 Green Tips
We found a non-profit who will collect and recycle those ever-popular plastic gift cards. We are pretty excited about this – it's no fun to give a gift that demands more landfill space right off the bat. According to Earthworks, "over 75 million pounds of PVC material from plastic cards enter our waste stream each year."
MAK will be collecting used cards at our office – once we have a box-full, we'll mail them off to Earthworks for recycling. This includes gift cards, old licenses, library cards, video rental cards, club membership cards – any of those plastic cards you no longer need. Bring yours by the office when you are done with them! Better yet, tell your favorite vendors about Earth Works and encourage them to set up collection bins of their own at the store!
Or, if you are musician, check out this idea for upcycling plastic cards into guitar picks!
|
 |
| |
 |
Faves + Finds
We'd like to highlight a building product we use on nearly every job, because we think it's amazing. Anderson Windows created a 100 series a few years ago, and we have been completely won over. Check out the series's many great features:
- The frames are made of a composite of resin and wood fiber,
including 40% reclaimed fiber from manufacturing waste.
- The window glass includes 12% recycled glass content.
- The frame is extremely durable, especially in high-heat and
direct sunlight. Unlike vinyl, it will not warp, crack, bow, fade,
blister, or peel in our harsh west coast summer climate.
- The frame is more thermally insulating than aluminum and
cheaper than fiberglass.
- The windows come in 5 exterior colors (including the
beautiful cocoa bean shown here) and have seamless corners – which means they look great!
- The windows are highly efficient and when ordered with Smart Sun Low-E Glass will qualify
for the federal tax rebate for energy-efficiency.
- Windows are available with decorative glass or grills for design customization, and in over
20,000 size combinations. The 100 series can also be coordinated with Anderson's 200
and 400 series for even more options.
|
Green Walls – Save Energy, Add Beauty, Grow Food and Flowers!
Want to grow more veggies and flowers? Want to cool your home? How about
doing both, at the same time? Basic gardening and hardware supplies and some
know how are all you need to construct your own green curtains for your home.
Choose fast-growing plants such as morning glory or beans, and consider
deciduous plants or annuals if you want to the passive-solar effect of warm walls
in winter and cool walls in summer. Fast-growing can also mean quickly-taking-over-the-yard: plant invasive species in pots to contain them, and
then train them up the simple latticing structures. If you want to really go all out, combine the green curtains with a rainwater catchment or greywater system (not for edibles) and conserve water AND energy!
This is a great low-tech, high-yield home project. Project supplies are estimated to cost $40 (plus the cost of plants) and can be completed by a do-it-yourself homeowner. The Kyocera Group in Japan has used these curtains to shade their buildings and found a difference of
up to 15 degrees surface temperature between walls covered by green curtains and those exposed to sunlight. They also harvest the
vegetables grown on the curtains to serve staff in their cafeteria!
|
| |
|
|
East Coast Kitchen
MAK recently completed a sleek and formal kitchen remodel for west coast transplant who craved east coast style. The cabinets are sustainably-harvested sapele with a dark java stain. The Caesarstone countertops are low maintenance, durable, and grout-free – as is the painted glass backplash. The new space opened up the traffic flow, created a usable work-triangle, and added an adjacent workstation for bills and homework near to all of the cooking action.
The clients also wanted their oak-and-white-tile bathroom to be transformed into something glamourous that specifically included "swimming pool blue" accents
and lots of Carrera-marble with deep black veining. Both husband and wife wanted a separate tub and shower, so neither had to wait on the other. Despite the small space, MAK was able to accommodate a deep soaking tub and a gorgeous walk-in shower complete with bench and frameless glass enclosure, which shows off the tile inside.
|
 |
Taste of Ghana
 |
Lend a helping hand to the Otwetiri Project by attending A Taste of Ghana on October 16th. The Otwetiri Project's goals are to "build schools, support literacy programs, and provide education incentives through sports in the village of Otwetiri, Ghana." MAK's long-time client and friend Martha Gegan is closely involved with the project. Last year's fundraiser got the school building off the ground, and this year the goal is to fund the completion of the roof before Christmas.
A Taste of Ghana will include food, music, dance, and a silent auction. Tickets cost $40. More information can be found at otwetiri.org.
|
Project Party
MAK was honored by our client's post-project party in late August. While sharing his new studio addition on 8th Street (the ground-breaking was featured in our last newsletter), our client told his guests, "I have expanded my castle 3 times, and this was the first time it was an enjoyable process!" We are proud to have made the remodeling experience worthwhile!
|
Props to Toto and UPS
 |
Our favorite high-efficiency toilet manufacturer, Toto, is now shipping all of their products through a carbon-neutral program offered by UPS. This means that the greenhouse gases produced at each step of the shipping chain from manufacture to showroom delivery will be balanced with investments in environmental programs. Your new toilet could not only save water, but arrive via reduced greenhouse gas impacts!
Click to learn more about UPS's CarbonNeutral® Shipment and Toto's many fine products.
|
|
