Home Archives for Environmental

How to get rid of mold and mildew in your home

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Mold growth in the home is unhealthy for your family. It is essential that you deal with any mold or mildew in your home.

The common idea most people have of basements are dark, damp rooms, covered with basement mold.

In fact, basement and bathroom mold is one of the main concerns many homeowners have about their home. When someone talks about a basement or bathroom, usually what comes to mind are unsightly mold growth and that musky smell that are so typical of basements and bathrooms.

The best way to get rid of mold is to first know where its coming from. Targeting the cause of mold and mildew can help keep your basement and bathroom clean as well as safe for your family. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Complimentary Products, Environmental, Other Tagged With: , , , , ,

Why does FSC Certification of bamboo matter?

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Why FSC? One of the big challenges we experience on our Eco-Logic Bamboo products, is that other products are often marketed as “Green” when in fact the products are not green. The industry term for this is called  “greenwashing“. So how do you KNOW whether a product is REALLY green?

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Eco-Logic Bamboo Decking, Eco-Logic bamboo flooring, Environmental, Solid Timber Tagged With: , , ,

Greening your kitchen with bamboo

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Just saw a great article on greening your kitchen, by Construction Review Online.

They discuss a whole range of options and make a few fantastic suggestions. Being a recycle devotee, I loved this design (don’t know who’s it is, but kudo’s to you). Notice the stunning bamboo shaker doors!

Bamboo shaker doors in an eco-friendly kitchen design

[Read more…]

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Eco-Logic Bamboo floated shelving - 40 mm chunky look Eco-Logic Bamboo credenza Eco-Logic Bamboo drawers Eco-Logic Bamboo floated stair - above left view Eco-Logic Bamboo bed frame
Filed Under: Bamboo Board, Bamboo Door, Bamboo Furniture Boards, Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Eco-Logic Bamboo Doors, Environmental, Green Building, Interior Design, Kitchen, Solid Timber, Sustainable Furniture

Bamboo Surfboards – a history

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Bamboo surfboard by Gary YoungGary Young recounts his history in building bamboo surfboards – starting back in 1970 and finishing his first surfboard two years later. He has some really interesting points about his experiences with bamboo:

  • After over 10 years of bamboo board making, I would estimate that each layer of rotary bamboo veneer is roughly as strong as one layer of 4 ounce unidirectional fiberglass.
  • Two layers of bamboo veneer with grains crossed (Eco-Logic 3.2 mm bamboo plywood has 7 layers of crossed grain bamboo veneer), epoxy laminated and vacuum bagged uses less resin than a hand laid-up 8 oz. fiberglass.
  • These are truly “green” boards – the sanding dust is not itchy, the foam dust is recyclable, and the renewable bamboo fiber trimmings decompose into soil.
  • Epoxy has very few volatile fumes, is stronger and is used more efficiently than polyester resin in regular boards.
  • Very little epoxy winds up on the floor and very little acetone is used in cleanup.
  • Polyester resin does NOT bond well to bamboo plywood.
  • Pre-laminated bamboo panels have water absorbing problems too, often due to funky, non-waterproof glues and voids (Eco-Logic bamboo plywood panels use water friendly glues).

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Bamboo Panel, Complimentary Products, Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Environmental

Using bamboo flooring as part of a modern affordable eco-friendly home design

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Bamboo flooring in a modern home design

Affordability and eco-friendly are often not used in the same sentence. This often happens as marketers ride the eco-friendly bandwagon for excess profits.

This is not the case with bamboo flooring. Sustainable equals competitive pricing when one compares bamboo flooring to other solid wood and engineered flooring options. Case Architects designed a modern & affordable eco-friendly home which includes bamboo, see how they did it … [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Architectural Bamboo, Bamboo Board, Bamboo Flooring, Bamboo Furniture Boards, Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Eco-Logic bamboo flooring, Environmental, Green Building

Which bamboo finishing products should I use for my project?

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We’re often asked which products to use for their bamboo finishing.

So here we have a guideline for you to follow when finishing your bamboo countertop or bamboo plywood project.

Preparation

Preparation is always the most critical step in any bamboo finishing application, get that wrong and the quality and durability of your finish is drastically reduced.

The first step is to give the surface a light sand just to remove the grime.

