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Terrific Terrazzo

Tips for An Eco-Friendly, Stylish Space

February 06, 2018
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Tips for An Eco-Friendly, Stylish Space

February 06, 2018

We all know the three magical Rs: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle! And yes, we feel a pang of guilt when leaving the faucet on while brushing our teeth. But we began to wonder, what else could we do in our homes to support a positive, eco-friendly motive? Below we explore four easy ways to not only refresh a space, but to go green (with happiness, not envy.)


Go Tree Free.

Got bamboo? Bamboo is technically a grass material and can endure many types of climate, not needing pesticides or herbicides to grow well. The list of ways to use it is an impressive one, but an easy way to incorporate this wonder-grass is by replacing paper products with bamboo-based ones. Rebel Green, founded on the idea that being eco-friendly can be chic, creates household items that are good for us and the planet. Their tree-free, bamboo toilet paper is a great way to introduce your bathroom to an environmentally-friendly “planet party,” and don’t forget to check out the “paper” towels.

Image | Life After Wheat


Organic Sleep: Sheet Edition

According to Coyuchi, a sustainable home textile company, 10 million tons of textile waste end up in landfills each year — linens being one of the most difficult home products to recycle. When it comes to bedding and other linens, Coyuchi offers a subscription program that helps cut back these statistics. One can order new, organic bedding and send it back in a provided return kit. Coyuchi then will renew, upcycle, or recycle them.

Image | Coyuchi

Aside from Coyuchi, Apartment Therapy’s “10 Best Organic Bedding Sources” is a great resource for exploring what kinds of organic linens are available. Resting in beautiful, organic sheets while helping the environment? Yes, please.


LED Love

LED (light-emitting diode) illumination sources are about 80% more efficient than incandescent lights, converting 95% of their energy to light and wasting only 5% as heat. An LED bulb will last for years, unlike its incandescent counterpart. While they cost more upfront, they actually save you money in the long run. If that’s not enough of a reason to flip the switch (pun alert!), we point you to the fact that LED lights contain no toxic elements (such as the hard-to-dispose-of and potentially dangerous mercury found in fluorescents). Today’s average LED bulb will use 6 watts to an incandescent’s 60 watts to put out the same amount of light in roughly the same warmth and with equal color rendering. That’s like working out less and losing more weight, right?

Here at Mitzi HQ, we love us some LED. Two fixtures that embody the Mitzi motto “designed with thoughtful simplicity” are the Zena table lamp and Layla floor lamp — and they happen to both use a special LED bulb called a G9. The G9 bipin bulb is smaller than the rest of the LED gang, allowing our designers to bring LED to creative places, like inside the glossy opal-etched diffuser in Zena or along the interior of Layla’s hooded shade.

Zena & Layla by Mitzi

Zena and Layla save energy in style, both pairing finishes like Aged Brass, Polished Nickel, and Polished Copper with a sleek matte black. Layla’s base is an incredibly smooth concrete, adding some serious sophistication to your space. Enjoying an LED glow is beneficial for the planet and for the home. To make matters even better, the G9 and all other LED bulbs Mitzi uses are completely dimmable, so you can still set the mood just right. Go G9.

(To learn more about LED, lighting technology, and the scales and terms by which light gets measured and discussed today, check out the user-friendly blog post our parent company, Hudson Valley Lighting, did here. As a final note, many Mitzi fixtures actually come with specialty incandescent bulbs, the aesthetics of which are an essential part of the design. These bulbs can all be replaced by LED versions of the same bulbs.)


Rug It Up!

Calling all maximalists out there, this eco-tip is for you — minimalists and in-betweeners, don’t scroll just yet, this tip can work for everyone, we swear. According to HuffPost, using rugs on wooden floors saves 4-6% on energy bills, and we’re all about saving that dough. Rugs can be a fun touch to any space, adding a burst of color or hint of eclectic charm. Wayfair has a guide on choosing a rug, which makes it easier when deciding what rug type fits best in a space.

Hook & Loom is an eco-friendly rug retailer with textiles that contain zero dye, chemicals, or latex. They recycle old textiles and turn them into beautiful, noteworthy rugs, with a wide variety to choose from.

Image | Hook & Loom

Aside from these four tips, there are numerous other ways to create an eco-friendly, sustainable place that keep it both stylish and smart for the planet (all while being fun and creative, of course). While it can be a little intimidating, after this exploration we are excited to try an environmentally-sweet style.

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