bGreen: Thoughts On Green

Congressman Barney Frank Visits the bGreen Mobile Showroom

The bGreen Mobile Showroom was one of the main attractions at the Newton Harvest Festival Green Solutions 2010 yesterday in Newton Centre, MA.   The Showroom was open for business and drew a large crowd, including our first celebrity/politician visit.



Congressman Barney Frank, of the Fourth Congressional District of MA, took the time to stop by the bGreen Mobile Showroom and learn about our business and products.  It was great to have Congressman Frank in and he was quite interested in hearing how bGreen came to be.



Learn more about Congressman Barney Frank here.



Learn more about the bGreen Mobile Showroom here.

Boom! Boston.com video and article!

We have been featured in Boston.com’s Innovation Economy section.  We visited Scott Kirsner, technology and innovation writer for boston.com, earlier this week to show off the bGreen Mobile Showroom.  Full article and video here.

The Floors are Done*

The floors in the bGreen Mobile Showroom are done.  Well, mostly.  All that’s left is a good cleaning, and 4 coats of eco friendly urethane to seal and protect them.  We’re really pleased with how they came out.  As you can see in the picture below, we have a beautiful cork floor with an espresso colored bamboo inlay.  Certainly not your typical installation (i.e. in a truck with materials of different thickness  - the cork is about 1/4” and the bamboo is about 5/8” - leveled with the subfloor), but we think the result shows exactly how versatile a cork floor is.  Some installation videos will follow shortly.

Agenda for next 3 days

We’re busy

1. cooking class at Newton South



2. American Clay installation



3. cut sub floors



4. layout & cut out strips in sub floor



5. fasten subfloors



6. layout, cut & glue cork



7. urethane cork (2 coats i believe)



8. cut & install bamboo



9. cut & install marmoleum



10. cut & install tile



11. admire work

Video: bGreen Applies American Clay

Here is a quick video of our application of American Clay in the bGreen Mobile Showroom.  First step was to use a sanded primer on the walls to give the clay something to stick to.  After the primer, we applied a base coat of American Clay.  Once the base coat sets, we’ll apply the finish coat.



httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypJzYsJu4l0



bGreen Applies American Clay

Bamboo flooring

There are literally thousands of choice when it comes to bamboo flooring.  Aside from color, you can choose from flat grain or end grain.  You can choose from long plank or standard.  You can choose solid bamboo, strand bamboo, or bamboo veneer with a non-bamboo core. Prices vary dramatically.  bGreen recommends and carries only high quality bamboo.  You will not find any veneer in any of our projects and everything we offer is of the solid/strand variety.



When we acquired the bGreen Mobile Showroom, the kind owners before us had installed bamboo floors.  Awesome….kind of.  Upon further inspection, these weren’t the high quality, durable bamboo floors that we are carrying at bGreen.  These were cheap, $1.50/foot, veneer with a plywood (or maybe cedar) backing that need to be replaced every couple years.  So we were torn.  The floors needed to be at least refinished to bring them back to life, but was that really what we wanted to do?



After considering our options, we decided to remove the original bamboo floors and replace them with a new, high quality eco friendly floor.  Unfortunately, much of the bamboo we removed as damaged beyond salvage, and we’re looking into alternative uses for the scraps.  Rest assured, they will not just be getting thrown out.



Our new floor features four eco friendly flooring materials.  We’ll be using cork, bamboo, marmoleum, and recycled glass tile.  We’re really excited to showcase these materials.

Update on the bGreen Mobile Showroom

Dear bGreen friends, followers, customers & future customers,



We want to provide you with an update on the much awaited bGreen Mobile Showroom.  Things are moving along!  By now you’ve all seen pictures of the outside of the showroom and maybe even seen the truck around Boston.  The reaction has been nothing short of awesome.  People love the paint scheme and concept.



