Lately I’ve been having a love affair with cork. Cork is sustainably harvested, rapidly renewable, recyclable, compostable, natural, durable, and easy-care, and its harvest is the keystone in both the conservation of a unique ecosystem and the continuation of a traditional rural cultural heritage. It does need to be transported from Europe to reach us, but I feel that this negative is outweighed by its many positive qualities.

Cork is actually the bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus suber). Each year, cork oak grow a thick layer of bark cells (or phellem) that accumulate as annual rings, instead of being shed. The outer layer of waxy cork bark can reach a thickness of 6 inches (15 cm) or more. Its role is to protect the tree from wildfire damage: cork oaks evolved in dry, fire-prone Mediterranean ecosystems, and their thick outer bark can char while still insulating the sensitive inner stem tissues from heat, so that any damaged branches in the crown can resprout quickly from stem buds.

On a microscopic level, cork is a honeycomb-like network of 14-sided air-filled cells, with about 200 million cells per cubic inch. This structure makes cork both an excellent acoustic barrier and (as noted above) thermal insulator, so that cork floors are comfortable in both hot and cold weather. The spongey cellular structure also gives elasticity that also makes floors comfortable underfoot and bulletin boards resistant to permanent marks.

Pretty pastoral, isn't it? A cork forest in Portugal's Alentejo region, via wineanorak.com

The cork oak forests are a model example of a sustainably managed landscape, extending across Portugal, Spain, France, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, and Tunisia. While the geographic distribution is broad, 50-70% of commercial cork production is in Portugal, with the forests mostly privately owned by farmers. Cork oak woodland ecosystems support both high plant diversity (among the highest in Europe at 60-100 species per 0.1 hectare [PDF]) and high animal diversity. They contribute to the survival of several endangered species, including the Iberian lynx, the Iberian Imperial eagle, and the Barbary deer (or Atlas deer). In addition, Europe’s entire White Crane population and millions of other northern European birds winter in the cork oak forests of Spain and Portugal, and the cork oak forests on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar are crucial for other migratory birds. North African cork oak woodlands provide habitat for the endangered Barbary macaque.  Cork oak forests are also crucially important to soil conservation, moisture retention, and fire prevention in the regions where they grow, and cork oak plantations are credited with preventing desertification in arid southern Portugal by reducing erosion of the sandy soils. New book Cork Oak Woodlands on the Edge from Island Press looks like it’s a must-read for those engaged in study and restoration of these habitats.

No trees are cut down to harvest cork (that would actually be illegal in Portugal!). It takes 20-25 years for the tree to mature; once mature, the bark is carefully stripped by hand, in late spring to early summer, by skilled workers using small specialized axes and taking care not to damage the underlying vascular cambium, every 9-12 years (The frequency of harvest is also legislated in some countries).  The trees themselves regrow their bark and can live for about 300 years (some sources say as long as 500 years). There’s a marvelous photo-tour of the entire cork production process at wineanorak.com and a detailed description at the website of the Portuguese Cork Association APCOR – I highly recommend that you take a look.

The Whistler Tree, via corkqc.com

The oldest known cork tree still being harvested, called the Whistler Tree for its colony of birds, was planted in Portugal in 1789.

The cork harvest also represents a rich cultural heritage of techniques and ways of life, which have existed for more than 3000 years in the Mediterranean region. (In fact, cork stoppers have been found in Egyptian tombs, and cork was also used by the ancient Romans and Greeks as roofing and insulation.). A 16th-century French Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Pérignon (you might have heard of him) is considered responsible for the widespread use of cork stoppers to preserve wine in bottles in the 17th through 20th centuries. Today, cork stopper production is a keystone of the western Mediterranean rural economy. Cork is also used to make flooring, insulation, fishing buoys and floats, fly-fishing rod handles, shoe soles, badminton birdies, aircraft parts and the nose of the Space Shuttle – but demand for wine stoppers has until recently created the profit that drives this traditional rural economy. Cork oak habitats are also used as grazing land, and allow local people to make a living through the collection of herbs, wild berries, mushrooms, firewood, and sweet acorns, and the production of honey and charcoal.

So where do these rumours of cork being an endangered species, or there being a worldwide cork shortage, come from? Nobody is sure, but they roughly coincided with the introduction of inexpensive alternative stoppers made of plastic for the winemaking industry. They’re marketed as a measure used to prevent so-called “cork taint” or contamination of the wine with 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) which gives a mouldy flavour. This really is not necessary, since TCA taint is often not caused by the stopper. Halogenated phenols, the precursors to TCA, are widespread because of their use as pesticides, herbicides, and sanitation agents – and research has shown they’re often present in wine even before it is bottled. Furthermore, cork stopper manufacturers have developed a new technique of boiling and drying the cork that considerably reduces any spoilage caused by bacteria. Also, alternative stoppers can cause their own unique wine taint called ’sulphidisation’.

Without demand for cork stoppers, flooring, and other products, the cork oak woodland ecosystem, peoples’ livelihoods, and a traditional rural Mediterranean way of life could disappear as forests are sold as real estate, and abandoned or cleared. In order to address these issues, in 2006, the World Wildlife Fund started a huge campaign to conserve cork oak landscapes, including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification of sustainably-managed forests, restoration of damaged forests, local job creation, and lobbying for change in government policies. Their campaign to educate European winemakers has been fairly successful. Local groups are also advocating for direct conservation by the creation of national parks in these areas.

