100-Mile Decorating??

You’ve heard of the 100 mile diet (eat only foods grown, produced and sold within 100 miles of your home) but have you ever come across the idea of 100 mile decorating?

Hundred mile decorating takes the concept of “green home decorating” to a new level. In addition to being cautious of the materials your furnishings and decorations are made out of, there is the added  environmental benefit of buying locally. This means no jet fuel costs from shipping goods across states or countries, and less automotive fuel by reducing the amount of truck driving required for shipment. It also means a sustained livelihood of local artisans.

It can be hard to adjust to lifestyle changes like hundred mile decorating or the hundred mile diet, but the key is to approach them with an open mind and allow yourself to get used to the adjustment before giving up.

Read the full article here.

Adria Vasil (author of Ecoholic) has some advice for us on ethical decorating (Pg. 92-94)…

Truth: you usually pick stuff out for your home because it looks pretty/sleek/cool or whatever adjective you’re going for (that, and it’s got an attractive price tag). I don’t blame you. But guess what, honey, the same ethical quagmire that applies to the world of cheap clothes shopping applies to the design realm. So put the vase down and read up – on some ways to bring a little soul back into your housewares shopping.

1oo-Mile Decorating: You might be trying to eat more local produce in season, but let’s face it, the stuff we buy to deck out our kitchens, – bedrooms and bathrooms tends to be about as local as a hunk of pineapple in Yellowknife. Finding a couch made completely of materials grown near you is near impossible (you try finding native latex and cotton sprouting on Canuck soil —even most of the hemp fabric out there comes from eastern Europe or China), but you can make choices that bring your house’s style closer to home, literally. Ask for furnishings – and decor items made in Canada or, better yet, in your home province or town. No, they won’t be as cheap as that oh so inexpensive stuff imported from China or India, but they should be more affordable than those European designs that get fawned over in design circles.

Though, of course, just because it’s made in Canada doesn’t mean it’s made with sustainable material.  The greenest pieces are both local and made with earth-conscious components. And the greenest of the green designers form their furnishings with recycled or reclaimed objects. That means candle holders made from old wine barrels (grassrootsstore)~ a lounge chair made with the conveyor belts from a felt machine (brothersdressler)  or a coffee table made of driftwood (wildwooddesigns).  For more Canadian-made designs, ask around at storefronts like Vancouver’s m-smart design (smartdesign), Toronto’s Made (madedesign) and Koma (komadesigns) or Galerie CO in Montreal’s Mile End (galerie-co).

There are also plenty of ideas on DIY home decor projects being shared on sites like pinterest or craftgawker.  Take up the challenge and decorate with local, handmade beauty.