Jillian Pritchard Cooke Courtesy of Eco Manor

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In our March 2007 issue, Jillian Pritchard Cooke, the interior designer behind Atlanta's first Silver LEED-certified residence EcoManor (ecomanor.com) listed easy steps to make eco-conscious design a part of our daily lives, Here, Cooke offers more simple ways to integrate eco-friendly products into your home.

PAINT: Until recently, paints and finishes were manufactured with a variety of solvents called VOC (volatile organic compounds), which release low level toxic emissions into the air, causing headaches, nausea, and lung irritation. Low- or No-VOC paints and stains, starting to become more prominent in home improvement stores, promote healthy living allowing vibrantly colored walls without the headache and respiratory problems.

CARPETING: One of the biggest challenges when building green, carpeting is not only manufactured with toxic chemicals, but about 5 billion pounds end up in landfills each year. Invest in companies like Glen Eden's Natural Elements, which manufacture 100% natural carpeting, or Mohawk and Interface, who have begun recycling initiatives. Consider flooring alternatives: marmoleum (themarmoleumstore.com), a formaldehyde-free version of linoleum that limits the amount of scrap carpet ending up in landfills, instead of linoleum.

LIGHTING: Change common incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs, which can be found in your grocery store. CFLís cut energy usage by 60% and can last up to ten years. Utilize vendors like Iron Design to create custom light fixtures made from recycled or reclaimed materials.

APPLIANCES: Upgrade to Energy Star (energystar.gov) rated appliances like the products made by Bosch Thermador.  This rating insures the maximum in energy efficiency, cutting monthly energy bill costs.

FABRICS: Stay away from fabrics that have synthetic, toxic content. Instead, use 100% natural, sustainable fibers like wool, bamboo, cotton, silk, and jute to keep toxic emissions within your home to a minimum.

FURNITURE: Slip-cover your sofa with 100% natural fabric instead of buying new; you will keep your old sofa out of an already crowded landfill. Visit antique stores or find creative ways to reuse existing piecesóan old foundry wheel or fallen tree trunk can be made into a great table or a vintage drafting table can become an art table in a craft room. Buy from local vendors, keeping unnecessary fossil fuel from being burned in the shipping process. When buying new furniture, make sure it is made from sustainable resources and sustainable wood. Cisco Brothers (ciscobrothers.com), for example, uses recycled filling and organic fabrics on top of a wood certified frame.

ACCESSORIES: Bring home trinkets and other unique finds from your travels. Choose art that is representational of nature, bringing the outside in. The Lowe Gallery (404-352-8114; lowegallery.com) has a wide variety of artists that use recycled materials and create masterpieces representing nature. Grow your favorite flowers and herbs in your garden. Decorating your home with flowers and plants will not only add color, it will also add oxygen and natural fragrances. Adding bowls of fruit as a table centerpiece will add color to a room while at the same time providing a healthy snacking alternative.

WOOD: Wood is the most energy efficient building material as it is the best insulator against heat and cold. Not only is it the most affordable, but it is the only renewable building material.  When choosing woods, consider:

• Forest Certified Wood

The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council; fsc.org) developed a set of Principles for forest management that addresses not only the indigenous rights, labor rights and legal issues, but the environmental impact surround forest management.  Certified forests produce wood within a sustainable, energy efficient and eco-sensitive context while preserving the cultural and social values that are attached to forests, especially as they decrease in size due to deforestation.

• Bamboo

Bamboo is a rapidly renewable resource that is a healthy, eco-sensitive alternative to hardwood and is a popular flooring choice.  Not only does it require no pesticides or fertilizers to grow, but after the harvest, new bamboo stalks regenerate from the old root system. This controls erosion and maintains topsoil on deforested hillsides. Bamboo grows as much as 2 feet per day and 60-80 feet in one growing season.

A forerunner in eco-sensitive design, interior designer Jillian Pritchard Cooke is president of Atlanta-based DES-SYN.  Jillian has been involved in numerous national projects dedicated to the promotion of sustainability and touts many industry-defining accolades. For more information about DES-SYN visit www.des-syn.com.