
Gently Green	Great Design	What I love	Nantucket Life	Please Join Me	Healthy Stuff

What I Love with Trudy Dujardin, FASID, LEED AP

About Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

Trudy Dujardin is known for her passion for eco-elegance, demonstrated in award-winning interiors that combine sophistication and luxury with sustainable design. Believing that a healthy home is the ultimate luxury, she strives to integrate respect for historical preservation, the surrounding natural landscape, and the highest level of interior design. She received both the 2007 and the 2008 Award of Excellence for Green Design from the Connecticut Chapter of ASID and the 2007 Outstanding Alumna Award from Southern Connecticut University. Trudy has been an instructor at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., teaching the university’s first semester-length class on Sustainable Design. She serves on Traditional Home Magazine’s Green Advisory Panel, has written a column, Gently Green, for Nantucket-based Portfolio Magazine, and is a member of the advisory board of athome Magazine. Her breathtaking interiors have appeared in the most prestigious industry publications, including Architectural Digest, Coastal Living, Connecticut Cottages & Gardens, N Magazine, Nantucket Home & Garden, Nantucket Today and Traditional Home. She has been active for many years with the Design Futures Council, the International Board of the Joslyn Castle Institute for Sustainable Communities in Omaha, Neb., and has been a presenter at environmental conferences around the nation, including EnvironDesign 7 in Washington, D.C., and EcoSpheres in Lincoln, Neb. Trudy was involved in the formation of the first Leadership Summit on Sustainable Design and Architecture for the Design Futures Council, an Atlanta-based think tank for design professionals. Trudy has worked in sustainable design since 1987. She is a LEED Accredited Professional, recognizing her thorough understanding of green building practices and principles. From their offices in Westport, Conn. and Nantucket, Mass., Dujardin Design Associates creates interiors nationwide.

Your Sacred Space: Part Two of an Interview with Trudy and Women on Fire Founder Debbie Phillips

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

This is part two of my interview with Debbie Phillips for Women on Fire, the group she founded to bring an amazing circle of fabulous women together for inspiration, strategies and support. The following is a transcript of part two of our talk on Your Sacred Space: How to Create an Inspired, Healthy Living Environment. Read Part One here.

continued…

Trudy: What I’m striving for is indoor air quality–whatever we put in that space. And the only space you can really control is your own environment, your home, so that everything in there supports your health and wellbeing.

Debbie: Right. Well, I love that notion, and I’m sure that people listening are thinking, “Well, how can I control other environments?” But like you said, we can control our homes. We can also control our cars, and some of us can control our offices. Is there any way, Trudy, to control other environments–short of wearing a mask?

Trudy: I think a lot of it is education, and you know I’m big on that. I’m always trying to promote how to support yourself at home through my blog and also in the lectures I do on The Holistic House. People ask, “Where should I begin?” Begin in the nursery because your baby is sleeping in there 20-24 hours a day and breathing in that air. But your own bedroom needs to be almost like a bell jar–really clean and free of dust and dust mites. Don’t have a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting because there is so much that gets trapped underneath there.

Debbie: Really?

Trudy: Oh, yes, microbial growth. At least area rugs can be sent out and steam cleaned.

Debbie: Interesting. So choose hardwood floors and rugs over wall-to-wall carpet.

Trudy: Hardwood floors, tile floors, stone floors–those are the cleanest. They are the easiest to keep clean and dust-free. When people who are really allergic or who have asthmatic children come to me, I tell them to damp mop their floors–as if we have enough free time to do all this. But try to damp mop floors twice a week. It is believed that our livers detox somewhere between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m. Your liver and your kidneys are really hard at work, so you want to sleep in a really clean environment so you’re not still taxing your system and your organs.

Debbie: Trudy, I’ve seen those air filters that often can be bought at specialty stores. is there any kind or a particular air filter that you would recommend?

Trudy: As you know, I had such a struggle with chemical sensitivity. I had to go through a two-year detox program, which was almost like being on chemotherapy. It was really rough. So I don’t want to see other people go through that. The one filter that the environmental physicians–there are only 400 in the whole world; it is a very specialized group–like is the Austin HealthMate Plus. And the reason for that, Deb, is that it has a HEPA filter in there to filter out particulates–dust, mold spores, animal dander, pollen in the spring. But it also has zeolite in the carbon filtration, which filters out vapors such as car fumes. If you have a garage that’s part of your house, car fumes can infiltrate and go right through all the little perforations into the house. The Austin HealthMate Plus filters out all of that. It will filter out and lower the VOCs from your furniture because all furniture finishes have VOCs. So that’s the filter I swear by.

Debbie: That’s great. Is there a particular kind of mattress or pillow or bedding? I know it should be from organic cotton, but is there any particular brand or style that you think is best?

Trudy: There are so many out there, so I want to tell everybody: Buyer beware. Make sure you really go to someone who can say that a mattress is truly organic cotton or it’s truly organic wool because it has been certified. I personally like a wool mattress that’s been tufted, and then I have it encased in organic cotton. I get my physician to write me a prescription slip, so to speak, to give to the people making the mattresses, saying that i refuse to have it sprayed with fire retardant. By law, they have to add fire retardant in case there is a smoker in bed and a cigarette is dropped. But it’s a problem because the rest of us have to pay the price by sleeping on a bed immersed in that chemical, and you really don’t want that.

Debbie: Wow.

Trudy: The other thing you want to do–because dust mites and the little things they leave behind are what a lot of people are allergic to, especially asthmatic children–is to get an encasement, a completely zip-around mattress protector. It’s not just a pad on the top, and it’s made out of barrier cloth. That keeps out dust mites, bed bugs, all those things that can happen, and you are much safer. Your pillow really shouldn’t be foam or anything made of a chemical. it should be organic cotton or organic wool, again, in an organic-cotton encasement protector.

Debbie: Is there anything around the waterproofing of a mattress pad? Would that necessarily have chemicals in it?

Trudy: It could. Until I look at the label, I wouldn’t know. You have to be careful of chemicals, especially where you are sleeping at night. That’s the one room to change. People say, “I can’t afford to go through and change my whole house.” And I completely relate to that. But try to make your bedroom as clean, organic and chemical-free as possible. That’s the goal.

Debbie: This is so helpful because one of the things Rob and I have done is to create a couple’s sanctuary, but we have not gone to this level. This is very inspiring. I want to talk about something else that would potentially be a tip, Trudy, and that is because we are talking about an inspired environment with a strong emphasis on creating a healthy environment. I want to tell you a quick little story. When I met Rob, who is now my husband, he had this rule that one way to create a sacred environment was that all shoes were to be removed before entering the house. it took me a little while to get used to that, but I have adopted his ways and I have to say that I love it. And, Trudy, you are the only other person I’ve met who has a porch full of shoes. I wondered if that’s a rule at your house–a shoeless house–and is there a good reason for not wearing shoes in the house?