Bamboo finishing – oil

Oil is one of the most traditional finishes used.

Oils do not provide as much protection as the more modern finishes e.g. varnish. Oil finishes however, bring out the natural beauty of bamboo boards and counter tops. If you want to stain your bamboo prior to oiling it, use a water-based stain. Oil-based dyes will clog-up the bamboo’s “pores”, stopping the oil finish from soaking in effectively. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Architectural Bamboo, Bamboo Board, Bamboo Counter Top, Bamboo Door, Bamboo Furniture Boards, Bamboo Panel, Complimentary Products, Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Eco-Logic Bamboo Doors, Environmental, Interior Design, Kitchen, Other

Study on the manufacture of bamboo panel components for a prefabricated house

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Prefabricated bamboo houseINBAR performed a study to look at the feasibility of manufacturing a prefabricated house using bamboo panels. The study looks at some important considerations;

  • Physical and mechanical properties
  • Sound insulation properties
  • Thermal transmission properties
  • Fire resistance properties
  • Cost analysis

We’ve interpreted aspects of the study to represent South African conditions and requirements in the post. Have a look, we think that the results merit serious consideration of bamboo panels for prefabricated housing projects. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Environmental, Solid Timber Tagged With: ,

Being Eco Friendly at Home

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Living a more eco friendly or sustainable lifestyle is quickly becoming a very hot topic for many South Africans. Not only is this a matter of saving the earth, it is also a matter of being frugal, too. Kids aren’t cheap and recycling and reusing are great ways to help save the Earth and save money. A lot of people really just make it a hobby to find creative new ways to recycle and reuse various household items such as shredded paper for example. Here are some great and simple ideas for recycling paper, conserving water, saving electricity, and adding eco friendly furniture to your home. [Read more…]

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Eco-Logic Bamboo floated shelving - 40 mm chunky look Eco-Logic Bamboo credenza Eco-Logic Bamboo drawers Eco-Logic Bamboo floated stair - above left view Eco-Logic Bamboo bed frame
Filed Under: Bamboo Board, Bamboo Cladding, Bamboo Counter Top, Bamboo Decking, Bamboo Door, Bamboo Flooring, Bamboo Furniture Boards, Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Eco-Logic Bamboo Decking, Eco-Logic Bamboo Doors, Eco-Logic bamboo flooring, Environmental, Green Building, Kitchen, Other, Solid Timber, Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring, Sustainable Furniture Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A designer builds an eco-kitchen …

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As more & more people become aware of the environmental issues facing our planet, they have started to look at eco-friendly alternatives.

In this post, a designer, Joshua Foss, walks you through the process of building an eco-kitchen. Part of the process was selecting eco-friendly materials – and guess what he (and his client) chose? Yip, you guessed – strand woven bamboo boards.

Here is a teaser:

MetroHippie Bamboo kitchen design

The rest can be found here:

Designing an eco-friendly kitchen
Joshua Foss’ web site – Thrive Design Studio

[ois skin=”OB – Report: Which Glue? (ezine laying curvy)”]

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Filed Under: Bamboo Board, Bamboo Counter Top, Bamboo Flooring, Bamboo Furniture Boards, Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Environmental, Kitchen, Solid Timber Tagged With: , ,

Bamboo coffee table – sustainable furniture design

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Strand Woven Bamboo coffee table - side view

Strand Woven Bamboo coffee table – side view

Make a Bamboo coffee table, you ask???

DIY ready bamboo boards are ideal for the DIY enthusiast. Working with solid wood requires all the prep time to get the timber ready for assembly.

Bamboo boards, with all the qualities of solid hard woods, simply need to be cut to your required dimensions.

In this post we’re going to take you step by step through the making of a bamboo coffee table.

See how it’s done … [Read more…]

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Eco-Logic Bamboo floated shelving - 40 mm chunky look Eco-Logic Bamboo credenza Eco-Logic Bamboo drawers Eco-Logic Bamboo floated stair - above left view Eco-Logic Bamboo bed frame
Filed Under: Bamboo Board, Bamboo Furniture Boards, Bamboo Panel, Eco-Logic Bamboo Boards, Environmental, Interior Design, Solid Timber, Sustainable Furniture Tagged With: , ,