Green Your Home with Eco-Friendly Fabrics

The inaugural Green Fair hosted by the Greening Oakland Homes community group is scheduled to happen tomorrow.    (See more on this below.)

So it seems a good time to ask:  What does greening your home really mean when it comes to fabrics?

At one point, using organic or all natural materials was the standard used by most of us.

But today, I hear more talk about terms like sustainable and eco-friendly and the concept of the ‘carbon footprint.’   Which I believe is a change for the better.

Looking for products that are organic or all natural speaks to just the manufacturing process used.  And while that’s important, it leaves out two other equally important aspects to consider — the energy efficiency and the longevity of the materials in question.

Synthetic Fabrics

For instance, with draperies, polyester is often really the ‘greener’ fabric choice.  It will stand up to the sun 2 to 3 times longer than cotton, linens or (even longer) silk.  It’s also much more energy-efficient, as it doesn’t breathe.

Recycled Fabrics

Plus today, you can get recycled polyester drapery and upholstery fabrics.   For instance, Clodagh’s Global Passage Collection (pictured below) for Duralee Fabrics includes recycled polyester, renewable bamboo and organic cotton fabrics.

Fabrics from the Global Passage Collection

Fabrics from the Global Passage Collection

Next time around, I’ll go into some sustainable and outdoor-indoor fabric options.

Inaugural Greening Oakland Homes Green Fair

The fair is from 11am to 3pm, this Saturday, March 6^th at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club (at the corner of Thornhill Drive on Mountain Blvd).  For more info, visit:

http://www.greeningoakhomes.com/greening-oakland-homes-fair

I’ll be one of the exhibitors, so if you’d like to know more about which window treatments will help you save on your energy bill, please come by.

I’ll also have samples from the Clodagh Global Passage Collection on hand.