Archive for April, 2011

BLANCO’s new demonstration and how-to videos are live on YouTube and through a link on www.BLANCOAmerica.com. You can subscribe on YouTube to receive notification whenever a new video is added to the library to see all the new product, trend and how-to videos that are available. Click on the images below to see a demonstration!

Learn more about how BLANCO's innovative 3-in-1 Strainer holds water and makes prep easy!

Watch this video to see how to make composting effortless with SOLON.

Angela Pfeifer, Kitchen Designer with Poggenpohl demonstrates how the award-winning RONIS Entertainment Sink works in a beautiful kitchen setting. Shot in Poggenpohl's new Philadelphia showroom.

The winner of the Earth Day Giveaway is Tisha. Congratulations!

We’ve celebrated this month leading up to Earth Day with over 30 wonderful, earth-friendly tips from kitchen design professionals (especially from our own BLANCO Design Council members). For us, this was an exercise to demonstrate that every day is a day to celebrate the planet and to think about how we can do more, in small, simple ways to make a big difference for the future, for our children and for ourselves. Being Green is something that BLANCO as a company thinks about everyday:

• Using emission-free renewable power to reduce our carbon footprint
• Using the latest energy-saving exhaust air technology, returning heat energy to production
• Reducing water consumption to less than the half by installing water-cooling technology
• Reducing of production scrap to the minimum using high quality raw materials, computer controlled mixing machinery, optimized processes and production facilities
• Purchasing from ecological evaluated suppliers
• Prohibiting use of CFC- and CHC-chasteners
• Permanently reducing oil consumption and CO² emission within the last 5 years

It seemed appropriate to end this post on Earth Day with a couple inspirational quotes from great designers.

No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Less is More

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Leave a comment with your own earth-friendly tip to win a BLANCO 3-in-1 strainer, plus your choice of either a SOLON compost system or HYDRA water saving faucet.

One lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day.

Here’s an important tip from BLANCO Design Council member and kitchen designer, Andie Day, www.andieday.com/blog

Organic Textiles
Organic textiles are simply made from organically grown crops fertilized with manure instead of harmful fertilizers and pesticides. Luckily, there are many fine, even luxurious, organic textiles on the market made from materials such as cotton, silk, hemp, linen and wool.  Look for “certified green” organic home décor fabrics, bed linens and even pillows.

Leave a comment with your own earth-friendly tip to win a BLANCO 3-in-1 strainer, plus your choice of either a SOLON compost system or HYDRA water saving faucet.

One lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day.

Here’s a tip from kitchen designer, Kevin Henry, www.theessentialkitchen.blogspot.com

Buy food and other products with less packaging, or reusable /recyclable packaging instead of those in non-recyclable packaging.

Leave a comment with your own earth-friendly tip to win a BLANCO 3-in-1 strainer, plus your choice of either a SOLON compost system or HYDRA water saving faucet.

One lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day.

Here’s a tip from BLANCO Design Council members Grace & Ken Kelly, www.kitchendesigns.com/blog

Use sustainable materials when renovating. To learn more about green materials such as bamboo and quartz, check out this eco-friendly bamboo green kitchen design by on Long Island: http://www.kitchendesigns.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/13/eco-friendly-bamboo-green-kitchen-design-on-long-island/

Leave a comment with your own earth-friendly tip to win a BLANCO 3-in-1 strainer, plus your choice of either a SOLON compost system or HYDRA water saving faucet.

One lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day.

Here’s an earth-friendly tip from Leslie Clagett, http://kbculture.blogspot.com/

Cold water in the laundry—for most loads, it works just as well as hot.

According to the California Energy Commission, up to 90 percent of the cost of washing clothes comes from heating the water, so use hot water only for very dirty clothes, and always use cold water in the rinse cycle.

Leave a comment with your own earth-friendly tip to win a BLANCO 3-in-1 strainer, plus your choice of either a SOLON compost system or HYDRA water saving faucet.

One lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day.

This Earth-Friendly product tip is from Design Council Member Paul Anater, www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com.

By far, my favorite new sustainable product is a new category of tile. These so-called super-slim tiles are only 3.5mm thick, yet they’re every bit as resilient as tile in the traditional quarter-inch-thick tile. To do a quick conversion, 3.5mm is .137 inches, and that’s pretty slim. This category is available worldwide and is made from highly engineered porcelain. Its reduced thickness sets in motion a whole set of cascading sustainabilities. It takes fewer resources to manufacture. It weighs significantly less so it saves money and fuel in transport. On the jobsite it can be cut with a glass cutter, so there’s no need to power up heavy equipment. These tiles are suitable for use on walls and floors and they’re available in very large formats (the biggest being 3 meters by 1 meter) so they can be used for areas like counters and table tops. They generally boast a high recycled content and they can be recycled themselves. The photo here shows a kitchen that uses Spanish manufacturer Grespania’s Coverlam product and every surface in that image is covered in super-slim, incredibly sustainable porcelain tile.

BLANCO's HYDRA water conservation faucets helps save water when in use.

Leave a comment with your own earth-friendly tip to win a BLANCO 3-in-1 strainer, plus your choice of either a SOLON compost system or HYDRA water saving faucet.

One lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day.

What a great earth friendly tip from Sarah Lloyd, www.kitchenclarity.com:

Turn off the faucet

According to the EPA you can save 8 gallons of water a day if you don’t leave the water running while you clean your teeth. The average faucet runs at 2 gallons per minute – low flow faucets help, but shutting off the water while you brush teeth, shave, etc. can really make a difference.

Leave a comment with your own earth-friendly tip to win a BLANCO 3-in-1 strainer, plus your choice of either a SOLON compost system or HYDRA water saving faucet.

One lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day.

Here’s a great Earth Day tip from designers Grace & Ken Kelly, www.kitchendesigns.com/blog:

Buy cabinetry with the ESP seal. The Environmental Stewardship Program recognizes manufacturers that use environmentally friendly materials in their production processes. To learn more, click here.

Leave us a comment on your favorite earth-friendly tips. Visit daily till Earth Day for more.

Leave a comment with your own earth-friendly tip to win a BLANCO 3-in-1 strainer, plus your choice of either a SOLON compost system or HYDRA water saving faucet.

One lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day.

Another great tip from designer and BLANCO Design Council member Jamie Goldberg, AKBD, CAPS, http://jgkitchens.blogspot.com: Use a countertop oven to bake or broil small items; this will use less energy than running a full-sized oven.