Posts tagged ‘Green’
Choosing Your Kitchen Countertop Tile
Kitchen countertops are the pride and joy of any great kitchen, which means picking the right countertop material, is an important task. Asking yourself (or the cook of the family) some important questions will help in the search for the perfect countertop. What is the priority in the kitchen; style, durability, usability, green factor or maintenance. All of these items should go into choosing the correct countertop for your new kitchen.
Let’s start with the “green” options for kitchen countertops. While no material is completely green due to the energy factor, there are better choices when it comes to countertops. Recycled paper countertops are one of the cheaper options for green countertops. Starting at around $30/sq. ft. and a savings of close to 80% on install, the paper and resin countertops are not only stylish but help to reduce the use of non-renewable sources such as granite or marble. The resin mixed with the paper makes the countertop extremely strong with very little maintenance for the future.
Photo credit: Paper Stone
Reclaimed wood is another option for a green choice. Everyone loves the butcher block look, so why not achieve that look with reclaimed wood? The cost starts at $40/sq. ft. and does require upkeep. The wood must be sealed periodically to ensure that it maintains it durability. These countertops will last a life time meaning money is well spent, however, wood should not be close to the sink or dishwasher meaning that you will have to have multiple countertop types within your kitchen. Recycled glass is a stylish way to add color and depth to your kitchen but comes at a steep cost of $50/sq. ft. Recycled glass runs relative to granite countertops in price, but because of the recycled glass makes this a better option than granite when searching for green products.
Photo Credit: http://www.hgtv.com/
Not interested in going green?? There are many options to meet your needs and desires. Granite is a durable surface that is heat and scratch resistant making it a great option for a family who uses and loves their kitchen. With relatively low maintenance (sealing once a year) granite is a great option starting at $50/sq. ft. Marble is another stone material that can be used in the kitchen. While marble is a bakers dream due to the kneading of dough, it can be a nightmare in the kitchen. Marble stains and chips easily and needs to be sealed more often than granite. One option for someone who is desperate for marble is to simply have only one area that has marble while the rest of the kitchen is a different material, such as butcher block.
Photo Credit: http://www.hgtv.com
Concrete countertops are both stylish and eco-friendly; being poured on location makes this source of material a low impact on the environment. Concrete can also be dyed any color which allows for a unique and custom kitchen. Concrete is a porous material and does require more maintenance than other countertops, it needs to be sealed periodically and waxed every 2-3 months. Quartz is another material that is stylish but durable as well as more consistent compared to granite and marble because it is an engineered material. The color options are wider than a natural stone as well as being more resistant to stains and needing to be sealed only once year.
Kitchen countertops define the style and feel that you wish to portray not only in your kitchen but your home. With the kitchen being the heart of your home, choice of countertop is vastly important. Remember to decide what the priorities for your kitchen are and then get to work choosing your countertop! Enjoy!!
Celebrate Earth Day!
Earth Day has been celebrated since 1970 and has grown in popularity from an environmental movement that only hippies cared about to a global movement to save and clean up the Earth. Trees are planted, parks cleaned up, green is made “cool” for one specific day. Citizens of the world give up time and energy to help make the Earth a little more beautiful.
Globally the green movement is taking effect and at Plumbtile.com we are making an effort to offer products that are not only stylish and durable, but also green.
Hangrohe is a product that is offered at Plumbtile that not only offers green products but has also made green manufacturing plants to help the environment. Founded and based in Germany, the environmental standards for this company are extremely stringent. Earth Day is something that should be celebrated daily, what a better way than ensuring that products used in your home and office are manufactured green and help to reduce waste.
Want to find a cost efficient way to go green in your house? Install a Duravit low flow toilet 
to minimize the amount of water wasted when using the bathroom. In the 1980s, Duravit had already harmonized the geometry of the body of the toilet with the flushing volume and reduced the amount of water consumed by its toilets to six liters as opposed to the nine or more liters that were standard at the time. Thanks to ongoing research and development, Duravit is today able to offer toilets that flush hygienically using just six, four and a half or even less water (see Dual Flush). At international level, Duravit offers toilets that also flush efficiently with a low flushing volume and that carry the “EPA WaterSense High Efficiency Flushing” label.
