It’s easy to let major lifestyle changes — like being more eco-friendly — turn into a chore.
When I started beefing up my recycling regime, every last plastic yogurt container or clothing price tag took up precious space in my apartment until my biweekly trip to the recycling center. (Tip: I use the SORTERA containers from Ikea.) Then, I’d have to haul the containers up stairs and into my car, which is not so bad when it’s sunny and 65 degrees, except it never was.
Small price to pay in order to know that my stuff won’t be taking up space someplace much worse: a landfill. But if I thought I was being green with my lifestyle, boy was I wrong after talking with Josh Foss (“Organic Josh” from Design Star 2) and Carter Oosterhouse of Carter Can and the upcoming series Red Hot and Green. In fact, Josh took public transportation to the studio for this interview.
Carter and Josh
This latest podcast is all about being green — from building to living to decorating — and how to be happy doing it.
Download: The exclusive green podcast featuring Josh Foss and Carter Oosterhouse
Also, catch my Design Star podcast with Josh Foss, where we talk about last season. P.S. How excited are you for Sunday?
I CANT WAIT FOR MORE IDEAS TO GOING GREEN. I LOVE EVERY SHOW ABOUT GOING GREEN …GOD BLESS YOU GUYS….
THANK YOU AGAIN…
MERCEDES DODGE
Our roof is metal green which can’t be changed due to expense, the body is a wheat cream color called cottonwood. My trim is dark gray to go with the gray trex deck. I am tired of the gray trim. what colors for the trim would go good with green roof and cottonwood body. I have no color ideas until I see it. Help.
Marlene
My family and I will be starting (withint a month) new construction on a 3564 sq ft home. We want to go green. Can you help? Where do we start?
Thanks,
LasT Sunday you built a house for an American Indian family using solar and wind power; my husband and I will be building a house in Florida in approximately 9 to 12 months, we would like the entire house powered by solar and wind energy. The area we plan to build in is Navarre Beach on the Santa Rosa Sound. Could I receive information from you on a local solar/wind energy contractor for that area. We plan to build our house green. But, do not have a clue where to begin or what contractors are in that area to build our home for us.
Thank you for your help and I love your Sunday Show on HGTV. God Bless you for helping all the families you do by bulding a home for them so they can build the lives. I know what is like to build a house and have it not work for you. We started to build our dream home in 2000, the builder stole over $345,000 in building funds and left us with a house 3/4 ways completed that had to be torn down all the way to removing the footers, we hired a second builder to build the house, that company dug a hugh hole, took $135,000 as a deposit of our money and never came back. We sued both builders, one declared bankruptcy and the other just disappeared. The third builder built the house, paid him $785,000.00 and we have a house with so much wrong with it that if we could afford too we would bring in a demo team and start all over again.
So, if you can help us find a great green builder in the Florida Panhandle and a green source fo wind and solar energy we would be in your debt forever.
Sincerley:
Joyce Floyd
HGTV is promoting being green, yet many shows call for gutting perfectly good cabinets because they are “dated”. Working applicances are tossed, tile is thrown out, bathrooms are redone. Shouldn’t being green include not redoing just to keep up with the latest trends?
I am interested in finding out about resurfacing my kitchen counter tops with cement/concrete. I saw a quick commercial of you brushing on concrete to a counter top… going green… in a blue tint… I am very interested in finding out how to do this and also how sturdy/durable this is…. can you please give me more info…..
I am in the process of selecting a roofer to reroof a wood shake roof here in Southern California. Most roofers know little about installing an energy efficient green roof, and we’d like to have this done, if possible.
Can you point me to a company that provides such a service and/or a manufacturer of tiles that are green and energy efficient?