Trudy: Absolutely. I think it’s sacred. It’s respectful to remove your shoes, to not bring in all that stuff from the street. Asians do that a lot. But there is also a very scientific reason for it: When we are walking around on the street, we are actually walking through viruses, bacteria, chemicals sprayed on the streets to melt ice, and all of that. We walk through that, and we definitely don’t want to track it into the house. People I’ve studied with have said that if you could make pesticides iridescent and if you used a black light on them, they would glow. And if you had somebody walk through his yard after it was sprayed for ticks or mosquitoes or whatever and then you tracked him as he walked through the house, there would be footprints everywhere he went in the house. So that’s your practical reason. Let’s not bring all this inside. My biggest pet peeve is pesticides, chemicals, insecticides, mildewcides, and all of that. I understand the purpose of it and I know what people are trying to do, but I think the public doesn’t always know the horrible side effects of it.

Debbie: Right. It’s funny, but I wonder if you have had this experience: both of our homes on Martha’s Vineyard and Naples are shoeless, but I still feel a little embarrassed asking people to remove their shoes.

Trudy: You know what I do?

Debbie: What do you do?

Trudy: I go to Rite Aid and buy the little cotton socklets in all sizes, and I leave them right there at the door because sometimes people don’t want to slip on slippers if they feel that somebody else’s feet have been in there. I relate to that.

Debbie: I do too.

Trudy: So get a fresh, sealed bag of little socklets, and you can get the ones that the men don’t mind wearing. They’re almost like the little things they give you in the hospital when you’re walking up and down the halls. And that just covers it when they’re in your home, and they can choose their colors. Then it becomes sort of fun.

Debbie: What a great idea. Thank you, Trudy. That solves that problem. What are some other ways to detox our homes or space? And, by the way, I hear a lot about that. People will talk about, “I’m going to clear or detox my space.” Is there an appropriate way to clear and detox a home?

Trudy: The biggest thing is what you put in it. Let’s say you’re painting. There was some wonderful person who sent me an email this morning, “How do you choose your paint?” I wasn’t sure if she was asking about color or if she wanted to know how to choose a safe paint. For the latter, the biggest thing you can do, if you know you have oil-based paint and you’r’e going to repaint, is to go to a low-or no-VOC–again, Volatile Organic Compound–water-based latex paint. Oil paint is a petroleum product. People say, “Oh, my house doesn’t smell anymore. I painted it three months ago.” If you could dye those VOCs purple, you would see that they go on forever. It’s truly deleterious to your health. It’s truly injurious. It’s not good for your lungs. It’s just not good for a lot of reasons.

Debbie: Do the major paint companies make those or do you have to find a special company?

Trudy: They do. And so you don’t have to spend a fortune for that. If you don’t have a chemical sensitivity, you probably don’t have to go as far as I do with it for my own health.

Debbie: You were referring to a question from Jill Dulitsky, from Vernon, Connecticut. She asked, ‘We are redoing our house and making a much more open floor plan. How do you choose paint?”

Trudy: I emailed her back so we will continue that discussion, for sure.

Debbie: I don’t know whether she did mean color. Melissa McClain from Seattle, Washington, is very into color, and we should just bring up the color issue since I’m not sure what Jill meant. Melissa asks, “What is your philosophy on finding the perfect color for your home or room?”

Trudy: It’s really client-driven. After I sit and talk with clients, I get a feel for what they like. I also give them a client questionnaire. It’s long. I ask them, “What are your favorite colors? What colors do you hate?” I tell them to get five of the current shelter magazines and tear out pages and write on them, saying, “Trudy, I love this. I hate that.” By the time we’ve spoken and they’ve filled that out and I look at their tear sheets, I have a good sense of what they would thrive in. There has been a lot of research done on people who have thyroid issues, which I do. They thrive with the color blue. Well, it’s no surprise that I have a lot of blue in my houses. That’s my house in Connecticut. Debbie would love it. It’s more taupe and white and the sandy colors. And say people with stomach issues really resonate to the color orange. So, basically, what I do is interview everybody and I find out what they love. Sometimes they don’t even really know what they’re gravitating to, but I can see it. I can see it formulating. Then we get a little report back to them, and we sit down and start with color swatches. Then I see what they respond to.

Debbie: I love it.

Trudy: They always reach out with their hand for the things they love.

Debbie: Really?

Trudy: Oh, yes. If they don’t like anything, the hand doesn’t come forward. When they see a color they love, the hand goes out and they start rubbing it. I say, “Oh, that’s it! That’s the one. That one likes Sea Glass. She likes that color.”

Debbie: This is why you are the genius you are. That is really great to know. I know you love blue. All those blues are so beautiful on your site. What color don’t you like?

Trudy: You know, it used to be orange, but I’m in love with that color now. When I was going to art school, I took a course at Yale. It was a color study course. It forced us to become neutral about color. Most people don’t know this–I think you might, Deb–but I was a fine arts major, and I was a painter first.

Debbie: I did know that.

Trudy: I approach color in a whole different way. I had a studio in Rowayton, Connecticut, on the water. I’m always by the water, whether it’s a river, a lake, Long Island Sound, Nantucket Sound, whatever. I did commission paintings, and I loved it. I taught art for a while in Rowayton, and I taught at New Canaan High School. I loved working with the high-school students. I just loved that. But it was too solitary for me when I was working in the studio. I’d come home at night and I’d think, “I didn’t talk to anybody all day.” So I found myself gravitating toward doing rooms, and I thought, “OK, now I have to get more information about this.” So I went back to school at Parsons in New York. I also did a lot of on-the-job training. I had some wonderful mentors and teachers. You can shift course midstream.

Debbie: Yes, you can.

Trudy: It’s OK to do a mid-course correction.

Debbie: Well, as I always say, we’re stomping our perimeter. We’re building on what our interests are. Like the fact that you were two years old and you were sketching, and then you just continued to build on that to be the person you are and create the amazing environments that you do now.

Trudy: You know, Deb, I really thought when I was younger that I was just going to grow up and be an artist. I didn’t know I was going to go into interior design. It just evolved. It was an evolutionary process.

Debbie: Melissa McClain also asked the question, “Was there a defining moment where you knew you wanted to be a designer?”

Trudy: Yes. It was in that studio. I said, “You know what? I want to work with people. I want to make rooms that they feel good in. I want to work with fabric.” I just jumped in and started. I didn’t have enough training yet, so I went back and got the training that I felt I needed. But the best training I had, Deb, was on the job, watching other designers that I really admired.

Debbie: Oh, I’m sure. Trudy, believe it or not, our chats just go so quickly. In the ten minutes or so that we have left, I want to give our women some other tips for creating an inspired environment. Are there other things, in addition to the advice that if you start with any place start with your bedroom? Did we answer the question about what’s he right way to go about detoxing a room?

Trudy: There are different ways to detox a room. From a spiritual level, I like using sage. When I first had a house in Monomoy on the water on Nantucket, I knew a wonderful woman who was a minister. I had her come over, and she brought some other people. We said prayers to the north, the east, the south and the west. We asked blessings from every direction, and that was a truly blessed house. Wonderful. That’s one way to detox–mentally, spiritually and emotionally. The other detox method concerns the materials you are using. Say you bought a piece of furniture from a place where they use a lot of particleboards in the middle, and the formaldehyde levels are off the wall. You can even smell it. It has that kind of stinky smell. I would get that piece of furniture right out of the room immediately. I would stick it down in the basement until it offgasses enough. That’s one way to detox.

