The 3 R principle in sustainable interior design

This basic 3 R principle lies at the very heart of eco design. Its simplicity belies the complex nature of Eco Design when it is carried out in its strictest form.

When applied to the creation of housing, Eco Design becomes a fascinating but complex style. A well designed eco home will have a number of key features based around this principle:The real emphasis on any eco home is to reduce the amount of resources that it uses, making the most of the site that it sits on, having the following:

– A large amount of glazing on the south side of the building to take in the warmth from the sun.
– A reduced number of openings and windows on the north side to minimse heat loss
– Renewable energy sources such as solar water heating, photovoltaic panels, a wind turbine, located on the walls or roof
– Thick walls and heavily insulated roofs and floors
– A soild section of the building made of brick, concrete or stone, which will act as a heat sink to store the suns heat (known as thermal mass)
– Double or triple glazed windows
– An extremely efficient heating system.
– A minimal number of electrical lighting fittings
– A rated energy saving appliances such as fridges or freezers.
– Reduced flow water systems.

It may well contain a number of sustainable natural materials, such as :

– A timber construction, and external cladding and fittings (such as doors, window frames and banisters)
– Sheep’s wool insulation
– Natural flooring materials such as wood wool or cork
– Non toxic natural paints
– A green turfed roof to insulate and encourage wildlife

Lastly it will consider what resources can be reused and make the most of them:

– A grey (used) water recycling system, and water butts
– Heat pumps to recycle unused warm air
– Recycling bins
– A compost bin in the kitchen and wormery or compost heap in the garden
– Recyclable elements such as stainless steel, or wood surfaces

An eco house is a super functional and efficient piece of design; a building that performs at the highest possible level, putting as lighter possible impact onto the environment is at its very core of being. It places functional efficiency before all other choices, with “style” as a possible additional benefit. After all in the face of such an enormous issue such as global warming and destruction of our living habitat why would we even consider the trivialities of style as being important?

Eco design is a noble thing for architecture and design to work towards, striving to create a pure, efficient world for us to inhabit. It is a courageous ideal for the world of design to do battle with the very wastefulness of society.

What is sustainable interior design?

Good design for the home has traditionally been about bringing a number of different aspects together to create the ideal living space; location, cost, function and style all have to be juggled (with a touch of inspiration of course!) for the perfect home.

However a new issue has landed at our doorsteps, one that now must be considered alongside the rest. Environmental concerns mean that our homes need to go beyond our personal requirements to become more conscious of the planet at a wider scale. We now need to consider the impact our homes are having on the environment, and consider our lives on a wider scale.
In the past “eco design” has been the reserve of what many believed to be tree hugging hippies – but who’s ideas are now becoming ever more relevant. Their approach to design could be summed up as less is more, or simply to tread lightly on the earth.

Society has been quick to ridicule these ideas, largely as they reject the conventional notions of consumerism – with a functional bare aesthetic intertwined with an alternative spiritual belief system. But if you were to drop the latter, there are actually many practical lessons that we can learn from this way of living.
Eco Designs fundamental “mantra” (ok I know that word does sound a little hippy, but stick with me) is known as the 3 R’s, that’s:
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

Reduce is as the name suggests, about reducing your consumption of resources- be it the basics that you use in your home (such as gas, water, or electricity), or more general consumable goods such as packaging, clothes, furniture, petrol, cosmetics and foodstuffs. Being realistic it doesn’t mean living a totally minimal life, rather a more efficient, and thoughtful one.

Reuse refers to the sustainable method that the products we buy and use are made. We should ensure that they come from a well managed and sustainable source, one that is naturally replenished, this includes natural materials such as wood, wool, cork, and rubber. The Reuse of products also refers to items that are re-appropriated; this can be as simple as a chair that is given a new lease of life with a lick of paint or a recovered armchair. In addition it includes fabrics and foods and products that come from a fair-trade/ organic source – ensuring that we are not unnecessarily depleting or damaging the earths resources, or putting others lives in misery, starvation and poverty. Ensuring that the lives of others are in a balance as a result of the way that we live our lives.

Recycle differs from “reuse” in that the it refers to materials that would generally be totally broken down before being reassembled in another form, such as the recycling of cardboard, glass or paper. Recycling ensures that materials are not taken out of their useful lifecycle loop by being cast into land fill or being incinerated. Clearly the planet does not possess limitless supplies of raw materials, so its essential that we make the most of what we have. You can now recycle nearly 70% of what goes into your home - glass, tin, paper, plastics, clothes/ fabrics, paints almost everything can go somewhere if you simply take the time to think about it.

The 3 Rs sit in a logical hierarchy whereby it’s better to use less in the first place ( ie reduce). So be efficient with what you have and use, and try not to take it for granted.
If you can t use less then make sure that what you do use comes from a well managed renewable, and sustainable source (ie reuse).

