I’ve always had a fondness for our dear Mother Nature, our Planet Earth. As of late though, i’ve become accutely aware of the sizeable impact my existence has on her. This awareness has been slowly mounting, mostly from local drought warnings, the American Society of Interior Designers’ sustainable views with which Design Lines is closely aligned, as well as my love for the community of Carrboro and the following blog: www.treehugger.com/ . However, the topic was pushed to the front of my mind after viewing an Oprah on Going Green.

During the show, Oprah discussed the importance of making environmentally responsible life changes. Which prompted me to do the same. My first step? Buying this intriguing guide:

The Green Book, by authors Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen discusses interesting facts about waste, recycling, and simple solutions we all can implement in our lives. See the following excerpt:

“Use fewer paper napkins-everywhere. There’s no need to grab a huge stack of napkins from the concession stand when you know you’ll use only one or two. Each American consumes an average of 2, 200 standard two-ply napkins per year, or the equivalent of just over 6 of these napkins per day. If everyone in the United States used an average of 1 fewer napkin per day, more than a billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year. A stack of napkins this size could fill the entire Empire State Building”

I decided to challenge a few members of the Design Lines team to join me in accepting a green resolution for the new year. This is what we got:

Brittany’s (that’s me) green resolves:

1-Use less napkins

2- There’s an interesting view point which suggests the utilization of existing furniture as an alternative to subjecting the earth to the waste, fuel, and energy, involved to produce all new furniture. Say…there’s nothing more I love than antiques.

3-Bring my own bag to the grocery store for small trips as an alternative to the paper or plastic options.

My usual decision:

vs. my favorite alternative to paper or plastic. This is the Bag by designer Anya Hindmarch I’ve had my eye on since mid-summer:

Laurie ‘s green:
“I will eliminate duplicate mail order catalogs that are sent to my home and the office!
So many trees are used for mail order catalogs that just end of in the trash and our landfills. ”

Click here to see how Laurie could implement this solution in her life.

Designer Ashley Lane commits to utilize one green product in all of her designs. She plans on acheiving this goal by searching for locally made materials, or materials that are manufactured using environmentally responsible methods. Ie: http://kravetgreen.com/ Ashley could also recommend energy-saving lighting to her clients.

Lauren, our intern, commits to turning off the water while brushing her teeth. According to the Green Book, turning off the tap while brushing could save up to five gallons of water a day!

I shot the picture above on a summer trip home to central Illinois.

What I call the “forest”, a view from inside the Design Lines lounge (this is where we eat lunch everyday), a truly uplifting space.