My guest today is Joel Hirshberg, Co-founder and President of Green Building Supply. He opened one of the nation’s first green building supply retail stores in 1991, followed by one of the first online green building stores in the country. Today Joel and I will discuss toxic-free flooring. When I asked him what he wanted to talk about he said, “Instead of talking about a lot of things wide and shallow, can we talk about one thing narrow and deep? And can I ask YOU questions?”So today we’re talking about flooring “narrow and deep” and he may ask me questions.  Joel has an extensive and varied background in building, in addition to selling toxic free building products. He’s a contributor to the US Green Building Council Green Home Guide website. He built a custom home modeled after Frank Lloyd Wright combined with Vedic Architecture. He’s an entrepreneur, real estate developer, custom home builder, retailer, teacher, sailor, husband, father and lover of knowledge and architectural design. www.GreenBuildingSupply.com

 

 

My guest today is Marlon Pando, President and Owner of White Lotus Home. We’ll be talking about pillows: toxic free materials, different sizes and shapes, and how to choose a pillow that’s just right for you. Marlon worked in his family business until he purchased White Lotus Home, a company that has been making natural and organic bedding in the USA for 34 years. www.whitelotushome.com

 

 

My guest today is Andrea Fabry, toxic free blogger and owner of Just So Natural Products. We’ll be talking today about toxic exposures from appliances and how you can find the safest ones. Following a health crisis in 2008, Andrea and her family discovered the wonders of natural living. Andrea is a former journalist and the mother of nine children ranging in age from 29 to 13. She is also the founder and president of momsAWARE, an educational organization designed to empower others to live healthy in a toxic world. www.it-takes-time.com | www.justso.com

 

 

Today my guest is Rowena Finegan, BBEC, Managing Partner and Interior Designer of Pine Street Natural Interiors in Sausalito, California. She says: “Our mission has always been to provide a next wave of green furniture and design, one that combines social responsibility and healthy habits with color and texture and, well, fun.” The idea for this particular combination hatched years ago as Ms. Finegan visited various countries all over the globe, where she developed her design sense, which is especially influenced by African and European pattern and style. Emigrating from Brighton, England when she was in her early thirties, she started her business life in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She built a tiny shop handling ski clothing alterations into a very successful interior design concern that handled high end clients and hotels in the area. Not satisfied with the essence of her work, she eventually sold her business and enrolled with the Institute for Bau Biologie and Ecology, which promotes the use of healthy building principles in homes and also teaches its students how to identify elements in the home that might be dangerous, such as mold and volatile organic compounds released from such materials as carpet and plastics. Ms. Finegan earned a certification as a Building Biology Environmental Consultant (BBEC). For the past ten years, Ms. Finegan has been using the principles of Bau-biology in her work, specializing in Healthy Home Interior Design. In 2004, Ms. Finegan collaborated with Cisco Pinedo, owner of Cisco Brothers, a furniture manufacturing company in Los Angeles, to create a sustainable, fully upholstered furniture line, utilizing natural, non-toxic and sustainable materials. www.pinestreetinteriors.com

 

 

Today my guest is Erin S. Ihde, MA, CCRP, founder of The Healthy Home Project. We’ll be talking about how she transformed a house project- by-project, using healthier, “green” materials, “all on a peanut-butter-and-jelly budget.” The Healthy Home Project blog follows the remodeling a 107-year old historic home in need of much TLC. Each posts features resources based upon a single theme, from healthier paints to safer disposal of household hazards. Resource links within the post are provided for more comprehensive information on each topic. Erin believes creating healthy spaces is one of the most important things we can do for the kids in our lives. She is a hospital-based project manager in environmental health, specializing in pediatric research and education. Erin has an MA in Environmental Education from New York University, where she received a fellowship from the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, and a BA in English from the Honors Program at The College of New Jersey. She is a Certified Clinical Research Professional through SoCRA. Most importantly, she is mom to two amazing kids. thehealthyhomeproject.org

My guest today is Susan Inglis, Executive Director of Sustainable Furnishings Council. She has over twenty-five years experience working with artisans and in sustainable manufacture in the home furnishings, fashion, and gift industries. We’ll be talking about the Sustainable Furnishings Council and how they support reducing toxics in furniture. Susan has worked in twenty-seven countries on five continents providing services ranging from identifying procedures for insuring the sustainability of a natural resource base to market-led product development and how to access new markets effectively. Susan’s direction of the SFC has gained national attention and brought the organization widespread recognition as the primary source for verified sustainable home furnishings. Susan has spoken on behalf of SFC throughout the U.S. and abroad and has inspired many companies to adopt a sustainable platform for the future. She is the proud recipient of the 2009 WithIt WOW Award for Education. www.sustainablefurnishings.org

