KITCHEN & BATH: An eco-friendly detail you probably forgot about

You will already be under extreme pressure during your kitchen and or bath remodel to keep the contractors moving.  In fact, it is likely that if your contractor is unfamiliar with “greener products” they will route you toward their faithful legacy vendors in the process.  If you don’t believe us, wait and see when it comes to kitchen cabinets!  Kitchen and bathroom cabinets are one area where standing your ground will take some effort.  Taking time to introduce your contractor to your eco-friendly idea of Neil Kelly Cabinets will be an effort (worth it if you are prepared to work a bit more for what you believe in).  

Once you’ve locked in your cabinets, GetWithGreen.com wanted to share with you an eco-friendlier supplier of cabinet fixtures and knobs.  We met the team from Nature’s Hardware last summer at the West Coast Green show in San Francisco.  Owner Lorraine Vitkauskas walked us through her products, and gave us the scoop on her business that has been offering greener products since 2001.

                

Nature’s Hardware offers a comprehensive line of handles, knobs, coat hooks, and more.  Many of which are made from recycled and or sustainable materials such as glass, metal, and bamboo.  The cabinet hardware is nicely categorized on Lorriane’s site, and each product write-up provides a considerable amount of detail.  In some cases you might find it a bit difficult to find detailed information about the recycled content of some products, but by simply calling the Nature’s Hardware customer service line they will answer any specific questions you might have.    Or, we have compiled the list from their Collection right here at GetWithGreen.com… Read more

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COUNTERTOPS: Meld USA delivers ecoX concrete to homeowners

Working our way across the country to give you in-depth product information related to eco-friendly countertops and products, today we are stopping outside Raleigh, NC where we sit down with Michael Bustin, co-founder and lead material designer of Meld USA.

Meld USA

Since their inception over seven years ago, Meld USA has been manufacturing pre-cast concrete surfaces, furnishings, fixtures and accessories for high impact living, working and entertaining environments. Michael?s background in designer concrete came as a result of a 16 month stint in the industry marketing and selling artistic concrete products on a national level for a West Coast concrete artisan in the late 90s. With Meld USA, he and his brother, Peter Bustin, set out to deliver premium made-to-order modern concrete products and materials to clients across the nation. Since that time their business has grown, and Meld USA has delivered 35% of their products directly to homeowners and 65% to well known commercial clients such as Safeguard, Cosi, Merck Pharmaceutical, Anthropologie, Northwestern Mutual and many more.

The company?s first concrete product formula was known as extremeconcrete®, an award winning modern concrete material. Extremeconcrete was a proprietary mixture of sand, Portland cement, water, fibers and other modern concrete ingredients. Extremeconcrete began selling in 2002, was nationally trademarked in 2004, and is still available today.

In 2004, a family member, urged the two brothers to take their products one step further in an effort to do more for our environment. Read more

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ROOFING: Leaves beginning to fall, and RainTube picks up top honors!

Fall is here and the leaves are starting to fill your gutters, unless you have RainTube that is.  We covered this product several months ago, and it remains one of our favorites here at GetWithGreen.com. 

This week the RainTube team garnered several awards at the Green Building Industry Awards.  Read on below, and make sure you check out RainTube’s product made from 100% recycled materials…

RainTube product recognized for outstanding achievement in environmental sustainability — Wins Four International Green Building Industry Awards.
 
GLI Systems Inc. of Jacksonville, Oregon, manufacturer of the RainTube Gutter Protection System, has been awarded an unprecedented four 2007 Green Building Pages Benchmark Sustainability Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Environmental and Social Sustainability.  The awards were presented at the US Green Building Council ?Build Green Exposition? in Chicago, the world?s largest building products exposition focused on sustainable, eco-friendly building products and methods.  RainTube won in four of seven categories including:

• The top award ? The Sustainable Product Award ? for the highest overall product sustainability rating,
• The Global Climate Change Award,
• The End of Product Life Award, and
• The Installation, Use and Maintenance Award.  Read more

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