Reduce, recycle, reuse

TRENDS

Home decor products made of recycled material are all the rage today. Eco-friendly products such as recycled paper vases, reed diffusers and bamboo screens all contribute towards a green home, writes Bindu Gopal Rao

Getting the environment into the interiors of a home is something everyone would love. With green construction technologies in vogue, it is only a natural progression that home interiors are turning green. The market today offers a plethora of options from paints to furniture, furnishings and accessories as well as maintenance solutions that are environment friendly.

Going natural

Green home decor is a fast-growing trend being adopted by many environment conscious home makers. Whether it is recycled paper vases, reed diffusers, posturizes, natural bamboo screens or even a rope door mat, everything can contribute towards a green home. “The future for green home decor looks bright, with many retailers promoting beautiful, recycled and environment-friendly home decor products and accessories,” says Kiran Range, Managing Director, Ripple Fragrances, makers of IRIS Home Fragrances. Cocoon Fine Rugs, a couture brand of hand-knotted carpets and rugs are environmentally friendly, convertible and can be used on either sides. “Making use of alternatives, efficient dual usage of furniture and furnishings add to a more environment-friendly house,” says Ayush Choudhary, Owner & Designer of Cocoon Fine Rugs. A green home design typically incorporates conservation of energy, water and natural resources, use of renewable energy, waste reduction and a healthier environment.

“Wood and insulation products are often made from rapidly renewable sources such as bamboo, soybean and cotton. Windows and doors must have a high E factor rating, and energy-saving appliances and climate control systems must be installed,” opines Meenakshi Sharma, Head, Living Concepts, EVOK.


Innumerable varieties of solutions for toilets, flooring materials, wall coverings and furniture that have been recycled or are eco-sensitive are being brought to India.

“Biosfera I recycled carpet tiles from InterfaceFLOR are an example of this. These tiles use 50 per cent less yarn than a standard product and have a glue-free installation system which reduces the environmental impact and also lowers the volatile organic compounds (VOC) levels. Pergo wood flooring would be another example as they consciously use only recycleable wood from species like pine and spruce and completely avoid the use of wood from the rainforests,” explains Vijay Nambiar, interior designer.

Green home decor also includes eco-friendly furniture made of recycled material, reclaimed art and artifacts and also reused items.

Also furniture made from plantations that are responsibly and socially managed for their long-term conservation are being used as part of green home decor.

“Many modern and contemporary recycled furniture designs are now made using reclaimed or recycled wood, paper or metal. New product lines available in the markets overseas include high-quality, sustainable interior doors, available in a variety of designs, sizes, wood species and glass panels, which are composed of 85 per cent waste wheat straw and free of synthetic (urea) formaldehyde,” says architect Kochuthomman Mathew.

Material choices

Materials like bamboo and salvaged wood derived out of transportation packaging and old frames and locally available stones, in small chipped, sheet or Buttock format used extensively in cladding and other interior assemblies as well as wooden and earthy components like mud, sun-dried bricks cellular concrete blocks for interior partitions are great options as well.

Basavaraj Sriraj, Chief Designer, Realm Architects explains, “I have had an opportunity to use sisal and sea grass as green material. The cacti family sisal gives a lot of room to create wonders and we have used it in the form of woven floor coverings, floor tiles and rugs.

Another material which I appreciate immensely is sea grass, which is used like bamboo and perfect for roof thatching and can also be used for flooring (where there is a need to cover an area of floor). Although this is not suitable for stairs, it is a good material to add in low-traffic areas of a unit.” Kiran Lulla, Head – Brand Management, Asahi India Glass Limited (AIS) says, “We have introduced a whole new range of high-performance coated glass products under the brand name, ‘Ecosense’, the green standard in glass. This product will enable architects and interior designers to ensure their creations are environment-friendly and energy-efficient. We have also introduced AIS VUE – uPVC window profiles which are environment friendly too.”