But the best way for North Americans to help protect the cork oak forest is to use products made from sustainably harvested cork from the Mediterranean. Here’s an overview of cork products for interiors:

Cork flooring is a secondary product of the cork wine-stopper manufacturing process: yup, 100% post-industrial recycled content. Typically, after punching stoppers out of the best-quality bark, the remainder is granulated, then heat and high pressure is applied to the ground cork granules so that the natural waxes in the cork bind them together. (Some manufacturers also add a binding agent at this point, so be sure to check.) This process is used to make cork underlay, planks, tiles or sheets that are suitable for flooring or wall applications (depending on their thickness), in a variety of patterns, and can be installed unfinished or prefinished. The specs for cork plank flooring typically include a lifespan of  50+ years (compare with 20 years if you’re lucky for vinyl flooring), slight offgassing of natural oils, natural antimicrobial & mildew resistance, and costs on par with hardwood flooring. Some cork floors also recover well from large amounts of pressure (so they’re OK for kitchens & laundry rooms with heavy appliances).

I recently became aware of cork countertops, and I’m very excited about them. Suberra have the only version currently available in North America, and they say that their compressed cork slabs are urea-formaldehyde free and resistant to water, stains, and 350 degree F heat. Wow! It’s been reviewed by This Old House and mentioned in ICFF roundups at Treehugger and Apartment Therapy.

Compressed cork has also been used by Jasper Morrison and Daniel Michalik to create some seriously sexy pieces of modern furniture. What a way to bring texture into a room!

Jelinek Cork are selling cork penny-tile mosaics made from post-consumer recycled wine corks: so cool! Jelinek also have cork acoustic tiles that can be installed on walls or ceilings, and cork fabric. Cork fabric is actually cork veneer laminated onto an upholstery-grade dimensionally-stable polyester backing (cotton backings don’t seem to be available in the North American market). It wears like cow leather, which makes it suitable for accessories or furniture, and it can be cleaned with soapy water either by hand or machine (90 degree F).

I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more cork coming into our homes as the current generation of designers realize its’ unique physical properties are also uniquely sustainable!

Let’s take a look at what zeitgeist-changing trends make a home sexy now:

1. Traditional upholstery details like deep button tufting, welting, and tiny nailhead trims are showing up on new eco-friendly furniture lines (the ones that use FSC-certified wood and latex or soy upholstery foams). They’re also using timeless texture-rich natural-fibre fabrics like (organic, naturally) cotton twill, cotton velvet, linen, or jute. Both the fabrics and the way they are used create contrasts of texture in a room.

2. Grasscloth, a wallcovering made of woven plant fibre, is a timeless eco-friendly choice for adding more gorgeous texture, this time to your walls. What makes it newly trendy – as with paper wallcoverings – is that grasscloth manufacturers have brought bold colours, metallic finishes, and graphic patterns to the party. The feature article on grasscloth in the June 2010 print issue of Style At Home demonstrates this beautifully (but isn’t on their website). Not recommended for damp rooms, and beware of vinyl imposters.

3. Something the high-end shelter magazines and blogs showing the homes of more ordinary people have in common are that the rooms showcased usually have highly personal mixes of vintage finds, family treasures, exotic souvenirs, and iconic designs – instead of matched furniture sets straight from a catalogue or showroom floor.  Why? They’re more interesting, soulful, and expressive to look at and to live with! On the ‘exotic souvenir’ side of this equation, watch for the ikat fabrics and mother-of-pearl inlaid tables that are making the world-traveller look feel fresh. However, what really makes this approach environmentally sound is that it’s using pieces that already exist, and that you will love for a lifetime .

4. What also looks fresh now isn’t the midcentury modern design that filled the pages of AT and Dwell a couple of years ago, but a new traditionalism and glamour (as noted at Apartment Therapy recently – not that I can find the link now in their labyrinthine maze of posts). This shows up in the use of metallic finishes (especially gold), generous draperies, traditional furniture shapes, and antiques as focal points. This doesn’t mean the rooms aren’t meant to be used for day-to-day living, like grandma’s parlour. It means people are using timeless decorating techniques to make their rooms feel cozy, warm, and rich.

5. The International Contemporary Furnishings Fair (ICFF2010) showings this week included a lot of cleverly designed pieces made from minimal materials – like Graypants’ Jupiter series pendant lamps, MIO-Culture’s pop-up baskets, and Ben Huggins’ Little Star table. All three objects are also shipped flat-packed; if you’ve ever been to Ikea you’re already familiar with the environmental rationale for doing that. Smart and sustainable sure sounds sexy to me.

6. The move toward handmade, handcrafted furniture and accessories (the New York Times noted that many of the ICFF2010 editorial award honorees shared this approach)  is so irresistable that sometimes even mass-produced plastic objects are being hand-personalized (as with the Oh chairs in the Umbra booth at ICFF). There are lots of reasons people are choosing handmade and personalized items, but I think most of them come back to authenticity and soulfulness.

Authentic, soulful, smart, warm, rich, interesting, expressive, and touchable – like the perfect mate, you’ll want to grow old with rooms designed using these ideas. And maybe make out in them just a little.

Interior of The Collective, MePa, NYC. See the green light fixture next to the graffiti wall? That's my SCOOPED chandelier, made of laundry scoops from the ReUse Centre! via Gothamist.

