apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

NOT GREEN!

What do the editors of this discussion think about this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/fashion/01green.html

I happen to agree with it in many counts.

Re: NYT article:
Which is greener, building a "green" 5,000 sq.ft. second home or building a 600 sq.ft. (1 bed, 1 bath) cabin out of "normal" materials?

I'd bet the cabin.

Amenity Home has GREAT Modern Organic bedding.

http://amenityhome.bobbyberkhome.com

Jonathan, just wait until Jonathan and Stephanie get their hands on you. ;-)

As for the "buying into green" article, anusha, I really liked it and agreed with the final thesis that green needs to address folks on every level, even the light greens.

every bit helps at this point.

I think this will be a fitting addition in that like everything else on this site it will provide an introduction to so many things and ideas that can help you make your space special. People will be able to take advantage of those things or ideas and the comments that go along with them. Other ideas may not be appealing or may be controversial and people will debate them.

I'm comfortable knowing that AT's intentions are to provide information on all things "green" when it comes to decking out your place. It's an interesting time we live in as ideas like the "green" ones which are associated with conscientiousness and doing the right thing become intertwined with consumerism. i.e. people using the term "green" simply to sell stuff, http://www.emeraldchicago.com/about/eco.html

I'm looking forward to this because as an urban dweller, which most of AT's audience is, it is impossible, right now, to live 100% green. In a city, we are essentialy living under someone else's roof with their own ordinances and infrastructure, much of which is not green to say the least. Any bit of information than can help me along the way to living my life in this city as a greener person, which isn't nearly as green as I'd like it to be, is good information in my mind.

What's the educational background for these two?

Sometimes AT feels like it's just paying lip service to being green. Don't get me wrong, there have been some great points on how to avoid harsh chemicals and all that stuff, but then there's posts about furniture that actually incorporates carcinogenic plastic I'd just like to get out of the house. I'd like to believe that it's just out of ignorance. One case in point is those Fatboy beanbag chairs. I was almost going to buy one until I found out that their water repellancy was due to a pvc coating. Apart from my lp's and my shower head hose, which I didn't know was made out of pvc before I installed it, I am desperately trying to expel all things vinyl from the house (or rather just not bring any more in). It's not just the Fatboys; it's the vinyl floor tiles, vinyl chairs, etc.

I think there's more to going green than turning off the lights and using less plastic bags. It's not just about being carbon-neutral. It's also about not bringing off-gassing materials into the house that are slowly killing you. It's about not buying a bamboo blanket because you already *have* a cotton blanket that works.

And so in these regards, I feel that the new "green home" might be in opposition with the rest of the AT sites. Or perhaps it'll just have a lot of things to buy and it'll all work out fine.

It is bad to cross-post because the blogs become repetitive if not redundant.

For instance, a photo is in the NY Times. A.T. NY steals it and posts it. Then A.T. Green or whatever posts it again. At that point it's been seen by most NYC readers 3 times.

What if A.T. L.A. then picks it up?

Well MrGreen, if A.T. L.A. picks it up then some people may see the photo *GASP* FOUR TIMES!!! Not exactly the end of the world. Usually if I come across something that I know I've seen I'll skip it, unless it seems to be a new spin on it. It takes all of two seconds to look at a photo and the accompanying first paragraph (or whatever's posted above the cut) and decide whether I've seen it before or not.

I accept that as part of reading all of the AT blogs daily. Some people don't read every site, they only read one or two. They shouldn't have to miss out just because AT NY or one of the other sites picked it up first.

And linking sites is actually an established online strategy to generate more results via search engines.