HP wall art wallpapers are a 100 per cent green option printed with inks and wallpaper that are approved according to health-related environmental criteria. There’s no odour, printed panels are children-friendly and meet criteria for health-related evaluation of VOC emissions of indoor building products.

Green paints

Paints are made of ingredients from VOCs mostly categorised as neurotoxins and known to cause health hazards. Some paint products can affect the environment to a large extent, because for every tonne of paint produced; up to 30 times more waste is generated, while paint production uses enormous amounts of energy. “Eco-paints are produced from fewer than 250 chemical components and more than 98 per cent of these chemicals are naturally derived from plant sources and minerals.

As part of our eco friendly products, paints, stains, thinners and waxes are made from naturally derived raw materials including citrus peel extracts, essential oils, seed oils, tree resins, inert mineral fillers, tree and bee waxes, lead-free dryers and natural pigments,” says Percy Jijina, Director, Decorative, Jotun India Pvt. Ltd. Says Sunder P, CEO, (HomeShikari.com), TTK Services Pvt. Ltd., “Coir, jute, banana and bamboo are excellent material that can be replenished are good for home articles and decorative pieces. Mats, window blinds, covers, table lamps, furniture are some of the products that are made out of these materials.”

Products galore

Lighting pioneer Philips has taken the lead as far as green lights are concerned. ‘Philips LivingColors’ lamp contains four light emitting diodes (LEDs) which makes it an energy-efficient lamp. Their normal lifespan is eight-ten years based on an average use of 1.5 hours per day. Likewise Philips Ledino, a range of LED-based products uses innovative Power LED technology which helps users create refreshing and natural light. The strength and clarity of light which comes from the range is comparable with a typical 40W halogen light bulb, yet consumes only 7.5W, therefore saving 80 per cent of energy.

“The need for energy-efficient solutions has never been felt more strongly and people today are realising that energy-efficient solutions are important not just for reducing personal energy costs but also to make the available energy resources last longer,” opines R Nandakishore, Senior Director, Home Decorative Lighting & Modular Switches, Philips Lighting India.

Likewise IRIS’ reed diffusers, a special category of home fragrance products are fashioned from tall, stiff grasses that are porous and eco-friendly, free of ash and fire.
Sandeep Pantvaidya, Vice President, Sales, Marketing and CRM of SPR &RG Constructions says, “At our current project Osian Chlorophyll, one of the highlighted amenities is 42 parks and roof-top gardens. As property developers look to provide greener exterior options, to be in sync with the trend the interiors will also turn environment-friendly.”

Eco-friendly film

There are unique film-based textured applications such as 3M and DI-NOC. With over 600 patterns to choose, you can now readily simulate wood colour and texture, or even metal look and finish on a variety of surfaces. Interior refurbishment with DI-NOC takes place in no time where this self-adhesive flexible laminate can be used on the most hard, smooth surfaces, is fire retardant and enables LEED credits.

Thomas Johan, Sr. General Manager, Retail Operations @home by Nilkamal Ltd opines, “The last year has seen a lot of eco-friendly products brought into homes and this year will have more of sleek and compact designs. Kitchens too can follow an organic theme by having eco-friendly wooden products like spoons stand, fruit basket, wooden bowls etc.”

Home maintenance solutions also make ecological sense today. Pidilite Industries Ltd., have launched ‘Terminator’, a powerful anti-termite solution.

‘Terminator’ wood preservative does not have any toxic formulation making it eco-friendly. Made of cashew nut shell oil extract, ‘Terminator’ kills termites without causing any harm to the environment. Parallel to Terminator wood preservative, Terminator structure preservative is an anti-termite emulsifiable concentrate that helps in curing the termite problem at the ground level from where the termites enter into our homes and furniture.

Similarly Eureka Forbes’ Euroclean Storm shoots water at 50 times the pressure of a conventional hosepipe for quick, effective and easy cleaning. Being environment-friendly, it does not waste water or electricity yet cleans optimally.

Green makeover