We’re happy to report that we are making progress on finishing the inside of the showroom.  The materials have been ordered and have started to arrive.  The plans have been finalized, tweaked, and finalized again!  As we’re learning, even the best laid out plans and schedules change, so we’re working hard to adjust accordingly.  We’re anxious to get the inside finished and bring you the latest and greatest eco friendly building materials.



It won’t be long now.  In the meantime, why not try our bGreen Home Consultation?  Let us come to your home and discuss how you and your family can live a more eco friendly lifestyle.  If you’re considering a home renovation or just want to incorporate more green products into your daily routine, we can help you.  We’ve got the knowledge and expertise to help you make smart, healthy choices for you and your family.  If you’re interested, please contact us via email or at 617-910-0880.  We appreciate your support and continued business.



-The bGreen Team

Your counter is made of what? Part 1 - Material Selection

[caption id=”attachment_699” align=”alignleft” width=”148” caption=”Maggie the Dog”][/caption]



A short time ago, we posted a video about our first bGreen building project.  This being our first major project, everything has been a learning experience.  From establishing a relationship with our fabricator to realizing home construction scares Maggie the bGreen dog into pooping in the house.  All in all this process has been a tremendous learning opportunity for bGreen.  So how did it work out?  What was the process and what can you expect if you choose bGreen for you next home renovation project?



[caption id=”attachment_700” align=”alignright” width=”197” caption=”Old Kitchen Counter (excuse the mess)”][/caption]



Let’s start with the basics; define the project.  We wanted new counters. Our apartment in Boston’s North End came with plain white Formica counters.  They had no character, were hard to clean, and worst of all, ugly (no offense Formica people).  The Formica counters were put in by the builder solely based on the fact that they were cheap.  At bGreen we are big believers that you can have nice looking materials in your home and not have to break the bank. This is  a topic for another post, but there is no real advantage to using cheap materials in a home project.  The bottom line, quality products will last you longer.



[caption id=”attachment_701” align=”alignleft” width=”152” caption=”Richlite - Chocolate Glacier”][/caption]



We settled on counters from Richlite.  Richlite is made of compressed paper that comes from pre/post consumer waste and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Certified lumber.  Richlite is stain resistant, heat resistant, and denser than some wood counter tops.  It also comes in a variety of great colors.  We went with Chocolate Glacier - yes, it sounds more like something you’d want to eat on but it’s a nice looking counter.  Look-wise, you can compare it to slate or soapstone - really stunning.



Prior to our project, the walls in the kitchen were just painted.  We wanted to do some sort of back splash throughout the kitchen to set it apart and because it is easier to clean then a painted wall.  Luckily we had leftover subway tile from a previous project.  The actual title is not green in any way.  However, using leftover materials is green.  If you are starting from scratch obviously we think you should use all green materials, but if you have something you want to reuse bGreen won’t stop you! In fact, we’ll help you figure out how to reuse what you already have and incorporate new green materials into your projects.



Now that the materials have been selected (Richlite counters and a Subway Tile back splash) we move onto the next step, Part 2 - Templating/Fabrication/Sink & Faucet selection.

Top Sellers as of 5/3/2010

It’s been a very busy few week at bGreen.  We celebrated Earth Day with a week long discount of 20% off everything we sell.  The promotion was so successful that we extended it for a second week.



We attended the Boston EcoTweetup at Cafeteria on Newbury Street.  The EcoTweetups are always great events, and we were lucky enough to win one of the raffle prizes (thankfully not our own gift certificate that we donated!).  Be sure to check our blog often for details about the next event.



We brought our bGreen Mobile Showroom to the Sustainable Milton Home Fair.  We received a great response to the Mobile Showroom, our sample products, and our bGreen Home Consultation service.  If you want to learn more about what bGreen can do for your home, please email us.



As always, here are our Top Selling products:

1. Bite Reusable Bags



2. Chico Bags



3. Freeplay EyeMax Radio



4. HYmini Wind & Solar Charger



5. Klean Kanteen Insulated