The interior design does look extremely busy in the preview photos that I’ve seen on the web – many commenters have been unkind, and one reviewer called it The Hoarders meet Metropolitan Home. However, I have a feeling that when you’re sitting in the space and it’s packed with people, you can’t see so much of it, and all the details that fight for attention in a photograph can be appreciated in a more intimate way. The lego-patched brick wall idea has gotten bloggers excited previously, and the styrofoam ceiling treatment is really ingenious. And you can’t argue with results: the design was inspired by both environmental and fiscal concerns, fully reflects that, and was completed for a fraction of the $2M budget typical of such projects. Judging by its reviews on Yelp, it seems it’s drawing the youthful, hip demographic that it targetted.

Here’s a roundup of articles I found about the space:

- New York Times‘ Home and Garden section

- Fast Company

- Gothamist (includes some very kind comments from restaurant patrons who describe the space as creative and inspiring)

- Martiniboys (didn’t like the decor but praised the menu)

- Zagat Buzz

- Eater

- Derek Loves Shopping

- Joonbug

- Haute Living

Here are a few highlights from the past 6 months of my tweets (omitting all the conversations and time-sensitive items, and the vast majority of the retweets):

May 14:

http://twitter.com/ecoDomestica/design-decor-furniture Too many interesting decor people to #followfriday them all, so I made a List. [The Lists feature allows you to categorize the people you follow roughly by topic. I've found it really useful for figuring out what is trending within a group, and for improving the signal-to-noise ratio so I find interesting news more easily.]

May 13:

RT @GoodMillwork Removing An Old Floor http://om.ly/jaeU [If you need to put in some sweat equity to renovate your home without blowing your budget, tutorials like this one are invaluable.]

A new friend via #EmpireAve brought BC-made http://johnrossdesign.ca/ wood furniture to my attention today. Lovely!! Thanks @BaconEnvelope [Organic, live-edge wood pieces like these speak to our desire to bring nature into our homes and will stand the test of time, unlike the fads for owl images and taxidermy specimens.]

RT @jetsongreen Sylvania Intros Sleek Ultra Bright #LED for 60-watt Retrofits: http://bit.ly/cifXfs [The next-generation LEDs will give brighter, warmer light suitable for residential applications - and a lighting industry insider tells me they'll be readily available within the year.]

@hgtvcanada http://twitpic.com/1ng1f9 – ZOMG that mirror! Great mix of fabrics as always. [Re: room from unaired episode of Sarah's House 4. Sarah Richardson's team's approach to mixing vintage and modern, high and low, and creating spaces that transcend trends has been a source of inspiration for me since Design Inc first came on the air.]

May 12:

RT @sciam Green Nursery: How Significant Is the Impact of Ecofriendly Organic Bedding and Clothing on a Child’s Health? http://bit.ly/bk5GvV [Very significant, actually. Think twice about buying inexpensive fast-fashion for your kids, since the pricetag may not include all the costs.]

I just put out some borax-based eco ant “food” in the veggie garden so it’ll be safer to plant. The Jedi are going to feel this one.

May 10:

lemon juice + aluminum foil = magic http://loopframelove.blogspot.com/2010/05/rust-removal-on-ccm-galaxie.html [This green-cleaning technique can be used on anything that has gotten rusty.]

May 8:

Mmmmm, libraries. http://curiousexpeditions.org/?p=78

#canada #suzukifoundation RT @karranfinlay Participate in our survey of toxic ingredients in cosmetics: http://bit.ly/a1Z1kH [You won't believe how many chemicals you expose yourself to every day through personal care and cosmetic products.]

May 5:

Mmmm. I’d forgotten about the plum colour of Paperstone. So much fun! [Paperstone is a hardwearing countertop material made from postconsumer-recycled paper and a petroleum-free resin.]

May 4:

#yeg Are any local salons or pet groomers collecting hair or fur to donate for oil-spill-cleanup mats? http://tinyurl.com/2u8yvau

May 2:

RT @jamesbedell Are we Auto-Tuning #Green #Design?: One of the lousier trends in pop music is “auto-tuning”…http://bit.ly/cEKnGz

May 1 [in response to reading a tips-from-famous-designers article online]:

Hits of bold colour + grey walls to provide balance = already a decorating-advice cliche. #tryharder

April 28:

Yay! Good Food Box is delivering to my postal code this week – how about yours? http://www.eatlocalfirst.com/Default.aspx#eatlocal #yeg [My first box of the year included frozen organic meat, coffee and chocolate from local gourmand favourites, lots of fresh veggies, organic stone-ground flour, and a bonus package of barley. Yum!]

April 27:

1924 staging #fail: http://www.shorpy.com/node/4281

Check out this little house made of old streetcars:http://www.shorpy.com/node/6760 Vernacular adaptive-reuse architecture!

April 26:

This colours-across-cultures image from @infobeautiful is seriously mindblowing: http://bit.ly/9gpfs0 #color #decor #design

Love it all. But painting TV wall black so electronics disappear? Genius move. RT @mkaufmann @zem ’s ecofabulous house http://bit.ly/bbQV67

April 25:

Rajathani inlay & block prints rock my world. RT @poppytalk Sang and Serena http://bit.ly/cKcZuw [Another huge trend I've noticed in shelter mags and on other decor blogs lately is the use of traditional handcrafts from India, from mother-of-pearl inlay to shisha mirror embroidery.]

April 22:

Happy Earth Day! How are you reducing your year-round environmental footprint?