Now the truth is that formaldehyde probably never offgasses enough that it’s truly safe. But to detox a room, you have to minimize whatever is toxic in it. So if it’s the furniture, that’s one thing that goes. If it’s an old chemical-sprayed rug, one that you’ve used a lot of retardants for stain and stuff on, you just have to get rid of that. It’s time to roll it up. What people forget is that, even with area rugs, the pad underneath is disintegrating over time. We have a friend in New York who is being treated for leukemia. He had a stem cell transplant, and they’re calling me for a lot of advice on how to detox the home. The big thing they talked about was that they had all of the Oriental rugs taken to be steam cleaned. No chemicals, just steam cleaned. But it was the pads underneath that needed to be changed. There was too much microbial growth.

Debbie: Interesting.

Trudy: Get a new pad for under your rug. There are a lot of simple things you can do. You can put a coat of nontoxic paint on the walls.

Debbie: You’re inspiring me. There are some really simple things like that I need to do. I think we’ve had the pads under our rugs for ten years.

Trudy: There’s always time for a change! We vacuum the rugs all the time and even have them shampooed from the surface. But it’s best to roll them up and send them out to be steam cleaned. And we never check that pad. I’m guilty too.

Debbie: Hey, Trudy, I always hear about mold and how that is really dangerous in a home. Is there anything we can do about mold?

Trudy: The minute you have heat and moisture and darkness, you have a breeding ground for mold. Mold needs all three. You don’t see mold growing in bright sunlight. You don’t see mold growing where there is no moisture, and you don’t see it growing where there is no heat. So, if it’s freezing outside, you don’t see mold growing on the rocks or anything. Mold and pesticides–those two are my pet peeves. It is deleterious to your health. They affect respiratory systems. Stachybotrys atra is one. There were some fatalities in Long Island of infants who were in basement rooms that had been paneled, and there was stachybotrys atra growing on the sheetrock behind the paneling.

Debbie: How do you test for mold?

Trudy: You can get kits. You can order them online. You put these little plates out, and then you collect them and send them off to a lab. They will tell you if you have it or not. You can also use a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). They are wonderful. These guys are like doctors. They are just amazing. They have so much information, and they can come and check for you. It’s truly like having people with doctoral degrees in all these chemicals and the molds. They are very valuable. I have one I use all the time: Microecologies in New York. I’ve known them for about 15 to 20 years, and I have a lot of trust and faith in them. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, Deb, but when I walk into a moldy house, it smells sweet to me. Have you ever noticed that? I can smell the mold or the mildew.

Debbie: Well, you’re such a pro, Trudy.

Trudy: I don’t know if it’s being a pro or that I have such heightened smells from being chemically sensitive. That’s one of the downfalls of being chemically sensitive.

Debbie: And I’m just so glad that you’ve been able to recover. One of the reasons is because you live in this holistic house.

Trudy: Deb, there’s one last thing I wanted to say. We’re probably getting close to the end.

Debbie: We are.

Trudy: I was so torn between just talking about how to make your home pretty and beautiful and talking about it being green and healthy. Then I realized that I want the two to go together, hand in hand. And that’s why I talk about “eco-elegant.” I want the two to not be separate, but to be all one.

We focused on the “green” now, because let’s start with everybody’s health. Their environment, their built-in environment, their home, or just their bedroom, if they can do only one room in the home, is truly supporting. It’s their underpinning.

Debbie: Yes.

Trudy: It’s got their back, so to speak, and their heart, as (Woman on Fire) Agapi Stassinopoulos (author of Unbinding the Heart) would say.

Debbie: That is a very beautiful way to put that. And, you know, Trudy, you are such a part of Women on Fire, and I’m grateful for Women on Fire to have access to your wonderful work. I could go on and on. I’m grateful to have a woman like you.

Trudy: Thank you. I am so honored to be a part of this interview.

Decorating with Antiques: a Deeper Shade of Green

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

The Nantucket Historical Association hosts its annual Antiques & Design Show from August 1 to August 5 this year. Dujardin Design Associates, Inc. will present a Designer’s Room Vignette with beautiful examples of treasured antiques and a display that shows them artfully placed in a room. If you’re on Nantucket, come visit us at Bartlett’s Farm, 33 Bartlett Farm Road. Here are all the details.

In celebration of the timeless beauty of long-cherished objects and our desire to live lightly on the earth, it’s time we think about antiques in a new way. Antiques are a part of a sustainable lifestyle, as well as a link to the past. Let’s take a look at how these enduring parts of history can elevate both your life and your home’s design!

I have always been an ardent collector of antiques, and the addition of carefully selected pieces to sophisticated interiors is a recognizable signature of my design style. Sharing my love for classic pieces comes naturally to me. I find that my clients quickly embrace the elegance of antique furniture, and often become collectors themselves. Homes are brought to life when old paintings, pieces of porcelain, or folk art add their charming artistry.

As we learn more about how to assess the health of our built environments, and steps we can take to keep our homes clean and pristine, it’s important to recognize the ways that antiques can be an integral part of a green lifestyle.

This is a fabulous collection of treenware, dating from the 19th to the 20th Century. Note the darning egg, and the antique stereoscope–the earliest form of television! The book displayed is by British treenware expert Burt Marsh. Photo: Durstan Saylor

No Chemical Vapors Are Brought into your Home

Your home’s interior should be a place of fresh air and health. Yet any new piece of furniture, cabinetry, flooring or finished wood has some chemical overtones. Many fine finishes release vapors in a process called off-gassing. In a closed environment, such as an energy efficient, airtight home, off-gassing can increase indoor air pollution to levels several times higher than those detected outside. Antiques are a healthier choice than modern furnishings because they were created with less toxic products years ago, and any off-gassing has long been complete.

This living room is a showcase for beautiful antique accessories, including a 19th Century ship’s model behind the sofa, and a pair of lamps made from 18th Century Chinese Export porcelain. A pair of 19th Century British hand carved candlesticks and a 19th Century ship’s captain’s lap desk are on the cocktail table. Photo: Durstan Saylor

No New Resources Are Used

Every beautiful piece of wooden furniture originated from a tree. Whenever we purchase new wood furniture, unless we choose products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), we are contributing to the deforestation of our planet. In contrast, wooden antiques are products of trees culled long ago from old-growth forests. Old pieces add a soothing mix of periods to a room, and since no new resources were used in their construction, their restoration and re-use is a green endeavor.

This study reflects the long seafaring history of the coast, with a 19th Century ship’s telescope, and a 19th Century ship’s barometer hanging to the right of the window. Framed antique prints are on the wall, and the mantle holds part of a collection of sea captain doorstops.

No Negative Environmental Impact is Created

Beyond the health issues in our homes, we should consider the costs to our planet. Even the very greenest furniture manufacturers distribute impurities into our air, waste systems and water. New furniture requires the production of finishes, dyes and sealants. Shipping them demands the creation of packing materials, and they arrive in retail stores via large vehicles powered by fossil fuel. The EPA estimates that three million tons of furniture are taken to landfills every year, only to be replaced with brand new pieces that can carry a large environmental cost.