Lastly, we should make sure that what we do use or consume, doesn’t just leave the loop by being put into land fill or being incinerated, but recycle it to be reused in another form. Recycling is at the bottom of the 3 R hierarchy as it takes energy to collect materials, chop them up and then reform them into new products - still it plays a vital role in our new sustainable world and life style.

For more eco interior design ideas visit OliverHeath website.

Eco furniture from a Dublin based furniture store

All our beautiful handcrafted bedroom furniture is manufactured in Southern Ireland from the finest range of woods. Not only is it beautifully designed and elegant, but it is functional and purpose-built giving you bags of space for everything that you need to store in your bedroom.

Here at our Dublin furniture online store we also bring you some eco friendly alternatives in a variety of different and styles to satisfy all tastes. So if you’re looking for fine top quality bedroom furniture lovingly made in the Irish tradition in your favourite wood you will just love this site!

Why Eco for our homes?

It was one of the fathers of Modern Design Le Corbusier, that once said “a house is a machine for living in”

Perhaps now more than ever, this quote is appropriate to our age. From a technical point of view our homes are under ever closer scrutiny, to use less energy and out put less waste- to become more efficient. That’s not surprising when we consider that the average home produces 6 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions every year – a figure that could simply be reduced by one third (that’s 2 tonnes less!!) if we applied some simple principles to it.

Not only will this reduce the impact that our homes are having on the environment but also save us a money into the bargain.

We've moved!

We've moved our blog to EcoHomeIdeas to an all singing all dancing blog.

Visit us at http://www.ecohomeideas.co.uk/ for more eco chic style ideas for you home and lifestyle, plus Oliver Heath's design advice and news in the eco business.

You can also follow our updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/ecochicstyle

See you there!

All at EcoCentric

What do Jude Law, Colin Firth, Jo Wood & Emma Thompson have in common?

...They are all supporting World Fair Trade Day which is tomorrow - 9th May. Not only that but they have signed a limited edition butterfly top for People Tree in support of Fairtrade, as modelled by Jo Wood (left) - how many people can say they have Jude Law's signature across their chest?!

World Fair Trade Day is an international event when the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO, formerly IFAT) and its members promote global awareness of fair trade. It is a great opportunity to celebrate the 100% fair trade organisations and companies, and the gorgeous fashions and delicious and great quality foods that are available.

There are 100% Fairtrade breakfasts being held all over the UK aswell as in France, Norway, Poland and the United States.

Why not hold your own Fairtrade breakfast tomorrow - invite some friends round for fresh Fairtrade fruit shakes & hot-cross buns with dried fruit, and a cafetiere of delicious fairtrade coffee. Or if it is too late to organise, then just add a handful of Fairtrade dried fruit to your porridge or muesli.
Click here for some amazing recipe ideas from Tropical Wholefoods.

You could also use this as an opportunity to encourage your local European Parliamentary candidates to sign the Faritrade Foundation's pledge for fair trade, in advance of the European Elections on 4 June.

There is a great range of fair trade products at EcoCentric, from photo frames & albums to bedlinen - currently with 20% off.

National Compost Week: 3rd May - 9th May 09

Yes it’s National Compost Week!

For those of you who don’t know much (or anything) about it, National Compost Week is organised by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme).

WRAP estimate that every year each home throws away 200kg of waste which could have been composted. National Compost Week aims to inform people of the benefits of making their own compost.

This year’s theme is ‘Food for thought’, and focuses on using compost to grow your own food. This theme is perfect because not only is it the right time of year to start planting, but growing your own fruit and veg has been made even easier by ‘Rocket Gardens’.

Now I love Rocket Gardens because they take the hassle out of gardening. You simply find and purchase a voucher for the garden you want, Children’s garden if you have kids, herb garden if you like to cook, patio garden if you don’t have a lot of garden space etc. Once your voucher arrives you return the freepost card telling Rocket Garden where you’d like the garden delivered and then a box of baby plants arrives straight to your door ready for you to plant.

Not only are these gardens easy but the plants are 100% organic, reared in soil approved by the Soil Association and are kept free of chemical pesticides, which will be delivered straight to your door.

They also make wonderful eco gifts because you have a variety of gardens to choose from, and you can give the voucher itself as a gift or arrange for the garden to be delivered straight to the birthday boy or girl.

Some of the benefits of growing your own fruit and veg using your own compost include:

• You help the environment by reducing the amount of waste going into the landfills.
• You can use your home made compost to grow your own fruit and veg; which will save you money on fertiliser.
• Growing your own food will reduce in your shopping bill and ensures your food will be 100% organic and environmentally friendly.

So if you want to make the most of spring, start making your own compost and growing your own food, you now know where to start.