April 14:

RT @drgrist: Climate Scientists Cleared of Malpractice Accusations in Hacked Email Case http://bit.ly/9rdSLB (via @kate_sheppard)

March 21:

USDOE’s L Prize for the development of a high-quality LED replacement for 60w incandescent lamps: http://www.lightingprize.org/index.stm

Feb 27:

Buying cork flooring? Ask where the cork is grown. Only European & North African cork provides environmental & social benefits.#ecorenotips [full post on what makes cork such an eco-friendly material coming soon]

Need to flush your low-flow toilet more than once? Replace it w/ the hotel standard: TOTO’s Drake (1.6gpf) or Aquia (0.8/1.6).#ecorenotips

Feb 26:

Dear Anthropologie fairy, please ensure the Canadian stores carry the Decker end tables, Terai folding chairs, & Marrakech curtain panels. [They do!]

Feb 24:

Just had a long chat with my favorite ecorealtor. She takes a holistic view: green homes must also support sustainable lifestyles. Love her! [This is an important point that often gets lost in talking about green building.]

Feb 11:

RT @dexigner: PANTONE Fashion Color Report Fall 2010 http://tinyurl.com/yzmdqjm #design *mmmm chocolate truffle

Jan 25:

Supper, then off to Carbon Environmental Boutique for the Non Toxic Beauty seminar cohosted by @localgreenYEG. Anyone else coming?

Jan 20:

Just read another story about bamboo bikes (via @VerdeLifestyles). Someone needs to make reuseable, recyclable lugs so they’re cradle-to-cradle.

Jan 19:

<3! RT @Ecochickie Some of my best friends are virtual: Why online communities & friendships are real & valuable! http://tinyurl.com/ycvqece

Jan 7 [re profile of Looptworks, Portland, Oregon]:

What a great concept – limited-edition fashion created by upcycling castoffs. Coincidentally that’s how I make my pendant lamps on Etsy

Jan 5:

RT @ApogeePainting @ParkroseGateway: Did you hear about the Fix-It Fairs yet? http://bit.ly/50FJFo (via @ecomod) #yeg needs to do this too!

Jan 2:

Lovely visit with old friends & took down all the Xmas stuff today… also packed a couple of my chandeliers to ship to buyer in NYC. (!!!)

Dec 30:

OK, a terrarrium of moss is one thing – but isn’t anyone icked out by these trendy living-moss-carpet stories? I mean, spores. No. Thanks.

More green moving tips: 1. Purge before you pack. 2. Sell heavy furniture & appliances. Replace with quality (used) pieces in your new city.

Great post by oprah.com’s @simransethi on greening your moving day: http://is.gd/5grEA – moving’s so hectic most don’t think about the waste

Dec 29:

Authenticity is always in style: RT @AshalaGaren 10 interior design trends for 2010 http://ow.ly/QdP7

Dec 28:

Mmmm, beautiful! Have you read The Wabi-Sabi House? RT @KimVallee Japanese design principles from @swissmisshttp://atk.im/o6

Dec 23:

eco renos & retrofits a much-needed trend: RT @astreaminggreen4 Green Building Trends to Watch in 2010 http://bit.ly/5utp50

Dec 21:

Vancouver’s Upholstery Arts have a genius series of articles about upholstery foam at http://www.upholsteryarts.ca/fna – gorgeous sofas too.

Dec 13:

E-SAGE founder Tad has some great green tips for you! RT @tim_osborne Reading: 10 Revolutionary Resolutions.http://bit.ly/4qEHRa #yeg

Dec 12:

I’m astonished & grateful that so many people came out for the#yeg #realdeal #cop15 vigil tonight in -29C! Albertans are a hardy bunch.

Dec 8:

http://twitpic.com/sonsp – Hey cool! You can see one of my SCOOPED lamps on Google Streetview, in the window of Lucid Lifestyle! #yeg

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v462/n7273/full/462545a.html Strategy: Can’t plausibly attack the science? Attack scientists instead.

Dec 5:

Thinking about how the trend toward choosing fewer, high-quality items with an eye to value is also environmentally friendly.

Dec 2:

I’m so inspired by the gorgeous handcrafted spaces that I saw in the (E-SAGE) talk about @OUR_Ecovillage last night. Must go do a cob workshop!

Nov 18:

For those who missed GEA Sustainable Works launch, here are the deets:http://www.greateredmontonalliance.com/sw/sustainableworks.pdf #yeg

Oct 31:

Read @greenyourdecor’s genius Green Your Rental series yet? 1 http://snipurl.com/shtux 2 http://snipurl.com/siksq 3 http://snipurl.com/smvpr

I’d like to get back to blogging about decorating, crafting, and environmental topics more frequently, instead of being content to link to others’ content. But I’d love to know: what topics would you like to read more about?

#EmpireAve EAVB_CFODVTZOHL

Isn’t it lovely? A slightly eccentric English lady bike. I’ve named it (her) Mary Poppins, since as @angelzilla pointed out, she’s the Mary Poppins of bikes. The fellow who sold her to me (thanks Chris!) told me she was from the 1960s, has her original finishes and a coaster brake, and was built by Phillips, who were bought out by Raleigh later on.

She does need a little TLC, mainly rust removal and paint touchup, but not much. Her basket will need a liner, as there are a couple of little breaks in the metal – but since it’s vintage, it’s not current standard dimensions (15″ x 10″ top, 5.5″ deep, and smaller at the bottom than the top), so I can’t just order an already-made one from Lucky Find Designs or Betty Bike Basket Liners on Etsy. Since it needs to be custom, I might as well dust off my sewing machine and make it myself – watch for a future post on that. I’ll also need a bell and some lights for her, and eventually I’d like to add an aluminum rack to the back and attach a wooden crate or a sweet vintage-style covered box pannier. I’ll also need a helmet, since I have no idea what has happened to my old one in the intervening years, and a lock, since that was stolen with my old bike. I love the idea of a D-lock cozy that I saw on the Lovely Bicycle! blog. For my helmet, since I can’t possibly afford that Yakkay helmet that looks like a fedora right now, perhaps I’ll take some inspiration from RidingPretty and spiff up an off-the-shelf helmet with a strategically glued-on flower.