An extremely rare 19th Century English scrimshaw tortoiseshell is displayed above the fireplace; on the mantle are several antique lighting devices: a corkscrew pigtail candlestick complete with hook for hanging over a chair, a rush light holder and antique binoculars. Photo: Terry Pommett

Antiques Are Recycled Treasures

Beloved family pieces, original wooden floorboards and the softly faded colors of aged Oriental rugs do not belong in a landfill. Treasures from another time can be loved and used again. A federal mirror that has been passed from home to home and hand to hand brings history to life, and honors the work of long-ago artisans.

This is a mint condition 18th Century British Woolie, The Ship of Bengal, unusual for the ship’s identification as part of the design, and for its display of the British flag. Photo: Terry Pommett

Antiques Respect the Work of Long-ago Craftsmen

Rather than purchasing a mass-produced item, treat yourself to something created in a small workshop by a craftsman who made good use of few resources. In previous centuries, home furnishings were made by hand before machine-assembled items flooded the marketplace. Artisans from years gone by had knowledge that largely disappeared during the Industrial Revolution. Old joining techniques were abandoned in favor of more rapid assembly using staples and nails. Fiber board was created and the beauty of the wood itself was lost. Take the time to consider the difference between a finely hand-wrought piece and one processed in a factory. Even contemporary rooms can be striking when modern pieces are blended with well-placed antiques.

This Ionic columned fireplace, in the Captain Parker house on Nantucket which I painstakingly restored, still retains its Sandwich glass clothesline knobs; string was wound between them so clothes could be hung to dry. Not all antiques are furniture.

Antiques Have Stood the Test of Time

Classic pieces are sturdy and well-made, which is why they have lasted. The quality of their wood is usually stronger, created from timber with tighter growth rings, making repair a simple task when necessary. Furniture that is unworthy of a craftsman’s repair time adds to our cycle of wasteful consumption. Instead, your rooms can be accented with vintage furniture that has been lavished with love and care, and that honors history and tradition.

Antique Collections Are a Personal Expression

I often find that a simple gesture, such as placing an antique tea caddy on a mantel, can inspire my clients to begin collections. There is tremendous beauty in items preserved throughout the years, particularly if they illuminate another time and way of life. Learning about the subtle differences among artisans, the period when an item was created, or the materials that were used to make it, gives us a greater appreciation for life.

My personal collections include treenware (handcarved wooden items used in the home long ago), old hotel silver, blue and white porcelain, and things that speak to me of lives lived on the ocean, including whaling artifacts, scrimshaw carvings and sailor whirligigs.

The foyer of the lovingly restored Captain Parker House on Nantucket, circa 1700’s.

Not All Antiques Are Furniture

You can find antique cabinetry, flooring, doors, beams, posts, mantels and other architectural pieces. Consider a gorgeous 18th Century door to add punch and personality to your entry, or how about antique doorknobs and a doorknocker? An old mantel delivers instant charm; remilled old timbers bring panache to the pantry. Add the incredible details that your home may be missing.

This Victorian milk glass doorknob was added to an old door to restore it to its 19th Century charm.

Antiques Add Beauty and Joy to Life

There is a thrill when you spot the perfect 19th Century French farm table, Georgian stand or double pedestal dining table. You feel an immediate connection to the Italian walnut commode or a beautiful pair of small paintings. Antique collectors know that old things have a soul, based on their authenticity. Whether you fall in love with hand-embroidered vintage textiles or white ironstone pitchers, each well-chosen piece adds to the unique style that is yours alone.

Photo: Durstan Saylor

Blending newly designed furnishings with antique collectibles is a wonderful way to express yourself. Concrete work surfaces and stainless steel works beautifully when paired with your antique dining table and old wooden doors. Don’t be afraid to mix periods and textures. Contrast can be the spice of life, and add spice to your home as well!

The Blue Sky of July: Choosing Safe Sunscreen

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

We wait all year for the blue skies of summer, but time at the beach and on the boat can take a harsh toll on our skin. The dangers of overexposure to the sun have been amply documented, along with the need to use sunscreen to protect skin from both burning and accelerated aging. That sounds like a simple instruction to follow, but it’s important to remember that sunscreen is a chemical preparation applied to the body’s largest organ.

Dozens of studies have documented the potential health hazards associated with the chemicals in sunscreen. Beyond possible skin irritation, these chemicals can create skin damage and even hormone disruption. Most sunscreens include a combination of three to six of the following ingredients: oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and octinoxate.

Why is it important to know about the chemicals you put on your skin? Mark Hyman, M.D., has said that personal care products are the next frontier in health risks and awareness. A nicotine patch applied to the skin calms the craving for a cigarette, demonstrating that our skin is a protective barrier, but also extremely porous. Transdermal absorption means that what you put on your skin also gets into your bloodstream.

Our sunscreen may cause us some concern, but we are also seeing skin cancer rates increase. Melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer, has tripled over the past 35 years. Although many sunscreens claim to provide broad spectrum, or both UVB and UVA protection, U.S. sunscreens often have inadequate protection against UVA rays. Without an effective labeling program, consumers are unable to determine whether their sunscreen provides low, medium or high levels of protection. (SPF factors only assess protection against UVB rays.) Consequently, many people think they are better protected than they are, and stay out in the sun far too long.

What You Need to Know

Mineral versus Chemical Filters: There are two kinds of active ingredients in sunscreen, mineral and chemical filters. Each protects skin differently, though both may pose health hazards.

Chemical Filters Contain Avobenzone: Avobenzone is the best agent for filtering UVA rays, but it can break down when exposed to sunlight. Chemicals such as octocrylene must be added to stabilize the product.

Octocryclene May Disrupt the Hormonal System: Some research suggests that oxybenzone and two other sunscreen chemicals–4-MBC and octinoxate–could be toxic to reproductive systems. Another chemical, oxybenzone, which is found in 80 percent of chemical sunscreens, can cause allergic skin reactions and also may disrupt hormones. The Center for Disease Control has detected oxybenzone in more than 96 percent of the U.S. population.

Mineral Sunscreens Filter UV Rays with Nanoparticles: The active ingredients in mineral sunscreens are usually zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, in the form of “nanoparticles.” The Environmental Working Group tends to favor mineral sunscreens, because they are stable in sunlight. Some nanoparticles, however, may be small enough to penetrate the skin and accumulate in body tissue.

UVB Rays Mainly Cause Burning: SPF (Sun Protection Factor) is the degree of protection a sunscreen provides against UVB rays.

UVA Rays Mainly Cause Aging: UVA rays penetrate deeper into the skin, and contribute to wrinkles, sagging and dark spots.

The FDA Uses Weak Criteria: Half the U.S. sunscreens would not make it to the shelves in Europe, which adheres to stricter standards. Americans may be getting a false sense of security from high SPF numbers, and staying out in the sun too long.

Anti-aging Retinol May Be Risky: Although it’s a common sunscreen ingredient, studies show that vitamin A (Retinol, or Retinyl palmitate) could speed the development of skin tumors and lesions when applied in sunlight. It’s present in nearly 25 percent of all sunscreens. Keep it in your night cream!