Who says that luxury and green can’t go together?? Graff products are not only ergonomically efficient but bring luxury and class to your home. Choosing green products does not mean giving up style. Style can be found and used in the best ways, by saving the Earth and meeting all of your design standards!
American Standard is another great company really thinking about the environment. Save money and more than 33,000 gallons a year simply by installing water efficient American Standard toilets, showers and faucets. American Standard is a proud recipient of the WaterSense® Partner of the Year Award for 2012 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Their commitment is to pioneer water-saving solutions and educating people across the country about protecting the earth’s water source. American Standard WaterSense certified products offers water savings of 20 percent or more. You can conserve water without sacrificing style or performance.
Celebrate this Earth Day by doing something great for the Environment. Chose a product that will help to bring style to your home and reduce waste in the process. Visit Plumbtile and shop for your favorite green products.
Go Green: Tropical, Coconut Mosaic Tiles
Let us introduce a very tropical product tile. It gives your home a feeling of warmth, natural, elegance, stylish and yet very GREEN. Mainly used in the commercial industry it is now making a breakthrough into the residential industry as more and more people want to make their home Eco-friendly with the warm, style of coconut mosaic tiles.
Coconut mosaic tiles give you a more responsible choice in decorating walls, ceilings and floors while at the same time helping a greener environment by making use of otherwise wasted coconut-shell materials. The coconut tiles will make any room in the home or business more sound proof also. The natural coconut material will buffer sound so that the high traffic rooms of a bathroom and kitchen are much quieter. The tiles are affordable also. These tiles are not out of reach for the residential consumer.
Coconut mosaic tiles are made of coconut-shell chips. Our coconut chips are cut from natural coconut shells which are abundant and found in many parts of Indonesia. By using coconut shell as tiles, we also could occupy at least 40 workers for the whole month. Now, coconut mosaic tiles gives the answer for environment issue and fighting for the world’s poverty. We design and create the tiles which are ready to use and very easy to apply.
Five Elements is distributor that we work with here at Plumbtile. If you would like more information you can view the coconut mosaic as well as other natural products they carry here. Call for our Extreme Savings at 866-758-6284 and speak to one of our sales consultants.
Green Mondays: New Eco-friendly Materials
At Plumbtile, we like to research about the newest trends and news about green living and design. It is our advocacy to spread awareness about using sustainable, recyclable, and eco-friendly materials for the home.
ThisOldHouse came up with a list of new interior materials that are on trend and in the market. Here are some of them:
LEATHER TILES
Even luxurious leather gets thrown away; scraps from furniture, shoe, car seat, and other tanneries eventually make their way to landfills.
The naturally sound-absorbent tiles install like cork or vinyl (preglued tiles are available). For care and upkeep of floor tiles, use a damp mop to clean them; wax them three times a year, or use a topical sealer once every five to 10 years. Wall tiles do not need wax or additional maintenance.
BIO-GLASS
This luminescent material is 100% post-consumer recycled glass that’s heated and compressed to create solid-surfacing slabs. It contains no binders, colorants, fillers, or other admixtures, and has no off-gassing.
Sample shows slight markings from the bottom of a recycled beverage bottle. To enhance the upgrade, lighter colors can be underlit to make agglomeration markings stand out in dramatic fashion.
To find out more about going green and the use of renewable sources and materials, go to http://www.plumbtile.com/go-green.html or call 1-866-758-6284.
Let’s Go Organic…in the Kitchen
It’s Green Monday once again!
We will never get tired of spreading awareness about our environment as well as providing our readers with the latest trends in green design.
Do you know what 2013 will bring to the world of kitchen design? Organic. That’s right, warm, earthy gourmet spaces. Mixing wood, slate, stone, and other rustic materials with industrial pieces.
Terry Mulligan of Yahoo gives us the latest trend in kitchen design:
Earthy Colors
Greens, blues, grays, browns, yellows, reds — these colors will be making a grand appearance in kitchens across the country. Whether on painted, weathered cabinets or handmade, upcycled tile, earthen colors will warm up our cooking spaces like never before. All shades are fair game, unless they glow neon. Stick to what you find in nature, and you’ll be right in style.
Organic Wood Cabinets
Instead of traditionally styled, stained, and glazed cabinets with fancy millwork, look for a more understated display of rustic wood on cabinet surfaces. Spalted maple or natural birch drawer fronts will be mixed with clean, industrial-styled cabinet doors and brushed stainless steel. And this year, austere shaker cabinets will be reinvented in many ways. It will be a welcome, yet unusual departure from the kitchens of the last 10 years.