I did a little research online, and here’s what I learned about Miss Mary:

This headbadge may date her to about 1965, according to a Flikr set of another Phillips bike. Phillips was purchased by Raleigh in 1960, and from the Spring of 1961 on the bikes were made in Nottingham at Raleigh’s 40-acre factory instead of the Phillips bikeworks near Birmingham. Raleigh continued to make Phillips-branded bikes for export until the 1980s (the wiki page implies), and some collectors look down on them as poor cousins to the higher-quality Raleigh-branded bikes. Whatever. By today’s standards, the build quality is impressive regardless.

Note the chrome trim on this mudflap – mmmm. This style of mudguard was made by Speedwell and date the bike to the 50s or 60s, according to the information in current eBay listings and Flikr posts. A lot of the steel frame, and the tyre rims, is chromed. The tyre rims are marked STURMEY ARCHER *ENGLAND F250 28 x 1 1/2* (ie, they’re 635mm), and the tyres are marked SEMPERIT, Made In Austria, Super Elite (so they’re probably not original – would likely have been Dunlop when the bike was first sold). The two-tone vinyl mattress saddle was made by Brooks (who were also owned by Raleigh’s parent company), and the white plastic grips were probably made by Dare. The kickstand is marked PLETCHER, who were/are a Swiss manufacturer. The basket isn’t marked, and appears to be made of aluminum. All of this will mean much more to vintage bike collector types than it does to me, I suspect. (Collectors, if it would be helpful to you for me to add more photos of specific bike parts to this post, please just let me know in the comments.)

For local historians, it bears a green “repairs” sticker from Premier Cycle & Sport Shop. Anyone know of them?

I haven’t seen any photos online of similar full-rubber chrome-edged pedals yet. The figure in the middle has an R marked on it, so they’re probably 1960s-era Raleigh pedals.

If my bike were a three-speed, this article from oldroads.com would help me identify it much more easily. But a single-speed mechanism with a coaster brake means I’m out of luck unless I can find a serial number that matches what’s in the article. [Update: there is a serial number stamped onto the frame below the saddle: 3464230. Sadly that tells me nothing. The coaster brake has a plastic-stoppered hole for adding oil, and is marked: ENGLAND STURMEY ARCHER SC (in the bottom triangle) 11   6 (running perpendicular to the 4-triangle logo; if this is month/year, she was probably made in November 1966). SC would be the model number based on the illustration in this article by Sheldon Brown, and according to the official Sturmey-Archer history site, it's the SC single coaster brake hub, introduced in 1963 and retired in 1978.]

Here’s a shot on Flikr of a bike that’s very similar to mine, down to the aluminum front basket, although the frame isn’t as curvaceous.

Next I need to clean Mary up and touch up her paint. Any advice on how best to do that would be greatly appreciated!

Update: I found a genius post on Old Bike Blog on how to Green Clean Your Bicycle. I’m also thinking about DIYs, and found some helpful posts I’ll link to here for my future reference (and maybe yours): link is AWOL, but Bust magazine ran an article on Pimping Your Ride that I’ll need to look up in print (2008?) as it includes a seat cover pattern – if I can’t find it a PDF is available. For attaching to a rear rack: hmm, wine box, or fabric-covered milk crate? If I decide I need a child seat for my little guy, here is inspiration for a DIY child seat spiff-up. I’m also coveting a DIY skirt/coat guard.

Update #2: This is clearly going to end up being a huge project, so I’ve created another blog to document it, called Loop-Frame Love.

Let’s be clear. This isn’t about politics; it’s about facts. Ice doesn’t care how you vote or what you believe, it will melt regardless, as long as it’s above 0 degrees Celsius. Fact: at the current rate of melting versus snowfall, Glacier National Park (USA) will have no glaciers left by 2020. The glaciers of North America’s interior mountains are melting at an astonishing rate (I highly recommend taking the walk to the edge of the Athabasca Glacier to get a sense of how fast it’s happening). This should be a huge concern to citizens of cities like ours that rely on rivers whose source is those glaciers. How will our communities change when glaciers no longer feed those rivers?  Fact: the Arctic pack ice is also disappearing, with the last three summers marking the three lowest extents of Arctic sea ice since 1979, and totally ice-free summer conditions now expected within 20-30 years. And a must-read report on prehistoric carbon dioxide levels using ocean floor sediment samples in this week’s issue of Science may explain why that is happening way faster than previously predicted, and indicates that our current political targets for emissions reduction are probably not stringent enough.

The consequences of climate change will be felt everywhere, in ways we don’t yet appreciate as a society: people are aware that the extinctions of large numbers of vulnerable species is one cost of inaction (save the polar bears!), but tend to think less about human problems like floods, droughts, famines, wars, and refugee migration. Google have used their Maps app to create stunning visuals of how different our planet could look with conservative estimates of temperature changes worldwide and flooding in coastal regions – go watch if you haven’t seen it yet.  The military are already using these when-not-if scenarios as part of their strategic planning, and so are the agribusinesses who’ve led the rush to buy fertile land in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

What can we do? I mean, apart from becoming survivalists living on off-the-grid communes on high ground – good luck to you if that floats your boat, but personally, I like city living.