Here’s What to Do

Don’t Get Burned: Plan around the sun. Go outdoors in the early morning, or late afternoon, when the sun is lower. Wear protective, loose-fitting clothing: it’s the best protection from UV rays.

Protect Your Eyes: Sunglasses do more than make you look fabulous. They protect your eyes from UV radiation that causes cataracts. Invest in a high-quality pair.

Choose Your Sunscreen Carefully: You want to choose broad spectrum protection with ingredients that cause the fewest health concerns. Avoid sunscreens with oxybenzone, a synthetic estrogen. Remember that high SPF sunscreen can encourage you to overdo your time in the sun.

Use at Least Two Ounces of Sunscreen: Most people don’t apply enough. Two ounces is enough to fill a shot glass. Make sure you reapply every two hours, or after swimming.

The Environmental Working Group, an environmental health research and advocacy organization which provides information to consumers to make healthier choices, has posted a guide to the best 2013 sunscreen products. Check out their list of 184 products here.

One of my favorite, safe sunscreens is made by MDSolarSciences. Their products are approved by the Environmental Working Group, and are created with the intent to cause the least amount of potential harm from an environmental standpoint. I like their products because they’re non-greasy, and non-comedogenic (meaning they won’t clog pores and cause breakouts), and the lotion smooths on like silk. It’s fragrance free–so important in a world where we are constantly bombarding our senses. They make a sensitive skin formula for the face, which is also suited for Acne or Rosacea prone skin. And, it’s very water resistant!

The summer sunshine is beautiful. Protect your skin, and enjoy every moment of it!

Your Sacred Space: Part One of an Interview with Trudy and Women on Fire Founder Debbie Phillips

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

I recently had the honor of being interviewed by my good friend Debbie Phillips for Women on Fire, the group she founded to bring an amazing circle of fabulous women together for inspiration, strategies and support. The following is a transcript of part one of our talk on Your Sacred Space: How to Create an Inspired, Healthy Living Environment.

Debbie: Hello, Woman on Fire! Women on Fire is one of the most dynamic communities of women you will find anywhere. And my guest today highlights the bonanza of talent and expertise we have inside our organization. Today’s interview is part of our series on exploring Your Life. Each month for a year, we are presenting a life topic with strategies on living your best, healthiest and most inspired life. Last month we looked at Your Health and Wellbeing, and today we are discussing Your Sacred Space. Our guest expert, Trudy Dujardin, is a pioneer and a leader in green design and eco-conscious living. She is a nationally recognized interior designer who will share her valuable tips with us today for creating your own healthy, sacred environments. And she will tell us why it’s essential to your good health and your family’s health to live this way.

A little about Trudy before I bring her on: Trudy Dujardin is the president of Dujardin Design Associates based in Westport, Connecticut, and on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. For more than 25 years, she has designed some of the most elegant homes on Nantucket, in Connecticut, and throughout the country. Her interior design firm is nationally recognized by industry experts, the media nad her clients for her distinctive eco-elegant desings. She is a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers, and she is a LEED Accredited Professional, recognized for her expertise in sustainable design and construction. Trudy was one of the early pioneers to use non-toxic materials to create interiors rich in beauty and full of health. Her personal journey includes a struggle with multiple chemical sensitivities, yet today she is fully recovered and passionately carries her message that a healthy home is the ultimate luxury to her friends and clients, and the audience of her widely read blog, HolisticHouse.com.

Trudy is someone I know well, and I love and respect her personally and professionally. She has influenced my taste and my style and my thinking for more than a dozen years. Trudy is married to handsome Frank, and they have three amazing Bichon Frises, the cutest little white dogs you’ve ever seen. Plus, I am so proud that Trudy is one of our Women on Fire members. When I want to take a vacation, I go to Trudy’s website and blog; I’m not kidding, her work is so extraordinary that to luxuriate in her website for a while is just like going on vacation. Welcome, Trudy Dujardin!

Trudy: Hello! Thank you so much. I’m thrilled to be here.

Debbie: Aww, I’m happy to share you with Women on Fire. I know a lot of women who have attended tea parties (Women on Fire signature gatherings) know you and you know them. I just want to introduce you to everyone else who hasn’t had that pleasure yet. And our first question always is–and you know this, Trudy, because you get the membership packet–our tradition: What’s your day been like so far?

Trudy: My day was pretty interesting so far. I usually get up sometime between 3:30 and 5:00 every morning because I have, as we talked about, my three Bichons, and they’re the loves of my life. They make me laugh out loud every day. But two of them are almost 11, and they can’t make it through the night. So when I wake up in the middle of the night, I worry about them. I tiptoe downstairs, trying not to wake anybody else up, let them out, bring them in, and give them a little rice cracker. Then I sneak back upstairs to try to catch another 40 winks. If I have a heavy workload, I lie there and think about my day. But I always start my day with prayers. I have two that I say every morning, and it helps me focus on my day. But I have another favorite, Debbie. Do you remember Shakti Gawain?

Debbie: Of course I do.

Trudy: I love her, and I have an old tape of hers. It’s not even a DVD/CD. It’s an old audiotape, and it’s a visualization technique. So I visualized this morning how our interview would go and our wonderful day. Next–I don’t get a lot of points for this because I haven’t been doing this for long–but at 7:30 I got in the car and headed to the gym, where I worked out with a trainer from 8:00 to 9:00. And so that everybody knows, I’m not a saint. I don’t do that all the time. I had fallen off the exercise wagon for a long time because of my business travels, and I decided on the first of the year that I needed to get going again. So last week I began, and I’m thrilled to be back. It just feels good. It sets my day on the right path. And then finally, I came back, ate breakfast, showered, and here I am with you! And I love having you all to myself!

Debbie: Excellent! Well, good for you!

Trudy: Later on, I’ll be working with a new project. Debbie, I’ve been asked to sit on the board of a new organization called Her Haven. It’s the creation of Carey Dougherty (founder and executive director) and she is an amazing woman. I just want to tell you about it, as I’m brand new to it. But what Her Haven does–it’s right up your alley–is to create environments for women in need. They get applications, and it’s kind of like makeovers, but they find out what they woman might need to do. It could be somebody who really wants to be a writer, but she has so many kids and works, and so they create a little haven in her home. And that’s why it’s called Her Haven.

Debbie: I love that.

Trudy: For the project we’re working on now, Carey has been interviewing the PTA at Sand Hook, Connecticut. We all know what’s going on there and what a tragedy it was. But we are trying to see if maybe they need something in the teachers’ lounge that will help comfort the teachers, a respite where they can go. Or if there is a particular person in that town who may need Her Haven. So that’s our mission and that’s to be continued. I’ll fill you in on that more later.

Debbie: Oh, I love it, and you’re such a perfect person to be on that board.

Trudy: I’m bringing in the “green” element.

Debbie: Well, I love it. That’s fantastic. So let’s talk a little bit, Trudy, about how old you were when you first knew you wanted to be a designer.

Trudy: I’m not sure of the exact age, but what my parents told me is that I wasn’t even two and I was already sketching. The interesting thing is I was always sketching rooms, environments. They were almost like stage sets.

Debbie: I just wondered, you said you were two years old and you were sketching? Were you sketching with crayons?

Trudy: Pencils.

Debbie: Pencils. Wow!

