RosieCat refusing to look at me when Iasked her about the rug...
(which she wants me to tell you looks
so not like its crappy self in this photo!).
Listening to/Watching: Some furniture dancin'.
Today's Bliss: Pay attention to the birds around you, their sounds and their coloring and their molting. On my ride home yesterday, I stopped because of a different song, and I got to see a Cedar Waxwing, a migratory bird in this part of the world.
When we moved into our house (a brick cape cod built at the beginning of 1940) just over 9 years ago, it had been professionally painted and carpeted. I waited about five years for the paint to start showing its age so that we could start playing with color. I love color; this was a long wait.
The carpet has been a longer wait. It was Berber-like, and the cats loved it. We loved it too, truth be told, because the cats could claw at it all they wanted and the carpet never showed any signs of this. Then ErnieCat got sick, and there was no point in replacing carpet while we had a sick cat. Then JobieCat got sick and ditto.
We've been steam cleaning it (ourselves, with just hot water), and that was keeping it looking half way decent.
Until a couple of weeks ago.
When all of a sudden, it looked like hell.
Finally.
Saturday morning, Frog woke up and pronounced it the day of cutting and ripping and tearing. She could wait no longer and I agreed. It was hard work, but we knew it would be worth it; we knew what laid waiting for us underneath, because three of our rooms upstairs have oak floors, the originals.
TaDa! The first floor is now also back to its hardwood, natural, beautiful self. There's still a lot of scraping to do and then some varnishing or painting of some sort (we have to find the "cleanest" option), but no more carpet! What heaven!
I never feel like carpets are really, truly clean. No matter what you do to them, I'm always suspicious. I prefer bare floors with area rugs (that can be taken outside and properly cleaned and dried). You wash a wood floor and you know it's clean. A carpet? Who knows what the heck is still down there!?
People who suffer from allergies will tell you that there is certainly something. Think about all the animal fur and dander and the human dander for that matter. All the dead skin flakes, which mites love to eat. And if you wash your carpet and it's not 100% dry within four hours, you are pretty much growing a mold and mildew farm, guaranteed.
Imagine what you are breathing, especially if you live in a climate where you shut yourself in for about six months of the year. (There's a lot out there already about indoor air quality so I won't repeat it here.)
Imagine what you are breathing, especially if you live in a climate where you shut yourself in for about six months of the year. (There's a lot out there already about indoor air quality so I won't repeat it here.)
Not only is there stuff in and on that carpet, but what is it made of? What was it put down with? What was it put down on top of?! If you don't have hardwood underneath, which is typical in newer houses, they cover the entire sub-floor with chemical laden adhesives before they put your carpet down. Ick!
Furthermore, carpet is a fossil fuel based product; most carpet is made using petrochemicals. Carpet also has a very short life span compared to other floor coverings.
Of course, if your carpet is still in great shape, leave it there. First rule of greening your house is just sticking with what you've got until it really is time to change -- or changing what's already there.
But if it's time to replace the carpet, think again. Think how much cleaner your house will feel and smell with reclaimed wood floors or stone or bamboo or concrete (great for a passive solar house) or this type of carpeting that comes in modular squares that can be replaced and mixed and matched. (We're getting that last kind to create area rugs in a couple of spots.)
What was the last cool, green thing you did for your house or apartment or what project are you contemplating?
5 comments:
You will find yourself amazed at the things that float around in the dust bunnies on the hardwoods. We love ours! Our first and third floor are restored hardwoods with the second floor on the project list for next year [barring any unforeseen expenses.]
As to green projects we removed some aging dying trees and planted young saplings in their stead this early summer. Now they stand straight and a bit taller and seem to have adapted well. We managed to salvage three big old cherry trees which were being crowded by the maples we removed so we look forward to next year and how the cherry trees will prosper now with a bit more room to spread their branches! Next project - removing a door and frame and restoring it to each original spot as a go-between door to two bedrooms on our second floor. We're very much into reuse and recycle and restore where we can!
bojosmom
Congratulations! We love, love, love our hardwood floors. Yes, they're a little cooler in the winter (we've discussed radiant floor heating, but haven't taken the plunge yet), but a nice pair of slippers will solve that problem.
Our next project? We've discussed solar panels for the roof (all our landscape lights are solar, as are our motion-activated security lights) and an on-demand water heater, but not until the current one starts having problems.
I am not a big fan of carpet...we just moved into a house where there is carpet in 2 of the bedrooms (ugh!) I want to take it out eventually. I do love the Flor carpet squares...I think they are pretty "green" and I like how easy they can be popped out and replaced.
Sounds fantastic. I live in this nice enough house but it's quite a new build and it has... concrete floors! Yuck! So the carpet it is for the time being unless I decide to get wood laid over the top. Tres expensive...
Congratulations! :)
I HATE carpeting. It's my arch-nemesis. We have it in most of our apartment, though, and there's nothing we can do about that.
I don't have a recent cool green thing to report, so I'll have to think and come up with one!
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