Well, we can mitigate these consequences by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and slowing down the rate of global climate change. (We’ve made a change that big before: think of the 1980s ban on chlorofluorocarbons to save the ozone layer. And most experts agree that we have the tools and technologies we need – see TED.com and worldchanging.org – we just need the political will to apply them.) This means asking the Canadian and Albertan governments to kindly stop cowtowing to the interests of multinational businesses (many of whom are already quietly investing in biofuels and renewables), to sign treaties and adhere to them, to create provincial building codes and municipal guidelines that value density and energy efficiency, to work to integrate renewable energy generation as a major component of the grid, and to create programmes to retrain workers and retool industries. Well-drillers can become geothermal experts, and machinists and electricians can learn how to build and install solar and wind microgenerators.

On an individual level, this means becoming engaged citizens, asking tough questions of our representatives (especially here in Oil Country), and making appropriate choices for our families. It means looking hard at our homes and habits, then making honest efforts to do what we can to reduce our environmental impact. Locally, lots of organizations are working to help us do these things – signing up for E-SAGE’s newsletter is a great way to keep abreast of all those groups’ events and projects.

After figuring out what our homes’ and businesses’ carbon footprint is and doing what we can to make it smaller, the best (although still flawed) way to mitigate the effects of our remaining emissions is still to buy carbon offsets – thankfully the David Suzuki Foundation has recently created an independent report on offsets that helps us navigate that minefield and figure out which offsets do the most good.

Am I a total nag? Good. In graduate school, we scientists are taught to use language carefully, to always provide context and not jump to unwarranted conclusions. You don’t ever want to appear alarmist or unprofessional. It’s very difficult training to break. So when I read the statements being made by climatologists, ecologists, and wildlife biologists about climate change and its consequences, I’m startled by their urgency and directness.

We’ve already unwittingly changed the world. Now it’s time to change our course.

Lately, I’ve been really intrigued by Slow Design, which is a cousin of the Slow Food, traditional skills, and voluntary simplicity movements, and the Zen Buddhist concept of wabi-sabi. The published Slow Design Principles (Strauss and Fuad-Luke, see www.slowlab.net) are couched in academic language, and the case studies cited mostly involve the design of objects or artistic installations. However, the principles and practices of Slow Design are tools that are useful to sustainable designers, decorators, and artisans of all disciplines. To summarize (and loosely quote) that document’s main points:

Slow Design:

• facilitates ’slowness’ and provides a balance to the industrial-consumerist model of design.

• seeks to shift the user’s awareness and attitudes about materials, processes, time, and natural environment.

• reveals experiences and materials that are often missed or forgotten.

• strives for truthful, exposed use of materials and process (so the hand of the maker is visible).

• facilitates creative interaction between the user and the object or its location.

• makes users think about where the object came from, inducing contemplation & ‘reflective consumption’.

• allows the object to change, grow, or alter over time to reflect its history and usage, and continue to be used; and reflects its history prior to its current usage.

• comes from open-source, collaborative, transparent, and evolving processes.

• focuses on localness and community, through collaborations and co-design with the local community and local artisans, mapping and using local knowledge, reflecting local values & visual vernacular, and using affordable local materials, to give the finished design an authentic sense of place.

• celebrates diversity and pluralism by engaging a large range of stakeholders in the planning process. (For example, the charette process used in LEED building projects.)

• recognizes the urgent need for stewardship of the natural environment and resources, as well as honoring local knowledge and traditions, and encouraging engagement with place.

To try to illustrate what these ideas mean in everyday life, I brainstormed this list:

Slow Design is: Slow Design isn’t:

authentic                                                                    mannered, artificial, phoney

heirloom-quality                                                      semi-disposable

refurbished Victorian homes                                NeoVictorian subdivisions

modern (while respecting the past)                     like living in a museum exhibit

gardens                                                                          outdoor living rooms

rain barrels & watering cans                                     automatic irrigation systems

clotheslines                                                                  tumble dryers

timeless                                                                           trend-driven

cedar shakes                                                                 vinyl siding

handmade                                                                     machine-made

reupholstering & refinishing                                   buying new

Etsy                                                                                  Ikea

personalized and creative                                         impersonal and off-the-shelf

local                                                                                  imported

reduce, reuse, recycle                                                   buy, buy, buy

limited-edition or one-off                                            mass-produced

renewable                                                                      fossil fueled

So, what do the principles of slow design mean to you? What would you add to my list? How are you incorporating slow design into your home or decorating projects?

This isn’t a trivial question. Reimagining existing suburban neighborhoods (as in the current ReBurbia contest from Dwell and Inhabitat, deadline for entry is Friday July 31st) is a crucial step toward building more sustainable cities. Furthermore, decreasing the environmental footprint of our existing housing stock is critical if we’re going to tackle the  anthropogenic climate change crisis. (Our buildings are currently estimated to be responsible for 35% of North American greenhouse gas emissions, with about 20% of emissions coming from home energy use.)

There’s also another factor at work. Many, perhaps most, of us North Americans purchased our current homes with a single phase of our lives in mind, intending to move from house to house as our lives changed, with return-on-investment meaning a simple extrapolation from point-of-purchase to point-of-resale. The current economic heebie-jeebies mean we have a new frame of reference. We’re thinking harder about operating costs now, and return-on-investment has come to include the payback period for installation of energy- and water-saving devices. Many of us will be living in our homes for considerably longer periods than expected. It’s no longer desirable or acceptable to treat our dwellings as disposable commodities – if it ever was.