Trudy: And then crayons.

Debbie: Do you have any of those sketches? Did your parents save them?

Trudy: Oh, I’m sure there’s a box in the attic somewhere.

Debbie: Well, tell us more about what inspired you to work in the field of design. So you grew up loving to sketch, but then was there anything in particular?

Trudy: My uncle–my father’s brother–was a furniture designer. So, of course, that was a direct lead in. He had gone to the New York School of Interior Design, and back in the 1950s and 60s, when I was a tiny little kid, they used to take me to his studio in Greenwich Village. I was so fascinated by it. I would see these huge, thick slabs of marble and walnut. He had a very elite clientele. he was making racetrack-oval dining tables long before that was the fashion. He was really ahead of his time. We still have some of his furniture now. It’s classic and timeless. it should be in the Museum of Modern Art. Just wonderful. He was the inspiration for the art side of it. My first present from him was his own wooden briefcase full of all his oil paints. I carried that with me every day when I went to graduate school at New York University. Now, for the flip side of the family, we go scientific, medical and then artistic. My father worked for NASA. He was in the space program, and he was a design engineer. He designed thins such as the tile dial, as it was called for the space shuttle. You know how the nose cone is all covered in tile for re-entry?

Debbie: Oh, I’m quite familiar. My brother Scott worked on the space shuttle from its inception to its last day.

Trudy: My father designed the equipment for measuring how each tile should be slightly different. It’s just amazing. He also designed the Polaris Missile way back in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Debbie: Oh, my goodness.

Trudy: My mother and I never knew what he was working on because he worked in a think tank with no windows. he said if he had his life to do over again, he would get a job where he worked outside.

Debbie: And now he can.

Trudy: And now he can. Right.

Debbie: I know your father is still alive and well.

Trudy: He is still alive and well. He was my exercise buddy last week. I thought, “I need someone to make me accountable.” So, at 89 years old, he was getting up in the morning and going to the gym with me, just to keep me honest.

Debbie: All right, Dad! Well, Trudy, I love your motto: “A healthy home is the ultimate luxury.” Tell us a little more about that. How did you come up with that? What does that mean exactly?

Trudy: As you know, we have a lot of very high-end clients on Nantucket. I was thinking that they have all these beautiful things, but to really make a house pay off and serve them well, it needs to support their health, which means that the indoor air quality has to be just sterling. It has to be perfect for them, and they can afford it. I’ve been at this since 1987. I was very early in on it, and a lot of the builders on Nantucket thought it was a little loopy. They’d ask, “What do you mean the paint is going to hurt you?” It’s hard for people to change. So I had to educate my clients. They would say, “I don’t have allergies, so that’s not important to me.” And I would say that it’s important for your long-term health. Every item on the face of the earth emits vapors of fumes. They’re called VOCs–Volatile Organic Compounds. All of these things chip away at your armor. So even if you are perfectly health, why start chipping away at it? And then we have to think about our children and our pets and the elderly. If we’re going to spend a lot of money, and have this luxurious home, let’s make it healthy too. Why not?

Debbie: Right. And for our women, it doesn’t matter how luxurious it is. We want to talk today about how anybody an make their home healthy. I’d like to go back, Trudy. How did your passion for “green” begin? You were an interior designer, and you came upon these healthier materials and began to use them.

Trudy: It’s complex. Just the other day I listened to your interview with Agapi Stassinopoulos and I was just so inspired by her and her feelings about her mother. It jarred my memory. But I used to think that the origin was that my former husband and I bought this beautiful piece of property on the harbor in Nantucket, and I was so in love with the island that I wanted to do this project right. I thought it was a really healthy island, so let’s not have things silting off of the property and contaminating the water supply, hurting the scallop population I thought that was the origin of my “greenness,” but then listening to Agapi’s wonderful message the other day, I realized that my mother was terminally ill with breast cancer. She lived only to 51. I helped her through those almost four years, and I realized that I just started questioning everything we were doing, having been raised on a farm in South Carolina with all the crop dusting and pesticides and insecticides. i think I told you that I was the first-born, long-awaited grandchild, and they just cherished me. So they would put me in a cot on a sleeping porch along a whole bank of windows to keep me cool at night. It was nothing for it to be 105 degrees in South Carolina. Then they sprayed my cot with DDT to keep the mosquitoes away. That was probably the origin of the liver issues that caused my chemical sensitivity. Am I answering your question?

Debbie: Yes, you are. And I want to just clarify because a lot of Women on Fire do know Agapi Stassinopoulos, and you are referring to the CD with her on it. It’s quite inspiring.

Trudy: But I want to backtrack a little bit. I think “luxury” means when we luxuriate in something. It doesn’t have to be a half-million-dollar home. It doesn’t have to be anything. The luxury of it is that you’re supporting your health. To me, that’s the ultimate luxury. I talk about how, every day, we’re in containers. We get up in the morning, and we’re in our house. We get in our car, and drive to work. Then we’re in an office building. We put the kids on a school bus and they go to a school. We pick the kids up from school in a car and take them to the music teacher’s house or to the doctor’s office. it’s endless. We’re in a phone booth. We’re in an airport. What I’m striving for is indoor air quality–whatever we put in that space. And the only space you can really control is your own environment, your home, so that everything in there supports your health and wellbeing.

To be continued: in our next segment in July, I talk about my struggle with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and how I recovered, plus tips on how to make your home healthy and holistic!

A New Look for Nantucket’s Union Street Inn

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

We’ve just completed the redesign of one of our favorite places on the island: Ken and Deborah Withrow’s Union Street Inn. We first had the privilege of designing the inn nearly 13 years ago, so when Ken and Deborah called us to refresh and update the elegant 1770’s former whaling captain’s home, we were delighted to return. The June 2013 issue of Nantucket Today tells the story of the new inn, and Jeffrey Allen’s photos capture the beauty of the cozy 12 guestrooms, the common areas and the inviting new garden.

The hotel is renowned for its full gourmet breakfasts with a home-cooked entree every morning, along with a smoked salmon bagel option with cream cheese, tomatoes, chives and dill, or a fresh fruit plate and artisan breads. In the afternoon, guests enjoy home-baked treats, such as white chocolate chip cookies with macadamia nuts, carrot cake or double chocolate brownies.

We’ve renovated each of the 12 guestrooms to showcase beautiful period details. The elegant rooms offer luxurious bedding, stunning designer furniture and fabrics, flat screen tv’s and complimentary wi-fi. The inn has won multiple awards, including “One of the 10 Most Romantic Hotels in the U.S.” by Fodor’s.

Owners Ken and Deborah have extensive backgrounds in both hotel and retail management, and have used their experience to create a sumptuous boutique-style inn that has guests returning over and over again. The staff carefully tailors the concierge service to each individual’s interests, sharing their love and knowledge of the island and helping guests enjoy the “insider’s” Nantucket.

Conde Nast Traveler described the inn as “impeccable New England by way of France.”

We used crisp blues, whites and yellows throughout the inn, with fresh, tailored fabrics, wallpapers and accents. The foyer, living room, dining room and kitchen were completely updated with the kind of sophisticated touches you’d expect from a boutique hotel, while never forgetting its origins as a sea captain’s home.

