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Washington Spaces - Surface Beauty - Spring 2008
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ChesapeakeHome.com - Tips For A Green Kitchen - 5/19/08
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As interest in sustainable building grows, it only makes sense to consider green options for the highest energy using room in the home-the family kitchen.
Among the many ways to go green in the kitchen is to opt, as this homeowner did, for countertops made of paper-based Richlite and cabinets made with certified and recycled woods. (Courtesy Miko Wheeler)
With rising energy costs and concerns about environmental impacts, using natural materials to create energy efficient homes is very much in vogue, and the kitchen is no exception. Next to the utility room, kitchens are the biggest energy using areas of most homes, and with all the materials involved in cabinetry, flooring, and countertops, they're also a space that uses a lot of building materials. So how can homeowners establish long-term cost savings while also minimizing the environmental impact of kitchen construction or renovation? There's more to it than just buying Energy Star rated appliances. Here are some novel ideas for going green in the kitchen.
Bay Weekly Volume 16, Issue 14 - April 3 - April 9, 2008
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When it comes to resurfacing counters, "people think they have to use granite," says Andrea Wheeler of Miko Wheeler Fine Countertops in Edgewater. Granite and marble may be the mainstays of today's upscale kitchen counters, but these stones are often not the greenest choices.
Granite and marble have two counts against them. First, "it's natural, but once it's blasted from the Earth, that's it; when you take that countertop out or it breaks, there's really not anything you can do with it," Wheeler says. Second, granite and marble are often shipped to Italy to be finished, then finally shipped to your home. Shipping such heavy, bulky materials halfway around the world and back means fossil fuel-burning ships must ferry your purchase long distances, spewing carbon and other pollutants into the air.
"People think they have to use granite," says Andrea Wheeler, when in fact there are far more eco-friendly options. Here, Wheeler shows samples of green countertops.
Laminate countertops are no better a choice but for different reasons. They're traditionally glued to their plywood composite backing with formaldehyde-filled adhesive. And like granite, traditional laminate loses more green points for its one-place only lifetime: "Once it's damaged, there's nothing you can do to fix it," Wheeler says.
Consider green countertops for more choices than with traditional counters, Wheeler says. Like green paints, green countertops are a young industry. Unlike green paints, green countertops are equal in durability and longevity to traditional countertops.