So, in this series of posts, I’ll round up some of the most inspirational eco-reno case studies available online, ones that fit a handful of criteria. A crucial renovation goal will have to be active conservation of resources – which means doing that energy audit and implementing the auditor’s suggestions for improving your home’s insulation, but also means going deeper with energy & water efficiency measures, and when possible planning to add microgeneration to the mix. Renovating sustainably also requires minimizing our use of materials by reusing and recycling whatever materials we safely can from our existing site, and by not increasing the home’s square footage but instead using smart design principles (like those covered by Sarah Susanka’s Not-So-Big books and website) to meet our needs. We also need to renovate our homes with an eye for suitability for lifetime use, which means both durability* and timelessness, and easy & (relatively) inexpensive customization & alteration of colour and texture. I think it’s especially important to show strategies that work in cold climates, and that can be implemented a little at a time.

* Here’s a thought-provoking discussion of the pros and cons of durability in building materials.

My favorite case study that I’ve seen online (via JetsonGreen) to date is a Boulder, Colorado 1960s-era split-level, with a similar floorplan to the suburban 1970s model I grew up in, and all the changes they made are doable on a limited budget, in several stages, over time. Here’s a fairly complete list of what they did, gleaned from following all the links and studying the photos:

• not popping the top allowed renovation on a much lower budget
• the altered roofline appears to include rainwater/greywater collection as future option
• improved envelope with new windows and icynene insulation
• improved HVAC, plumbing, wiring, and lighting
• new metal siding and exterior stucco
  
• removed some interior walls to open the floorplan – but did not gut the home and start over
• (urea-formaldehyde free?) cabinetry from Ikea
• Forbo’s Marmoleum in kitchen and bathroom
• refinished oak floors with FLOR carpet tiles used as area rugs
• natural wool carpeting in bedrooms? (not sure about this, no pics)
• low-VOC paints and coatings
• recycled glass mosaic tile
• dual-flush, low-flow toilet
• Energy Star appliances
• In the photos and video tour linked from the article, the front-yard relandscaping hasn’t been completed. I’d expect that they’re doing permaculture, and probably facing the concrete planters with reclaimed brick to match the rest of the home.

JetsonGreen also profiled a more ambitious (LEED Platinum!) green gut-renovation of an 1959 home in Portland, Oregon, including geothermal and solar PV, and moving an internal staircase. As part of the renovation, they replaced the windows, reinsulated, added an air exchanger, and used FSC-certified wood and Energy Star appliances. (I’m pretty sure those are Bedrock’s Blazestone recycled-glass tile used as the kitchen backsplash. Yum.) LEED-for-Homes-certified renos are almost always going to be gut jobs, since they need to have their outer envelope exposed from either the outside or inside to meet LEED’s stringent documentation requirements, and it’s often easiest to do both. But, as Preston writes, this house offers some great lessons:

Just look at the before and after photos of this green home and you’ll see a couple critical renovation strategies: (1) get rid of water-sucking grass without making your landscaping look crazy, and (2) keep the same size and scale of your home rather than building it into a monstrosity.

Green Building Advisor also profiles similar LEED-certified green renovations from time to time, like this gut renovation of a 19th-century home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For this renovation, the team reinsulated, replaced windows with argon-filled low-e models and exterior siding with fiber-cement siding, and installed a ground-source heat pump and a tankless hot water heater. A small addition was built using ICF blocks, and the lot was relandscaped using permeable paving and rain and vegetable gardens.  I found the reuse of wood (salvaged from walls removed during the reno) to build the new floating staircase really inspiring.

But it really isn’t necessary to gut-renovate a home in order to do a deep energy retrofit. I was fortunate to see a local renovation of a 1949 stucco bungalow typical of many of Edmonton’s inner-ring postwar suburbs on the 2009 Eco-Solar Home Tour, and the owners have also documented their renovations year-by-year online. To summarize what they did:

• installed geothermal heat pump, and relandscaped
• replaced aging water heater with efficient solar (not tankless) model
• installed heat recovery ventilator
• improved envelope with argon-filled vinyl windows, new doors, blown-in cellulose insulation, new roof, draftstopping membrane
• LED lighting in backyard that runs off a solar panel on the detached garage

Also via Green Building Advisor, this is a 1970s ranch home in Boulder, Colorado that has undergone a deep energy retrofit and the addition of solar PV and hot water on the roof to create a net-zero-energy home. Impressive.

Finally, I’d like to call attention to the Humphrey House blog from Chicago, Illinois. The La Fleurs have been gradually renovating their 1912 Craftsman bungalow to an eco-envy inducing state, without sacrificing its historic character (swoon) or overspending, have done most of the work themselves,and have blogged every step of the way. Their home now features tubular skylights, salvaged interior doors and appliances, water-efficient fixtures, low-VOC paints and stains, Zodiaq recycled-content kitchen counters, soy-foam insulation, a tankless water heater, and an air recirculation system (a complete list of their green features as of last Sept is in this post). Their current project is relandscaping their backyard to include a veggie garden, reclaimed-concrete pavers, compost area, and more rain barrels. Oh, and do you notice what’s not in the list? Expensive big-ticket items like solar PV or hot water, or geothermal heating.

Now that’s inspirational.

What eco-renovations are you planning for your home?

A collage of photos I took at my favorite sidestage sessions of EFMF'08.

