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AlterECO Blog
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Blog
Index:
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Now delivering . . . this month's GreenNOW Deal... |
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Have your cabinets delivered
FREE!!!
thru February 2012 ... call for details
HAPPY LEAP YEAR!
2/1/12 TRH
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What pairs well with a gorgeous bamboo kitchen?
An exquisite glass of wine*, of course!
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A wine that you enjoy takes on a splendiferous complexity of flavor when sipped in an environment that harmonizes with your delightful personality, honors your caring values, & nourishes your beautiful energy. Add friends/family & celebrate the sweetness of life!
Let's pour!
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* other superb pairings with AlterECO's bamboo kitchen cabinets include (but are certainly not limited to): cheery family; fun friends; fresh, local, organic fruits, veggies, herbs & dairy; fresh wild salmon; fair trade coffee & chocolate; a loving pooch; a good read; a day off; AlterECO entertainment center, bath cabinetry, etc.; a thoughtful telephone conversation while sipping organic tea (or - back to that wine)...
1/18/12 TRH
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| Check out this month's amazing GreenNOW Deal... |
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Buy a Kitchen
&
Get a Bath
FREE!!!
thru January 2012 ... call for details
HAPPY NEW
YEAR!
1/1/12 TRH |
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AlterECO
awarded
GREEN BUSINESS OF THE YEAR!
by the
Sausalito Sustainability Commission
THANK YOU SAUSALITO!
10/18/11 TRH
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To B or not to B...
that is
no longer
the question!
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SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 10 /CSRwire/ - Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 361 today to spur the creation of high quality jobs in California through benefit corporations. The legislation, introduced by Assembly member Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), creates a new class of corporation in California called benefit corporations that are legally required to pursue the creation of a material positive impact on society and the environment, while meeting higher standards of accountability and transparency. Current law requires corporations to prioritize the financial interests of shareholder over the interests of workers, communities, and the environment....click here for the full press release from B-Lab (the creators of the B Corp concept). ...UNTIL NOW, CALIFORNIA B-CORPS HAVE EXISTED ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS (NOT A LEGAL STRUCTURE RECOGNIZED BY THE STATE). THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR THE WORKFORCE, GREAT NEWS FOR "CONSUMERS", GREAT NEWS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, GREAT NEWS FOR BUSINESS...THIS IS TRULY GREAT NEWS!!!
10/10/11 TRH
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350 THANK YOUS to all who attended our Get350! event and the "Bay Area Mega-Massive Moving Planet Mobilization" in San Francisco (see previous blog post below for info about the event and the movement). What a wonderful time...what a beautiful movement...what a critical CLIMATE REALITY*!!!
This brief, beautiful video shows snippets of a handful of the global events (including several of the Bay Area parade & plaza action)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lteZulzEM4&feature=player_embedded
*...Oh, and speaking of "CLIMATE REALITY", please take a look at the amazing work Al Gore and concerned global citizens have been up to at http://climaterealityproject.org/
And remember, whatever you do, please help the world "Get 350!"
9/30/11 TRH |
On September 24, 2011, Join our Moving Planet event: Get350!...
WHAT is ”Moving Planet”? …A world-wide rally on September 24, 2011 to demand solutions to the climate crisis. It is on track to be one of the most massive mobilizations of people power in history! And it will be FUN!
WHY ”Get350!”? …This is a way of summarizing/focusing such solutions, since whatever actions we take ultimately need to bring global atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions (from cars, factories, coal-fired power plants, etc.) down from the current level of ~395 parts per million (ppm) to 350ppm or less. According to many scientists and climate experts, 350ppm is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. For more info, go to http://350.org. It is important that everyone “gets” (understands) “350” so that we can work together to assure that Mother Earth gets 350! Get it?!
THE DAY—9/24/11...Our Get350! event will start from AlterECO's showroom in Sausalito. We will walk to downtown Sausalito, board the ferry for San Francisco, and stroll across the Embarcadero to Justin Herman Plaza, where we will connect with and assimilate into the . We will then parade down Market to the SF Civic Center Plaza for a powerful event designed to bring real attention to the climate crisis and to inspire meaningful solutions....NOW!
For more information and to SIGN-UP for the "Get350!" action, see the event page at:
http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/sausalito/336
If you are closer to San Francisco than Sausalito, please go directly to Justin Herman Plaza. Here is the link to the "Bay Area Mega-Massive Moving Planet Mobilization":
http://www.moving-planet.org/BayArea
If you are not close to Sausalito or San Francisco, go to
http://www.moving-planet.org/ and search for an event near you.
Whatever you do, please help the world "Get 350!"