My guest today is James Stinnett, founder of Earth Weave Carpet Mills. They are the premier North American manufacturer of all natural, non-toxic carpet, area rugs and padding—made using undyed, untreated wool on the face, along with hemp, cotton, jute and natural rubber for the backing materials. We’ll be talking about toxic chemicals in carpets as well as how Earth Weave makes their carpets and padding. James grew up in Dalton GA, the carpet capital of the world, then moved out west to Montana after receiving an Operations Management degree from Auburn University. There he started and ran a successful flooring company, Rocky Mountain Flooring. Inspired by his love of nature to make non-toxic carpet and rugs James returned to Dalton, GA with a passion for providing high quality, healthy, non-toxic products. His company, Earth Weave Carpet Mills, founded in 1996, is the first and only North American producer of truly healthy broadloom carpets. James oversees every aspect of the business ensuring the products he manufactures speak for themselves in quality and purity. After being in business for over 18 years Earth Weave has maintained a notable reputation for being North America’s premier manufacturer of non-toxic, natural carpeting products. www.earthweave.com

 

 

My guest today is interior designer Sarah Valiant, Founder of Valiant Design Company. We’ll be talking about toxic chemicals in home furnishing and decorating products, the toxic-free products she uses for her clients, and how we can help encourage change in the interior design field. Over the last few years, Sarah noticed a substantial shift with her clients’ wishes for toxic-free options for the decor in their homes. As Sarah herself believes in a toxic-free environment for her own family, she eagerly embraced this change. So much of what we decorate our homes with is replete with formaldehyde, phthalates, VOC’s, flame retardants and toxic glues. With all of these chemicals being severely detrimental to our health, Sarah believes it is imperative that we work to bring to market, options that are safe for us and the health of our families. Sarah was very hard pressed to find healthy, yet attractive design items for her clients due to a severe lack of options on the market and so she decided to develop her own solution. Her company, Valiant Design Co., developed a product line called Healthy Home. Currently it designs and manufactures a line of organic and toxic-free cushions, but Sarah intends to expand that to include furniture, fabric, and bedding in the near future. Sarah acquired a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from Queen’s University and began her career in event design. She later attended the KLC London School of Design in the UK. After graduating with Honors, she worked for two leading design firms in London and Paris before returning home to Canada to start up her dream company. Her passion to create beauty through functional and toxic-free design drives her from project to project. www.valiantdesignco.com

My guest today is Lisa K. Tharp, founder of K. Tharp Design. Lisa caught my attention when she demonstrated her understanding of design practices that are healthy for people the planet in her design of the award-winning Concord Green Healthy Home. We’ll be talking about how she incorporates toxic-free choices in design and how you can too. Plus, Lisa will share her 5 steps for recovery for people with MCS. K. Tharp Design is a full-service, boutique design firm specializing in luxury level interiors—environments thoughtfully designed to satisfy and delight the senses. Whether designing a relaxed beach house, gracious country home or sophisticated city residence, Lisa loves helping each client find and reflect their own personal style in spaces that are inviting, comfortable and functional. Lisa hit the Boston design scene in 2012, when her first project landed on the cover of Design New England magazine and was broadcast by This Old House Productions. Visual skills, honed from years of filming and photography during Lisa’s first career in video production and brand management (Time Life, HBO, Kraft General Foods) inform her sense of composition, lighting and scale. Inspired by each new project’s architecture, local vernacular and setting, Lisa calls upon classical proportions, modern form, fine art and nature itself to produce work described as “a fresh take on classic design”. She collaborates with architects and building teams on new construction and renovations, and often creates bespoke furnishings, lighting and original art for her clients. www.ktharpdesign.com

 

 

Today my guest is Aimee Robinson, Founder and Owner of EcoBalanza. They focuse exclusively on creating sofas and upholstered furniture made with organic, certified and natural materials. We’ll be talking about natural upholstered furniture, how it is made, fire retardants, and new regulations in California for upholstered furniture. Ecobalanza is the result of “an”obsessive effort to create the perfect sofa… one that is truly non-toxic: organic materials + true artisan crafted + socially responsible sources + comfortable + beautiful + durable.” Over the past 10 years, Aimee has researched materials and created a vertical supply chain where each material can be easily traced to its origin and producer and, when it comes to textiles, knowledge of all critical third party certifications and origins is key. A background in political science and social change plays a significant role in the commitment to work directly with women, farmers and artisans, and find ways to collaborate towards a more responsible and clean economy. www.debralynndadd.com/debras-list/ecobalanza