Wood, Stone, or Tile Counters
Granite may not be the material of choice for countertops anymore. Wood and stone like slate should dominate — then add tile tops and backsplashes with a handmade look and feel. It’s all about color and textures that make you feel at home and comfortable this year.
Materials in Their Natural Form
Anywhere you can use materials in their natural form, it’s time to do so. Exposed beams on walls and ceilings will add a rural touch in some kitchens. Wood counters will sport natural, unfinished edges in their shift to a more organic style.
Rustic Floors
Rustic floors will be the rage. Reclaimed wood or polished concrete with amazing stain work will pull the other organic elements of the room together. Slate floors will also be in demand over highly polished marble or tile. Yet even in their natural form, these floors will still be a work of art. Artisans will be lending their expertise to make them part of a unique and extraordinary kitchen design statement.
At Plumbtile, the leader in all things bathroom and kitchen design related products, we have a wide array of green products from counters, faucets, and even tiles that are that are made from renewable resources that have none to minimal impact on our environment.
Let’s GO GREEN in 2013!
PlumbTile features the largest collection of premium brand names including Alno, Jado, Hansgrohe, Herbeau, Phylrich, California Faucets, KWC, Newport Brass, Toto, Ginger, Americh & Zuma Tubs, Hastings, Sugatsune, Classic Brass & more.
Green Monday: Designing an Eco-Friendly Bathroom
What does “eco-friendly” mean to you? Does it mean that you conserve water? Does it mean that you bring nature into your bathroom by using natural products? Here at Plumbtile we are able to design a bathroom for your home where you can enjoy the natural look of stone and tile while conserving water and electricity through luxury fixtures.
Bring nature into your bathroom with natural tile products. We work with 70 manufacturers that carry tile in cork, coconut, recycled leather, IPE Hardwood, Italian Marble, Israeli Limestone, Jerusalem Stone and other hi-quality natural stones.
You can easily conserve water by installing a Luxury Low Flow Showerhead. Moen has a beautiful selection that is also economical on our website. Choosing a showerhead with a pause feature can save you gallons of water.
Conserving electricity is possible through a Provincial Thermostatic Tub & Shower Head made by Mico. Thermostatic shower valves regulate the temperature of the water within one half of a degree of the desired temperature. You can also install a Tankless Water Heater and save reheating 30 – 40gallons of water all day.
We have many more ideas for designing your Eco-Friendly Bathroom at our Go Green – Energy and Water Saving page. Right now we are offering Free Shipping! To speak with a Sales Consultant please call 1-866-758-6284.
Eco Friendly Initiatives- LEED Friendly Faucets and Toilets
As we move further into 2010, we’re continuing to find other ways to be Eco-Friendly. As almost all of our products use water we’re committed to helping you help the environment. A bath tub won’t be much use if we’re all on water rationing. So we’re highlighting what we can do to help you. (more…)
10 Easy Energy and Money Saving Tips
We’re in the middle of spring, so now is a great time to start optimizing your home and habits towards more eco-friendly practices. As we get closer towards summer, energy costs go up due to more air conditioning, showers and water-cooling being used. In addition to this, using any appliance will warm the house, counteracting any cooling you may attempt.
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Toto, Caroma and Jaclo- Saving Water and Greener Living
As we head into winter, saving water isn’t a high priority on most people’s minds. However, the tight economic times may make some of us think twice before the expensive summer months arrive. There are a number of ways to save so I’m going to mention a few water saving products that can drastically reduce your water usage. The most impressive is Caroma, a company based in Australia, who is noted for their extremely efficient designs. Toto and Jaclo also have great design combined with an ecofriendly construction. (more…)
Dornbracht- Environmentally Friendly Kitchen Fixtures
I’ve talked about bathroom design lately, so I want you to know we also offer several decoration and hardware possibilities for the kitchen.
Dornbracht is a German company founded in 1950. The futuristic styling many German designers pioneered was synthesized with traditional ideas that are easily used in today’s homes. In their own words they say, “Good design has therefore been central to our philosophy for many years. Our products are not merely decorative; they are an expression of a distinctive bathroom culture.”
So what do they have to offer?
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