Karen Blakely
Newport Beach, CA
You’re going to hate me, bur I am so sick of hearing green, green, green. Growing up as a coalminer’s daughter, everything we had was beat up and scarred, hand-me-down or dragged from the town dump. I yearned for the time I would be grown up and maybe buy something actually new. This green decorating is so ugly! Even Lisa LaPorta can’t make concrete counters and floors look good. I am now an elderly lady, and I don’t have a lot, but it’s the best looking I can manage. Don’t expect me to go back to what I grew up with! Reasonable people do what they can to re-use things and not litter the earth, but people are becoming fanatics about it. Thanks for letting me vent. I love HGTV, but find myself switching to Animal Planet when some of the shows come on lately. –Joyce Allard, Derry, NH
Entrepreneur Going Green
Palm Beach entrepreneur Alex Papas, the creator and the developer of the prepaid phone card in the United States is bringing you two going green projects. Papas has just created a new medical breakthrough called The MedeFile Card. MedeFile’s centralized, confidential electronic portfolio gives you 24/7 access to your medical history. No more wasting time and filling out paperwork when you go to see the doctor or go to the hospital. Imagine that you or your parent or child has suddenly become ill. They are in a place where no one knows them, their blood type, what medications they are on, or what allergies they have. Quick decisions could mean the difference between life and death. Each year the lack of accurate medical information – or the wrong information – takes a terrible toll. With MedeFile you can be better prepared with vital information should such an emergency arise. Your Medical records are going Green. Alex Papas is donating
$100 million dollars in The MedeFile Card to charities, foundations, churches and to companies all over the world. For more information on The MedeFile Card go to http://www.medefilecard.com
Alex Papas is also getting ready to bring you the first Green Island in the world, called Star Island. Papas and his partners are developing a paradise within a paradise, for the rich and famous. This luxurious 5-diamond private island community is nestled at the northern end of the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Just a 55 min flight away from Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale or Miami and only a 10 min boat ride to the island and Harbour Island is also only a 10 min boat ride away, yet light years away in its unique culture and ambiance of unhurried ease.
This 35-acre private island paradise will consist of 45 beachfront and dockage estate lots. There will be a condominium-hotel and waterfront bungalows. The island will have every amenity possible including world renowned restaurants, cafes, boutiques, club house, grocery store, tennis courts, basketball courts, state of the art fitness center & high end spa, marina, helicopter pad, and a park. Private boats and limo take you to and from the island and the airport. Hundreds of palm trees will cover the island and its beautiful sandy beaches. The island has elevations up to 24 ft and the best bone fishing in the world. The entire island will be managed as a 5 diamond hotel. Anyone can call at two or three in the morning to request a bottle of champagne and your favorite midnight snack. We’re creating a luxurious atmosphere.
For more information on Star Island Bahamas go to http://www.starislandbahamas.com
You can contact Alex Papas at 954 729 8888
A nearby wine merchant used leftover floating cork laminate flooring on his shop counters. It looks fabulous! He sealed it with 3-4 coats of poly. We’d like to use the same treatment for our kitchen floors and counters, as we’ve been looking for something green and inexpensive. My husband put in a small copper countertop over what used to be an unused pass through. We added two mahogany stools and the transition into the living room works quite nicely now. As our kitchen can be seen from the dining and living rooms, at parties we’d like it to feel more like an elegant wine bar. We thought the cork would work with the copper. Yet we are concerned about the seams with water and coffee spills on the counter. Would a few coats of poly work? Marine grade perhaps? Wax? Other suggestions?
Apple Inc.’s new data synching service got off to a rocky start Thursday, as some users were denied access to their accounts just hours before the next-generation iPhone is slated to go on sale.
I am interested in finding out about resurfacing my kitchen counter tops with cement/concrete. I saw a quick commercial of you brushing on concrete to a counter top… going green…
As per above
I also saw that commercial with the guy painting the concrete on the countertop. I can’t find any iformation on that. Please send me info.
Thank you
I AM ALSO A HUGE FAN OF CARTER AND LOVE THE FACT THAT HE SEEMS SO VERY GENUINE. I ALSO AM INTERESTED IN THE INFORMATION FROM THE COMMERCIAL WITH CARTER PAINTING THE CONCRETE ON THE COUNTERTOP. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING AND ASKING UNSUCCESSFULLY. THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE.
I saw on a show on HGTV (I believe it was Look What I did), a woman that made all sorts of things from papier-mache, including her bathroom floor. I think this is wonderfully innovative and very green. I was wondering if you could send me in the right direction to learn how to do something like this? Thanks!
Joyce is right. Green is going to take us back to much less of a consumer society and those who lived through the depression or grew up like Joyce doing without, never had the luxury of being big consumers but my kids are growing up in a very affluent society and need to learn to live Green.Most young people today live a very disposable life style and your show speaks to them. My hat’s off to those who lived Green out of necessity. To those who live Green by choice. Thank you!
I am also interested in resurfacing my exisitng counter tops with concrete. I saw a segement of a kitchen makeover that used a 3 or 4 coat process. Can you tell me more?
My newlywed daughter and her husband caught an episode featuring a company called greensofas and ordered a sofa and oversized chair. Since they are just starting out they saw now reason not to order from this company. Now after trying several times to email and call the company are receiving no response. Do you know anything about the reliability of the company. We are distressed as they used a debit card as a deposit on their order.
Even if I wasn’t environmentally conscious I would watch the show just to stare at Carter.