The new library features a cozy reading nook. It’s fully stocked with hardback titles ranging from contemporary fiction to design and Nantucket classics.

Just off Main Street’s cobblestones and the harbor, Ken and Deborah have made The Union Street Inn one of life’s unforgettable experiences. I hope you’ll come to Nantucket and visit them. Be sure to tell them I sent you!

A Nantucket Beach Nest

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

The June 2013 issue of Connecticut Cottages & Gardens Magazine features a new Dujardin-designed home on Nantucket! Written by Jamie Marshall and photographed by longtime Dujardin friend Terry Pommet, the home is beautifully presented beginning on page 64.

We created interiors with bright splashes of blue and Hermes orange in this six-bedroom, shingle -style cottage for a young family with two teenage daughters. A short fifteen-minute walk to town, the new home was customized by Dujardin Design Associates from the studs up, including exquisite details such as the wood floor in the entry hall with its hand-painted Harlequin pattern. The rattan-wrapped dresser and table in the foyer are meant to evoke the Breakers in Palm Beach, circa 1950s.

Senior Designer Price Connors created custom built-ins and mahogany topped cabinets for easy storage throughout the home, including hideaway space in the bright and airy bedrooms.

The color palette is crisp and clean, with most walls painted white or ivory with bright white trim. We added interest with pops of color, such as this nautical rope border!

Color continues into all the bedrooms, including this lilac-themed room!

And this blue beauty!

Signature colors were added to the kitchen with stools and bistro chairs handwoven in France.

There’s an oriental influence in the dining room, with a pagoda-shaped tole chandelier above the glass dining table. Gothic backed rattan dining chairs and a rattan bar cart add a classic touch.

The patio and garden continue the colorful palette, offering another glorious space to enjoy summer on Nantucket.

In the Days of Sailors and Scrimshaw

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

Scrimshaw is the beautiful art form first practiced beginning in 1749, in the days of whaling ships, wizened sea captains and hardy sailors. Whaling was a dangerous undertaking and could never be attempted at night, leaving sailors with free time on their hands. They used it for carving elaborate pictures, lettering and scrollwork on the bones and teeth of sperm whales and the tusks of walruses and other marine animals. The work they left behind is a treasured collectible today. The extremely rare white tortoiseshell shown above is an early nineteenth century British scrimshaw, displayed in my home in Madaket. The whaler’s handwork details ships, whales and equipment used in the seafaring life.

antique scrimshaw poker chips

John F. Kennedy was an avid scrimshaw collector, and brought it back into fashion when he displayed his 37 piece collection in the oval office in the 1960s. Today scrimshaw artists (called scrimshanders) can work with eco-friendly or man-made materials, including cow bones, antlers and ostrich eggs.

This 18th Century scrimshaw is carved from a whale tooth.

It’s impossible to write about the beauty of scrimshaw, though, without first acknowledging the damage being done to tusked animals today by poaching. Where once a ship would set sail with its sights on a whale, and then use every part of the animal for meat, energy and art, there was not an understanding that the seas were a finite resource.

A sea turtle was once plentiful enough that the people of the 18th and 19th centuries could hardly imagine that that creature or any other would be endangered, and in need of protection. Today, though, we are seeing a rapid decline of animals with tusks and horns, often slaughtered for just those parts of their anatomy and left to decompose. Although antique scrimshaw is available for purchase and collecting, strict laws are now in place for animal protection. Elephant ivory has been protected since 1976, and is prohibited from being shipped into the United States or practically any other country in the world.

Poaching continues, however. Rhinos are a threatened animal, under siege for their horns, used in Chinese medicine and particularly sought after in Vietnam. Consumers use ground rhino powder as a health aid, although there is no supporting evidence that it has any impact. Poachers killed 668 rhinos in South Africa in 2012, a 50% increase over the previous year. The World Wildlife Fund estimates another 800 rhinos will die in 2013. To protect them, wildlife managers are injecting the horns of live rhinos with poison and permanent pink dye to make them useless to poachers. Although the poison is not fatal, it will make anyone who consumes the powdered rhino horn ill with nausea and diarrhea.

Anna Merz, who died on April 4, 2013 in South Africa, started a reserve to protect her beloved black rhinos and became a global leader in the fight against their extinction. She is shown in the photo above with the rhino she hand-raised as an orphaned baby, Samia. Samia was devoted to Merz, and followed her everywhere, even trying to enter the house behind her before becoming stuck in the doorway. When Samia gave birth to babies, she presented them to Merz like any proud mother.

Anti-poaching campaigns are underway worldwide, but more attention is needed to protect the earth’s precious resources. Learn more about how you can help from The African Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, or Stop Rhino Poaching.

Behind the Scenes at the Union Street Inn

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

A short walk down the cobblestone streets of “faraway island,” as the Native Americans called it, is an intimate boutique hotel called the Union Street Inn. Owned and operated by Ken and Deborah Withrow, experienced hoteliers who make the inn the luxurious and welcoming place that it is, this circa 1770’s hotel is a classic example of Nantucket architecture in the heart of the island village. I first designed the inn’s gracious circa 1700’s rooms thirteen years ago, and I have just had the pleasure of redesigning the inn from top to bottom for another generation of guests. (Go here to see photos of the inn as it looked before the redesign!)

Next month, I’ll share some wonderful photos of the new inn, but first, here’s a peek at what goes on behind the scenes at a design installation!

How many lamps does it take to fill an inn with light? Handmade by a potter in Vermont, these lamps are arrayed in careful order before placement in the rooms.

We found this wonderful antique milk glass doorknob with a Victorian backplate for the door.

We took fabric and backed it with paper to create the wallpaper shown by this staircase. It’s a contemporary adaptation of an 18th Century Chinoiserie pattern. (“Chinoiserie” is a french term, meaning ‘Chinese-esque.’) This is typical of a wallpaper that would have been brought back by a ship’s captain from his ocean travels.

This is original bullseye glass with the typical 18th Century pontil mark. To create it, the glass blower would gather about 30 pounds of molten glass at the end of his blow tube and blow the lump out to a small, hollow pear shape. This would then be transferred to a pontil (a solid rod), and flattened and spun until centrifugal forces flattened the glass out into a smooth disk. When cooled, the pontil would be broken off. The center piece, called a “bullseye,” would be cut out. It was considered waste, and was either recycled into the glass furnace, or became an inexpensive pane for windows such as these.

This kind of interior door was common in 18th Century Nantucket. The glass at the top was necessary in order to detect fires in the room without opening the door.

Here is Price Connors helping to unload a truck full of treasures for the inn!

Here I am, taking my turn with the unloading! Everyone pitched in.

Once the tables were safely inside, the real fun began. Where, oh where, do all these tables go?

I’ll show you just where everything ended up in my June Holistic House post. Ken and Deborah are so pleased with our design work, which makes us very happy! I think you’ll love it, too. You can book a visit to the Union Street Inn here.

Tales from the Crib: Tips for a Green Baby

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

When talking about creating a healthy home, I’ve often said the first place to begin is in the bedroom. For families with children, especially babies, the first place to start is in the nursery. We spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping, in close contact with bedding, mattresses and the often closed-air environment of a modern bedroom; for babies, their contact with nursery materials is multiplied as they can spend many more hours in sleep.

