor provides the homeowner a durable, sound-proofing choice and helps save the cork forests.

WINDOW TREATMENTS: Rather than drapes or plastic blinds, Seo suggests bamboo blinds. The choice is eco-friendly because it's not wood -- and most wood products employ clear cutting methods. Instead, bamboo is a fast-growing grass that can be made into wood-like products. Not only is this natural material highly durable, but,right now, it's very vogue.

FURNITURE: Choose furniture that promotes sustainable harvesting (harvested from tree plantations, rather than clear cutting rain forests).

LIGHTING: Light bulbs have advanced over the years and the compact flourescent bulbs (funny shaped) are ideal for reduced energy expenditure by 10% and still provide suitable indoor lighting. A cheap option that allows a homeowner to use these lights is to conceal the bulbs behind a lamp or shade -- and the cheapest option for a wide variety it Ikea. Also, don't forget to take your used compact flourescents light bulbs with you when you shop -- Ikea will recycle them for you.

To find out more about Danny Seo go to:
http://www.dannyseo.com/