Lowe's: Three green steps forward, one step back

In September, number two home improvement giant Lowe's announced it was rolling out its Energy Center concept nationwide, and putting recycling centers in every store as well. The Energy Centers are an  in-store gathering of energy-efficient products, while the recylcing centers let customers bring in rechargeable batteries, cell phones, compact fluorescent lights, and plastic bags. 

And this month, the EPA named Lowe's its WaterSense Partner of the Year for the second year in a row; Lowe's is the first retailer to be tapped two years running.

But in Salem, Mass., environmentalists are attacking the company's plans for a new store.

Even flea markets can be green

Check out this article I wrote at my new job:

Trends converge to make eco-friendly flea markets even greener

Store design can be beautiful and eco-friendly

Check out this blog post with clever ideas on using recycled materials in store interior design.

Denim: the last straw in insulation

I've blogged before about using straw as insulation, and straw construction is still in the news. But Habitat for Humanity is putting an even more unusual organic fiber to use in new houses: denim. The charitable organization has been recruiting college kids in drives to collect used jeans -- for example, in West Virginia, South Dakota, and Kentucky (see photo) -- which are then recycled into insulation. Check out this article on the program in Agweek, and the campaign's official site. And, surprise surprise, the denim drive is co-sponsored by the Cotton Inc. people: good press for cotton companies, and warm houses for the poor. The denim is made into insulation by Bonded Logic.

Green carpet news round-up

There's been a slew of news and features recently focussing on sustainable carpets:

InterfaceFlor has received certification to the NSF/ANSI 140: Sustainable Carpet standard for two products. A plant in Thailand has also been certified.

Two New Zealand wool makers are finding U.S. based partners -- including CCA Global -- to manufacture sustainable organic carpet.

A London-based investment firm has bought a minority stake in an Italian carpet-fiber maker in order to invest in recycled fiber.

Grist magazine has an interview with Ray Anderson, founder of carpet maker Interface, about sustainability in manufacturing.

Silver linings in green pools

After a long cool damp June (at least here in the northeastern United States), at last we're getting some hot summery weather. Time for ball games, picnics, and swimming pools! And you can enjoy the beautiful blue water in your green pool, too.

The big problems with pools, eco-wise, are water loss, electricity used to run pumps, and chemicals. But each has a solution. Pool covers stop evaporation and are a good safety feature. Energy efficient pumps are now on the market. And there are alternatives to traditional chemical treatments as well. For a good round-up, check out these two articles. And here are five more eco-friendly solutions.

And for those seeking a recycled above-ground option, check out these swimming pools made from big recycled garbage dumpsters! That's them in the photo above.

The art of recycling at retail

The paradox of making beautiful things from trash existed long before the green movement gained the momentum it has today. But as appreciation of the environment has grown, recycled art has become mainstream. So much so, in fact, that retailers are taking advantage of the trend in several ways.

Some retailers are selling recycled art. Home Depot offers a swing sculpted of used tires. Look at these lovely drawer and cabinet pulls made of recycled glass and pottery. Here's a directory with many recycled art product links.

Canadian home center Rona recycled an Apple iPod billboard to cleverly promote its paint recycling program (photo above).

And retailers are using recycled art in window displays. A Whole Foods in Hawaii offers a sea and surf theme. An English coffee shop window has a bug theme. And this blogger has two examples in Seattle.

For retailers seeking to wear their green cred on their sleeves, consider using art to make the case.

A novel use for old beverage bottles

Catch A Mouse is a humane mouse trap that you use to catch rodents in a recycled drink bottle. Here's a video, complete with Benny-Hill-style soundtrack.

How to select green furniture

Check out this article from Today GreenDay on selecting eco-friendly furniture:

Look for furniture made from reclaimed materials. Houses, kitchen tables, pianos, baseball bats — think of all the wood that is used to make things each day and then think about all the scraps left over from construction and manufacturing and the landfill waste from discarded wood items. Instead of using new wood to make dining room chairs and beds and bookshelves, some green designers are turning to wood that’s already in play. 

Shopping cart handle guards: Recyclable health aid or greenwashed paper waster?

I got a press release about a new recyclable biodegradable protector for shopping cart handles. The "Kart-Smart" is a barrier that claims to protect from bacteria and viruses. It goes on and off at the store, and it can be printed with advertising messages.

The idea is that shopping carts are way too dirty and unhealthy, and you need to protect your customers. But is it really true? Are shopping carts so dirty that you should take special measures to not touch them? I was not convinced by Kart-Smart's link to this 2002 TV news story about shopping carts used by homeless people being mixed back into general usage without cleaning. I mean, come on, what's the chance that the cart I use at my local store was used last by a homeless person? And never cleaned?

But this link, to Snopes.com, is more convincing. I actually trust Snopes to give me the real truth. And Snopes says:

Claim: Handles of shopping carts are laden with germs. Status: True. ... The very folks that fuss with disposable toilet seat covers often won't think twice about manhandling a grocery cart around a store for half an hour, even though the surface they're hanging onto so fiercely for that interval has likely been coughed on, sneezed on, and grasped by shoppers who'd just finished handling packages of raw chicken and meat, or who just weren't the sort to wash their hands all that often. As for the fold-out child's seat found in most carts, even though it is routinely graced by the diapered bottoms of infants, it remains the cart's transport region of choice for fruits and vegetables, items that are often eaten uncooked or unwashed.

So what's a retailer to do? Maybe this disposable handle cover is a good solution. But that does nothing to protect the seat, which, like Snopes says, is home to both poopy baby butts and delicate produce. Consumers have recourse to products like this, this, and this. But what are retailers to do?

Some states require retailers to offer sanitizing wipes. Some stores use cart-washing systems -- some are even somewhat green.

Then again, I could not help but feel myself side with the doctor in this USA Today article who said, "We're too overzealous about avoiding all forms of bacteria as a society today."

Vinyl window and door recycling paper offered

The American Architectural Manufacturers Association's Vinyl Material Council and the Vinyl Institute have issued a white paper on recycling vinyl windows and doors.

The paper includes lots of facts on the green qualities of vinyl, the ease with which it is recycled, case studies, and an effort to put some funding behind encouraging post-consumer recycling. As one would expect, given the sources of the paper, there is nothing here about the disadvantages or challenges posed by vinyl use. But if you can edit out the propaganda and posturing, there is a lot of good info in this free report and the associated docs. Check it out.

Canadian recycling show set for November

The Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo will be held Nov. 5 to 6 in Toronto. It's run by the same folks who do the International Hardware Show in Cologne, Germany. I enjoyed the site's tips on how to be a green exhibitor. The seminar on "how to market compost and related products" might be interesting.