During sleep, your body works to remove any toxins you were exposed to during the day, and to restore energy and health. Babies, with their rapidly growing minds and bodies, need a pristine environment with clean air and minimal contaminants. According to the EPA, one of the top five hazards to human health is indoor air. Here are some simple steps you can take to keep your baby happy and healthy:

When painting the nursery and refinishing floors, use no VOC paints and finishes. VOCs are Volatile Organic Compounds, chemicals (such as benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, and zylene) that “off-gas” for extended periods of time into the air we breathe. Non-toxic, no-VOC paints use water as a carrier instead of petroleum-based solvents, reducing the levels of heavy metals. Look for products with the Green Seal Standard, which certifies that they meet certain industry standards for VOCs. (One of my favorite products is Envirosafe, a company which which uses no fungicides or biocides at all)

Choose hardwood, stone or tile floors that can be easily cleaned, and cover them with an organic wool or cotton rug.

Select an organic mattress for the crib, made with natural latex, wool or organic cotton. Be sure all the baby bedding is organic as well. Babies snuggle into their blankets and put their mouths on everything; non-organic cotton is grown in fields soaked in insecticides. Dyes and color fixers use heavy metals such as chromium, copper and zinc. A good source for organic baby bedding and bath items is Coyuchi. Their products are made from 100% certified organic cotton and are produced using fair labor practices.

Choose eco-friendly wood furniture that is FSC certified, a designation from the Forest Stewardship Council ensuring that the wood was grown and harvested in a way that protects forests for the long term. Chemicals such as formaldehyde and polyisocyanurate can also be emitted from plywood and manufactured wood products.The Organic Mattress Store offers maple, oak, ash or cherry cribs made without plywood or particleboard; it comes unfinished or with a Green Seal Tung Oil organic finish. It’s also the place to get organic baby mattresses, made with natural rubber and organic wool, a natural fire deterrent.

Invest in a good air-filtration system. Clear the nursery air by adding a room purifier, or go one step further and install a central filtration system. Models are available that clear particulates that can’t be seen by the naked eye, such as dust and pet dander, along with mold spores, pollen and chemical gases such as sulfuric acid, ammonia and formaldehyde.

Be clean and green with non-toxic cleaners. Many conventional cleaning products actually can pollute baby’s room with a toxic mixture of petrochemicals. Seventh Generation has created a line of safe, natural baby products, as part of their “Campaign for a Toxin-Free Generation.” You can purchase everything from safe nursery and household cleaning products to diapers, baby laundry detergent and gentle skin care.

Other important Green Baby Tips:

Be sure to use glass baby bottles, never plastic. When plastic is heated, it can leach a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) into baby formula at forty times the safe limit, potentially disrupting baby’s endocrine system.

Dress baby in non-toxic sleepwear. There are options which use acrylics and natural materials with tight weaves that can pass flame retardancy standards without the use of polybrominatd diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a chemical which is now found worldwide in dust, indoor and outdoor air, and waterways.

Make health and wellness as natural a choice in your daily life as the love and attention you so effortlessly give your precious children. A healthy child is raised in a healthy home, and a healthy home is the ultimate luxury.

Gardening with Nature

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

Someone once said that a garden (and lawn, for that matter) has very little to do with nature. A walk through the woods is proof that wild vegetation is opportunistic and provides only the toughest competitors with space, sunlight and nutrients. By contrast, we fill our garden with tender annuals and plants that have gone through multiple hybridizations until they bear little resemblance to their original form. Add to that that we prefer our lawns and gardens weed free, carefully edged and mulched, and there’s a sharp divide between a wild meadow and suburban landscaping.

The real difference, however, is our dependence on chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides to keep our properties looking as nature never intended. The best way to create a garden fit for children and pets is to make it a sanctuary for life: bees buzzing through the flowers, trees brimming with nests and berries, and soft grass that’s safe for bare feet.

Lawn and garden chemicals are poisons to living things. They pollute our water, harm wildlife and interrupt the delicate balance of our eco-system. 100 million pounds of lawn care chemicals are used by homeowners on their lawns every year. These include chemicals that kill weeds, insects and a variety of plant diseases. Many of these chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects, and liver or kidney damage. There is a way to have a healthy lawn and garden without resorting to chemicals, however. Here are three simple steps you can take right away:

Healthy soil = healthy plants. Good soil is alive, teeming with bacteria and organic content that is naturally resistant to pests and disease. You can boost your soil’s health by spreading organic compost or alfa meal.
Use corn gluten as an organic fertilizer. Organic fertilizers feed your lawn slowly; quick release chemical fertilizers encourage rapid growth that weakens the grass, promotes disease and leaches into nearby surface waters.
Tolerate a few weeds. You can dig them out by hand if they bother you, or you can adopt the philosophy of “live and let live.” A few weeds in the garden can also provide a home for beneficial insects, which keep the overall landscape in good health.

Worried about fleas and ticks? Here are four ways to combat these pests without toxic chemicals:

Use Natural Flea and Tick Controls on Your Companion Animals: Look for Buck Mountain Parasite Dust, available only through veterinarians and pet stores. Its active insecticide is a chemical derived from the Neem tree, which is both a repellant and provides disinfectant and healing properties. A favorite pet store is Earth Animal, which offers a three step process for natural flea and tick control. Learn more here.
Reduce the tick habitat naturally: Ticks like moist and shady areas, so let in more sunlight. If there are many trees, it’s possible to thin their crowns to let more sunlight reach the ground. Clearing away leaf debris (a favorite tick home) is important, as is cleaning up along stone walls and keeping them free of branches, weeds and other plant debris.
Establish a Tick Border: A Tick Border is a three to four foot wide woodchip border that is established between the woody edges of your property and your lawn. Ticks are loath to cross the sunny, plant free zone.
Put up Deer Fencing to stop “tick buses:” A single deer can be host to more than 200 ticks, so by removing their hosts, you reduce the number of ticks.

Here’s Where to Learn More

We’re all connected to each other and to every living thing. The earth is one planet, with air and ocean currents that ignore international boundaries and continents that are impervious to lines drawn on a map. On a much smaller level, the chemicals you use on your lawn and garden do not stay on your property. It’s up to each one of us to research and find less-toxic solutions to our pest problems. You can start here:

Integrated Pest Management: IPM is an environmentally sensitive approach that suppresses pest populations and reduces use of pesticides. It’s a safer means of controlling pests, with an emphasis on control, not eradication. IPM holds that wiping out an entire pest population is impossible and environmentally unsafe. Natural biological processes provide control with minimal environmental impact. That may mean using beneficial insects that eat target pests, or biological insecticides, derived from nature. The EPA has more information: read it here.
Bio-Integral Resource Center: BIRC is a nonprofit organization that offers leadership in the development of IPM methods. BIRC works with homeowners, farmers, cities, park and water districts, schools and pest control professionals in pesticide use reduction. Visit their website here.
Two books to add to your library: Common Sense Pest Control, by William Olkowski and Sheila Daar, and Less Toxic Alternatives, by Carolyn Gorman.