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is already one of the greenest events on Edmonton’s packed summer festival calendar. Here are some ideas for things to put in your backpack to make it even greener, inspired in part by UK site ecotopia’s green festival kit designed for multiday campout events like Glastonbury. (If you’re heading to a multiday campout festival, may I suggest this more exhaustive checklist?). I suggest visiting a combination of Carbon Environmental Boutique, Earth’s General Store, and our local MEC outlet to get all of these items while supporting our local economy and avoiding the extra carbon footprint of shipping from across the Pond.

- windup LED flashlight – if I was headed to a campout I’d consider making this a flashlight/radio.
- a solar charger for your cell phone and camera: ecotopia have the Freeloader Solar Charger in their kit.
- a large stainless-steel refillable mug, thermos, or water bottle
- cutlery set or chopstick set
- refillable toothbrush (Preserve or another)
- natural/biodegradable wipes (Tushies), tissues, menstrual pads (NatraCare), lip balm, toothpaste (Kingfisher), sunscreen, bug repellent – and shampoo and deodorant if you’re camping, too

plus the usual:
- tickets, ID, cash, cards
- cell phone, camera
- MP3 player. book, magazine for down time
- umbrella, shoes that can get wet and muddy, emergency rain gear
- sun hat, sunglasses
- tarp (or collapsible tent if you’re at the top of the hill), tentpegs, location marker
- chair
- programme
- notepad, pen, highlighter
- comb
- first aid kit (esp with kids), advil, pepto bismol
- food and drink in a small cooler

You know it’s going to be hot, for at least part of the day, so I’m planning to try this to restyle a tshirt while I’m on early morning tarp lineup duty, since all I’ll need to pack is my scissors (and a needle and thread just in case).

Detail of one of the upcycled bulletin boards I've made. Read on to learn how.

Lately, I’ve been inspired by cork. Why, you may ask?

Well, I found a huge, huge stash of wine corks at the fabulous ReUse Centre run by the City of Edmonton. Nearly half of them were those horrible plastic-and-foam abominations – which is a terrible shame, since making wine corks is both a traditional employer and a sustainable industry, without which the unique cork oak woodland ecosystem would be irreparably damaged. Contrary to rumour, cork is not going extinct: making wine corks or cork flooring actually prevents the extinction of cork oaks. So, I wanted to repurpose the old wine corks in a way that would be functional, while celebrating their traditional purpose and history.

I’ve also been trying to think of a good way to upcycle the dated, disposable ‘art’ that’s readily available at any charity shop or thrift store (The ones pictured below all came from Goodwill).

Consequently I’ve been working on a line of upcycled cork items for the home, which will be available for sale locally and through my Etsy shop (in the Quirks N Corks section). Here are instructions for how to make a couple of different styles of upcycled corkboards.

Before: thrifted framed print

1. Disassemble frame; use flat-nosed pliers to remove any staples.

Removing the staples holding the print in place using flat-nosed pliers

2. Set aside any glass – this can be used as a dry-erase board, or recycled.

3. Paint the yucky old frame. I spray-painted mine matte white.

4. Glue cork to the cardboard backing. I used part of a roll of cork sheeting, some heavy books to keep it flat, and glue for this project (I like Weldbond because it’s 0-VOC, nontoxic, bonds to nearly anything, and dries clear – oh, and it’s Canadian). If you had a deep frame, you could use cork bulletin-board squares, or reuse wine corks, instead.

5. Once your paint and your glue are dry (say, after waiting overnight), put your cork-covered backing into the frame, and fasten into place (I had to use a staple gun for this part, but your method will depend on the frame you start with). Now it’s ready to hang and use.

After: the completed corkboard.

This is actually hanging in my home office/studio, and works really well in a room with antique or cottagey elements.

Speaking of wine corks, here’s another option:

1. Start with a thrifted poster or print that’s laminated onto MDF. Lightly sand the glossy surface so the glue will bond properly, and wipe it down to remove the dust.

Poster laminated onto MDF, before

2. Glue cork onto the sanded backing. In my case, I used a layer of cork sheeting first (so bits of the image wouldn’t show between the wine corks), then constructed a frame out of those wine corks from the ReUse Centre. For the basketweave pattern used here, it’s helpful to sort your corks into matching pairs first.  (No boxful of collected wine corks waiting to be reused? No ReUse Centre in your town? No problem. Ask at local restaurants, or plead with friends to save their wine corks from parties and wedding celebrations for you.)

3. Once the glue is cured (again, after waiting overnight), your masterpiece is ready to hang and use.

The nasty inspirational poster, after its' quirky corky makeover.

If you have more corks, or a smaller surface, or both: you can also cover the whole darn thing with wine corks. I’ll warn you, it will be way heavier than you expect. I think this cork mosaic is destined to become a tabletop, if I can’t figure out how to hang it safely:

A largish sheet of MDF, totally covered with wine corks, is surprisingly heavy. But pretty nice, yes?

Or, if you have even more corks, you can cover the surface with them on end instead of laying on their sides. This photo is from New Modern: Creative Living Spaces by Carla Breeze (via Terramia). LOVE IT. But I wonder how heavy it is?

<Update: image of cork artwork deleted due to copyright. I encourage readers to go check out the book though!>

Here are some other wine cork projects on the web: Michelle Kaufmann’s wine-cork mat project video, which ends up looking similar to the artwork in the photo above; cork-craft roundups on Crafting A Green World, Love To Know, and Wine Intro

Here are some other artisans & designers doing amazing things with cork: Daniel Michalik (I love his cast-cork bowls and Cub Chair), Steven Leslie (are they vases, or scupture?), Jan Elftmann (incredible art car), Jasper Morrison for Vitra and Moooi and Vitra again (more cast cork, so covetable).