9/11/11 TRH |
September 11 - 17: World-wide week of PEACE
Let's remember 9/11 by putting our attention toward Peace. Here is a beautiful invitation from United Tribes for Peace:
Dear Fellow Passengers of this Beautiful Earth
You are invited to join with heart, mind, body and spirit in a self-organizing Worldwide Week of Peace, September 11–17, 2011.
In the interest of healing history, particularly a decade of fear and enmity, let us build fresh understanding and renew our joy in living. We can restore emotional health through collective expressions of Peace. These may be art exhibits, concerts, poetry readings, rallies, prayers, meditations, acts of kindness, words of gratitude, parties, media events, reconciliation councils, or simply walks in nature. It can also be a time to reach out with an open heart to those we have been afraid to speak to.
This is a do-it-yourself and do-it-together movement. Everybody spread the word!
And let us know about your peace activities by posting news on this wall. Thanks!
Visit our website: http://tribesforpeace.org/
9/11/11 TRH |
A Perfect Fit: the Greenest Cabinets for the Greenest City...
AlterECO has happily served our beloved San Francisco Bay Area since our founding in 1997. Since then, we have also offered the greenest cabinetry available...anywhere. So it's safe to say that we've played at least some small role in the evolution of the "Greenest City"...
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San Francisco Named North America's Greenest City
by Leslie Guevara. Published June 30, 2011
San Francisco took the title as the greenest city in North America in a study of the environmental performance and commitments by 27 major metro areas in the U.S. and Canada. Click here to read the full article at GreenBiz.com
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7/14/11 - TRH
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Are You a Green Business Owner? Or thinking about it? Check out these workshops...
GreenBusinessOwner.com offers a variety of workshops perfectly suited to those considering eco-entrepreneurship; those who have laid-out the ground-work but not yet launched; and those who have taken the plunge, have had a year or two of success, and need now to nurture the business and assure stability and increased profit.
...Click here for workshops by GreenBusinessOwner.com
...Click here for membership in GreenBusinessOwner.com
12/14/10 - TRH
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Why Bamboo?
When shopping for new cabinets people often look to balance visual appeal with their concern for the environment. One of the most popular choices for green cabinets is Bamboo, a rapidly renewable resource that is both durable and appealing from a modern design perspective
(Sierra Club).
Bamboo has over 1,200 species and is actually a type of grass, not a wood. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing woody plants in the world and can grow up to 24 inches or more per day, one third faster than the fastest growing tree. Bamboo is regarded as one of the most eco friendly alternatives to hardwood since it matures within 5 years, unlike hardwood which can take decades to regenerate. Bamboo remains intact when the stalks, known as “culms” are harvested and its extensive root system allows for new bamboo to grow immediately. The regenerative aspects of Bamboo make it an ideal sustainable choice for construction, whereas wood logged from hardwood trees contributes to deforestation and soil erosion; once they are cut down they’re gone for good. New trees can be planted, of course, but then the long process starts again from scratch, and many trees end up as part of a clear-cut with no new trees replanted. Current estimates indicate that we are currently losing one football sized area of forestland every second (NRDC). The value of Bamboo as a building material continues to grow as the global supply of traditional hardwood diminishes. Bamboo can actually help to control soil erosion; it works to stitch the soil together along deforested areas. Moreover the processing of Bamboo requires only one third of that of wood to create a building material of the same capacity (Treehugger).
Another benefit to Bamboo is its hardness and durability. Bamboo is sometimes referred to as “green steel” and has a hardness rating 3 times greater than most hardwoods. Bamboo cabinets are also exceptionally durable because the strands in a bamboo cane are straight and are processed in the same direction as the fibers which reduce the absorption of moisture. Bamboo has great dimensional stability; once the material has acclimated to the ambient environment, it has much less tendency to warp or shrink in hot or cold conditions than many hardwoods do. Bamboo also doesn’t swell and contract as much as most woods, which works well for a kitchen or bathroom where higher moisture levels are present.
Bamboo typically has three different looks based on the grain’s orientation:
Vertical (or Edge) grain: The edges of these strips form the outer surface of the bamboo panel. This type looks more like a wood’s edge grain.
Horizontal (or Flat) grain: when the bamboo strips are laminated together on the edges. The horizontal grain shows off the characteristic node or “knuckle” that’s’ typical of bamboo stalks.
Strand (or Woven) grain : results from the combination of bamboo fibers and adhesives under very high pressure. The resulting material is very hard and dense.
Greener cabinet choices, such as AlterECO, use the solid bamboo 3-ply panels described above, while many Bamboo cabinet producers use thin bamboo veneer over cheap particle board or Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) cores, which have very little long-term durability or re-usability and will ultimately end-up as land-fill, whereas the all-bamboo panels will last for the long haul and have the integrity to be easily re-purposed should the cabinets be removed sometime in the distant future.
9/15/10 |
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